£12,000 The easiest-to-ride bike we’ve ever tested
Specialized have upped the travel of their top-flight race bike, to ensure it’s capable of hitting the gnarliest cross-country lines. It retains some of the more progressive geometry in the XC field, too. New for this year is automatic, wireless suspension adjustment courtesy of RockShox’s new Flight Attendant-equipped SID fork and SIDLuxe shock, co-launched with the bike last month.
THE FRAME
The frame of this top-end S-Works model is built from Spesh’s high-modulus ‘FACT 12m’ carbon fibre. A single-pivot swingarm delivers 120mm of rear-wheel travel – 20mm more than on the previous Epic – with flexstays used instead of a rear pivot to drive the shock-actuating rocker link. The chassis has a new steering block and updated down tube storage, but grams have been saved, via features such as a moulded-in (not bonded-on) upper shock mount.
With the geometry flip-chip in its ‘low’ position, the bike has a slack-for-XC 65.9-degree head angle and 75.5-degree seat tube angle. Both can be steepened by 0.6 degrees. The large size we tested has a 475mm reach.
THE KIT
Roval carbon rims fitted with Spesh’s Renegade and FastTrak tyres create a lightweight wheelset, and SRAM’s wireless XX SL Eagle AXS Transmission continues the theme, as does the one-piece Roval bar/stem. The RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post is heavier than some, but ties in with the rest of the electronics.
The big news is the Flight Attendant system. This links the accelerometer-equipped SID Ultimate fork and SIDLuxe shock with the rear mech and the power-meter cranks, and, based on inputs from the rider and the terrain, determines which of the three low-speed compression damping modes the fork and shock should be in, to give efficiency uphill and flat-out speed down. Adjustments can be made via the top-cap of the fork or in the AXS app, and there’s an override button on the right-hand shifter pod, in case you should want to change modes manually.
Spesh have gone a step further, working with RockShox to create a custom shock with a digressively-damped ‘Magic Middle’ position. This is the position their engineers assume you’ll spend most of your ride time in, and is designed to be stable under pedalling, while enabling sufficient travel to be used over bumps.
THE RIDE
The Epic spins up to speed easily, thanks to its lightweight wheels and the low, closely-packed tread of the rear tyre. On smooth surfaces, the tyres hold their
