I can't find any good answers to this question, so I'm just going to ask here (sorry if it's been asked before).
For those of you who have both a newer Trail/Enduro bike (in the 140-160mm of F/R travel range) AND a DH bike or long travel Enduro (in the 180-200+mm F/R travel), can you talk about the differences between the two when riding? I know other things such as HTA, STA, wheelbase, chainstay length, etc can also come into play, but with today's Enduro bikes being so close to the same as a DH bike in that respect, it seems like the biggest difference is travel. Most Enduro bikes these days have HTA's literally the same as a DH bike (63-64*). Wheelbase is just a tad longer on a DH bike (10-20mm longer on a DH bike). Chainstay lengths within 5-10mm of each other. So very minor differences or the same.
So can you talk about how exactly that extra 20-40mm of travel front and back makes a difference. How does it effect jumping, drops, berms, chunky terrain, gnarly steep technical areas, etc. Is it a huge difference, moderate or very subtle? Is it more of a comfort thing? Or does it also allow you to ride over stuff you can't with lower travel bikes? I'm assuming it allows you to go much faster over much rougher terrain with less rider effort, is more forgiving, more comfort and less jarring on drops and hits?
But just not sure, since I'm crazy tall and can't just ask a buddy to try out a DH bike, haha. There are only a few people that ride DH bikes where I ride and they're all people in the 5'8" to 6' range. So their bike is crazy small for me and wouldn't give me a good idea.
I'm basically just wondering if adding 20mm more of front and rear travel will make much of a difference or not (like adding a Cascade Components Link to my current bike/Megatower, and letting out the fork from 160 to 180)? Or do you have to step up to a DH bike with a 40mm difference to notice any large changes in performance and comfort? I already adjusted my bike to the longer chainstay length from 435 to 445 and put it in the Low setting, and can't tell any difference at all. So it seems like tiny little changes of 10-20mm won't make that much of a difference? But maybe for travel it will?
I watch a lot of videos online of all sorts of riders and usually when someone is on a DH bike, they just look like they are SOOO much more at ease, nothing on the trail bothers the rider. They can go way faster overall with less rider effort, jump farther and higher easier. When they land from huge jumps or drops, it's soooo smooth and way less jarring than if they are riding a 140-160mm travel type bike. It looks like like the difference between riding an F1 car down a MTN and a Rally truck. A good rider could ride either bike down the same trail, but the Enduro/Trail bike looks like a LOT more work, rougher, harsh and requires much better riding skill. While the DH bike looks SOOO plush, easy, and just effortless while gliding down the same gnarly trails.
