Specialized Epic Hardtails

You know what they say about the best laid plans, they often go awry, and ours went up in smoke when much of the Pacific Northwest was on fire this summer.

That’s why we escaped to Park City.

While missing a few good rides was nothing compared to the loss of forest land, what I was gonna share with you is how awesome Specialized’s Epic hardtails are. We have them in his and her models and the reason I say awesome is they ride pretty much like a road bike.

Pam with her Epic on the descent.

For roadies like me returning to dirt, you’ll feel right at home with the handling, geometry, and what happens when you stomp on the pedals. However capable adventure bikes are these days there’s still a threshold where roots, rocks, and drops require a front suspension.

So these Epics were entirely redesigned with one purpose and that’s to go fast. I teased the Methow Valley rides that didn’t happen in this short video.

Where we have been riding the Epics is the Grand Ridge, a short drive east of Seattle on trails maintained by Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and the just-opened Olallie State Park. That grunt of a ride gains 2700 feet in 5.6 miles through second-growth forest stands, ridges, and along abandoned logging roads. You get to it from the Iron Horse, where most of our gravel rides start.

Epic Hardtail with rounder tubes.

It’s perfect for a super light mountain bike that’s designed to propel you further with every pedal stroke. What I want to emphasize is Specialized didn’t just make the bike lighter which usually comes at the expense of handling and or durability; rather, they reinvented the XC Hardtail and in the process created a bike that is light and fast, not only uphill but as importantly downhill.

While I’m mostly on single track with the Epic, the increased frame stiffness and updated geometry handle the roughest terrain; including, washboard fire roads and charging descents.

Thank the compliant 27.2 seatpost for that and the boost hub with 2.3s tires running at about 18 PSI. And, to better understand why the Epics go so good, I asked Brian Gordon from Specialized who worked on the bike to explain it to me. What I learned about the weight and handling is in these bullets.

Thorp to Ellensburg and we stopped for a snack.

Weight

Handling

For those of you that follow design in the bike industry, Specialized did not partner with McLaren on this project, however, there are little bits and pieces of that technology in this bike and certainly with the design intent. It’s also the first effort from Peter Denk at Specialized who moved over from Cannondale.

Like I’ve been saying for most of this year, product is so good now if you haven’t upgraded in the past 5 years, it’s probably time to do so. While it may sound like a boast when Specialized says they reinvented the hardtail, I can confirm they did; at least in terms of capabilities and the ride tuning. It’s a lightweight climber that can bomb a descent too.

SRAM Eagle offers huge gears.

You should test and Epic Hardtail out yourself. The model I’m riding is the Pro Carbon World Cup in Satin Charcoal and the MSRP is $5500. Pam is on the women’s Epic Hardtail Comp Carbon that retails for $2500.

While our plans didn’t work out this year, we’ll ride them soon enough in the Methow.

Specs

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