Ask any XC racer what makes a winning bike and they’ll all give you one answer: weight. With steep climbs, sharp accelerations and roots and rocks to nip over, modern cross-country courses are technical, challenging and put plenty of demands on you and your bike. A lightweight, responsive bike that storms up climbs and slays descents is a must, and Specialized have once again upped the game.
The 2020 Epic Hardtail has been redesigned from the ground up to give you an unparalleled advantage. It’s not just the lightest mountain bike frame we've ever made, it's our lightest frame ever.
The game changer
As XC courses have got rougher and more technical, so Specialized have improved the handling of our most capable hardtail. We’ve refined every inch of the bike to create the world’s lightest, fastest and most forgiving race machine. The lightest production hardtail on earth is also the most capable and comfortable racing machine ever created.
The unbelievably light carbon frame features narrower tube shapes which, as well as minimising weight, improve compliance, comfort and handling. At a smidge over 900 grams, the new Epic Fact 11m carbon frame is the ridiculously light beating heart of the Hardtail, Hardtail Comp and Hardtail Expert models.
Step up to the S-Works model and we’ve managed to go even lower; the Fact 12m frame barely bothers the scales and comes in at under 800 grams in a medium. With CX races decided by seconds, sometimes even less, a weight advantage on this scale is enough to have your rivals looking around on the start line and wondering who they have to beat for 2nd place.
The geometry of this racy monster has been tweaked to give you fantastically stable handling. CX hardtails are notorious for being a little twitchy, but the slackened head angle, reduced fork offset and increased reach of the Specialized line-up create a race machine that remains nimble while boosting control.
Simply badass
The new Epic is a World Cup race rocket that’s spec’d out with only the best parts. The whole range comes with Specialized components including handlebars and stems, saddles, seatposts, wheels and tyres. No more searching for replacement parts following the inevitable tumble or when looking for upgrades – it’s all in-house and it’s all proven to work brilliantly.
The 29” Roval wheels are shod with 2.3” rubber, providing ample grip even when run at lower pressures. Incidentally, the frame can cater for up to 2.4” tyres should you be riding even more gnarly terrain. SRAM’s drivetrain provides you all the gearing you need to tackle the biggest climbs, right up to the unrivalled wireless XX1 Eagle AXS on the S-Works.
Bike mechanics everywhere will no doubt give a little fist pump on hearing the news that we’ve specced threaded bottom brackets. This not only means easier servicing but it also reduces the weight around the BB shell. Another win for the weight weenies.
Little details like the seat tube diameter go to show just how smart our designers have been with this bike. Mention to many folks that we’ve increased it and they’ll raise an eyebrow, give you a pat on the shoulder and walk away, telling everyone Specialized have gone cuckoo. But by widening it from 27.2mm to 30.9mm we’ve improved compliance and dropped weight while providing compatibility with a wider range of dropper seatposts.
Improved comfort is not to be sniffed at. After several hours in the saddle on a conventional hardtail you can sometimes feel a little beaten up. But the new Epic reduces fatigue, keeping you fresh and ready to drop into the faster gear when your rivals are beginning to flag. On race day that’s the difference between winning and coming in with the stragglers.
Singletrack Magazine's Wil Barrett was given the chance to ride the new Epic at the Specialized US Summer Camp. It’s fair to say he was impressed, saying the 2020 Epic’s “crisp handling, fast acceleration and super low weight makes this bike absolutely deadly on the climbs and deadly on the descents.”
Sounds fun, right? We’ve got the Comp, Expert and S-Works models in stock right now, and we’ll have the Hardtail model in soon. You owe it to yourself to get down to one of our stores and give one of these beauties a test ride. Don’t get left behind!
