Specialized Epic 29, waiting to be ridden
I got a chance to swing a leg over the new Specialized Epic 29er at Sea Otter. Nic of Specialized was great. He spent a good twenty minutes talking about the bike and getting it set up for me. What he did not mention, and what I felt immediately and confirmed later, was that the bike was a size too small for me. I found out later that they had run out of my size.
Specialized’s own shock of course.
The Epic 29 is a full suspension horst link frame that uses the 2009 Reba with a customized Specialized crown and steerer tube. The crown and steerer tube changes make the Reba stiffer, but lighter, a great combination indeed.
Tapered headtube, with an internal headset to keep things down up front
Taking the Epic out on the test loop I immediately noticed it’s racy roots. The Epic 29 was fast bike with good handling. There were a couple of times when the handling may have been a bit too fast for me or I was just not used to it yet, and the smallest movement had me straying off the singletrack. Thankfully the brakes brought me back under control before I hurt myself and I was able to quickly get back on the trail without any issues.
I was also impressed with the out of saddle climbing as I was uanble to feel or see any pedal bob. There were short stretches of trail where I got out of saddle and hammered things out and the Brain did its job and limited bob. When I got a chance to open up the bike and speed along, the shock and Brain did their jobs in taking out some of the terrain’s edges.
In the short time I was on the Epic 29, I could definitely tell it was a race worthy 29er bike. It felt efficient when climbing and yet descended well on the non-technical open trail.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Any idea when this is gonna be released? Thanks!
Mic,
Emailed Nic from Specialized and he says, depending on the model, sometime in October!
I’ll be in line for it in October, then!!! I’ve had a 2008 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29 & a 2005 S-Works Epic (26″)… If specialized can combine these two bikes… as far as I’m concerned there’s not a better bike out there!!!
You don’t happen to know the weight and price do you?
Too bad they did not have enough fore thought to do fox/specialized inertia valve technology for the front shock to make it a well balanced out rig. Most of your unwanted bob comes from the front. Also, to do a carbon s-works model. The front brain and full carbon body would make this a remarkably competitive entry into the new dual suspension 29ers coming out from Santa Cruz and Fisher.
As it is….not so much.
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