# Specialized Demo 8i vs. Enduro Expert EVO



## danderson (Oct 18, 2012)

I know the Enduro Expert EVO is not out yet, so reviews and experiences from people are rather scarce, but I'm looking to drop up to $6000 USD on a bike. I'm limited on dealers in the area, and I've settled with Specialized, but I'm truly wondering how realistic is it to use a Demo as a all around bike, but with DH primarily in mind.

I really only want to buy one bike to last me years and years, that can evolve with my skill level and one that I can trash around and push my limits on, BUT, I still have to climb places and go uphill, and from what I've read some people say that is impossible on a Demo. (I assume because it only has one front chain ring, and is not compatible with a front derailleur), plus the lengthy suspension.

My other question, is obviously would an Enduro Expert EVO be able to handle events like Red Bull Rampage and DH riding? It seems like the logical choice, but there's not much information yet.


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## JefedelosJefes (Jun 30, 2004)

If you buy a Demo, you'll be pushing it everywhere except for the easiest climbs. The new Enduro EVO is the replacement for the SX Trail and has 180mm travel so you'll see people riding it on "red bull rampage" terrain. Of course, you will still be pushing this bike up climbs because it is still heavy and not intended for long climbs. I also highly doubt you personally are going to be doing 30ft drops anytime soon.

If you truly want one bike that will do everything, get a regular 160mm enduro or similar. It can handle any DH terrain you throw at it if you have the skills to back it up, but you can climb it and not hate life like your other two options.

If you are truly deciding between only the Demo and the 2013 Enduro EVO, i'd say get the Demo. Since you're gonna be walking up climbs anyways, you might as well be pushing up the better descender.


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## howardyudoing (Mar 31, 2010)

if you want one bike and still need to develop skill, then go enduro.


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## myarmisonfire (Mar 28, 2005)

Seriously consider buying 2 $3000 bikes.


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## unknown-rider (Feb 25, 2010)

myarmisonfire said:


> Seriously consider buying 2 $3000 bikes.


This!


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## smellurfingers (Aug 18, 2012)

You're going to find that the Demo isn't the easiest bike to ride downhill. It needs to be pushed hard or it's a hand full. The Status is a much more user friendly bike.


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## dwyooaj (Dec 14, 2006)

Ill bet the 2013 evo climbs just fine.


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## dwyooaj (Dec 14, 2006)

myarmisonfire said:


> Seriously consider buying 2 $3000 bikes.


+1 on that!


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## ianjenn (Aug 1, 2004)

The 2nd response knows more than just about anyone posting on here about Specialized stuff. So listen to him. If you are strong like bull you can climb a 7" bike up stuff and do 30+ mile loops look at Weir he did it a ton on Karpiels back in the late 90's. 

Is it easy to do HELL NO it will take you longer to go up that for sure. I am looking at 6" bikes to use for AM type riding and some descending and the EVO was one of them but I think the Enduro is more what I am after.


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## PepperJester (Jan 2, 2003)

Maybe by a Stumpjumper FSR Comp retails is 3,000 and a Status II for 3,300. Gets you close to your 6k budget and chances are you'll be way happier this way.


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## meSSican (Aug 8, 2010)

PepperJester said:


> Maybe by a Stumpjumper FSR Comp retails is 3,000 and a Status II for 3,300. Gets you close to your 6k budget and chances are you'll be way happier this way.


This is a great idea. With either a Demo or the Enduro Evo you will be compromising something and buyers remorse sucks @ $6000.


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## danderson (Oct 18, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback guys. The two bike idea is a thought, but its not really practical to take two bikes out riding. Have to ride and climb some to get to the fun DH trails out here 

I had originally thought about a Status, but its even heavier than the Demo 8. The Enduro Expert EVO is around ~29lb, Status ~39lb, Demo ~37lb. I'm settling on getting the Enduro come January when it comes out. I did research on the SX Trail that it replaces, I didn't realize people used that for DH, and if the Enduro can handle DH as well, I think that's best for the types of terrain I will be riding on.


