great bikes. get brain if you race. you can race with both but brain adds some efficency. personally i woul just get the expert unless components are different.
Brain or no Brain
Newbie here,
I am getting ready to purchase a new bike and have narrowed it down to either a stumpy expert without the rear brain fade or the stumpy pro with the brain. I'd like to hear your comments about the differences betweeen the two. Or whatever else you'd like to add about stumpy's etc.
Thank you,
BeanMan
Palisade, Colorado
I am getting ready to purchase a new bike and have narrowed it down to either a stumpy expert without the rear brain fade or the stumpy pro with the brain. I'd like to hear your comments about the differences betweeen the two. Or whatever else you'd like to add about stumpy's etc.
Thank you,
BeanMan
Palisade, Colorado
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
"trail-tuned" isn't very "epic," IMHO
I was in the same boat as you. I threw down the extra $$ for the Pro with the "trail-tuned" brain, and I'm disappointed. I leave the "brain fade" adjustment at full-closed, and it still bobs all over the place. Meanwhile, my friends who got the Epic Marathon aren't bobbing as they climb. My consolation prize is that, at 170lbs, my Stumpy Pro doesn't bob nearly as much as my Clydesdale buddy's Pro... he's REALLY disappointed!
The "Trail-Tune" only offers 70% of the resistance offered by the regular Brain on the Epic, and so far as I can tell, it's more marketing than it is performance. I've seen other posts about this, saying, "oh, why would Specialized offer the race-style suspension on a trail bike?!?" and I just don't get it... either you want a bike with inertial lockout, or you don't. I got the Pro because I wanted a 5" bike that was rigid when it needed to be, and plush when it needed to be. Instead, I received a regular 5" bike with lots of compression damping and a heavy inertial damper that doesn't provide me with the "five-inch Epic" ride I was looking for.
The Expert will be not only cheaper, but lighter. And you'll like it better, I bet! I like my Pro fine, but I'm bailing out on it.
I was in the same boat as you. I threw down the extra $$ for the Pro with the "trail-tuned" brain, and I'm disappointed. I leave the "brain fade" adjustment at full-closed, and it still bobs all over the place. Meanwhile, my friends who got the Epic Marathon aren't bobbing as they climb. My consolation prize is that, at 170lbs, my Stumpy Pro doesn't bob nearly as much as my Clydesdale buddy's Pro... he's REALLY disappointed!
The "Trail-Tune" only offers 70% of the resistance offered by the regular Brain on the Epic, and so far as I can tell, it's more marketing than it is performance. I've seen other posts about this, saying, "oh, why would Specialized offer the race-style suspension on a trail bike?!?" and I just don't get it... either you want a bike with inertial lockout, or you don't. I got the Pro because I wanted a 5" bike that was rigid when it needed to be, and plush when it needed to be. Instead, I received a regular 5" bike with lots of compression damping and a heavy inertial damper that doesn't provide me with the "five-inch Epic" ride I was looking for.
The Expert will be not only cheaper, but lighter. And you'll like it better, I bet! I like my Pro fine, but I'm bailing out on it.
I like my pro but I wished that it had the same fade adjust capability as my epic. Specilized are you listining? My progressive 5th element on my heckler rides just as good. Unltil they "race" tune it. I wouldn't bother.:thumbsup:
The big advantage of not getting the brain is you can have your shock Pushed, and you bike will perform better than the brain equiped stumpy.BeanMan said:Newbie here,
I am getting ready to purchase a new bike and have narrowed it down to either a stumpy expert without the rear brain fade or the stumpy pro with the brain. I'd like to hear your comments about the differences betweeen the two. Or whatever else you'd like to add about stumpy's etc.
Thank you,
BeanMan
Palisade, Colorado
Frankly......if you get the Stumpy to "bob all over the place", you really don't know how to pedal or you've got +3/4 of sag. The Enduro doesn't bob with the Brain (more active than the Stumpy Brain) nor with the old Vanilla (old enough not to have any platform damping system - PP, SPV etc...).2:1 said:I was in the same boat as you. I threw down the extra $$ for the Pro with the "trail-tuned" brain, and I'm disappointed. I leave the "brain fade" adjustment at full-closed, and it still bobs all over the place. Meanwhile, my friends who got the Epic Marathon aren't bobbing as they climb. My consolation prize is that, at 170lbs, my Stumpy Pro doesn't bob nearly as much as my Clydesdale buddy's Pro... he's REALLY disappointed!
you're talking about the 04 S-Works Enduro?
Umm, frankly, Jeppe, I do know how to pedal... but I also want to have full travel when I need it. You do have a point- increased spring pressure means that the shock won't bob as much on the ascent... but then it's much harder to get full travel on the descent. The reason I stripped down my '04 Enduro Comp was so that I could "upgrade" to the Brain shock, which I thought would give me a "best-of-both-worlds" feel... the '06 Brain Fade was a huge improvement over the original Brain. But, "Trail-Tune" seems to handicap that beautiful performance of the Epic's Brain. To my dismay, as S-Works posted, PUSH won't touch anything with a Brain on it. I'm actually going back to my PUSH'ed '04 model, because I think it climbs and descends better than the '06 Pro.
Umm, frankly, Jeppe, I do know how to pedal... but I also want to have full travel when I need it. You do have a point- increased spring pressure means that the shock won't bob as much on the ascent... but then it's much harder to get full travel on the descent. The reason I stripped down my '04 Enduro Comp was so that I could "upgrade" to the Brain shock, which I thought would give me a "best-of-both-worlds" feel... the '06 Brain Fade was a huge improvement over the original Brain. But, "Trail-Tune" seems to handicap that beautiful performance of the Epic's Brain. To my dismay, as S-Works posted, PUSH won't touch anything with a Brain on it. I'm actually going back to my PUSH'ed '04 model, because I think it climbs and descends better than the '06 Pro.
