Celebrating Specialized's first 50 years, they're looking ahead to the next half-century of innovation with the S-Works Epic World Cup Forward 50 LTD.
With multiple World Cup wins in its debut season, the Epic World Cup has quickly become the fastest bike for smoother courses.
The Forward 50 LTD features a stunning graphic design: gold symbolises Specialized's 50th anniversary, while pink pays homage to their historic Team Stumpjumper and their rebellious racing spirit.
These unique bikes come equipped with top-tier components: Specialized/RockShox SIDLuxe WCID rear shock, RockShox SID SL Ultimate 3P fork, Roval Control SL Team wheelset, Roval Control SL integrated cockpit, Roval Control SL seatpost, S-Works Power with Mirror saddle, and CeramicSpeed DUB bottom bracket, ensuring peak performance and speed.
It's time to upgrade from your hardtail. The Epic World Cup is purpose-built to win, redefining what it takes to be the fastest with an integrated system approach to chassis engineering, revolutionary shock design, and superior ride dynamics. This results in an unmatched blend of efficiency, control, and lightweight, making the bike faster as a whole than the sum of its parts.
The Epic World Cup is the ultimate XC race bike for smooth to moderately technical courses, combining efficiency, control, and lightweight. As World Champion Christopher Blevins put it: "This bike gives me everything I could want from a hardtail, plus the control and capability of full suspension."
The Specialized Ride Dynamics team developed revolutionary shock technology for the Epic World Cup, offering the efficiency and response of a hardtail along with the control and momentum of full suspension. Co-developed with RockShox, the SID Deluxe WCID shock features independently adjustable positive and negative air springs, delivering a hardtail-like "snap" and terrain-absorbing forgiveness, easily customisable for any course or rider preference.
The Epic World Cup’s 75mm of rear travel provides the control of a much longer travel bike. Designed to be ridden near its top-out, it offers the same positive travel as a 100mm travel bike with 25% sag. The Specialized Ride Dynamics team optimized the spring rate for a flat mid-stroke to handle most bumps like a longer travel bike. The custom Mega Jounce Bumper, an industry first, smoothly manages bottom-out on the biggest impacts.
With a frame weight of just 1,765g (painted with shock and all hardware), the Epic World Cup is lighter than its competitors. This means faster acceleration, more efficient climbing, and more agile handling. Specialized achieved this through advanced composite layup and tube shapes learned from developing the Aethos, the lightest production road frame ever made.
The Epic World Cup frame features Ride Dynamics-developed suspension technology and 75mm of optimised rear wheel travel. This shock technology ensures unmatched pedal efficiency and is ready for the toughest descents without needing lockout switches.
SRAM XX SL transmission with CeramicSpeed DUB bottom bracket offers top-level shifting performance and durability, perfect for the rigors of off-road racing.
A RockShox SID SL fork with 3-Position Race Day 2 damper featuring Epic 8’s “Magic Middle” tune provides support while pedaling and 110mm of active suspension, ensuring ultimate efficiency on rough terrain.
Weighing just 1,190g, the Control SL Team Wheels are the lightest production XC wheels available, meeting the demands of modern World Cup racing. The revolutionary carbon spokes, after extensive research and testing, are 29% lighter and stronger than steel spokes.