2019 S-Works Epic Full Suspension 29 Ultralight Frame Monocoat Black

Race courses have evolved over the past few years, becoming more technical, steeper, and simply more challenging to ride. Instead of overlooking these changes, Specialized saw this as an opportunity to make something special - something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. Looking at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well, like the head angle, reach, stack, chainstay length, fork offset, etc., Specialized reevaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. The dropper posts fit, and not just a short-travel XC option, but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. They slacked out the head angle, 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.

Next comes the redesigned Brain technology, Brain 2.0. The Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension, both its inefficiencies and benefits alike. It won races and put a flag in the ground for Specialized as a true leader in innovation and suspension development, but Specialized knew that they could make it better. Simple physics told them that, 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 finally, it 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 go along with this, each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest, best riding XC bike, no matter the frame size.

While stiffness, Brain technology, and geometry features are cool, weight also makes an impact. With the goal of the new Epic to be the fastest XC mountain bike Specilalized have ever made, weight was at the top of the priorities list. 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 350 grams.

All of those changes, the degrees, the millimeters, and the grams, make the world's fastest XC bike. Period. Get ready, because this is going to be Epic.