Coil shock on 2003 Enduro?

Hey Lee,

Firstly, let me express my adoration for your writing. Being a mountain bike journalist is an admirable career, and you are the best of the selected few. I enjoy reading your blog (and your book) very much – that is when I do not ride my bike.

And it is the bike about which I have a question. I would like to have a coil rear shock on my old Enduro 2003. Although this bike is not the latest word from Specialized, it is so great I do not intend to change it for anything – it just rocks. However, I would like to have a plushy coil at the back, such as Vanilla R.

The problem is that Enduro shocks come at unusual eye-to-eye length (7.765 to be exact). So I wonder whether it would be feasible to put a longer eye-to-eye shock, e.g. 7.875, or maybe a shorter one (7.5 e2e).

The other question is what kind of a shock would fit the Enduro. Is it feasible to install a Vanilla shock? Wouldn’t the piggy back reservoir be a problem on the frame?

Sincerely Yours,
Omer Shapira

The Mighty Enduro near the Continental Divide. Yeah, there was some braaap …

Hi Omer,

Thanks for the kind words. I like what I do — that makes it easy.

The 2002-2004 Enduro is indeed a supersweet bike. Climb it, descend it, jump it, braaap it.

– You can fit a Vanilla coil shock on that beauty.

– There is no room for a piggyback. I’ve seen guys run piggybacks, but they had to file down part of the frame — not a great idea, especially if you’re not a factory pro. Forget warranty!

– My 2003 S-Works Enduro had a 7.5″ shock. This lowered the BB and slackened the head angle, which made the geometry more like the newer Enduro. As great as the 2002-2004 Enduro was, the 2005-2006 is even better … and the 2007 is EVEN BETTER!!!

Rip it,

— Lee