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## dbabuser (Jan 5, 2004)

My opinion - you'll be able to climb just fine on the Enduro EVO. Read some reviews from past years - no one says it's a rocket ascending, but no one says it had to be pushed anywhere, either.
I've got a large '12 Enduro comp w/ a Monarch +, Lyrik 160 dual position air, and running a 1x10 drivetrain w/ a 34t chainring. I do end up pushing a little on some steep tech climbs, but it's a pretty good ascender. I'm sure I'd be slower, but I don't think a coil shock/ fork combo would alter my climbing very much otherwise.


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## Natban (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm a bit of a newb. But your riding sounds similar to mine where you've got to pedal to get to the top of the fun stuff. I think the Enduro Evo will fit the bill perfectly. After a 10 year break I got back into this stuff last year and bought a Stumpjumper Comp. It took about 2 months of riding this summer to realize that it was the wrong bike for all of my rides. It's now got a new owner now and I replaced it with a 2011 SX Trail. The few uphills aren't that much worse once the SJ had the stem and bar combo I wanted for descending anyways and lets face it uphill is never easy. And I can still pedal all day with my young kids on the SXT.


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## genemk (Sep 15, 2009)

Do you only plan to pedal uphill to shred gnar on the way down? If not, then get 2 bikes! You're almost asking if you should buy a monster truck or Ferrari to go off-roading and racing on an F1 track. A $1500-2k all-mountain bike will outclimb a $10k DH bike. Maybe get something like that and then spend $4000-4500 for a DH bike since that seems to be your main focus. You can get great deals on lightly used Demos for $4k easy and there should be plenty of money left for the other bike.


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## Tystevens (Nov 2, 2011)

If you're gonna pedal it uphill at all, I would go with the Enduro over the Demo, which will be miserable pedaling. I'm not saying the Enduro is equal to a full-on DH bike, but if your skills aren't there, I don't think you'll be able to tell much of a difference between the Enduro and Demo on the way down, either. I know I can't -- I've taken a few DH runs on a Glory during lift days on my Enduro, and I can't say the Glory handled better.

I've had my Enduro (expert, not Evo) in a variety of terrain this season. 20' tables, 6-8 ft drops, stuff that I wasn't hitting the year before, and my Enduro never felt overwhelmed or like too little bike for any of it. Plenty of 2-3k foot climbing rides, too. I'm sure if I was riding on the ragged edge, I might be able to tell a difference, but given my skill set and level of "aggression," the Enduro has been great. 

FWIW, I talked to about a dozen park employees and other people who were considering ditching their DH bike for an Enduro or similar, something that would be more versatile but doesn't give up much on the downhill side of things. And last year a guy placed second, I think it was, on a stock Enduro (not even an Evo) in the Nevada State Champs pro division DH. So there is that ...

All of that said, if I had $6k to spend and was going to be doing a lot of park or lift accessed DH riding, I'd buy a DH bike and a pedaling bike.

Good luck.


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## Natban (Oct 26, 2011)

> All of that said, if I had $6k to spend and was going to be doing a lot of park or lift accessed DH riding, I'd buy a DH bike and a pedaling bike.


This is a very good point. I forgot to mention that my one bike solution, with the Stumpy being not enough and the SXT being able to handle everything is mainly driven by my $1800 budget.


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## Drth Vadr (Jul 24, 2009)

myarmisonfire said:


> Seriously consider buying 2 $3000 bikes.





unknown-rider said:


> This!





dwyooaj said:


> +1 on that!


This is where the start money is at.



danderson said:


> I'm limited on dealers in the area.


What century are you living in? The internet is without limits. Its ok to climb out of the box.
On a different note, you can climb out of the box and on to a Canfield One. Buy a DC fork for the lift stuff and a SC 160-180 fork for everything else. Oh, maybe a extra set of tires.


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## Tystevens (Nov 2, 2011)

That Canfield is a sweet bike, to be sure. On the short list for my next bike, which I would set up for AM riding with a Fox 36 or something like that.

But to do true DH duty, you're talking about $2500 in forks there for, say, a Fox 40 and then another 36, on top of the frame. Not to mention that switching forks for rides isn't something that some of us particularly want to do.


