I don’t think you need a SRAM power meter to use FA (you just need the pedal sensor in the spindle so probably at least a SRAM crankset), but to use the Adaptive Ride Dynamics app you do need a SRAM power meter from what I understand.
I think the weight disparity was bigger on the previous year Epic Evo which was insanely light without the brain. Other than the S-works build this year they seem like they are pretty close. I wrote Allied to ask if they had a complete build weight for the new Flight Attendant build but haven’t heard back yet.
I recently changed jobs and got a short term windfall of some bonuses and a contemplating what would have been unthinkable to me a few years ago, spending ~10k for a new dream bike. I was thinking that was going to be the new epic, but am seriously considering either another Oiz (I have a 2019 Oiz now) or a BC40.
Aaaand the new Yeti.
If you wanted to get the old epic evo but pay more for it.
- Sort of their trademark, like Turq
- Ditto, I checked out many of their models over they years but never saw a benefit for the price.
To be fair the new Epic 8 isn’t very far off from last year’s epic evo either. Which I have… so don’t see the need to buy either. 
Yeah, but specialized is just iterating on the evo, not claiming its new and cutting edge. Yeti is just 3-4 years behind on this.
So true!!
I don’t think it’s that bad honestly. 8.6K for a Yeti Turq model is actually not that terrible relatively speaking, and the weight and specs of that build really aren’t off from other competitors similar bikes.
That said “a lot like nothing else” is deeply ironic because it looks like every other XC bike now. Not sure I can blame Yeti though since basically the entire industry has converged on these ~120mm FS high shock flex pivot designs.
Yeah, to me, it’s a reasonable looking bike and a nice offering from Yeti (nice to see them re-enter the XC/DC space), but marketing it as something new and unique seems odd to me since it really is very similar to other offerings in that class and coming after other brands offered something in this space with this type of geometry. The class has been headed in this direction for a bit now, and to me, Yeti is joining the party rather than starting something new.
If you check out their Instagram they definitely lean into the idea that it looks similar to the blur and epic. Seems like maybe they’re intentional wording things and are aware it’s not a new platform???
Fair point. I wasn’t thinking of it like that but that definitely fits.
I asked their support chat what the flight attendant build weighs and they said a size large was 26 lb. That was surprising, not sure if that was a full bike with sealant, pedals, etc, but was hoping for less.
It’s funny, every time another one of these bikes comes out, we all mention the old Epic Evo as comparison.
I have yet to see any major reviewer actually do this. They always compare it to something else.
Pinkbike compared the new Yeti to the Oiz.
Why not compare it to the one we all mention, since when they did their testing a while back, the SWorks Epic Evo was the lightest out of the bunch and pretty much the one they all picked.
Hump
I think that part of it is that they might only compare bikes released in the same year.
I think there’s another part where they don’t want to pronounce one a loser, so they limit the comparison group so that each bike can win at something…?
Totally agree. I think it’s because the epic 8 is essentially a slightly tweaked epic evo. There needs to be a “new” bike to hype rather than what we have seen all 2023 in XCO races.
Specialized finally gave us what we wanted (epic evo with flight attendant)… it just in a new shiny package. And if nothing else really nice new colors!
Kudos to yeti for having cariable chainstay lebgth for each size, something that’s inexplicably missing in the Epic 8 considering that’s what we all expect at this point, a size s and a xl having the same chainstay length clearly has compromises.
Other than that the yeti is a nice bike, their marketing cleary is odd, nothing revolutionary, it pretty much looks and rides a lot like others based on the reviews I’ve read! Their build kits is also a bit odd, not sure why they decided to have 2 piston level instead of 4, clearly their target buyer is more trail oriented than xc racing!
Has anyone recently gone from a steeper head tube angle (HTA) to a slacker one and can comment on how big of a difference it makes to the capability of the bike?
My 2019 Oiz TR has a 68 degree HTA 74 degree STA. My local terrain and races is a mix, some more XC like terrain, but also on occasion some really steep and chunky black diamond (relative to trail ratings in CO) descents. I used to feel more confident on those descents but for various reasons (medical and otherwise) I can’t send it like I used to. I just get the feeling I’m going to get pitched over the bars.
A slacker HTA has to help with that… but question is how big of a difference does 3 degrees of HTA really make? Life changing or just moderately better?
I mean Yeti customer in general, also epic has 4 piston levl, blur tr has 4 piston level, seems like the weight penalty is well worth it, you have rekon/rekon race combo that nobody really is racing on, just seemed odd to me the choice for 2 piston level brakes
Not just 2 piston but old stock sram levels.