Submitted by
Carlos Alfaro
a Cross Country Rider
from Alexandria
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2006
Strengths: Smart auto-suspension,perfectly calibrated geometry,ability to maintain control at high speeds,super plush feel when brain is fully active
Weaknesses: You really need to spend time finding a precise PSI and sag to fit your average ride type and rider weight.Id like better frame components like handlebars ,SP, stem etc.stock seems to cheap and aluminum grade is low
Bottom Line:
IF YOUR LOOKING TO BUY AN EPIC,you really need to know that the epic is NOT a normal full suspension FSR. Consider it a mutant hardtail.you need to keep that in mind.if you drop more than 5 feet,your done,get a stumpjumper!if not the only way to go is custom,create and engineer a epic XC rig to meet your exact needs on the trail you ride.with the epic,the rear sus. isnt about travel and jumps,but its abilty to stick to the ground and control the bikes overall agilty under stress from the ground.excellent acceleration machine.last note...get a terralogic fork from fox,together with rear brain, unbeatble combo,Front and Rear go from fully complaint to stiff for speed accel like none other in perfectly prescise unicen.BUY THE EPIC
Similar Products Used: I work as a bike builder at a bike shop,ive ridden almost every bike,personaly I used to be a Hardtail person myself
Bike Setup: XTR, fox terralogic,CK hubs and headtset,all the carbon goodies.super smooth Michilin road tires...bikes built to destroy neighborhood streets,trails and parks, suspension set up to be able to stick to ground like a porsche.overall built like a fast road/mtn Hybrid...rivals roadies in the downhill.
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Submitted by
Peter Gelme
a Cross Country Rider
from NSW, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2006
Strengths: good forks, looked good, that's about it
Weaknesses: Well it has been awhile riding this bike, and I have got rid of it. Basically the frame sux, I think my initial excitement over getting a dual suspension machine covered the inadequacies of the idea of the brain. Obviously the stock componentry of the bike was a little disappointing, but generally for the money it wasn't too bad. I just couldn't figure out why I kept falling of the stupid thing. I changed set ups a few times, thinking that my position was off. But no, I kept falling, then I just put it down to rider error (I wasn't going to blame the bike, it cost me enough money!). I kept blaming rider error, I trained on my skills and still kept falling off. Finally I had one last big accident and hurt myself pretty badly, this time I blamed the bike, basically the brain was not reacting quick enough to bumps, at high speed you get an initial spine jolting hit then plushness which at speed made trying to keep upright very hard. In my mind this defeated the purpose of a dual suspension rig. So I got rid of it and bought a fully active frame, (Ellsworth distance). I haven't crashed at that rate ever again. A mate described riding a Specialized as like riding an ironing board, and after some thought I would agree that these bikes share many characteristics with ironing boards. So if you are after a cross country racer look elsewhere.
Bottom Line:
Buy something else, shop around there are better deals on bikes with some actual character. Don't get confused by the mumbo jumbo the sales guys go on about with the Brain set up. Yes I am going back on what I said a couple of years ago, but with good reason, just be careful, it is alot of money to dish out for something that at the end of the day will not return the love that you give it!!!!!
Bike Setup: Ellsworth distance, Fox Float 100RL forx, XT group set.
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Submitted by
bob berman
a Cross Country Rider
from bluffton, sc
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2006
Strengths: Holy crap this brain business is unbelievable. MTB is right to just crank it up and ride like a nut. I can't believe how fast I can ride over roots and rocks and junk and it just smooths out the route. Shifts are smooth, geometry is perfect, all my numbness and pains from my cannondale are gone. Seat is comfortable and grips are great. Just ride this and you'll see. Front forks and the brakes are perfect
Weaknesses: I would have bought the Stumpjumper expert but I couldn't get comfort from the seat as you can't adjust it down when you need or want to. Paint isn't at good as my old cannondale and it seems to chip easily.
