- This pro bike belongs to Simon Andreassen
and it's his Specialized Epic
with a completely custom paint job.
(upbeat music)
At the heart of Simon's bike is this
absolutely stunning Specialized Epic frame
in a size medium, with probably one of the nicest
paint jobs I've ever seen.
I mean, just talking about the paint job,
it's got like glittering effect in there,
and it's actually two or three different colors
from where I am now it's
completely purple, almost iridescent,
and from your side it's probably nearer to green.
So we spin it 'round so you can see
just how much attention to detail
has gone into this paint finish.
It kind of reminds me of a lot of early bikes
like the Klein Attitudes when they started doing
the linear fade paint jobs.
But this is one of the best examples I've ever seen.
Now as far as suspension goes,
that is something that Specialized
have got absolutely nailed.
So on their Wellcock cross-country frameset
they've got a system called the Brain,
and that is developed in conjunction with RockShox
and it's a totally unique suspension design
where it's a shock, has a cable that runs all the way
down here to an inertia valve at the back wheel
and that basically can be tailored
to the rider's preference.
And in this case he runs it quite soft,
which is surprising given what sort of XC
bike it is, but the Brain inertia valve
can resist pedaling action and effectively
lock the suspension out.
So really, really impressive system.
Now the business end of the bike,
the controls, the cockpit area.
He's got quite a specific setup.
So it's a 700 mm nearly flat, carbon bar on there,
and that's run with a 130 mm stem with a 17 degree rise.
And he's got that inverted so it's completely
slammed as low as it can be, and that
really reflects in his riding style.
As you can see, there's no spaces on the top here at all,
this is one of the lowest front ends we've seen.
And quite unusual for a cross country racer
is the angle of his brake levers
which are nearly flat.
That is something you tend to see
in gravity-based riding, like downhill.
But it does ultimately give you
a lot more control on the bike.
And as you can see, he's not running a dropper post
so having that crucial control is actually more important
on a bike like this.
The brake levers themselves are Magura Raceline MTH
with a carbon fiber levers,
and they weigh next to nothing.
They're absolutely lovely pieces of kit.
And then, handlebar grips themselves,
he's gone for foam grips.
So, they're super comfortable, with or without gloves.
They're great if you get sweaty hands,
and of course, they barely weigh a thing.
So down on the front end here is a RockShox
SID fork but it's a specialized Brain option
which has got a slightly different damper unit on there
just to reflect the exact way that the Brain system
works at the back end with that inertia valve.
It's a 110 mil space fork, and instead of using
the conventional axle, it's got some custom
carbon tire axles on here.
There's a bit of finishing kit,
the rear axles are also the same,
and a carbon headset top cap too.
Nice little extras there.
Wheels themselves are the Rovals,
they're SL controls over a 25 mil rim,
obviously 29 inch wheels made of carbon fiber.
And they're set up tubeless with Specialized rubber on them.
Tire choice depends on the terrain he's riding.
At the moment, it's Renegades front and rear,
in the regular Gription rubber
but in these conditions where it's
extremely dusty and quite blown out
he's actually looking at running
the Fast Track tire on the front.
And it's got just a little bit more of an edge,
and just deals with those loose conditions.
Keeping the tires sealed up
is a prototype Specialized tire sealant
that we've heard very, very good things about.
On the Roval wheels, instead of having a dedicated rim tape,
they actually have these plugs,
which is a really, really nice solution
very neat, very lightweight, and obviously
it's very easy to take out and fix.
Finally, last thing you can see down here
is the Magura Raceline MT8 caliper
in their trademark neon yellow.
He's running those with 160 mil rotors.
Transmission duties on the back of Simon's bike
is all down to SRAM Eagle.
Good old faithful.
Twelve speed transmission there, 10/50, 500% gear range,
the amazing black and gold race finish,
absolutely amazing looking stuff.
As we know it wears really, really well as well.
Up front he's running the X-61 crank, so it's a carbon crank
and it's a 175 mil, it's got 36 tooth-chain rings
he's running the SRM Power unit on there too.
Now interestingly, he's got the (mumbles) pedals
The particular ones on here are X-Track race carbon
and they're not the ones with the tire axis.
Quite happy with these ones as they are.
Don't often see those pedals,
really really tricked there's a whole carbon cage on them.
Must have been a kit, right?
Disc rotor size out back is 160 which
you probably can't see because it's dwarfed
by the enormous SRAM Eagle cassette there
and of course it's got the yellow race line caliper
on there, which is the trademark
of Maguro Brakes.
And as for finishing kit, as I said before,
he's got the carbon tie, carbon fiber top cap on there
just a nice little trick addition.
And of course, Specialized S-Works saddle
with the carbon fiber rails and again with the seat post.
Weight, well that's 9.8 kilograms, that's about 21.9 pounds
And for those of you who want to know
how good this thing sounds, check this out.
So there you go.
Simon Andreassen's custom Specialized
Epic XEO Welcome race bike.
Hopefully you like the bike,
if you want to see a couple more great videos,
click right down here, if you want to see how to repair
stanchion scratches on your forks,
and click down here for a playlist
all about other people's pro bikes.
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and let us know what you think of it in the comments.