That seems unideal, but Trek have made many more bikes than me with some very clever engineers.
I think 90mm stem on a 500mm reach is too big for most riders. Again, it seems like with that reach, they should have aimed just a fraction slacker ( or spec’d with 120mm) and a shorter stem.
It’ll be a lot of weight over the front.
Just read the PB review. It still seems amazing. Having just committed to the Lockout cableless life, I wonder if you can run it without?
I always figured it’s the ultimate Leadville bike.
Yup, a comment in one review (PB I think) mentioned that the default setting for the lockouts is ‘Open’ so if you want it that way, it’s as simple as disconnecting the cable(s) as desired. He mentioned ditching the rear LO and just having the fork controlled IIRC .
I skimmed that and read the Escape Collective reviews. Sounds like an awesome bike to me and one I’d actually consider ditching my Procaliber for if I wanted an upgrade back to suspension for a race bike.
It seems like there’s no real world difference between the SL and SLR frames. I can’t see any difference in the iso shock between any of the models either.
I’m not going to be getting one soon having just changed, but I’d love to try one and consider the SL GX, or SLR XT in the future.
Head unit question - I have been using my phone, or following people until now for Nav. With my training plan starting and calendar laid out, I’d like to get a head unit. Priorities are navigation(load a file/route to it and go), TR outside workouts, and battery life/charge while in use(push through?) capacity. Any recommendations or ones to avoid would be greatly appreciated.
With Nav at the top of your list, Garmin seems preferred over Wahoo in most cases I have seen. The latest Edge 840 (without the solar) is a solid price to feature ratio from the reviews I’ve read. There are several topics elsewhere in the Equipment category to learn more about that and other models.
Looks more compelling to me than the Epic World Cup but in both cases I’m still wondering why I’d want to buy one of these when I could get an Epic Evo with 120/110 for under 22 lbs.
I’m sure this is more efficient but would think riding an Evo locked out on a climb and full open for descents would be a faster and more capable bike in most terrain.
We don’t see top pros racing the Evo (or at least not often) in XCO WC so clearly these shorter travel bikes can be faster with the right rider in the right conditions. Maybe I’m underestimating how much the extra efficiency is worth even if these bikes aren’t appreciably lighter.
I know this is really subjective though. I’m viewing it from perspective of living in Co and wanting a bike I can rider proper trail on as well as race. Not sure how niche that is amongst prospective buyers.
Almost all the pro’s are racing the Evo now aren’t they?
Very few on the Epic, and only a couple have floated the Epic WC.
The biggest issue with the Evo at the out and out XC level is it’s quite tall. If you run it with a 110mm fork instead of 120mm, that would bring it in line with other XC bikes. Or a very negative stem.
I didn’t fact check. The Specialized Factory Racing instagram always posts pictures of the Epic WC so I assumed that’s what they were riding, but it seems you’re right. Blevins seems to be riding the Evo in the majority of races at least.
Seems deeply ironic if they created a bike called the World Cup but their factory team prefers the Evo. So I guess my point is valid then
Fwiw I don’t have an Epic. I’ve never owned a Specialized. It just seems like a whole lot more bike for under 22lbs.
The S-Works Epic Evo RS build that was running for $4500 off was one of the best deals for a really capable well rounded bike. It’s sold out online at Specialized but some dealers have some in stock. For someone looking to ride a mix of terrain, this really seems like a great quiver-killer.
For the Gen2 SC, as pointed out in the reviews, there is no included powermeter on any of the builds. Will be interested in seeing if they make it an option once it shows up on the ProjectOne page. It looks like the PM spider is $483 to purchase for the build with the XX SL crank.
You nailed it. I struggle to see the Epic WC having value outside of a very small use case. Bike for bike, the Supercaliber beats the EWC hands down for what I would care about (both gens no less). I also like the SC better than a pure Epic as well.
But the Epic Evo vs Supercaliber gets far more tricky and interesting. I’d just about have to demo both in real conditions to have a better idea than what I’ve read in reviews. With matching specs, if the SC is heavier (which seems likely), it might be hard to pick that over the Evo. It could come down more to geo and ride preference with a blind eye towards weight, but it’s impossible to say without real rides.
I have hopes some people will get experience on both and share more related comparative thoughts.
New SC SLR is not tube-in-tube while the SL still is. SL frame also weighs ~250g more (read all this in the Pinkbike article). I’d personally prefer the SL but I’m also not anywhere near the pointy end and I try to do all my own maintenance.
I’m also a “one bike” kind of person and for that reason alone the Epic Evo gets my vote if I were buying a FS machine (or Allied BC40 ).
I was speaking with the Fox distributor yesterday about changing the stroke on my shock from 40mm to 42.5mm. he was saying it’s all “end travel” improvement. Which is ideal
I don’t know if that’s universally consistent, but might be the same here for the Evo.
I’d also feel weird running more rear travel than front though.
Just saying evo 110 rear/100 front is same geo as brain epic with 100/100. With 100 giving lower front is easier to get more weight on the front tire for cornering. So that can potentially be better on courses that don’t need 110/120 front.
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