New bike?? Spesh Epic

[slarge]

Just tried a Specialised Epic on loan from my local bike shop for a cyclocross race in a quarry - was quite good. I think it would make a fast all day bike as well as a short course race bike. Not sure if it is faster than my hardtail though....

Question though is whether it would suit me better than a Spearfish or other fast 29er.

I don't get new bikes very often, so it is a choice made carefully, right now I am dreaming, but if the right price came up I think I could justify one

[Scott L]

Personally I am a big fan of the short travel full sus for long rides. Very comfortable and bikes like the epic, spearfish or the orbea I use can all take a decent sized frame bag if you wish.

Costs of running them is more expensive than hardtails or rigids but reliability is fine on big rides if you've checked the bearings etc beforehand.

A few riders I know use the spesh epic for xc racing, the new brain technology is better than in previous years although still slightly unusual to ride I think. Has a bit of a knock to it but it does feel super efficient to ride. As they have moved away from horst link suspension and made the rear end pivotless it has saved a lot of weight. A design that the orbea Occam and oiz already used.

Chatted quite extensively with Huw Oliver about bikes for this type of riding. He has done the HT550 on a Krampus and on a Santa Cruz tall boy and has said there's no chance he'd race it on anything other than a full sus now.

Scott

[GregMay]

Steep head angle. Make sure you're happy with how it handles on technical ground.

Epic is a wonderful XC race bike. It's also unforgiving in it's handling.

[Zippy]

I rode my friends, a good few years back mind. It was good, but I did find the brain thing a bit strange - maybe not quite setup for me at the time and it's probs got better, but i did find it strange.

I'm also in the market for a new bike, something a bit more comfortable for longer distance multi-day stuff, probs 650b or 29er as I can see they roll better, but beyond that I'm really not sure...!

Are you considering anything else Steve?

[lionelrik]

If I had the money.......Id be buying this.... https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Spark-73 ... sxEALw_wcB

[jam bo]

I borrowed my cousins in Canada this summer. Once I got my head around it, it was a wicked fast bike. If I could afford it I’d have one in the shed for those head down, flat out xc blasts.

The brain got a bit of getting used to, feels like something is loose at first.

[slarge]

The bike I used yesterday was a 2018 Epic with the new Brain layout on the rear axle. Whilst I was racing therefore breathing out of my arse and not fully appreciating the finer details of the rear suspension performance, I always consider that if you don't notice it working, it's working well. I could sprint out of the saddle without it bouncing everywhere, it went over or through stuff and didn't kick me, and seemed to handle well. Certainly more capable than my hardtail, and less flexible than my old Stumpjumper FSR. Really interested in similar bikes as there were a few bits like bolt through rear end that I wasn't sure about.

[Wotsits]

Would the head angle/handling not vary with what front fork was fitted?

Pivot 429SL gets good reviews, 10 years carbon frame warranty on anything bought after June this year too..
Will also run 650+(ish)..
Or the 429Trail for something a bit slacker..