Brain - all the way
I have an 06 stumpy with the brain and love it. The brain on the stumpy is not going to be as stiff as the epic. I have no bobbing problems what so ever on my stumpy and I have 10 psi less in the shock to make it a little more plush. The bike is great threw rock gardenss and I am hitting 2 foor drops with no problems on the bike.
If your are looking for a light all moutain type bike that pedals great than get the brain.(it does take a bit to tune the shock) If your looking for a x-country race bike get the EPIC.
I have an 06 stumpy with the brain and love it. The brain on the stumpy is not going to be as stiff as the epic. I have no bobbing problems what so ever on my stumpy and I have 10 psi less in the shock to make it a little more plush. The bike is great threw rock gardenss and I am hitting 2 foor drops with no problems on the bike.
If your are looking for a light all moutain type bike that pedals great than get the brain.(it does take a bit to tune the shock) If your looking for a x-country race bike get the EPIC.
Yup, another vote for the shock done by PUSH. What a difference between my PUSHed shock and my standard Triad.S-Works said:The big advantage of not getting the brain is you can have your shock Pushed, and you bike will perform better than the brain equiped stumpy.
No, I don't have the S-Works. My Enduro is 2005 Elite Brain.2:1 said:Umm, frankly, Jeppe, I do know how to pedal... but I also want to have full travel when I need it. You do have a point- increased spring pressure means that the shock won't bob as much on the ascent... but then it's much harder to get full travel on the descent.
The rear is really firm even when pedaling off the saddle and I still use all travel. I even tried the old Fox Vanilla which didn't have Propedal and I was really surprised that the rear didn't bob at all. :thumbsup:
I think it's really weird if you can get the rear end to bob on a Brain.
The Trail-Tune means the threshold adjustment of the Brain. My Brain doesn't have that adjustment, but the 2005 Enduro Expert Brain does. The adjustment range is 0,5-1,0 g. The Brain on the Elite model has been fixed to 0,75 g. Having the Trail-Tune set in midrange, means that it's the same shock as the non-Trail-Tunable one. This means that the Trail-Tune can't actually handycap anything. It just gives a wider range of adjustment to match the rider weight and preferences.The reason I stripped down my '04 Enduro Comp was so that I could "upgrade" to the Brain shock, which I thought would give me a "best-of-both-worlds" feel... the '06 Brain Fade was a huge improvement over the original Brain. But, "Trail-Tune" seems to handicap that beautiful performance of the Epic's Brain.
There are differences in the Brain-shocks. The Enduro's is more acitve than the Stumpy's and it keeps the valve open longer. The Stumpy's is more active than the Epic's and the valve stays open longer. Someone said that the Epic adjusted to its softest is comparable to the Stumpy at its firmest setting.
A friend has a PUSH'ed shock on his Enduro and he says it's better than the original, which - I know - isn't that bad. I'd love to try one aswell, since I don't really need the Brain.To my dismay, as S-Works posted, PUSH won't touch anything with a Brain on it. I'm actually going back to my PUSH'ed '04 model, because I think it climbs and descends better than the '06 Pro.
IMO Brain is good for racing, but a regular shock - with or without a Propedal - works great for everything else and with increased comfort.
But mabye it's just like a friend or mine said: "the Propedals etc were developed so that XC-racers didn't have to learn to pedal well".
I'm happy with the pro. Bought it mostly for the components but ended up liking the brain a lot more than I expected. I think the best comparison is that it feels like the expert on pro-pedal but opens up when you hit a bump. It saves you from having to fiddle with the rear shock ever, which to me is a big convenience.
Other people tell me they just ride their SJ with the shock open all the time, or in pro-pedal all the time. Either way brain, pro-pedal, or open I think you are looking at subtle differences in peddaling efficiency for a recreational rider. You can make any of them bob, especially thru the sag, you can also have near zero bob even in open just by sitting and a smooth cadence.
Bottom line I doubt the brain is worth the extra $$s alone, but if you want the pros part spec as well the brain is a very nice bonus.
Other people tell me they just ride their SJ with the shock open all the time, or in pro-pedal all the time. Either way brain, pro-pedal, or open I think you are looking at subtle differences in peddaling efficiency for a recreational rider. You can make any of them bob, especially thru the sag, you can also have near zero bob even in open just by sitting and a smooth cadence.
Bottom line I doubt the brain is worth the extra $$s alone, but if you want the pros part spec as well the brain is a very nice bonus.
PUSHed on Triads?
Alot of folks are saying a PUSHed shock is much better, but I question that on the Fox shock that Specialized uses, the TRIAD.
If you go to PUSH's sight, you will see that for the TRIAD rear shock, they only do the $95 Factory Rebuild and NOT the $150 Factory Tuning, which is where they really make a difference, by customizing the pro-pedal tuning to match your bike with you. So the question is, for Specialized, is a Factory Rebuild by PUSH make a TRIAD shock that much better?
2007 only confuses this topic more because the 2007 Expert now has the Brain too!
Alot of folks are saying a PUSHed shock is much better, but I question that on the Fox shock that Specialized uses, the TRIAD.
If you go to PUSH's sight, you will see that for the TRIAD rear shock, they only do the $95 Factory Rebuild and NOT the $150 Factory Tuning, which is where they really make a difference, by customizing the pro-pedal tuning to match your bike with you. So the question is, for Specialized, is a Factory Rebuild by PUSH make a TRIAD shock that much better?
2007 only confuses this topic more because the 2007 Expert now has the Brain too!
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
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