(Laughter)
- Quite a chair.
(Epic Music)
- Hey everybody I'm Mike Levy, and we're
here for a cross-country field test video.
If we're talking cross country we have
to talk Specialized Epic. Their Epic race platform
has been around for something like two decades now
and they've just debuted an all-new version that they're
saying is the lightest, fastest Epic ever.
Sarah Moore is testing the race bike but I've bet on
this one, the Epic Evo.
So what the heck does Evo mean? It's basically the
designation that specialized gifts for their bikes
that are essentially more capable. So while the standard
racier Epic only has 100 millimeters of travel and
uses inertia valve brain suspension,
this bike runs 120 millimeter fork, has
110 millimeters of rear wheel travel
both without the brain inertia valve. And
it also comes stock with things like a wider handlebar,
wider tires and a dropper post compared to the race bike's
upper post. Specialized has been using horse link
suspension since, I don't know basically the beginning of
time it feels like. But you won't find it on the back of the
Epic. Let's look at some other frame details and one thing
that you won't find on this bike, is a swat hatch in the
down tube, but there is a swat tool up in the steer tube.
You can fit two bottles inside the front triangle on all
the bikes. Except the extra small size. And there's good
chainstay protection to keep the noise down.
All right let's move on to geometry.
I'm 5 foot 10 and this is a large size Epic Evo with a 460
millimeter reach. If we're talking head angles, the front
end is 66 and a half degrees. And that's a full degree
slacker than the racy bike.
Seat tube angle, 74 and a half degrees. So the last two
numbers we're going to talk about, the rear end is 438
millimeters, that's across the entire size range.
And the seat tube is 470 millimeters long. This is the no
holds barred S-Works version which is short for all
the money and nothing left to upgrade. It's eleven thousand
five hundred and twenty five dollars.
And it comes with their
really fricken light 1200 gram revolve carbon wheels,
wireless access drivetrain, the SID Ultimate fork,
and a SID Lux shock. And I should also mention that the
S-Works frame that this stuff all hangs off of is
around a hundred grams lighter than the slightly heavier
non S-Works version. This bike weighs 21.88 pounds
as you see it, with the Schwalbe Control Tires,
no pedals, no swat tool and no bottle cage. That makes it
the lightest down country bike we have here, by a long ways.
So what the heck does a featherweight down country bike feel
like on the trail? Let's talk about that next.
(Epic Music)
- Obviously you want to know how this thing rides. But first
anything different with setup?
- [Mike] Not so much, same as the other bike so
manufacturers suggested settings for suspension.
And we put those same speedy Schwalbe tires on.
Uh, I didn't change anything. I think I would have liked
to change the handlebar, it comes with a fairly flat
fairly narrow handlebar. Uh, didn't change the seat
or anything like that.
(Chill Music)
- Specialized says that this bike uses revised kinematics
compared to her racy bike that has the brain. So this bike
actually has a little bit more anti-squat in the rear end
than hers to help it feel sporty, and it does.
Our climbing on our test lap is technical and rooty and
tricky. And this wasn't the easiest bike on a lot of that.
- [Sarah] Mm Hmm.
- [Mike] I mean that, that goes to the scalpel that scalpel
on that stuff was amazing. This definitely performed well
but you did have to think a little bit more ahead.
I will say that it doesn't have that really long,
big presence on the trail that the Transition Spur has.
Now that, that makes the Spur definitely more capable on the
way back down. But the Spur is more of a handful when it's
tighter and slower than the Evo.
- Last question about climbing, there's no lockout on the
handlebar. There's no brain. Did you ever have to
reach down and flip that switch?
- Yeah I never felt the need to do that. I spent a ton of
time on fire roads getting up to trails and doing
the efficiency test. And I mean obviously we kept it
unlocked for the efficiency test and I, I never
felt like I needed to lock it at any point when
I was riding this bike.
(Chill Music)
- When I hear the word Evo from Specialized I think this is
a bike that's going to descend better than the regular
version. Is that the case here?
- [Mike] Uh yeah I mean no brain. I think the suspension is
going to work better. Uh but I was the least excited about
this bike out of all of them when i had them built up
sitting side by side. It kind of looks the most traditional.
Especially compared to the Spur and the Ranger these big
long things they just look more aggressive.
And then I got it out on the trail, holy shit.
So the first trail we went to, to film on is like
this smooth very fast burmy thing full of rollers
and this thing,
the amount of speed that it can carry over that terrain and
especially in those corners, these cross-country tires,
I mean they're not super super grippy, you can get them to
slide. And on this bike it felt like the tires were telling
me like exactly when they were about to break traction in
those corners and the bike was just giving me these feet up
slides it felt amazing.
- Yeah even though it's consistent tires across all the
bikes.
- [Mike] Yeah.
- [Sarah] It felt really different on this bike basically.
- [Mike] Yeah I would say on that sort of terrain it's
almost like this bike talks more like you know it sounds
corny.
- [Sarah] There's more feedback.