Bottom Line:
I'd buy this again in a heartbeat.I would have bought the Disk Comp model but I couldn't find a size large within 300 miles and every dealer said you can't order till 2007. Sorry SRAM I realy wanted those but anyway the bike is just fantastic. It hugs the curves and can turn so much better than my cannondale without getting squirrely in sharp switchbacks. If you want a tough bike to ride for hours, this is it.
Similar Products Used: Cannondale rush, Stumjumper, Jamis
Bike Setup: stock except I put on Crank Bros pedals, didn't like the ones it came with.
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Submitted by
Bill
a Cross Country Rider
from Pocatello, Idaho, USA
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2006
Strengths: Climbing, Technical terrain, down hill, everything, etc!!!
Weaknesses: I haven't found any!
Bottom Line:
I have the 2006 Specialized Epic Disc. This bike is awesome! It has improved my climbing so much! The bike makes me feel like my fitness at the beginning of the season is at mid-season form, but it is not. This is because the geometry, weight, awesome Specialized Pro tires, and the BRAIN keep this bike hooked up, almost assisting me up the hills. Truly, this is the best climbing bike I have ever ridden. It climbs better than hard tails, because the brain reacts to the terrain, and keeps the rear wheel connected to the ground, even over small rocks and sticks. Take the time to set up the front and rear shocks, and you won't believe how well this bike climbs, descends, etc. If you are on the fence about this bike, talk your local bike shop in to letting you test ride it on a local trail. You won't appreciate this bike until you've taken it off road. The shop's parking lot will not do this bike justice. I am 43 years old, and I feel like I have just discovered the sport of mountain biking all over, because this bike is so fun to ride. I have been mountain biking since the late 80's, and have even worked in a bike shop, raced, etc. I have ridden a lot of bikes, and this is the BEST bike period. Thanks Specialized!!!
Similar Products Used: Nishiki FS-2, Specialized Stump Jumper
Bike Setup: Stock with upgraded Shimano XT front derailer, and Control Stix Stubby bar ends
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Submitted by
Mark Roberts
a Cross Country Rider
from Adelaide, Australia
Date Reviewed: February 4, 2006
Strengths: The brain! This is awesome technology! The bike climbs up short technical climbs really well, and due to the lack of sag, still has enough travel when it comes to the downhill sections. The Deore disc brakes are the best value hydraulic brakes on the market.
Weaknesses: Long flat climbs (roads/fire trails) aren't this bikes cup of tea. It is designed to be a racing bike, not something for riding fire roads. The Specialized componentry is crap. I have owned a Bighit before and I found the same problem. I you can spare the extra cash just go for better components. If your at all harsh on your gear I can expect that you will wreck them.
Bottom Line:
I am currently in the process of replacing all of the Specialized gear. If you look on EBAY you can get some really cool stuff. Thomson seat post, Selle Italia Flite Genuine Gel Saddle, Ritchey Pro Stem and bars, XTR Casette and Chain and XT cranks will be getting put on any day now, and new wheels are next on the list. These are parts that I would recommend replacing to get the most out of the bike.
Weaknesses: . Bottom bracket too low (easy fix though!)
Bottom Line:
I've had this bike for almost 2 years. I couldn't be more satisfied with it! I've tried other products as once in a while I get the itch to buy a new bike. However, no other bike has matched my Epic. This bike is fast & furious! On rocky trails in Phoenix, it performs really well! I've put over 2,000 miles on this bike riding all over AZ, Calif, Colorado, Utah. This summer I'll be taking it to Oregon to ride the McKenzie River trail. Last year I traversed 210 miles of the the San Juan Trail between Telluride, CO and Moab, UT. I had some problems with the original wheels (hubs) at the end of that trip. The original shimano hubs were crap! I recently upgraded to MAVIC SL wheels and Chris King hubs ($1,000 upgrade!) The original saddle wasn't too comfy. I tried several saddles and I finally found a Maxim saddle (same saddle used by Titus on their bikes) and it's great! The original brakes are still on this bike and after 2,000 miles the pads are still working great! The biggest complaint everyone has about this bike is its low bottom bracket. I concur! You hit so many rocks even on non-technical sections. I spoke to my local bike shop (LBS) about it. I was thinking of buying a new fork to solve this problem. However, we found out that my bike came stocked (as many Epics do) with an 80mm FOX fork. They were able to increase the fork travel to 100mm very easily and only charged me $30 for it. FOX advised my LBS that this can be done only on some forks (50/50 chance!) I was lucky because mine was one of those "upgradable" forks. Unbelievable... 20mm of extra travel on the fork made a big difference! This fixed the whole issue with the low bottom bracket. The bike rides much better now and I feel more confident going through technical sections! I wish I knew about this easy and inexpensive upgrade before!
