Are enduro bikes needed on the shore?

Take the word "needed" lightly, im more wondering whats the general consensus on whether the shore is one of the few places where its actually justified riding a 160-170mm enduro bike vs a ~150mm trail bike. Everywhere you read about how most people are over-biked for the majority of their riding, and how most places are probably better suited for a trail bike vs an enduro bike...but i feel like the type of technical riding in our little pocket (the shore/whistler) isnt quite like the rest of the world (or maybe it is, i could be wrong..i dont get to travel much :( ). 

I know you can ride any trail basically on any bike (i grew up riding the north shore on a hard tail and V-Brakes for example) but im wondering who out there there went for the "trail" category of bike and finds it to be ample bike for the north shore..(more talking seymour/fromme/squamish/whistler...cypress is a bit of a different beast).

asking as im about to invest in a new bike within the next few months that i will ride for years (wont be swapping bikes every year or two).

My experience:

Moved to the shore with an Sworks Epic, 4inch xc race bike with full height seat post. Proceeded to crash millions of times because of the crazy steep angles and the full height seat post.
Bought Sworks Enduro 29r, 6 inch bike with dropper post. Revelation. The bike shreds and can climb pretty well for what it is (a BIG bike), but its still not big enough for some of the shore.
Bought Banshee Legend, 8inch bike, super confident descending steep stuff BUT if its not steep and deep, the E29 feels much faster. The Legend is a beast of a bike but it takes a shocking amount of energy to get through the slow techy stuff. The slack angles are its biggest benefit vs my E29

Ive since put a dropper on my Epic and I'm looking forward to trying that out. I'm hurt off the bike so have not had a chance yet but I can see how that bike will be a lot of fun!

The e29 will see 10x the miles of the other bikes. I think that a trail bike fine on most of Seymour and Fromme. Cypress needs Enduro or DH. I ride Cypress mostly.

I feel that on an equal number of trails you're going to be underbiked with a trail bike as you will be overbiked with an Enduro on Sey or Fromme - both workable!

I rode a 2013 Rocky Slayer for 3.5 years and when I decided to get a new bike I wanted something that was more trail oriented, especially as all the "enduro" bikes are full on race machines with 170mm travel.

I decided on a YT Jeffsy. Put a 150mm air shaft in the Pike when I did the Vorsprung Lufkappe upgrade and haven't touched anything else.

It rides everything on Fromme and Seymour that I usually ride (Ladies, Lower Ladies, Boogieman, C-Buster, Dales), I'd say even a bit better. Only difference has been on the tight switchback turns I have to take a wider path.

I took it to my favourite slab trail in Squamish, Treasure Trail, and it was great on the steeps.

I don't think a 160/170 travel machine is needed. But... that new Slayer is looking so good....

When it comes time to replace my reign I am pretty keen on giving a 'smaller' bike a try. I do have a dh bike so no bike park duty necessary otherwise I wouldn't.

hmm good to know, thanks for the info guys. Still trying to decide on a enduro or shorter travel machine...guess il have to try out some demos! Bikes in mind are Norco Range A7.2, Transition Patrol, Giant Trance Advanced 2, (also still have my eyes on YT Jeffsy)..tough decision buying a bike!

Hello group, this is my first post.

I'm 42 yr old intermediate rider and I have a Norco A7.2 Range.

The 7" of suspension is used up most of the time on the shore although i could use a little more air pressure... I don't have another DH bike so this bike is my Park bike too. If I had a DH bike I might have picked the Norco Sight instead.

Welcome! How do you like the Range? Hows the climbing? I don't ride the park all that often, maybe once a year.. this is why its a hard decision as there is no real "one bike to do it all" haha.

Thanks! Climbing at first was tough but i added some more air pressure in the rear shock and it's fine now. I ride up Cariboo Hill in Burnaby quite often and I'll be trying the sidewinder climb on Burnaby Mountain this weekend for the first time. 

How tall are you? I'm 6'-1 and the large fits perfect.

Okay cool nice, im 6ft so im assuming id be good on a Large.

What did you have before? How does it compare?

The A7.2 is my first Enduro bike.

Posted by: Kthorpe

Welcome! How do you like the Range? Hows the climbing? I don't ride the park all that often, maybe once a year.. this is why its a hard decision as there is no real "one bike to do it all" haha.

The bike park eats bikes. I have a used Session 88 for the 8-10 times I ride the park plus the rare Cypress day, with my Jeffsy as my usual trail bike.

If you only ride once a year rental is a good choice

I have 2 bikes, a Commencal Meta AM V4 (enduro bike) and a Chromag Rootdown BA (trail hardtail).

I actually think that because trails on the Shore are tighter and slower than most places, enduro race bikes are less well-suited to here than other places. The Commencal really comes alive when it's fast and rough, when I appreciate the slack head angle and plentiful suspension. Most of the time, I don't find I'm much worse off on the hardtail.

I mean, ride whatever you think is fun. But I think a forgiving trail bike that's not the longest and slackest out there is what's best.

Random 'best bike for the shore' thoughts...

-pick more based on your riding style  ie: are you jibbing and popping down the trail, or just grippin and rippin?

-the shore is way more slow/tight/tech than it is wideopen/fast

-Cyps & seymour darkside =enduro/DH bike ,  Fromme and/or seymour = trail bike or 'all mountain' would be plenty of bike

All good info..im definitely not a "rip the trail as fast as possible" type of rider, definitely like to have fun more than barrel through stuff. Definitely want a more playful bike than a super plush roll over everything bike..but want something slack enough to ride the steepest stuff on seymour/fromme. 

Im currently on an old giant AC with double crown fork..super heavy..not at all playful, very sluggish..not very "fun" inspiring. Would love a new stumpy but the new one in my price range (alloy comp) looks to be a bit under-forked..and not a fan of the looks of it that much..