Enduro vs all-mountain: How to choose the right mountain bike

The term “all-mountain” riding began its life as a marketing term for Cannondale’s mid-travel bikes in the late 2000s. It stuck and became a generic term because it did a good job of describing the kind of riding that many experienced mountain bikers like to do. They were looking for a phrase to describe the kind of rider who wants to go that bit further out than a trail rider, climb higher and descend gnarlier trails. Today, it is often compared to enduro and applies to riders who want to do slightly less extreme trails than enduro racers, but still want to get out there amidst the peaks. This short guide will walk you through the differences between all-mountain and enduro bikes to help you find the right one for you.

Enduro is a style of mountain bike racing that typically features long, steady climbs and challenging descents. Bikes designed for this kind of riding focus on giving the rider confidence to tackle the most technical trails on the mountain and a comfortable place to climb for extended periods of time.

What mountain bikers tend to call “all-mountain” riding is a more balanced style of mountain biking. There is a little less focus on maximum speed on the descents, and they look to tackle more varied types of climbing. Traditionally, enduro racing would use the fireroads or access roads on the mountains to reach the top, while an all-mountain ride might look to take in technical singletrack climbs. All-mountain riders still want to have fun on the way down, but it is more about the smile on your face than setting a fast time.

Mountain biking began as a sport with two extreme disciplines: cross-country and downhill. Cross-country was all about how fast you could pedal and had little emphasis on technical riding or descending. Downhill was all about how fast you could bomb down the toughest trails on the hill. For a long time, the sport struggled with what to do with the space in between these two disciplines. Because nobody quite knew what these bikes were supposed to do, you got a multitude of guesses as to what a mid-travel mountain bike was supposed to be. Some took cross-country geometry and added more travel, others took downhill bikes and made room to pedal, but few found quite the right balance of climbing prowess and descending confidence.

Enduro racing changed all this. The introduction of a well-defined racing discipline gave bike designers a goal to aim for. An enduro mountain bike had to climb well and descend at speed. For this, they took knowledge from cross-country about how to position a rider to climb and mixed it with geometry from downhill to conquer the descents. This new breed of bikes was put against the clock every weekend, and designs that worked won races, while those that didn’t floundered.

At some point, this development began to make enduro bikes more and more extreme. With a laser-sharp focus on winning races, they became aggressive, longer travel monsters, pedalable mini DH bikes which are too much bike for many people. Yet all the lessons learned in making a good enduro bike did not stay with enduro bikes, and this knowledge began to influence the design of all-mountain and trail bikes, too. Today, all-mountain bikes tend to have geometry that would not look out of place on an enduro bike of a few years ago, combined with modern kinematics to create balanced bikes that can tackle difficult climbs and fly back down the other side. Perfect for conquering all of the mountain.

While they may look similar at first glance, there are some important differences between enduro bikes and all-mountain bikes.

One of the easiest ways to make a bike more capable in gnarly terrain is to give it more suspension travel. But additional travel comes with a compromise - it makes the bike harder to manage on less extreme terrain. This is why you will generally find that all-mountain bikes have a little less travel than enduro bikes. For example, our enduro race bike, the Torque, comes with a 170 mm fork and 175 mm rear travel, while the all-mountain-ready Spectral dials it down to a 150 mm fork and 140 mm rear travel. This difference in travel means that the Torque a rock-eating machine, while the shorter travel Spectral a more responsive bike, making it more fun on less demanding terrain.

In the past, enduro bikes used to have more aggressive geometry than all-mountain bikes. By this, we mean that they would have had longer reaches, slacker head angles and lower bottom brackets to make them stable at high speeds. Today, those differences don’t really exist. If you take medium-sized models of the Torque and Spectral, you will actually see that the Spectral has a longer reach and bigger bottom bracket drop than the Torque, with very similar headangles. Both bikes have mullet options available, which tend to have shorter chainstays than full 29-inch-wheeled bikes.

You may be surprised to feel how much difference less suspension travel makes in how a bike feels. Despite having similar geometry to the Torque, you will find that Spectral is a much more lively bike. The more direct feel on the trail means that it will feel more responsive and capable on technical climbs, but more nervous on all-out descents. Of course, this is all relative - the Torque is designed for railing the toughest trails you can find. The Spectral is up to tackling all but the gnarliest lines, just maybe not quite so fast.