I've spoken with my LBS about the Specilized Epics. They truly feel that the the original 2003 model has been the best Epic Specialized has released. Specilized has tweaked so much with the Brain and they feel the new models don't perform as good. However, I think this is a matter of personal opinion!
Bike Setup: . I've spent over $1,300 in upgrades over the last 2 years: Chris King hubs, Mavic SL wheels, Maxim saddle, 100mm fork upgrade, XTR drivetrain, XT cranks.
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Submitted by
Bob
a Cross Country Rider
from Bmore, MD
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2005
Strengths: Very tight and efficient ride. The Brain shock works really well. Fox Float Fork is plush and the lockout makes for an awesome climbing bike.
Weaknesses: Front fu$%in derailleur. The LX I had on my old Stumpjumper was passable, but this thing just doesnt work with the XTR rear.
Bottom Line:
Great bike has everything you need for almost any mountain descent and can handle road climbs really well at the same time. At almost 30lbs for a large I would expect this bike to feel slower but it really doesnt. Im skeptical of service issues with hydraulic disc brakes (mechanical is just so much easier to adjust and service) but so far they've been right on. The saddle is definitely a racing style saddle, but the fox shock softens the ride enough to make this ok. If you dont mind the price and your not racing off cliffs this bike will do anything.
Similar Products Used: 99 M2 Stumpjumper. 03 Santa Cruz Blur.
Bike Setup: Original plus Crank Bros Mallet-M pedals.
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Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Buffalo, NY
Date Reviewed: December 31, 2004
Strengths: Ride, brakes, some of the components, forks, fast
Weaknesses: front Derailleur is junk, seat, pedals, grips, but all easy fixes. But the ground clearence is alot lower than my old bike. Most comparable bikes may be the same, but I hate it
Bottom Line:
I went from a giant atx 770 with nothing and totally worn out, to this. Now I see why you should wear a helmet on the trails! I feel like a pro with this thing! I used to be able to keep up with everybody on the trails, now I'm blowing them away. You can spend more time riding, and less time worring about rocks, roots, etc. The only problem I have is the ground clearence. I catch my pedals way too many times.
Bike Setup: Stock except for new easton monkey light handle bars, shimano disc brakes
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Submitted by
Mike Peterson
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, UT
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2004
Strengths: The brain rear suspension is excellent; it acts like a hardtail on smooth terrain and a full suspension on the bumps. Great fork and the disk brakes this an excellent all around ride.
Weaknesses: The pedals had to go and the handlebar width makes it difficult to navigate through tight trees.
Bottom Line:
Sweet all arround cross country bike. I haven't rode any other bike that can climb and decend this good. Slightly heavier than I'd ideally like, but very durable.
This is an awsome bike, it took me about a month and a half and a few broken ribs later to get the set up right but now I swear by this bike, it corners stongly, climbs over loose rocks, hardpack, soft dirt etc without skipping a beat. The brain shock took a bit to get used to, but once i got a feel for it I love it.
The only gripe I have for such an awsome bike with so much great gear on it, is why WHY WHY did they stick a deore hub on the back, by far this is the strangest decision made by specialized, basically it sucks. Also the stem looked crap, so I wacked the EA70 stem from my old bike onto it, then the BG saddle, is anything but body geometry, my arse is still recovering from the torture it dealt out. I am not a fan of shimano pedals so that was also something I got rid of.
