“This thing gives me everything I could want from a hardtail, plus the control and capability of full suspension." - World Champion Christopher Blevins
Whether you're on smooth or moderately technical courses, the Epic World Cup is the fastest XC race bike there is, due to its unmatched combination of efficiency, control, and light-weight. Specialized took an integrated development approach to creating this race machine, inventing a radical new shock, using four decades of off-road winning experience.
To deliver maximum speed through ruthlessly efficient power transfer and precision handling, Specialized's 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.
The Specialized Ride Dynamics team conceived of and invented a revolutionary shock technology for the Epic World Cup that gives you 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 utilises 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 personalise 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. You aren't just limited “open and closed,” the simple nature of its setup allows you to set on a spectrum of firm to soft.
The Epic World Cup punches above its category. Its 75mm of rear travel delivers the control and capability of a much longer travel bike. As 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 optimise 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.
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 you 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.
With a frame weight of just 1,765g (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. All of that adds up to speed. Specialized achieved the featherweight and monster stiffness of the Epic WC by applying what they learnt in the development of the Aethos, the lightest production road frame ever made, specifically the advanced composite layup and tube shapes.
The Epic World Cup sports the full suite of Roval Control SL components: 1,240g wheelset, 180g seat post, and 250g integrated cockpit (70mm x 780mm). Each boasting peerless light-weight, stiffness, and control on the World Cup today.
- The all-new Epic World Cup frame features Ride Dynamics Developed suspension technology and 75mm of optimised rear wheel travel. Thanks to its shock technology, Epic World Cup delivers unmatched pedal efficiency and is ready for the roughest descents you can throw at it–no lockout switches required.
- An all-new Control SL seatpost is amongst the lightest off road seatpost in market, further shaving grams to get riders up the climbs as effortlessly as possible.
- An all-new SID SL BRAIN fork provides 110mm of bump-muting performance while discerning inputs from the ground or rider to provide ultimate efficiency.