The issue I have with the headset routing isn’t that it goes through the headset… but rather there is no capability for a mechanical drive train. Mechanical is lighter, reliable and wait for it… shifts (dare I say better). My X01 has been flawless, dumps gears quickly and don’t have to worry about a battery going out.
Not hating on electric shifting, I have it on half my bikes and it is great. But why take away that option?
Not to mention SRAM had done nothing but add weight. Bike companies are shaving grams from a frame and then on the $5,000 “entry level” bikes put on on a boat anchor drive train. Even on the $12,000 Pro model they have the heavy XO cranks.
If I can find one a Epic 8 on clearance I am going to scoop it up. Otherwise my mechanical Epic Evo 7, despite a few scratches, will remain my go to.
There is a pinkbike interview where they discuss sizing/geometry with the lead specialized engineer. The bike got a little longer and taller, resulting in a significant reduction of reach. And of course he said that the small would cover the majority of riders (and mentioned Sina specifically). TBD how much of that is marketing vs. real, but that’s the story. At some point, it’s always about cost/benefit. If they can’t sell enough frames of a given size to make it profitable, that size won’t make it to production. There will always be people who can’t fit perfectly on standard sizes (too big, too small, or just atypical proportions).
Because removing the internal routing for the shift cable makes the frame lighter. A primary goal was obviously weight reduction. And there is no way they launch a high end bike with mechanical shifting, so that wasn’t on the table as a weight reduction. So, to get the lightest possible bike that would still have broad market interest, that means electronic only.
Primary goal is to sell as many bikes as possible at the largest possible margin.
I don’t think they offered anything other than wireless on the Epic 8 last year, even the epic 8 comp was wireless.
No point in adding weight to a bike to support cabled shifting if there isn’t enough market interest. I totally get that it’s not ideal for folks who prioritize weight over wireless shifting, but it seems that specialized doesn’t consider that a big enough slice of the market to design around.
I think it is less about consumer interest and more likely a deal with SRAM. But yeah, it’s about the $$$ for sure.
Rumor has it they are killing the Chisel & Epic hard tail as well, which are entry level bikes for young riders. Strange move… but I am not in on the specialized marketing meetings so maybe selling only high end bikes is the move right now.
I’m surprised they didn’t nix the dropper completely for that model just to make the weight that much more impressive. I’m not much of a weight weenie, but that bike makes me consider joining the club. Racing that bike at Leadville ~5lb lighter than my current Epic 8 certainly crosses my mind. Nixing the dropper and adding a powermeter, cages, and pedals, I think that might still be under 20lbs for a large. But I wonder how those brakes would perform on the descents and I know I’d miss the 120 travel and the dropper as the day wore on. And I’m not winning anything at leadville anyway, so I might as well be comfy on my boat anchor 25lb bike…
Not so sure. I could be wrong but I think it will be a few years until we see competitive 32 bikes. Let’s not forget all the top competitors, Specialized, Canyon, Giant and I guess Trek have all developed and launched new top level XC bikes this year. Not something you do on a whim as a stop gap.
FWIW: Perhaps the Epic doesn’t support a mech drivetrain, but thru the headset routing itself doesn’t preclude a mech drivetrain. My trail bike has thru headset routing with a mech RD and mech dropper, so two cables and a hose routed through the headset.
lol. i know. but you can see how big the bike looks on her compared to all of her competitors. She’s sitting in the bike while everyone else is sitting on the bike. Doesn’t change the fact that specialized still has a min height of 5’-2" on the bike while she’s 4’-11".
She’s a tiny person, that’s always stood out to me when seeing her riding in the pack. A couple CM’s on the frame doesn’t really change the visuals much to me and I assume the actual fit is working for her. People will adapt to what is available and some actually prefer a less compact fit. I’m 6’ and ride an XL epic 8 because I like a longer reach and wheelbase on my XC bikes. Sounds like the Epic 9 pushed the front end up and out, so that’s probably helping her make the bike work. That short track didn’t look very technical, so time will tell how she does on tighter/technical sections. I’d bet she will be fine and obviously the 5’2" is just a guideline.
I think those are just not selling anymore. Young kids are already on fullys - I see it at the pump track with my 5yr old all the time. Gravelbikes are now what hardtails used to be. I totally see why the hardtail has to make way for big tired dropbar Gravel/Bikepacking bikes - it just makes sense to follow the direction the market is taking.
The move to electronic drivetrain for the Epic was on the horizon as well (S-works E8 already electronic only, right?). This way the lineup is clearly segmented into:
Chisel-Fully → MTB entry point, mechanical shifting,
Epic → Mid to High end, electronic shifting only,
nix the hardtails and offer those customers the diverge or crux alr or a potential new big tired Gravelbike instead.
You are probably right. I just hate to see it as the entry point into Mountain Biking keeps getting more expensive. At least with the Chisel hard tail from a few years ago, kids got a pretty decent race bike at a price point that wasn’t exclusive. I teach at a school in a lower social economic demographic and have been trying to get a MTB club / team going. The biggest obstacle is the price.
That said we have been looking into the Ibis DV9. If anyone has any other ideas let me know!
Apparently Ibis discontinued the dv9 . I actually emailed them a few days ago. Same with exie. I think hardtails are great for a lot of people and also improve mtb skills so it’s a shame they are disappearing.
They are just disappearing at the high end and for racing. But the hard tail is alive and well at the lower end of the pricing spectrum. For under $1k, you can get a nice aluminum hard tail that comes in around 30lbs. They are solid bikes compared to high end hard tails from years gone by. I know some people don’t want hard tails relegated to lower end bikes, but there just aren’t enough buyers at the high end. Probably 95%+ of the people spending thousands on a new MTB are going to want a FS.
. I actually emailed them a few days ago. Same with exie. I think hardtails are great for a lot of people and also improve mtb skills so it’s a shame they are disappearing.