Sounds a bit gloomy, but lets face it, no one gets on a bike and finds it is perfect without changing a thing on it and most things can be swapped fairly easily if you have got a good bike store, the only pain was the rear hub, to replace meant a wheel rebuild.
Overall this is a great XC racer, it is not a free ride bike, nor is it a down hill machine, it is bred for XC and if this is your breed of riding definately look at the EPIC.
Similar Products Used: Iron horse hard tail (pales into comparison with epic)
Bike Setup: I have changed a few things to suite me, added, Selle Prolink gel flow saddle, Easton EA70 stem, Easton EA70 riser bars, Crank bros Candy SL pedals, XT rear disk hub ODI lock on grips. Xtension PYDER tyres (kind of like Hutchinson Pythons, and I also extended the travel of the forks to 100mm, very easy to do.
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Submitted by
Tommy
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2004
Strengths: Brain shock, Fox Fork with the lock out dial, Disc, FLO RED!!
Weaknesses: I heard the cranks could be better, but the seem OK to me.
Bottom Line:
This bike is the shizzle!! I'm an ex-BMXer and I like to stand and pump. I never found a FS I liked. I tried the Giant VT2, and it was pretty good. Then I tried the Specialized Stumpjumper with the three way shock in the back. That was cool because it could be "locked out." Then I tried the Epic and I was sold. The Fox Float 80RT fork is sweet, especially because of the lock out dial. On the trail I can lock out the forks, down shift, and stand and pump up stuff that others are walking. When I rode the bike in the parking lot of the store it was so nice. Stiff when needed, soft when needed. I love it! If you want a soft, pillow like ride, this isn't your bike. One G of force is required to make the Brain shock work. It's not totally plush and it a little bumpy on the wash out stuff. But if you want a bike that is stiff going up and sweet going down, this is it. My bike is 29 pounds on my digital bathroom scale. It's not really that bad for a FS. I think I'll upgrade the bars, stem, and cranks when I'm ready to the same parts on the S-WORKS Epic. But for now, this bike is the bomb. It goes up like a goat and down like a rocket. There are hardtails, there are softtails, and then there's the Epic in a class of it's own. There's a reason the Brain shock was voted the #1 innovation of the century. That's because it ROCKS!!
Similar Products Used: Specialized Stumpjumpter, Giant VT2.
Bike Setup: Stock except for the bushings being removed from the 80mm fork to make it 100mm, and gold Specialized platform pedals from a P2.
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Submitted by
Floyd G.
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia
Date Reviewed: May 17, 2004
Strengths: Well built, maybe overbuilt, climbs very well, also a very good CC descender, and that cool "Flo Red" color!
Weaknesses: a bit on the heavy side thought on the trail you do not notice it. Parts selection could be better but for the price I paid I'll sleep ok at night.
Bottom Line:
Great bike. I have only had it three weeks but was able to thoroughly thrash it this weekend in Jim Thorpe. It feels nimble on the trail to me. I was able to float through very rocky downhills with ease. Going uphill is a dream come true. Traction, traction and more traction! I didn't have to dismount even on the steepest pitches. The back wheel really seems to hook up and not let go. The Specialized Roll-X tires might have something to do with that as well. It just feels solid! I did have some chainsuck however. It happended when double shifting to the small chainring. It didn't occur enough for me to find it frustrating though. It might be the LX front derailleur. I'm considering upgrading to XTR. We'll see? I found it easy to dial in the suspension. I consulted the online guides for Fox and their recommendations work well for me. I'll only make minor changes after this weekend. I think the parts selection for this bike is a bit on the weak side. But I got the bike at a great price compared to what it was selling for last year, $2600. This was an 03' leftover. The last one in my area the distributor said. Lucky me! Disk versions of the bike for 04' start at well over 2 grand so I'll take it! I've already made several upgrades. The most major ones being the cranks. The Specialized stock ones are junk! I have not upgraded the wheels yet but I can probably lighten the bike by at least a pound and a half by going to Dave's Speed Dream wheels. The stock wheelset are bricks! When it's all said and done it will go from about 28.1lbs to about 25.5lbs, maybe less if I change my saddle as well. I don't mind the upgrading because that's part of the fun to me! I want to find a reason the upgrade the Deore brakes but they work so well, no fade whatsoever and I like the modulation. That's my take on it. Enjoy the ride!
