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All Mountain/Enduro - Specialized Enduro 29, Orbea Rallon or YT Capra and sizing

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simpler

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I'm overdue a new 150mm-160mm bike and seem to be spoilt for choice. Best combinations of aggressive geometry, decent spec seem to be:

-Orbea Rallon X team
-Specialized Enduro 29er expert
-YT Capra

I was going to go for the Enduro but have been confused about the sizing. I'm 6ft2 and had been talked into the XL with a 40mm stem based on progressive geometry, it's a reasonable reach but the wheelbase is getting massive. Whilst I've been thinking about sizing I've had a chance to look at the new YT and Orbea offerings.

- Enduro looks good but it's a lot of money for the spec, not too keen on the shock or the wheels for $6500
- Orbea Rallon looks good-decent suspension, and geo but no X01 in the $6999 Xteam spec.
- YT Capra looks awesome but it has a short top tube and 170 travel is getting long, it might feel a bit sluggish. If you believe Steve Jones from dirt it's the best thing ever but I have less and less trust in the guy recently.

Comments on sizing/bikes/alternatives appreciated particularly if you've ridden any of them.
 
#2 ·
At 6'2" your gonna be buying the biggest bike the company sells. Then hopefully you will.be able.to dial the.fit in by.adjusting cockpit and seat post.

If.i.was as tall.as you i would buy a frame with.custom geometry from. Ventana. They.are an awesome company with great customer service.

El Capitán | Ventana Mountain Bikes USA
 
#4 ·
With the Rallon your not getting decent suspension you're getting the best off the shelf suspension out there. Way better than Fox and I think the Deville is better than the Pike plus the Deville has a 20mm axle which is a bonus in my book.
 
#5 ·
simpler said:
I'm overdue a new 150mm-160mm bike and seem to be spoilt for choice. Best combinations of aggressive geometry, decent spec seem to be:

-Orbea Rallon X team
-Specialized Enduro 29er expert
-YT Capra

I was going to go for the Enduro but have been confused about the sizing. I'm 6ft2 and had been talked into the XL with a 40mm stem based on progressive geometry, it's a reasonable reach but the wheelbase is getting massive. Whilst I've been thinking about sizing I've had a chance to look at the new YT and Orbea offerings.

- Enduro looks good but it's a lot of money for the spec, not too keen on the shock or the wheels for $6500
- Orbea Rallon looks good-decent suspension, and geo but no X01 in the $6999 Xteam spec.
- YT Capra looks awesome but it has a short top tube and 170 travel is getting long, it might feel a bit sluggish. If you believe Steve Jones from dirt it's the best thing ever but I have less and less trust in the guy recently.

Comments on sizing/bikes/alternatives appreciated particularly if you've ridden any of them.
Click to expand...
At 6'2" you are not unusually tall, you do not need custom geometry, and you do not have to buy the largest size a company offers.

Size Chart

Specialized has traditionally had some of the longer top tube reaches in the industry. Look at Pivot, for example, and the E29 L has a longer reach than the Mach 6 XL. My OPINION is that you can go L or XL. Pay attention to the seat tube length on the XL. If you run a dropper you may not be able to get your seat positioned low enough. An XL with 40mm stem has the exact same reach as a L with a 60mm stem. 60mm is a very common length for this type of bike. 40mm is getting pretty short so you need to know if you like that type of set up. The wheelbase on that XL is getting plenty long (less maneuverable) as it's designed to fit riders up to 6'6".

I am 6'3" and ride a size L E29. I use a 65mm stem and 800mm bars. I do prefer a more upright position than what is traditional (i.e. stretched out XC). My set up feels plenty long. I am moving to a bar with 35mm rise to get my bar height about 1" above saddle height. Every shop I called said XL, XL, XL. I tried one and the wheelbase just felt too big. The reach with the 90mm stock stem was ridiculous but that can be changed. I could have the same reach on the XL with a 45mm stem. However, I would have to live with a seat height that was too high and a big wheelbase. I would rather lengthen the stem a bit and have the shorter wheelbase and my preferred saddle height.

I know nothing of the other two bikes but can vouch for the E29's abilities--phenomenal. You are a 'tweener and can go either way on E29 size. Just pay attention to the numbers and make sure you can live with how the bike will be set up to suit your height.

Good luck!
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Thanks for the advice guys

Fuglio, I,ll have a look at Ventana. I don't know a lot about them but know that Nicolai also do custom geo. If I can't find anything off the shelf it could be a good option. Might be a long wait though.

Mnigro, point taken,had a brief look previously and it worked out very expensive too. By the time you've got a frame (say enduro 29-$4000), a fork (say pike-$1000), and some decent wheels (say $1400) you're already way up there particularly if you want to keep the weights down with the rest of it. Perhaps the budget option would be to modify the comp version of the e29 with key parts- could go to 1*10, put some decent wheels in it, maybe a monarch plus (or even a Kirk) for less than the expert version. No carbon frame or xo1 but I think I could live with that.

Wilks, yeah BOS stuff does get great reviews. There are some problems with servicing but relatively low chances of having problems in the first place. The BOS is the main attraction of the the rallon and Capra.

Titusquasi, thanks for the sizing details and opinions it's great to hear from someone in a similar situation. Interesting that you've swapped the stems too. They seem to be quite long in the larger sizes.

Good catch on the seat tube length, I hadn't realised the XL was 50mm longer, that could be a show stopper.

The large enduro 29er seems to have a slightly shorter horizontal top tube than the large Mach 6 (617-618). Am I missing something here? Agree that generally the top tubes on a specialized are long but others seem to have caught up recently. The rallon for example is massive.