- [Mike] Yeah there's more feedback from the bike,
I was sliding and laughing and having the most fun.
- [Sarah] What about when they got to more rowdy trails?
- [Mike] Well then it's a little bit different story when
things get rough. The Ranger and that Transition Spur,
they feel more capable they feel like they have more
traction in those sorts of moments. Um, they're not
getting pitched around. So picture yourself coming down a
trail and you have a you know a sort of long left-hand roof
rudy rough corner. The bike it doesn't quite hold the line
you know it's like you know, doing this I mean the things
only have a hundred and something millimeters of
travel of course they are they're cross-country bikes.
Whereas the Spur and the Rebel they just stay planted and
they hold that line more and you could be calmer
because of that.
- Since we're talking about suspension, what's the story
with the epic Evo?
- [Mike] Well it's actually the same story at the
back of this bike as it is with a lot of our bikes,
uh, we're seeing some pretty impressive stuff here
and I think that the combination of these all new
shocks, uh better understanding of suspension. It's letting
designers create bikes that have just a little bit of travel
that it's still supple on the top supportive in the middle.
- So they do a lot with very little travel.
- Exactly.
(Calm Music)
- It might not be a pure XC race bike but we still want
to know how fast it is. How did it do on your time lapse?
- First overall for the entire loop which is pretty
impressive. And I think it owned all the other bikes
on the climb. That's where it made up most of its time.
It was third on the descent, um, so sort of...
- [Sarah] Right in the middle.
- Yeah sort of in this middle ground and that's actually
how I feel about the bike as well. You have the Ranger
and the Spur over here, you know, ready for more, ready to
go a little faster. And then you have this which is probably
just a little back from that but still far more capable.
- Yeah, if you're ever doing a race it would be,
probably the first choice for it.
- [Mike] We should probably talk about the efficiency test
as well.
- [Sarah] Your favorite.
- [Mike] Yeah I'm still having nightmares of all those trips
up the gravel road. Uh, the Evo did pretty well. Um, so
the test included all the bikes, Sarah's cross country race
bikes, and my down country bikes, and it was middle of the
pack who would have thought. It was on the same second as
five or six other bikes. Uh it was actually five seconds
behind her racy epic with the brain.
(Chill Music)
- So what were kind of the standouts on this bike for you?
- Well it's S-Works so.
- Got everything hard to complain right?
- The big thing are these wheels these are those revolve
wheels i think they're 1240 grams. They feel invisible on
the trail, like you just think about pushing down on the
pedals and the bike jumps forward especially with these
light tires on here. It is...
- No rolling resistance.
- Yeah yeah it makes you feel extremely fit. Uh, drivetrain
is AXS, zero issues there. I love this AXS stuff.
You just push the button and it shifts. There's no thinking
involved and a lot of times when you're breathing
through your eyeballs and you're trying to get up something
quickly and...
- [Sarah] You don't want to have to think.
- [Mike] Yeah, I don't have time to think. I can't think.
I'm doing all the thinking I can do. Um, two things that I
would change though. It does have an AXS seat post.
I think it's 150 mil drop on this large, I wish it had more
travel. I think the bike deserves more travel I don't want
the seat there I want it gone, I don't want to feel it.
Another standout, it has four piston brakes.
- [Sarah] Ah.
- It's a 21 pound XC-ish bike with four piston brakes, and
you know, somewhere right now Kasimir is like, "that's what
it should have." I mean I don't think the bike like
this needs four piston brakes but no excuses.
Everybody can slow down.
(Chill Music)
- A couple little nitpicky things there about the
components, what about the pros, like what were some of your
favorite things about this bike overall?
- [Mike] Well I really like how it does kind of strike that
middle ground of like I'm still an XC race bike, you know
because the Transition and the Rebel are definitely not.
And neither is the Yeti. This thing it still feels like an
XC race bike made extremely capable so I mean those days
when you want to cover a lot of ground and do it fast.
This thing for sure.
(Chill Music)
- I think Specialized missed a beat when it came to specing
the cockpit. I think they should have gone with a wider
handlebar, longer dropper seat post. Uh, that kind of
thing. And then I should also mention again that the front
triangle, it's the same as Sarah's racy Epic.
And on one hand it gives it that sort of air of
cross country capable that I like. That you want if you're
gonna ride. A lot to cover a lot of ground but on
the other hand it doesn't have that stability that a longer
slacker bike does.
(Chill Music)
- So what are your final thoughts and who
do you think should really buy this bike?
- So the ideal Epic Evo owner is probably the kind of person
who chases those uphill KOMs.
You know there's still a lot of you out there I know.
But definitely doesn't shy away from chasing those downhill
KOMs as well. And he or she might be doing that over a
ten thousand foot day spanning 70 kilometers and yeah.
So the ideal Evo owner is somebody who basically does it all
and really prioritizes fitness regardless of wanting to do
it all still. All right so that is it for Specialized
Epic Evo, it's cross country made capable. Stay tuned for
more field test videos and round table discussions
coming at you.
(Chill Music)