Trail Bike Vs. Enduro Bike | Is More Suspension Travel Better?

Trail bikes and enduro bikes each offer the chance for thrills, spills and covering terrain fast. But what is the difference between them and which is best for you?
In this video, we explore the features of a Cotic FlareMax trail bike and an Intense Tracer 29 enduro bike and ride them back to back on the same tracks to see what each is good - and not so good - at.
We examine how much travel they have, how much they weigh and answer the important question: are YOU over-biked?
Which bike is your favourite? Let us know in the comments 👇
#MBUKmagazine #MTB #mbuk #mountainbike #mbuktech
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 How To Tell The Difference
01:17 Suspension
02:14 Wheel Size
02:50 Geometry
03:47 Weight
04:44 Wheels And Tyres
05:32 Climbing
06:02 Riding The Enduro Bike
08:31 Riding The Trail Bike
10:37 Which Is Best?
11:38 Outro
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[@bikeradar]

Do you prefer a trail bike or an enduro bike?

[@cunning-stunt]

29" Hardtail with 150mm fork. You really don't need rear suspension, use your knees!

[@tradietom]

Im a park rat, 27s on 180 😅

[@bikeradar]

Phwoar my knees don't fancy that 😅 Fair play to you! ~ Will

[@bikeradar]

Yes Tom, sounds like a beast for the bike park. Enjoy your laps! ~ Will

[@lukasvrana6388]

DH :D (for bikeparks) and ebike enduro

[@WhaJMc]

I ride a XC bike with 120mm travel front and rear. It's light, climbs well and handles all the terrain that I'm prepared to ride.

[@superawesomefuntimego]

The answer here is to have both. 😁 I absolutely love my Enduro rig for 85% of the riding I do, but I do sometimes like to ride flatter and less demanding terrain, where it can still absolutely have a good time, but a shorter travel and more responsive trail bike is a better tool for that job. On those trails, I liken the Enduro to using a mallet to hammer small finish nails. Sure it can do it, but is a bit cumbersome and takes more effort. I actually just ordered a hardtail just for those 15% of trails, to hopefully unlock a different level of fun.

[@thecount1001]

i used to have both. love short travel fully's, but as i age and feel the creaks in the joints more, the enduro bike is just more comfortable for the fun stuff and the bikes climb so good these days, it's not as much of a trade off as it used to be. more suspension is also more forgiving, no matter the speed you're going.

[@benjy288]

I went from a 150 rear 160 front enduro bike to a 120 rear 130 front trail bike, and I have much more fun on the short travel trail bike, even in bike parks, in fact I'll never go back to a big travel bike again.

[@bikeradar]

Thanks for sharing Benjy! I love a trail bike! ~ Will

[@zacharypump5910]

Translation, anyone who actually needs the information in this video should get a trail bike :-)

[@Bonky-wonky]

Being underbiked is a ton of fun and makes for good skills training. Being overbiked is just bland. EDIT: when you already feel comfortable on the trail riding your appropriate bike.

[@Vokunos]

might be for you, but i am an huge puss when it comes to mountainbiking, i just think its scary af. you could put me on the most expensive downhill bike and i still would be shivering down an blue trail lmao...

[@Bonky-wonky]

@@Vokunos if you’re not comfortable, being overbiked is a nice way to gain confidence, then bring the smaller bike next time. My gf was very scared of a certain descent on the loop she usually rides on her hardtail. After doing it on the 170mm enduro bike she learned it’s not that difficult and now rides it every time on the hardtail.

[@shafiqjan1474]

150 and 153 rear travel on my 2 favorite bikes is the sweet spot for me. I go for an extra inch just in case and it has come to be helpful... 👍🏼

[@miindthegaap]

This is the best demonstration of the differences between the two I’ve seen. Trail bike for me I’m rarely on the gnarly stuff.

[@bikeradar]

Thanks Mind! Appreciate your comment! ~ Will

[@joshuaallswang8016]

I would pick a trail bike every time. A Enduro bike would be overkill in most situations.

[@deanemberley2333]

What’s most situations? Pretty general statement with no context.

[@abeautifulview]

The amount of people you see riding 160mm+ enduro E bikes, with a full face and body armour on an 'XC loop' in the Peak District is hilarious. I suppose what is extreme to one person is a cross country ride to another.

[@Vokunos]

where i am living (germany) many everyday people use bycicles wich is awsome in my opionion even if most of them are e bikes. but the ammount of people that are sitting on very expensive bikes you could ride in enduro races only to do little summer road rides with your little kids, most of the time not even touching gravel is absolutely hillarious lol. its like using an race horse in a petting zoo.

[@law844]

Looks odd but some people Just want one bike and they would rather have to much. At least they are out enjoying themselves.

[@jonntischnabel]

If that's what people find "hilarious" then comedy has deteriorated more than I thought. When you see someone on a 160mm travel bike, you don't know where they are headed, or where they've just been. They might be on tarmac, but only 3 minutes away from some big sends. I'd prefer to be overbiked than underbiked.

[@JulianJohanson]

lol I ride a 180mm/167mm evil insurgent on xc loops and also take it to bike parks. It actually pedals great for what it is ! Not anymore winded then riding my trek ex 8

[@JulianJohanson]

All of our trails have rough roots and rocks. I also drop stair cases and hit some jumps I wasn’t comfortable doing on the fuel ex

[@petersilie2432]

It became clearer to me why I feel like my massive 180mm mullet Enduro feels like the perfekt do-it-all bike to me. We have almost no smooth parts on any of our trails. And lots of real rough technical climbs to match. A Trailbike just wouldn't be as much fun in our mountains.

