Rower Specialized Epic World Cup Expert

THINK FASTEST: The Epic World Cup is the fastest XC race bike in the world on smooth to moderately technical courses thanks to its unmatched combination of efficiency, control, and light-weight. World Champ Christopher Blevins said it best, “This thing gives me everything I could want from a hardtail, plus the control and capability of full suspension.” All it took to create this speed machine was a totally integrated development approach, inventing a radical new shock, and four decades of off-road winning experience.

FRAME OF REFERENCE: To deliver maximum speed through ruthlessly efficient power transfer and precision handling, our engineering team set and achieved new standards in torsional rigidity and BB stiffness. This feat required an integrated development approach that merged a structurally superior double diamond layout with its shock cradled inside the top-tube, and finished off with the most sophisticated composite layup in Specialized history.

SHOCKINGLY FAST: The Specialized Ride Dynamics team conceived of and invented a revolutionary shock technology for the Epic World Cup that gives the rider the efficiency and snappy response of a hardtail PLUS the control, capability, and momentum-carrying of full suspension—all with a simple setup. Co-developed with RockShox, the SID Deluxe WCID shock utilizes a unique independently adjustable positive and negative air springs to deliver the sought-after hardtail “snap”, combined with terrain-devouring forgiveness, and the ability to easily personalize set-up for a specific course or tune for rider preference and feel. Set it firm and it rides like a hardtail or open it up and you have a chunk-squashing ripper. But you aren’t just limited “open and closed,” the simple nature of its setup allows the rider to set on a spectrum of firm to soft.

PUNCHING ABOVE ITS CATEGORY: The Epic World Cup’s 75mm of rear travel delivers control and capability of a much longer travel bike. Because it’s designed to be ridden at or close to topped-out, it yields the same positive travel as a 100mm travel bike set up with 25% sag. To further optimize suspension performance, the Specialized Ride Dynamics team tuned the spring-rate to be relatively flat through the mid-stroke to handle the majority of bump forces like a longer travel bike. Due to its large size, the custom Mega Jounce Bumper is an “industry first” and plays a crucial role in smoothly managing bottom-out on the biggest impacts.

HAVE WE LOST OUR MINDS? SORT OF: While the new, and groundbreaking SID Deluxe WCID shock provides the unique blend of support and compliance in the rear, the BRAIN is still alive and well in the fork. Its Position-Sensitive technology allows riders to sag into the fork 15mm for a balanced ride, providing supple small bump compliance and a firm pedaling platform without the need for a remote lockout or levers to flip.

THE WEIGHT IS OVER: With a frame weight of just 1,915 grams (painted with shock and all hardware), the Epic World Cup edges out the lightest of competitors. This translates to faster acceleration, more efficiently climbing, and more agile handling. And all of that adds up to speed. We achieved the featherweight and monster stiffness of the Epic WC by applying what we learned in the development of our Aethos, the lightest production road frame ever made, specifically the advanced composite layup and tube shapes.