Bike Setup: Stock exept, 03' XT cranks, Rocket shifters, SRAM 9.0 cassette and chain, Easton Monkeylite bar, Thomson seatpost, Prolink saddle
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Submitted by
tom
a Cross Country Rider
from North Carolina
Date Reviewed: April 27, 2004
Strengths: Swingarm has no play at all!! clean, well made. Very sturdy/no flex. Still looks new after a year of hard riding. Durable
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I am posting this review after one solid year of riding. This bike is better now than it was new. Since I properly adjusted the shock about nine months ago all I have to do is go ride. No flex at all in the rear end. I am probably 190lbs with all riding gear. (camel bak/helmet/gloves etc) and the best thing is you can go hammer every day and not have to worry about it. Just clean and go ride again. Parts do not give a bike a weakness, just causes frustration. Change them! I'm not sure about the new 04 frame because lighter is not always better. Never weighed my bike, I just go out and race and ride. Bottom line is this bike can handle all cross country applications. May change to 4" fork in the future.
Similar Products Used: C'dale Raven/Jekyll, Giant ACS, friends Tracer
Bike Setup: stock with: new seat, stem, bars,ATAC pedals, and chain and Stans No Tubes
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Submitted by
Sablotny
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Rosa, California
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2004
Strengths: Flo Red Paint, classic double-diamond frame design, great suspension basics: Fox Brain & F80RL fork
Weaknesses: Weight (28.8 pounds LG). Cheap, heavy wheelset; heavy frame
Bottom Line:
Just got the bike, taking it thru its paces on all my favorite trails that I've been riding for 15 years. First thought: the Brain works. Maybe 2-3 times on a 20 mile ride I can feel a hard "edge" to the opening of the inertia valve with "horizontal" impacts, like hitting a grapefruit-sized rock on a creek crossing. But I can bunnyhop & land XC-sized jumps with plush, FS feel. The bike really needs a TIV fork to give balanced suspension feel. I don't mind the LX shifters & Deore brakes. They won't stop me from leaving many XTR-equipped riders in my dust. But no bike billed as an XC-racer should weigh 28.8 pounds. I'll have to drop some bux on a nice disc wheelset, like the CC Laser Disc Lite setup, to shed 1.5 pounds from the bike. If I can get the Epic down to 26.8 pounds (final weight for my K2 with 3" of coil travel both ends), I'll be happy. It'll just be an expensive journey getting there.
Similar Products Used: Specialized & Bridgestone hardtails, '99 K2 Razorback, Santa '99 Cruz Sooperlite, '03 FSRxc, '01 Sugar 2
Bike Setup: Stock now... soon getting back to XC position (flat bar, long stem, ditch the BG saddle, shop for lighter wheelset, pray for cheap F80X/100X to show up on Ebay)
:D First off, thanks to those who helped me out about a week ago (info on buying a 2008 FSR XC).
:thumbsup: :D
With the purchase of my first FSR bike a week ago and riding al Read More »
Hey everyone,
Does anyone have this bike? I just picked one up off of Craigslist a few days ago for a decent price. It needs new chainrings and the chain is streched pretty bad Read More »
I have a 2007 Spec' Epic Marathon and have just bought a complete new set of SLX disc brakes. As you can see from the photo the brake line exits the rear callipar right at the brai Read More »
Ok, so I'm looking to get into a FS on a poor college student budget lol. This kid from school is willing to sell his epic disc for what seems to be a pretty reasonable price.
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