[@bikeradar]

Sounds like you've found the ideal setup for you Peter, thanks for sharing! ~ Will

[@CCW230]

I'm riding a LT trailbike (Occam LT) with heavier tires. Really like that for a lot of riding. Usually looking for slow riding uphill and faster/steeper downhill. I'm not super skilled or fast though, probably mediocre at best. For XC kind of rides I'll take my 120mm fully. Which is also fun on less technical, but longer trail rides. If conditions require I'll just grab the trailbikes frontwheel with burly tire. Makes the 120mm XC bike awesome in handeling, steering and braking on steeper and wetter stuff.

[@GregAspenson]

I feel good on my 130mm hardtail with 67.5 head tube angle. My trails are mostly all XC with long climbs and very little steep sections.

[@bikeradar]

Good stuff! Sounds like you've found the ideal bike for you! ~ Will

[@Jpq5177]

The newest enduro bikes 29/29 pedals really well and forks with 38 chassis they just save yours hands in longer DH

[@usernamefromhell]

140mm lightweight trail bike is where it's at. (specially lighter tires and wheels)

[@michaelgoodwin593]

If i wanna ride 180mm 29er full face body armour on my local xc runs then i bloody well will

[@bikeradar]

Right on Michael! You do you! ~ Will

[@gainknowledgeandinsight]

Yeah! Just picked up a trek slash 7 (gen) 5 LAVA for 2699.0 - huge discount - direct on webpage. Cant wait to ride it. I also have the 9.8 XT top fuel - haven’t ridden it yet, either . 😝 I have a nonbranded from China that I’ve been using for the last 4 years and love it - it was the beast that taught me this amazing hobby - it was time to upgrade. I’ll use both of my new bikes (keeping the old too) - on different trails. Woot woot. Great video!!

[@bikeradar]

Awesome stuff, I loved my Slash. You've got a serious stable there with a Fuel as well! A bike for every occasion. Enjoy the riding! Thanks so much, really appreciate the feedback! ~ Will

[@jozefvitek1]

@@bikeradar hello Can you help me pls I am going to buy new bike after 12years I tried in in shops but I really dont know if trail or enduro is better for me I wanna buy slash 7 now is 2350 in my country new lava love the look and everything but I am wondering if 170/160 travel in not too much for me and huge tires for normal biking some tral etc if its not my priority to go bike parks and jumps big drops etc can u help me if slash or fuel x is better ? thanks a lot

[@eprohoda]

total excellent - see you later~

[@Vokunos]

*me looking at my rockrider st540v2 budget hardtail* "am i overbiked ?" well actually i am because i am a huge puss and mainly ride road and gravel because of that lmao. i want to get started with "actual" mountainbiking. i am going to the skatepark soon (it has some little dirt jumps too) to try to get over the fear of my wheels leaving the ground and steeper sections. but i dont think i am ever going beyond cross country levels of "gnarly" not because i dont think i am able to conquer my fears one day, but because i am more of an "long epic rides" "climbs" and "huge adventures" guy and not so much of an "adrenaline Downhiller" "big jump" "trickster" guy.

[@ZRMTB]

Ride whatever you want.

[@bencooper7944]

Damn straight I am and happy that I am.

[@WerdnaLiten]

Neither - a XC bike with 120mm of suspension.......

[@twiceforlucktm9334]

Where are these trails?

[@darrinkulyk9560]

Nope I Live And Ride Vancouver/ Whistler Have 2 CF Bikes 170/160 Enduro 200/200 DH Both Fully Coiled

[@benjy288]

32 pounds for an enduro bike? you would be hard pressed to find a modern enduro bike that only weighs 32 pounds, unless you're spending more on it than you would on a brand new motorbike, a lot of modern bikes are getting porky, for example a reasonably high end trek slash 9.8 gen 6 weighs about 35 pounds with pedals.

[@casestudymtb]

I hate this question, the implication that travel is the only change between categories is super unhelpful to beginner riders trying to make informed decisions on a bike purchase. Geo always trumps travel, and there are a ton of bikes that prove this, something like the occam for example, still great on pedally single track, has lots of travel, but can get in over its head pretty easy (to use the last gen bikes as am example). Where as the universally loved ibis ripmo af is trash on xc trail, too heavy, too long, but a solid all mountain option that can even push into the bike park a bit.

[@MoriTouge]

It's easiest to buy travel than guts and tech.

[@phxnezze]

Both

[@George_9019]

How much travel (front & rear) does that trail bike have in your test drive video?

[@bikeradar]

Hi Geo, it's a Cotic RocketMax and it has 125mm rear travel!

[@George_9019]

@@bikeradar what about front?

[@lionelthompson8008]

You’ve got your bikes and travel mixed up. Rocketmax is Cotic enduro bike with 160mm rear travel

[@natemekis3959]

I’m over biked

[@awfully.average]

i really only care that i am biked

[@brianhunt914]

Wrong instantly..my brand new trail bike is 650b... and gone trail from enduro I prefer longer day pedàlling and my pivot is just an amazingly capable machine.

[@iffy_too4289]

WTF? SID is now a trail bike fork? Rockshox has completely lost their way.

[@jasperhekkelman2071]

It is just getting more capable. Still an XC fork, but it can easily handle trail use or even light Enduro.

[@jorgemonegal4994]

In conclusion: buy 2 bikes

[@johnpashos1257]

THIS IS ISSUED 1000 TIMES. MAKE SOMETHING NEW AND RESPECT THE MENTALITY OF YOUR VEWERS

[@emanuellyonsdelvalle9844]

The trail bike tested has no space for a water bottle.