Specialized Bicycle Components
Bike Detail | Pivot Cycles - Mountain Bikes for XC, Trail, Downhill

I'd also be looking to lower the enduro with an offset bush or maybe a shorter eye to eye shock (as suggested by dirt in latest issue)
 
#7 ·
Top tube length isn't really that helpful anymore. Many bikes have bent seat tubes or seat tubes that don't originate from the center of the BB which makes gauging sizing by top tube length inconsistent. Look at "reach" numbers. This is the horizontal distance from the BB to the top-center of the head tube. Place your seat in the same position relative to the BB on every bike and the "reach/ stack" measurement is the ideal way to compare sizing.

The TT on the E29 appears short since it is quite upright to clear the big wheel and big travel (BTW, this likely requires a setback seatpost). Look at the reach numbers--a much better way to compare frame sizing--and the L E29 is about 3/4" longer "reach" than the XL M6 in the previous example.

The XL E29 is a big bike for big boys. That said--according to Specialized--you could go L or XL.
 
#8 ·
titusquasi said:
Top tube length isn't really that helpful anymore. Many bikes have bent seat tubes or seat tubes that don't originate from the center of the BB which makes gauging sizing by top tube length inconsistent. Look at "reach" numbers. This is the horizontal distance from the BB to the top-center of the head tube. Place your seat in the same position relative to the BB on every bike and the "reach/ stack" measurement is the ideal way to compare sizing.

The TT on the E29 appears short since it is quite upright to clear the big wheel and big travel (BTW, this likely requires a setback seatpost). Look at the reach numbers--a much better way to compare frame sizing--and the L E29 is about 3/4" longer "reach" than the XL M6 in the previous example.

The XL E29 is a big bike for big boys. That said--according to Specialized--you could go L or XL.
Click to expand...
reach is great, until you have to sit down
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Agree with you Titusquasi, reach is a better measure than tt length. I think the high stack on the E29 will make the reach feel a little shorter than something with smaller wheels but I've no idea how much.
 
#10 ·
I'm 5' 10.75" and I ride a medium Enduro 29. It was a toss-up between this and the L and I think I could have gone either way. I don't feel like it's "too small", I've done big epic rides and the such, but I sure wouldn't want to go any smaller than my M. If someone is just a hair taller than me, I'd recommend the L. At 6'2", an XL is also probably not out of the question. Ride both and see what you think. I didn't have an enduro handy before I got mine, so I was riding around a stumpjumper Evo to get an idea, but I think it worked out. I'm always in between sizes and these days there are ways to "downsize" a bike, with a shorter stem, as super-short stems are available and somewhat normal now, zero offset seatpost, etc. If you're between sizes, really, you should be able to make either one suit you and it comes down to what riding you think you are going to do most on it.
 
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#11 ·
Fuglio said:
At 6'2" your gonna be buying the biggest bike the company sells. Then hopefully you will.be able.to dial the.fit in by.adjusting cockpit and seat post.

If.i.was as tall.as you i would buy a frame with.custom geometry from. Ventana. They.are an awesome company with great customer service.

El Capitán | Ventana Mountain Bikes USA
Click to expand...
You do NOT need custom geometry at 6'2", that's absurd. That's only a few inches above average height.

I'm 6'6" with a 6'8" wingspan on an XL Stumpjumper and I could go smaller (e.g. Santa Cruz frames run small). Unless you have some seriously weird proportions, I can't imagine needing anything custom until at least 6'8"-6'9".
 
#13 ·
Alias530 said:
You do NOT need custom geometry at 6'2", that's absurd. That's only a few inches above average height.

I'm 6'6" with a 6'8" wingspan on an XL Stumpjumper and I could go smaller (e.g. Santa Cruz frames run small). Unless you have some seriously weird proportions, I can't imagine needing anything custom until at least 6'8"-6'9".
Click to expand...
No one ever needs custom geo, the less average your size the more custom geo makes sense.... Even I at 5'10" would benefit from custom geo....
 
#14 ·
I am lusting over the Capra so bad right now. the Spec, frame, and price are downright amazing. 28 pounds for a 175/170mm bike?!?!?! awesome. Too bad I can't get one in America.
 
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#15 ·
I know this is late in the game, but hopefully it's useful to someone looking at these bikes. I would go for the Rallon. I can't attest for the YT, but I tried out the Rallon and the Enduro 29, among several other AM bikes, and landed on the Orbea. Granted mines the fox suspension version, it still outperformed the enduro comp, which I have to admit is the most fun, badass 29er I've have ridden. I also got to ride the Orbea X-Team and it is probably the best all-mountain bike I've been on. The Bos suspension puts it on a whole different level and makes even the Pike and CCDB air look like happy meal toys. If it was in my price range I would choose it any day over a carbon Bronson or even a S Works Enduro, the geometry + suspension design is that good. The frame sizing runs large, with a long top tube. I'm on a medium Rallon at 5'11," but ride large specialized and santa cruz bikes. I really dig the geometry as I am a fan of long top tubes and slack HTAs. The short chainstay makes it playful and drifty and the steep seat tube is awesome for climbing in the saddle. My only complaint is that the back end tends to lose traction when out of the saddle on super steep climbs and the long wheel base, while super stable and fast when you're hauling ass, can be a ***** to get around tight switchbacks. Overall a really rad bike. Can't go wrong with the enduro 29 either though, also a great performer and super aggressive for a 29er, but if the Orbea with the BOS suspension is in your price range it should be a pretty easy decision in my opinion.
 
#16 ·
I am also looking at the 2016 or 2017 Orbea Rallon in either the X30 or X10 level with the standard Fox shocks front and rear.

Sizing is confusing me at 6'0" and 33.5" inside leg i seem to be in a great area the top end of Medium and bottom end of Large.

What would you knowledgable people recommend?
 
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