La totalmente nueva Specialized Epic 2024 al parecer ya sin Brain. Parece una copia del sistema IsoStrut de la Trek
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SPECIALIZED EPIC 2024
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chopperbobadilla
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On my bike with the cable operated lockouts the 3 position Sidluxe rear shock when set to full lock is quite solid. There’s maybe 1 to 2mm of travel on the rear shock pushing down on the saddle.
The 3 position Sid 35 fork in contrast has about 1cm of easily achievable travel to begin with in full lock. After that 1cm of travel it’s firm though. That initial travel will be to give a little bit of traction still, even when the fork is locked.
With cable operated lockouts the cable tension is vitally important. If the lockout cable tension is too low then the PTL (Push To Lock) shock dials won’t rotate far enough and the suspension will still be partially open in the 3rd click of the lockout lever.
If you watch the dials on the fork and rear shock they should begin rotating almost as soon as you begin turning the Twistloc ultimate gripshifter from Open to Middle position. If they don’t begin rotating straight away the cable to that dial is too loose and needs pulling a bit tighter.
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It’s a sticker to protect the frame from a water bottle rubbing against it due to the tight clearances.
A full plastic water bottle bouncing repeatedly against a carbon frame can do a lot of damage if it’s ignored and left unprotected. The bottle will wear a hole right through the carbon frame over time!
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That’s nice.
You’ve got probably one of the best colour schemes as well. I was hoping my frame only would be that multi fade finish but it turned up and was plain black carbon instead. Oh well.
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How often did you use the manual cable remote lockout on your Pivot Mach 4 SL before fitting the Flight Attendant? All the Pivot Mach 4SLs I’ve seen have come with Fox two position manual lockouts as standard (Open - Lock). The Flight Attendant would add an additional middle position for the fork and rear shock that weren’t present before.
Having the front lockout stiffens the fork up and makes the bike sit up a bit higher in its travel. With the Flight Attendant it should be switching the fork to its middle position more frequently than you might do by yourself manually. When pedalling hard that extra support on the front can be quite nice.
The addition of that extra middle pedal position on the rear shock should firm the back end up under power as well. Compared to how you ran the bike with the Fox suspension you could maybe experiment with setting the suspension to slightly softer in full open position, and then lean on the Flight Attendant suspension to switch to its middle position whenever you’re pedalling hard.
I have a Pro and had it in my hands one week from launch (shipped to LBS to build). Due to life stuff and weather today was my first ride. Coming from a previous gen Epic EVO S-Works, which I switched to Fox 34SC and Float DPS. Switched the old wheels to the new Epic and swapped seatpost to Reverb AXS. No other mods yet but have XX SL cranks coming because I wanted 165mm and the weight savings is nice.
On the previous EVO I rode most of the time with the fork and shock one click from fully open, except on rough descents. The Epic 8’s “magic middle” is effectively the same thing but controlled with the twistloc. First impression is the tune is really, really good. On the EVO I switched to Fox because it felt a lot better to me than the stock RockShox setup. On the Epic 8, the new RockShox and the magic middle tune feels even better. Very impressed. I rode the US Cup course (at Centennial, Fayetteville, AR) and the bike did great on everything. There are some pretty fast, rough sections and the suspension was not overwhelmed at all, which surprised me. Rebound is a little fast on the shock (which I'll get dialed-in) for my taste but otherwise am very happy.
Was it worth the money over just keeping the previous gen EE (2021 model)? Probably not but I wanted the new one just because I was ready for a new bike and the timing was good. The bike feels really solid, and even though I never had problems with the EE, it always just felt a bit dainty. This 8 feels beefy without a massive weight penalty. Definitely heavier but still at 24 pounds with AXS dropper, pedals, bottle cage and tool, and computer and phone mounts. The wheels and tires saved a good bit of weight to offset the dropper. I can do a few weight-weenie things but I'm really happy with it and how it rides.
On the previous EVO I rode most of the time with the fork and shock one click from fully open, except on rough descents. The Epic 8’s “magic middle” is effectively the same thing but controlled with the twistloc. First impression is the tune is really, really good. On the EVO I switched to Fox because it felt a lot better to me than the stock RockShox setup. On the Epic 8, the new RockShox and the magic middle tune feels even better. Very impressed. I rode the US Cup course (at Centennial, Fayetteville, AR) and the bike did great on everything. There are some pretty fast, rough sections and the suspension was not overwhelmed at all, which surprised me. Rebound is a little fast on the shock (which I'll get dialed-in) for my taste but otherwise am very happy.
