Speeltyd Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 This must have been addressed before - but I can not find it. So help out again please.What is the difference between Cross-Country, Trail and Enduro.Please also give examples of trails. My normal playgrounds include Groenkloof, Red Barn (Centurion); Avianto (Krugersdorp-area); Harkerville (Knysna). To me, these are all Cross Country, but when I read some definitions, they could be Enduro-style.Also, what mainline bike (model) is best suited for each (assuming dual sus).
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Okay... Firstly, there are no "enduro trails" or "cross country" trails. All there are is trails with varying degrees of difficulty. Beginner intermediate advanced and inbetween. Or green yellow blue red black and so on. Where the XC /ttrail / Enduro / dh thing comes in is stringing together various bits of each trail to form a course of sorts. An xc trail could be made up of beginner to advanced level trails with stretches of jeep track and so on, whereas an Enduro trail would (should) have advanced level trails and hardly any beginner / intermediate together with some climbing etc. Downhill should also be advanced level trails. So ja. Trails aren't specific to a particular discipline, even though historically some may have been referred to as a "downhill trail " due to the technicality it has. They are or should be rated according to their difficulty and the particular events would be stringing various different trails to suit their needs. XCO - Advanced level trails with short sharp steep climbing. XCM - beginner to intermediate trails with long stretches of jeep track Trail - all trails All mountain / enduro - intermediate to advanced level trail with less emphasis on climbing DH - only advanced level trails on a Downhill trajectory. That's my take at least.
Speeltyd Posted April 16, 2015 Author Posted April 16, 2015 OK, but why then the different bikes (frames, forks and groupsets) aimed at "cross-country", "trailbike" etc?
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 OK, but why then the different bikes (frames, forks and groupsets) aimed at "cross-country", "trailbike" etc?Depends on the disciplines yiu want to ride, and the majority of trail type that you ride. No use buying a dh bike if you want to compete in the xcm circuit which focuses on long distance Routes. A bike is designed to do what the designer wants it to Do. DH bikes are designed to get down the hill as fast as possible. All mountain / enduro bikes are more focused on descending fast, technical trails but you still need to be able to climb to the top of the trail. Trail bikes are the do it alls. Long day in the saddle doing everything. XC bikes are geared at going fast on the way up and on the flatS. Generally speaking, the more you favour descending / technical trails the more travel / slacker the head angle you want. Different strokes / different folks. If there weren't any place for it we'd still be riding boneys.
AREM Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Sorry for the hijack, but what is the difference between an AM / Enduro bike and a trail bike?
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Sorry for the hijack, but what is the difference between an AM / Enduro bike and a trail bike?Nothing really apart from just slightly longer travel and slacker head angles on the AM side. But there is more and more crossover nowadays. Trail is generally 120-140 whereas AM /Enduro is 140-170
TAAHIRWP Posted April 16, 2015 Posted April 16, 2015 i always thought that enduro was just a race format for Allmoutain riders.....
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 i always thought that enduro was just a race format for Allmoutain riders.....It is, but sadly it's being used as a catch all term for the type of riding, bikes, gear etc as well. I've come to embrace the change, but I still don't like it.
the nerd Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Sorry for the hijack, but what is the difference between an AM / Enduro bike and a trail bike?Marketing.
mike88 Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Great Q&A guys. Thanks to El Capitan for the lesson.
popcorn_skollie Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Okay... Firstly, there are no "enduro trails" or "cross country" trails. All there are is trails with varying degrees of difficulty. Beginner intermediate advanced and inbetween. Or green yellow blue red black and so on. Where the XC /ttrail / Enduro / dh thing comes in is stringing together various bits of each trail to form a course of sorts. An xc trail could be made up of beginner to advanced level trails with stretches of jeep track and so on, whereas an Enduro trail would (should) have advanced level trails and hardly any beginner / intermediate together with some climbing etc. Downhill should also be advanced level trails. So ja. Trails aren't specific to a particular discipline, even though historically some may have been referred to as a "downhill trail " due to the technicality it has. They are or should be rated according to their difficulty and the particular events would be stringing various different trails to suit their needs. XCO - Advanced level trails with short sharp steep climbing. XCM - beginner to intermediate trails with long stretches of jeep track Trail - all trails All mountain / enduro - intermediate to advanced level trail with less emphasis on climbing DH - only advanced level trails on a Downhill trajectory. That's my take at least. While this pretty much sums it up. I thinks its important to mention that the level of riding skill required to ride a trail doesn't necessarily equate the trail to a particular riding dicipline.
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 While this pretty much sums it up. I thinks its important to mention that the level of riding skill required to ride a trail doesn't necessarily equate the trail to a particular riding dicipline.1 millllllllion percent. There are loads and loads and loads of XCO guys who would whup many a "top flight" downhiller, and vice versa.
Enduro_Jakes Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 The most annoying thing on earth to me are these people that think Enduro means endurance.... Found an Enduro hub only to be sorely disappointed as it was all about endurance racing...
RockCoach Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 Just as an example, Hakahana was an XC venue until Johan asked for advice from us on making it more #Enduro. Fortunately it was quite gnarly as a marathon venue. So all we did was add a handful of different lines, make some jumps and drops on the already technical descents and call them A lines. So your XCM bike could still tide the Enduro course but usually not quite as quickly as as long travel trail/AM bike.
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