The Bike: Specialized Epic Expert 29er
First of all, this bike is amazing. Huge thanks to Auer-Power at Twenty20 Cycling for hooking me up with this ride. I'm glad we were able to make it happen. Super-great bike shops are just that. If you're in the Baltimore area and need anything bike-related, they'll hook you up. The bike is Specialized's new carbon-framed full suspension 29er. This specific model actually has a carbon front triangle with an aluminium rear triangle. A good trade off to take a thousand dollars or so off the price. Specialized is pushing the technological limits by making the dropout spacing 142 mm (as opposed to the usual 135 mm) and including fitments for a 12 mm through axle (a.k.a. the Syntace X12 system). Their goal was to increase the "lateral stiffness" of the rear end of the bike, whatever that means. I was initially a little put off my the rear through-axle, thinking that it would be burdensom during races when trying to change a flat. It's definitely not. You unscrew it, and the wheel comes out like usual. Plus it includes alignment tabs so it is impossible to put your wheel in out of alignment. No more franticly fixing a flat, throwing your wheel back in only to find 10 feet down the trail that your wheel isn't in straight. Very good addition.
The rear suspension it dampened by the Specialized/Fox Brain shock. Active when you want it, locked out when you don't. I'm running mine at "fully firm" which means that the bike feels like a hardtail when your up on the pedals, but like a smooth full suspension rig when your in the rough stuff. The trade off is less response on smaller and slower-speed hits. I am fine with that, because I, you know, know how to ride my bike. Plus everytime I stand on the pedals the speed and acceleration I get washes away all my concerns about lack of plushness. Travel and dampening is matched on the front of the bike with the Specialized Reba Brain fork. It's a Reba with a Specialized tapered crown (mine is aluminium, the top end is carbon) and the Brain damper. I'm runing that at fully firm dampening as well, with equal air pressure in the positive and negative chamber. The result is a fork that is rigid fork-firm when you're on smooth terrain and wide open and smooth when things get hairy. The Brain in the fork is tuned slightly softer than on the rear end, meaning that it opens up for a smaller hit even when both are set to firm. It works very well; much better than I expected when I first got the bike. The only complaint I have about the bike is that I wish they had included a through-axle up front to match the stiffness and rigidity of the through-axle in the year. You can't have everything right? Maybe next year's model will include such a thing.
The rest of the bike is just parts. Durable, reliable, light (enough for now) parts. X0 rear derailleur, X7 front derailleur with X9 shifters. 2x10 drivetrain with a Specialized specific 24/38 chainrings, and a regular 11-36 cogset. Personally, I could care less for the 24/38 rings and would rather have the standard SRAM 2x10 26x39. Unfortunately the removable spider kit is not available aftermarket yet. C'est la vie. Maybe I'll pick one up once they exist. The other parts on the bike were stock Specialized stuff. I haven't changed much, just dropped a cut to 660 mm ENVE Composites Sweep Bar on the front end. It's super pimp. Subtle, strong, and light. Eventually I'll put a full set of ENVE cockipt stuff on there (stem and seatpost), which will drop some static weight off the bike., which weighed 26 lbs 2 oz when I picked it up. With the race wheels as pictured it's probably 1 - 2 lbs lighter, although I have not actually weighed it yet.
The bike rides very well. The first time I jumped on it (a singletrack ride on packed/unpacked snow) it felt like I had been riding it forever The geometry is very neutral feeling. Snappy when you need it to be, and super stable on long fast descents. Once the suspension opens up, the bike just floats over everything. I had a bit of a learning curve while I readjusted my riding style to doing certain technical moves such as logs and rock-overs on the full suspension (adding about 10 psi to the rear shock helped a lot). At speed the bike is a dream. It's like riding on a cloud. Going slower, the bike (probably because I have the Brains set on fully firm) actually feels awkward. You can actually feel the brains opening up and hear the definite "clunk" coming from the rear end. It's not a problem; it just means that I have to go faster, and since this is a race bike faster is better.
New Ergon Stuff: GS-2 grips and GX-2 backpack
New Ergon stuff is always appreciated. I grabbed myself a pair of the new GS-2 grips this year. They are a cross between the GX series, which fit my small girly-hands very well, and the GP series, which are a bit more comfortable. The result is a grip that is still small and light, but offers a bit more padding for the long haul. They also have the new GFK bar-ends, which are much more comfortable than the previous carbon ones that I had, although a little heavier. Meh. I'll take slightly heavier for more comfortable hands.
The BX-2 pack is Ergon's newest pack. They're other packs are very comfortable (I also have a BC-1), but because they have a plastic frame and are meant for carrying a day's worth of gear, are too big and too heavy for racing. The BX-2 fixes that issues. No frame. Light weight. 8 L capacity as opposed to 14 L on the BC-1. Now I can hear you now. 8 L is still pretty big for a pack I plan on racing with. Yup. But the pack is pretty light and from the one time I've ridden it, super comfortable and stable. Plus I can carry 1.5 L more water than my previous pack I wore for long races as well as all the tools and flat stuff I need. Hey if Brandon and Rob can rock packs this size for 100 milers, why can't I?
Heading to Danville this Saturday (not Friday, mind you) to race up some mountains. Should be fun.
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