Constructed with a lightweight carbon frame, industry-leading suspension technology and a race-ready build kit, the Epic Expert is not only ready to shine in races, but it's also ready to put your closest buddies in the pain cave on the weekends.
Race courses have evolved over the past few years, becoming more technical, steeper, and simply more challenging to ride. This prompted Specialized to make something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. They looked at parts that make a bike handle well, such as the head angle, reach, stack, chainstay length, and fork offset, then re-evaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. Dropper posts fit, and are not just a short-travel XC option, but full-length droppers fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. The Head Angle is slacked out but not without evaluating the overall handling package. It now lands on a custom offset, 42mm fork that works with the slacker head angle in order to behave itself in tight corners and through switchbacks.
The Brain Technology (Brain 2.0) changed the way the bike world looked at suspension, both its inefficiencies and benefits alike. It won races and became a true leader in innovation and suspension development, although Specialized themselves knew it could be better. By moving the Brain closer to the rear axle, it would be in the most sensitive spot. After countless hours with the RockShox team, the new Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. It's totally new. Now, it reacts seamlessly to bump forces, it has much more consistent damping performance and integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This, in turn, improves oil paths, and it creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.
The new Epic also gets a serious upgrade in the stiffness department. The Rider-First Engineered™ tubes place complex carbon pieces in all the right places, which greatly increases stiffness in the front end for a vast improvement in ride quality and control. To accompany this, each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest, best riding XC bike developed by Specialized - no matter the frame size.
While stiffness, Brain technology, and geometry features are fantastic, weight needed to be prioritised if the new Epic was to be the fastest XC mountain bike Specialized have made. They started with an efficient frame layout and tube shapes that feature clean cable routing, integrated channels through the shock extension, straight tubes with less curves, and optimised torsion profiles in every section. This weight savings is equivalent to shedding a chainstay and shock extension from the previous Epic - nearly 525 grams.
The build of the Epic Expert meshes performance with value, featuring a 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset, SRAM Level TL brakes, and a hand-built Roval Control carbon fibre wheelset. Get ready, because this is going to be Epic.
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Full fact 11m carbon fibre frame combines stiffness, strength, and light overall weight to deliver an off-the-hook race bike.
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The new geometry, RockShox Brain shock, and 100mm of travel, make the Epic the best handling, fastest XC rig you've been on.
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Specialized custom RockShox SID fork with Brain features a top-adjust Brain fade, and a custom offset to make it suitable for the new Epic.
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The 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset brings the performance of Eagle at a doable price point.