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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It was a Roval Control SL which is the same rim as the standard Roval Control (only difference is the hubs). I have three sets of these and have run them on my Stumpjumper Evo for years in absolutely heinous conditions from Whistler to Italy to some wild trails here in Socal. Definitely wasn't a rim issue, it was rider error.I thought your post was interesting.
Which wheel rim did you break? Was it a Roval Control SL carbon rim , as pictured on the Epic 8, or one of those deep section carbon “gravel” rims pictured on the Epic World Cup?
Are you bringing spare wheels for next year?
Funny story, my buddy had a backup set of Control SL's setup identical to my wheels and offered to have them at Twin Lakes. I declined which ultimately jinxed me since I was less than half a mile from where they would have been when I broke them. Will definitely have backups next year.
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I am running a Fox rear shock right now and never lock it out. I wouldn't worry about upgrading from the stock setup unless you want the last 2% of performance.
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Great, that’s what I was hoping to hear. The A event I have in mind is extremely long , mostly rough singletrack where I want all the compliance I can get, with long road sections where reaching for the lockout is just fine. The rest of the racing I have in mind is mostly training for that/because going fast is fun.
What event are you looking at?
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The Kenai 250 next June. More info if you click the link, but it’s a bit over 250 miles, and mostly unimproved singletrack. I made an attempt at it on a Giant Trance two years ago but had mechanical issues, and some health problems that kept me from starting last year. There’s another race here after that called the Soggy Bottom, which is a hundred miler covering most of the same terrain.
How much does it shift the caliper back? I don't have an Epic but run into the same issue with the pad bolt being partially behind the seatstay.For those that don't like removing the rear caliper to change brake pads, I recently switched from 160mm to 180mm rear rotor on my Epic 8 and used a brake adapter from better bolts. This adapter moves the caliper back so that the pad retention screw is now accessible. I'll add pictures later.
Mountain Bike Post Mount Disc Brake Adapter +20
In collaboration with Freedom Coast Cycling, we are now offering brake adapters with Better Bolts custom titanium hardware. We machine low profile hardware to clear large 4 piston calipers and locked on a washer for ease of install. Introducing Freedom Coast Cycling's USA-made Mountain Bike Post...betterbolts.com
Weight of adapter and 4 titanium screws is 35g, which is about the same as the SRAM adapter and 2 heavy steel screws that comes with the bike. View attachment 2109457
Excellent info. For sure I will have more questions and will hit you up. I will be coming from sea level. I live at a whopping 200 feet or so above sea level. It seems like the consensus is unless you can arrive like 2 weeks in advance you are better or showing up like the day before the race. Do you agree with that? Not sure what altitude you came from. Thanks
Should be an epic ride, pun intended. Beautiful scenery out there. Whichever bike you use I'm sure it'll be an accomplishment to ride and finish and hope for a healthy year.
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It’s a tough one, no matter what rig you’re on! After a summer off of racing, I’m experimenting with a new training plan that will hopefully have me in good shape for both running and riding when next summer rolls around.
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30,000ft of elevation would be a bit rough for me, lol.
An epic ride for sure!
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I live at half your elevation! I am literally 5 minutes from the ocean so it is a harsh change for sure. Personally I think there might be some benefit to getting there 5-7 days before if you can, but if it is any less then just show up the day of the event. Hannah Otto won a few years ago and it was the only time she didn't acclimate. She actually drove overnight from her home directly to the start line!
That's wild about Hannah. If there is ever a race I would want to get to early to experience the town, the scene and pre-ride it is Leadville! But no way with work/life I could get there well in advance. Maybe a few days or so but based on your and others feedback it might have to be fly into Denver and spend the night there and then Friday drive to Leadville for the Saturday race...
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I had a look at your Leadville 100 ride on Strava.
That front wheel was broken!
You can hire altitude tents, which simulate being at altitude. That’s something you can do at home to help prepare for altitude if travel time is limited. From Strava you were down at least 30 watts power output at Leadville altitude compared to your power for a sea level ride. This is a UK link to altitude tent hire but there are similar places in the US as well.
Altitude Tent Rental – Altitude Centre
altitudecentre.com
You can also do heat acclimatisation work at home. This gives some benefits for boosting red blood cells, not just improved tolerance for hot conditions:
Heat training: could it enhance your performance?
