Ha! Nice call out though!
Who would have thought that after all that R&D Specialized would abandon Ohlins after one season??? (I'm guessing the folks at Cane Creek sent them a nice condolence card).
Counterpoints:
1) It's a great thing that the Enduro is still 51mm. That's what it was designed around. Plenty of companies are selling 29'er bikes with shorter offsets that would actually benefit from 51mm because it's a lot easier to be on-trend then explain why your bike works a small % better with the offset it was designed around.
2) All of the Specialized bikes that were redesigned for the 2019 model year have reduced offset. See Stumpy, Stumpy EVO, Epic. The Enduro is just late to the party!
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To answer your question, my rule (and smarter people than me back this up) when it comes to 29'ers is that for 40mm and shorter stems I go shorter offset (44-46-whatever) and for 60mm and longer stems I go longer offset (51). There are other factors for sure that will play a role (BB height, rear center, etc) but this is a good general starting point.
Basically, if your Reach is long enough to require that short a 40mm stem then the shorter offset will help with high-speed handling. If your Reach is short enough you need a 60mm+ stem the stem is long enough that high-speed handling will be good and the 51mm offset corrects some steering issues.
You're in that 45-55mm stem grey area. If it was my bike, and the fit worked, I would go 10mm shorter on the stem or possibly a bit narrower on the handlebar (if you're running 800mm+) OR trade + cash (cash going your way) CSU's with someone desperate to get on trend with the reduced offset and bump up to a 50mm or 60mm.
Obviously, WAY cheaper and more reversible to experiment with stem length. One of your buddies probably has a 35mm stem kicking around you could borrow!?
Jan. 29, 2019, 10:45 p.m. - Andrew Major
Ha! Nice call out though! Who would have thought that after all that R&D Specialized would abandon Ohlins after one season??? (I'm guessing the folks at Cane Creek sent them a nice condolence card). Counterpoints: 1) It's a great thing that the Enduro is still 51mm. That's what it was designed around. Plenty of companies are selling 29'er bikes with shorter offsets that would actually benefit from 51mm because it's a lot easier to be on-trend then explain why your bike works a small % better with the offset it was designed around. 2) All of the Specialized bikes that were redesigned for the 2019 model year have reduced offset. See Stumpy, Stumpy EVO, Epic. The Enduro is just late to the party! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- To answer your question, my rule (and smarter people than me back this up) when it comes to 29'ers is that for 40mm and shorter stems I go shorter offset (44-46-whatever) and for 60mm and longer stems I go longer offset (51). There are other factors for sure that will play a role (BB height, rear center, etc) but this is a good general starting point. Basically, if your Reach is long enough to require that short a 40mm stem then the shorter offset will help with high-speed handling. If your Reach is short enough you need a 60mm+ stem the stem is long enough that high-speed handling will be good and the 51mm offset corrects some steering issues. You're in that 45-55mm stem grey area. If it was my bike, and the fit worked, I would go 10mm shorter on the stem or possibly a bit narrower on the handlebar (if you're running 800mm+) OR trade + cash (cash going your way) CSU's with someone desperate to get on trend with the reduced offset and bump up to a 50mm or 60mm. Obviously, WAY cheaper and more reversible to experiment with stem length. One of your buddies probably has a 35mm stem kicking around you could borrow!?