As a general rule, all-mountain bikes are a little lighter than enduro bikes. The Torque is an ASTM 5-rated bike, while the Spectral is ASTM 4. This means that the Torque has the same toughness rating as our Sender World Cup downhill bike, designed to take heavy landings and the biggest of hits. With its lower rating, the Spectral is built to be a sturdy, reliable bike for most mountain bikers, but would not be recommended for big jump lines and regular enduro racing. The extra strength, plus burlier suspension and tyres, means that enduro bikes like the Torque are a little heavier and more durable.

If you are not sure where you land between enduro and all-mountain riding, it might be good to take some time to think through where you live and your characteristics as a rider.  

The terrain you ride on most often is a really good starting point to consider whether you need an all-mountain or an enduro bike. What kind of trails are there around you? If you find that they are mostly steep and demanding, then an enduro bike might be a better bet for you. If they are a bit flatter, with mixed descents, then all-mountain could be a better way to go.

You need to be honest with yourself with this question. Are you an advanced rider looking to push your top speeds and set fast times, or do you prefer to keep things more fun? If you are a beginner, it might suit you better to try a shorter travel all-mountain bike because it will be more responsive and easier to handle in different situations. Although if you live in an area with a lot of advanced trails, it might make more sense to get the more capable enduro bike for extra confidence.

If you do a lot of climbing, getting a slightly lighter bike will always be more comfortable for more of the ride. What type of climbing you do is also important. If you find yourself climbing on singletrack a lot, then an all-mountain bike will likely be better suited to this kind of climbing.

Finally, there is the question of how hard you want to go out on the trails. For most people, an all-mountain bike is ideal for year-round riding. But, while they may be good for the odd enduro race or occasional trip to the bikepark, if you want to do these things regularly, then it is worth getting a tougher, more durable enduro bike. It also depends on how much you love these kinds of riding. For instance, if your yearly trip to the bikepark is the highlight of your riding year, then maybe getting the heavier-duty enduro bike is worth it to have the more capable bike on those days?

Many riders choose e-MTBs for enduro and all-mountain riding these days. Taking all the elements of all-mountain and enduro bikes and adding a motor can be a recipe for even more fun. They help you ride faster and further, and what many people don’t realise is that they let you tackle more challenging climbs than you can on a regular mountain bike.

We sell two types of e-MTB - full- and mid-power. Full-power bikes, like the race-derived Strive:ON e-enduro bike, and the trail-eating Spectral:ON, have powerful motors and big batteries to help you take your riding further and faster. We also make the Spectral:ONFly mid-power e-MTB, which has a smaller, lighter motor and battery. This is a mid-power e-MTB. It has a trail feel closer to a regular mountain bike, but offers less assistance and less range than a full-power bike.

Of course, all of this power comes with a compromise; e-MTBs are quite a bit heavier than a regular mountain bike. Some people like his extra weight as it makes them more stable at high speeds, but it is not for everyone. The Spectral:ON is almost 10 kg heavier than the unassisted version, and this makes a big difference on the trail. While we work hard to make sure our e-MTBs are as sharp-handling as possible, it is not as easy to flick an e-MTB around and play on the trail as on a classic mountain bike.

We make a few bikes that you could use for all-mountain and enduro riding. In this article, we have mostly talked about the Torque and the Spectral, as these two are designed with all-mountain and enduro riding in mind, but there are a few other bikes you could consider. The Neuron and Neuron:ON family of bikes are what we consider classic trail bikes. They are designed for less demanding riders with slightly more comfortable geometry and confidence-inspiring suspension, but would be more than happy on a big day out in the mountains.

Finally, there is the Lux Trail. With climbing being such a big part of riding in the mountains, you inevitably spend a lot of time climbing, and for that, a lightweight bike like this is always going to be more comfortable on the way up. This is why today, many advanced riders are actually choosing lightweight trail bikes like this for all-mountain riding. You need some serious skills to pilot this kind of bike down the gnarliest of trails, but for many, that is all part of the fun. If you are thinking about racing your local enduro, then it might not be the ideal bike for you, but for experienced, adventurous riders, it will put a huge smile on their face up in the mountains.

Hopefully, by now you have some idea of what people mean by enduro and all-mountain riding, and which one sounds most fun for you. If you would like to know more about enduro racing and enduro bikes, we created a short guide to go into more depth about the discipline.

If you are still not sure what riding style would best suit you, we created a series of buyers’ guides to help you find what suits you. Maybe you want to escape all the classifications and just find a bike without all the jargon? Our bike finder tool will walk you through a series of simple questions to help you find the Canyon bike best matched to you. If you find a few bikes that you like and are not sure which one is best for you, our bike comparison tool will let you compare them head-to-head to help you make a decision.

Regardless of what classification of mountain bike you end up choosing, we know our bikes will put a smile on your face. We’ll see you out there!