Looks like cycling tips is a claimed weight while bike rumour is an actual weight. Both weights are pretty good for a full sus with brain and a power meter.
Spark rc sl and supercaliber 9.9 are both 20.9 claimed, so they’re all in that ballpark.
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Does the EVO have Brain? I was under the impression they ditched it on the EVO.
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They did ditch it on the evo. My bad.
Looks like the giant anthem is holding onto it’s 90/100mm travel and 69 head angle. Nothing too new or exciting. But the fact you get new shimano xt 12 speed, slx brakes, carbon hoops and a fox 32 sc on a $5000 bike is a great price point.
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I have a 2018 Epic and I was running it 1 click shy of fully open…never felt the clunk. However, I rode today, after resetting the air pressure AND ran it 1 click from frim, definitely noticed the clunk. My rebound is also set roughly 5 clicks in (which is basically in the middle of the setting).
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I don’t like the new Epic. Looks like a Santa Cruz Blur. I have a 2018 Epic Expert and I like it. The knock has never bothered me and I never feel it out on the trail. I feel it on the road on my way to the trails. The softer the setting the less the knock and vice versa. I feel like I haven’t been able to get the RS SID dialed tho. If I get out of the saddle and sprint it bobs a lot but maybe that’s just how front suspension is?
Didn’t spesh just do a major update on the epic in 2018?!
Blur is a 69ha though so still living a bit in the past. Which is surprising from santa Cruz.
The blur is still on my short list for when I upgrade to a f/s though.
Yes. And they are on a typical 3-year cycle for redesign, which makes the release of the new 2021 model right on par for them.
Based on their similar rebuild cycle, I think the Blur is almost next in line for an update (since the TB and 5010 happened most recently).
True. I always get confused with cars and bikes being a next year model sold in the present year.
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I was just going to say it’s been a while for the blur. I hope we see something soon.
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Yeah, the whole “Model Year” stuff gets messy in these industries 
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I don’t mind the knock itself.
I don’t like having the bike needing chatter/impact/bumps to respond to in order for the suspension to engage.
Jonathan did a nice job of describing it on the podcast. If you are an active rider you can use your suspension to maintain and generate energy by pumping the bike through certain terrain. With the brain it wants to be rigid when it’s not feeling any bumps and it doesn’t have eyes.
For clarity, if I am on a smooth section and want to compress the suspension in order to gain some free speed, the brain doesn’t see what I see and it will default to staying locked out as it is reacting to input from the ground (smooth) and not from the rider (me wanting to compress the suspension). In those cases as I said above, the brain is TOO RIGID.
Yes you can adjust the suspension to be more open so that it will react better to your input. When you do that, your suspension will be TOO SOFT when you get on a smooth fire road, gravel or pavement section and you want to hammer.
I know there are some extremely fast people riding/racing Epics and it works for them, but it’s just not the bike for me.
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I started in motocross too, then BMX, observed trials, next to MTB and so on. Got my first full suspension MTB in 1997 and never looked back. Working an open and active suspension is just what I know.
The Epic is interesting, but as you say, just not for my style as an active rider. If I want stiff, I go for the true hardtail. Otherwise, I want suspension I can control directly.
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Another slight tangent, but what are the thoughts on putting 120mm forks onto otherwise standard XC bikes to mimic the geometry etc of the Down Country bikes (top fuel, epic evo, etc)?
You’ll get the slacker head angle and a little more travel up front, but you’ll obviously still have the same in the rear. The height of your bottom bracket will go up which is the opposite of the new down country bikes. It will obviously not be longer either, or shorter chain stays.
If I wanted to make a slightly older bike more progressive I would go with an angleset headset that will slack out your h/a by a degree without messing with bottom bracket height, personally.
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ive had a set of Light bike Carbon wheel set with DT swiss hubs , no problems in over 3 years , bought from the Asia web site , the N.american site didn’t offer DTswiss at the time
Good comprehensive review.
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Those numbers are with a 120 fork by the way. If you run a 100 you’re at a 69 h/a