Race courses have evolved over the past few years, becoming more technical, steeper, and more challenging to ride. This gave Specialized the opportunity to make something special that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. They looked at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well, like the head angle, reach, stack, chainstay length, fork offset, etc., and reevaluated 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 not just a short-travel XC option, but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. The head angle was 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.
Next comes Brain 2.0. The original Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension, both in 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 they knew they could make it 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 Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. It's totally reborn. Now, it reacts seamlessly to bump forces and tough berms, has much more consistent damping performance, and integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This, in turn, improves oil paths, and creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.
The Epic also has a rider Rider-First Engineered™ design that places complex carbon pieces in all the right places. This greatly increases stiffness in the front-end for more improved ride quality and control. Each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest, best riding XC bike Specialized have ever developed, no matter the frame size.
With the goal of the new Epic to be the fastest XC mountain bike, weight was at the top of the priorities list. Specialized 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, a RockShox SID fork with bottom-adjust Brain Fade, 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. Meanwhile, 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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The 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset brings the performance of Eagle at a doable price point.
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The hand-built Roval Control Carbon wheels feature a modern 25mm internal width hookless rim, ensuring optimal traction and rolling resistance properties.