The Women's Epic Hardtail Comp Carbon is changing the way we see XC hardtails for good. Lighter and faster with better handling than its predecessors, and with a custom shock tune, this bike is a dream to ride for lighter riders.

At just 1175g it's one of the most lightweight frames we've ever built for mountain biking, and we've managed that by building the entire frame from the same FACT 11m carbon fibre normally reserved for bikes on the topmost branches of the mountain biking tree.

To maximise rider enjoyment of the Epic we've taken a few tips from our road bike division, including the Rider-First Engineered concept that started life with the Specialized Tarmac.

That means we optimised the size and the carbon layup of each tube in relation to the specific frame size, to deliver the perfect balance of weight, rigidity and responsiveness. The result of Rider-First is that every single frame performs just as we intend it to, whatever size you ride.

We've managed to squeeze more ridiculous speed and stability out of the Epic this year by adjusting the geometry, lengthening the top tube, slackening the head tube angle, and then correcting the seat tube angle. All of this ties together to leave it feeling absolutely rooted to the trail. The rear spacing is wider at 12x148mm with internal split-housing cable routing.

The build on this model is polished off with a right on the nose custom-tuned RockShox Reba RL fork, SRAM GX 1x11 shifting, all sitting on a stupidly fast pair of Roval Control alloy wheels. All of the touch points have been picked with female riders in mind, with Sip Grips, the bar width and crank arm length all considered, topped with the superlative Women's Myth Sport saddle

• By pairing a women's-specific FACT 11m carbon fiber frame with our XC 29 Geometry, this Epic HT places a focus on precise tube angles and extremely light overall weight for explosive speed and nimble handling on the race circuit. For good measure, we also gave it a 148mm rear spacing and all-new triangulated post-mount brake mounts.
• A custom RockShox Reba RL 29 fork offers up 80-100mm of smooth travel, while an easily accessible compression and rebound adjusts permit you to customize the feel according to the terrain at hand. Lastly, this fork has received our custom Women's Rx Tune for even better performance.
• One-by 11-speed shifting is provided by a durable SRAM GX component spec.