Lexi Kelson discusses an optimal approach to heat training and explores whether your performance in all conditions could benefit...
www.precisionhydration.com
From your Strava the gearing on your bike was too high for the 13% + gradient climbs at altitude. You were down to 55rpm cadence quite a few times or walking. Going to a smaller chainring size would be worthwhile just to try and save your legs a bit. There wasn’t much high speed road sections. With SRAM AXS you can look at the gear distribution to see which gears you used most but that doesn’t show in Strava.
Linked to the altitude power loss it looks like you went out a bit too hard as well. The first climb was around 195 watts average power, the 2nd climb was around 153 watts average power and then the 3rd Columbine climb (first half) was around 135 watts average power for the riding sections.
For flat bars vs drop bars the flat bars were probably a better choice. You had an average moving speed of 9.2mph to where the wheel broke. That was about 3 hours behind Keegan Swenson. That’s a lot of low speed time spent climbing where the extra leverage and slow speed handling from an MTB flat bar would add more benefit than having drops. It changes the priorities a lot.
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The trick (or so I’ve heard) is accepting that 30k of vert is gonna be rough for everyone, and that you’ll be walking a fair few of the climbs.
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My '21 S-Works Epic (the race one, non -evo) Full suspension had the rear hub bearings get stiff pretty quickly, and your post helped me realize it is the stock specialized axle being stepped down, so I went for a DT Swiss X-12 one that is not stepped down (so- just like the Robert Axle thru axle you show above, but the DT Swiss one has a expanding split conical washer- seems to work just fine, doesn't mar up the carbon dropout mating surface), I believe DT Swiss axle part number: HWQASM00S9923S . and I've been happy with it, but I've yet to replace the stiff bearings. I bought some tools from Bearingprotools.com and plan to replace at least the NDS bearing as I think that may be the only stiff one, but do you think I need to replace the DS bearing too? What about the bearing in the Freehub body? Frustrating, I gotta get all the proper tools to do this. I already have the drifts and press from that bearingprotools company for install but but haven't gotten the tool for the unscrewing of the screwed in star ratchet or the tool they have for uninstalling the bearings (I think I can just punch the bearings out OK without those specific removal tools they make). TIA for advice.The issue with the stock Specialized thru axle and Roval Control SL wheels is that the Specialized thru axle is stepped in the middle for weight saving. Lots of thru axles do this but the Specialized 21E1 V2.0 148x12mm thru axle that comes with a Specialized Epic takes this to extremes.
View attachment 2100862
This picture is from my 2022 Specialized Epic Evo and shows the axle installed in the frame. In this picture the brake pad wear is visible as well. One pad is worn down more than the other one. With the stock stepped axle when the rider sits on the bike it allows the rear wheel to move slightly which loads the hub bearings unevenly, accelerating their wear, and also causing brake rotor rub. The brake can be perfectly aligned with no rider onboard but then with rider weight added it shifts it over.
View attachment 2100861
This picture is a cut away of a DT Swiss 180 Ratchet EXP freehub showing the endcap and hub axle placement and why this happens. Next to it is the stock Specialized rear thru axle. Only a few mm of the hub axle are actually contacting the non stepped part of the freehub on either side!
View attachment 2100860
This picture compares the amount of support on a stock Specialized rear thru axle against a Wolftooth rear thru axle and then a Robert Axle Project rear thru axle. The Specialized and Wolftooth axles are both well used so the wear on the edges of the anodising shows where the hub axle is in contact.
Along with added support the non stepped Robert Axle Project also has a larger conical washer head, for increased contact against the frame. Without the weight saving steps the Robert Axle Project thru axle should be stiffer than either of the other two as well.
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The drive side rear hub bearing probably needs replacing. Those DT Swiss Cinc ceramic bearings are super expensive but don’t last long. I’d replace them all, including the front wheel hub bearings, with steel bearings instead.
If your wheel has been in use for several years then the DT Swiss Ratchet EXP lockrings become notoriously difficult to unfasten! The longer they’ve been untouched for the worse it is!
You can buy a steel Ratchet EXP lockring removal tool and you’ll need a solid bench vise to hold it in because they can be crazy difficult to unscrew.