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## raisingarizona (Feb 3, 2009)

I would say it depends on the trail systems you have in your neck of the woods. Without a good spot for lift served in your area or at least a shuttle spot you will not get enough out of a full on dh race rig. If you want to race and have access nearby for a place to ride then sure but if your area has more pedal to fr/dh/am type riding then the enduro evo I think is the way to go. Here in Flag we have only two trails out of a huge system that a dh bike is the choice so I have a hard time spending the money on such a specific rig. I am also considering the Enduro Evo this coming season or the following one. I like to pedal up most of the time now that I'm older and can't get out enough plus I hate sitting in a truck for most of the day. I'm also too old to care to be a big hero, I don't race, and I like the feel of a 7 inch poppy-er ride.

With all that being said I have two rigs right now, I have a 6 year old Turner Highline with a 66 on it for dh/fr and I have a Specialized Stumpy FSR Evo for am/xc. The highline is still rocking but I would prefer some more slacker angles like on the new Enduro Evo. The Stumpy I have been riding much more these days, it freaking rips but I don't want to shred it on the super steep and rough dh trails, I don't feel like it was made for that but it sure feels like a little mini dh rig and it climbs SO good.

What are the trails like where you are at? Have you ridden in Canada or at any bike parks?


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## Jumpcaser (Apr 7, 2012)

Hey danderson,

I get where you're coming from since that's what I ended up doing - getting one bike for bike park days and local trails. I ended up with the sx trail and really like it. I did 16 days at CO resorts this summer (hitting all but the biggest stunts) and never felt like the bike was limiting me on the DH. When it comes to riding local trails and shuttles, I like having a bike that I'm familiar with and doesn't scare me off testing my limits, which I found was the case on some 150mm bikes out there. Sure it's not the best solution, I'd love to have 3 bikes, but this works for my budget and space limitations and the fact that I don't race up or down the mountain.

As you know the new enduro evo is basically the same as the sx trail of the past few years and so I would recommend it as a do it all bike. The geo and measures are super similar and may be better in some ways with a bb that is 6mm lower and a half degree slacker head angle. The only question I have is durability over the long haul - which is purely based on the fact that the bike doesn't _look _as tough as the sx trail.

I did get a chance to briefly ride the new evo expert in Moab after outerbike was finished and while I can't give it a thorough report on it, I can say that the suspension felt amazing (Van + CCDB) and the bike accelerated quite a bit faster than my sx trail. I think the demo dude said the weight was 32 pounds, which is pretty rad for a non-carbon 180mm bike with coil front and rear.


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## raisingarizona (Feb 3, 2009)

Jumpcaser said:


> Hey danderson,
> 
> I get where you're coming from since that's what I ended up doing - getting one bike for bike park days and local trails. I ended up with the sx trail and really like it. I did 16 days at CO resorts this summer (hitting all but the biggest stunts) and never felt like the bike was limiting me on the DH. When it comes to riding local trails and shuttles, I like having a bike that I'm familiar with and doesn't scare me off testing my limits, which I found was the case on some 150mm bikes out there. Sure it's not the best solution, I'd love to have 3 bikes, but this works for my budget and space limitations and the fact that I don't race up or down the mountain.
> 
> ...


32? Jeezus that bike is going to be SICK! As long as it can take the abuse?


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## schlockinz (Feb 6, 2009)

So, I can tell you that you can climb a big bike all day if you've got the legs. I climb my wildcard up most things, took a while to get the legs, but its a beast of a rig with a 180mm fork out front, built on the FR side (cause sometimes its fun to ride like a hack and land it flat). Just make sure that you gear it right, and be prepared to sit and pedal. That being said, the 2012 enduro that I pedaled around was amazing, Its fast out of the saddle, and feels like it could really charge, feels like it'd be a much better climber than my wildcard (plus it weighs a ton less).

All this being said, if I were to get a one bike quiver, the enduro would be high on my list, it'll take some DH punishment for you to outgrow it. You might want to look at other bike AM bikes as well (banshee rune, trek scratch etc...) A slack, stiff, 6-7" bike would make a grand quiver killer


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