Was it worth the money over just keeping the previous gen EE (2021 model)? Probably not but I wanted the new one just because I was ready for a new bike and the timing was good. The bike feels really solid, and even though I never had problems with the EE, it always just felt a bit dainty. This 8 feels beefy without a massive weight penalty. Definitely heavier but still at 24 pounds with AXS dropper, pedals, bottle cage and tool, and computer and phone mounts. The wheels and tires saved a good bit of weight to offset the dropper. I can do a few weight-weenie things but I'm really happy with it and how it rides.
I checked, when I start turning the twistloc, the dials starts rotating immediately, so I suppose the cable tension is ok
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Does it actually feel heavier? Or is that merely the difference between your S-Works (EE) and Pro (E8)?
Was the DPS also 3-position but you still had to ride it almost fully open (presumably because the locked/mid? positions were to firm)? Do you feel that the new 3-pos. Sid and Sidluxe are a real game changer compared to the older 2-pos fork/shock on the EEvo? And even compared to the Fox SC and DPS? I usually prefer Fox (and was wary of the loose bushings on some recent Sid forks), but if the E8 feels that much better with the RS suspension, that's a pretty decisive argument in its favor. I was also eyeing the Epic 8 Evo frameset with the Fox shock, but what I've read so far about it is rather disappointing
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in my earlier post about the Pivot M4 I also felt the SID and SIDluxe were superior to the Fox SC and DPS.
Riding it doesn’t feel heavier but just lifting it I can tell the difference, not much, though.
The DPS is 3-position. I ride/rode it mostly in the middle position - same for the step cast 34. I don’t like using the term “game changer” because these things are so personal, but for my money the new SID/SIDLuxe is way better than the old. Not even close. Riding the new RockShox feels very similar to the Fox setup I was riding except the new RS feels better climbing and standing pedaling.
I’ve considered also getting the new EVO 8 frameset just to limit the wear on my race bike but the 2-position shock is a bit of a turnoff. I haven’t sold the old EVO yet so I may just keep it and throw a 130mm fork on there and see how I like that for training and general riding.
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No doubt FA switches more often than the manual. Yes the manual is open or locked. As you suggested I have considered slightly lowering the pressure as an experiment. The shock is at 28% sag right now.How often did you use the manual cable remote lockout on your Pivot Mach 4 SL before fitting the Flight Attendant? All the Pivot Mach 4SLs I’ve seen have come with Fox two position manual lockouts as standard (Open - Lock). The Flight Attendant would add an additional middle position for the fork and rear shock that weren’t present before.
Having the front lockout stiffens the fork up and makes the bike sit up a bit higher in its travel. With the Flight Attendant it should be switching the fork to its middle position more frequently than you might do by yourself manually. When pedalling hard that extra support on the front can be quite nice.
The addition of that extra middle pedal position on the rear shock should firm the back end up under power as well. Compared to how you ran the bike with the Fox suspension you could maybe experiment with setting the suspension to slightly softer in full open position, and then lean on the Flight Attendant suspension to switch to its middle position whenever you’re pedalling hard.
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Is it still available?
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Yes
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Thanks, this is really helpful! (I'm also considering the Santa Cruz Blur TR frame as an alternative to the Epic8, and the Blur comes with a 3-position DPS shock, which I could pair with any fork of my choice).
I could get the Epic 8 Evo frameset (with 2-position DPS, a major putoff) or the Blur TR (with 3-position DPS) for almost the same price (the Blur is 10% less). Or I could get the Epic 8 Comp bike for 40% more than the Blur frame, but that means keeping only the frame + fork, and having to sell the Sram drivetrain/brakes (and the cheap basic wheelset, dropper, and cocpkit) for at least 5-600 euros to break even (i.e. end up pricewise on the same level as the Blur).
If the Epic 8 Evo Pro frameset came with a better shock (3-position DPS or Sidluxe), it would be a no-brainer
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But it must be lighter than painted one by few grams
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I have mine set to 30% and it feels perfect but I think I'm going to put my Telemetry system on it and see what kind of readings I'm getting just for interest. It was interesting using Telemetry on bikes with LiveValve as it sometimes resulted in odd results. I'm guessing the same will be true with FA.
Weather has been total crap here and trails are not what I'm used to so I likely won't get out really until Wednesday or Thursday. That's never good for my wallet 😂 and it often results in me tinkering with several things on my bikes while I'm taking conference calls during the day.
Nice build! What rear shock, any specific tune?
It is the SIDLuxe Ultimate, however it does not have the custom Specialized tune, as it was not yet available. I do have the info now and will have suspension tuner updated it soon.
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You could have bought mine as well as the fork.
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