Having someone else on hand to help with extra leverage force can help too.
DT EXP Drive Ring Removal Tool
Tough, USA made DT EXP Drive Ring Removal Tool. Our tool is built out of 4140 steel to make it impact rated to remove the most stubborn drive rings.
elevationwheelcompany.com
I looked at that tool a few months ago. And just bought a $15 one from amazon instead.The drive side rear hub bearing probably needs replacing. Those DT Swiss Cinc ceramic bearings are super expensive but don’t last long. I’d replace them all, including the front wheel hub bearings, with steel bearings instead.
If your wheel has been in use for several years then the DT Swiss Ratchet EXP lockrings become notoriously difficult to unfasten! The longer they’ve been untouched for the worse it is!
You can buy a steel Ratchet EXP lockring removal tool and you’ll need a solid bench vise to hold it in because they can be crazy difficult to unscrew.
Having someone else on hand to help with extra leverage force can help too.
DT EXP Drive Ring Removal Tool
Tough, USA made DT EXP Drive Ring Removal Tool. Our tool is built out of 4140 steel to make it impact rated to remove the most stubborn drive rings.
View attachment 2109827
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7,327 Posts
Appreciate the thorough analysis! My main issue and power drop was related to gut issues. This article gives a very general overview of what happens during ultra endurance events (defined as greater than 4 hours);I had a look at your Leadville 100 ride on Strava.
That front wheel was broken!
You can hire altitude tents, which simulate being at altitude. That’s something you can do at home to help prepare for altitude if travel time is limited. From Strava you were down at least 30 watts power output at Leadville altitude compared to your power for a sea level ride. This is a UK link to altitude tent hire but there are similar places in the US as well.
Altitude Tent Rental – Altitude Centre
You can also do heat acclimatisation work at home. This gives some benefits for boosting red blood cells, not just improved tolerance for hot conditions:
Heat training: could it enhance your performance?
Lexi Kelson discusses an optimal approach to heat training and explores whether your performance in all conditions could benefit...
From your Strava the gearing on your bike was too high for the 13% + gradient climbs at altitude. You were down to 55rpm cadence quite a few times or walking. Going to a smaller chainring size would be worthwhile just to try and save your legs a bit. There wasn’t much high speed road sections. With SRAM AXS you can look at the gear distribution to see which gears you used most but that doesn’t show in Strava.
Linked to the altitude power loss it looks like you went out a bit too hard as well. The first climb was around 195 watts average power, the 2nd climb was around 153 watts average power and then the 3rd Columbine climb (first half) was around 135 watts average power for the riding sections.
For flat bars vs drop bars the flat bars were probably a better choice. You had an average moving speed of 9.2mph to where the wheel broke. That was about 3 hours behind Keegan Swenson. That’s a lot of low speed time spent climbing where the extra leverage and slow speed handling from an MTB flat bar would add more benefit than having drops. It changes the priorities a lot.
Gut problems for cyclists: What causes them and how to avoid them
“I needed to take a dump -- I could not hold it anymore. I felt it on the downhill and I just had to stop. It was not possible to continue.” – Tom
velo.outsideonline.com
You can see my power curve in the Tahoe qualifier was pretty flat through 3 hours and then fell off a cliff at 4 hours when my GI issues started;
At Leadville I was going through several things simultaneously. First I don't think I was close to recovered from my bout with Covid a few weeks earlier. Even now at sea level my power and RPE are way down. Second, I was I was nauseous as soon as I woke up race day morning. My body doesn't react well to 4 am wake times and I need to experiment with my breakfast routine. I also get really stressed out which triggers my fight or flight response further limiting blood flow to the GI system. I seem to be one of those athletes that is highly susceptible to GI distress since I have these issues consistently independent of altitude. I am working with a nutritionist while also doing a lot of my own research as well. Learning a lot and just starting to look at treatment ideas now that I understand the pathology.
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LOL At this point of my life I'm happily accepting couple days of recovery after a ride with 2k elevation gain. You guys are on a different level.
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Anyone running hope X2 calipers on the Epic 8? Seems like E4s won’t fit based on my reading in this thread, but I’d love to be able to run XCR Pro X2s.
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