Ellsworth

Enlightenment 29 SLX Complete Mountain Bike - 2015

Ever since the three additional inches that define a 29er made their way into the trail-o-sphere, there have been a series of critiques leveled against big wheels. The most persistent of these is that 29ers are incompatible with long-travel suspensions. With the hardtail Enlightenment 29 SLX Complete Mountain Bike, Ellsworth effectively says, "So what?"

The Enlightenment's geometry is highlighted with a steep, tapered head tube, stiff hardtail, low bottom bracket, and — of course — the tires' increased, 29-inch contact patch. The result is a ride that corners on rails, climbs eagerly on high grades, and rocks cross-country speed to make the body-armored chairlift crowd look like ponderous beetles on everything but their own GoPro highlight reel. Despite its big wheels and long chainstays, the Enlightenment also still manages to come in with a slightly shorter wheelbase than we've seen from comparable models across the industry, so it doesn't lose grace in the face of tricky trail sections.

The Enlightenment owes its stiffness to sheets of Toray carbon that are laid-up according to Ellsworth's Force Vector Anisotropic Design. This translates into unidirectional Toray carbon fiber strategically wrapped across varying shapes and wall thicknesses in order to strike a balance between weight and energy transfer that highlights the bike's tendency toward speed at all costs. This tendency is further indulged by the full Shimano SLX drivetrain and a FOX Float CTD fork that you can lock out for speed or open for 100mm of travel, just in case the trail furniture gets a little too enduro.

The Enlightenment is finished with the forward-thinking addition of replaceable dropouts, which allow the option to switch to singlespeed for when you finally decide to fully embrace the "endure" aspect of Endurance racing.