The Specialized Epic Expert Mountain Bike is no longer available, although you may find similar or newer versions below.

Lightweight carbon frame? Check. Industry-leading suspension technology? Oh yeah. Race-ready build kit? You know it. The Epic Expert is not only ready to shine in races but its also ready to put your closest buddies in the pain cave on the weekends.

Race courses have evolved over the past few years. They’re more technical steeper and simply more challenging to ride. But instead of quivering in our boots we saw this as an opportunity to make something special—something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from.

We looked at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well like the head angle reach stack chainstay length fork offset etc. and re-evaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. Dropper posts? Yep those fit and not just a short-travel XC option but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. Head angle? We slacked that out but not without evaluating the overall handling package. It now lands on a custom offset 42mm fork that works with the slacker head angle in order to behave itself in tight corners and through switchbacks.

Next comes the redesigned Brain technology Brain 2.0. The Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension both its inefficiencies and benefits alike. And oh was it good. It won races and put a flag in the ground for us as a true leader in innovation and suspension development but we knew that we could make it better. Simple physics told us that by moving the Brain closer to the rear axle it would be in the most sensitive spot. And after countless hours with the RockShox team the new Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. Its totally new. Now it reacts seamlessly to bump forces it has much more consistent damping performance and finally it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This in turn improves oil paths and it creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.

The new Epic also gets a serious upgrade in the stiffness department. The Rider-First Engineered™ tubes place complex carbon pieces in all the right places which greatly increases stiffness in the front end for a vast improvement in ride quality and control. To go along with this each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest best riding XC bike weve ever developed—no matter the frame size.

And while stiffness Brain technology and geometry features are cool and all we know what you’re thinking What about the weight?” We’re glad you asked. With the goal of the new Epic to be the fastest XC mountain bike we’ve ever made weight was at the top of our priorities list. We started with an efficient frame layout and tube shapes that feature clean cable routing integrated channels through the shock extension straight tubes with less curves and optimized torsion profiles in every section. And if you’re curious this weight savings is equivalent to shedding a chainstay and shock extension from the previous Epic—nearly 525 grams.

The build of the Epic Expert meshes performance with value featuring a 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset SRAM Level TL brakes and a hand-built Roval Control carbon fibre wheelset. Get ready because this is going to be Epic.

Full fact 11m carbon fibre frame combines stiffness strength and light overall weight to deliver an off-the-hook race bike. Meanwhile the new geometry RockShox Brain shock and 100mm of travel make the Epic the best handling fastest XC rig youve been on.

Our custom RockShox SID fork with Brain features a top-adjust Brain fade and a custom offset to make it suitable for the new Epic.

The 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset brings the performance of Eagle at a doable price point.


FRAME
Specialized FACT 11m full carbon frame XC Geometry threaded BB 12x148mm rear spacing internal cable routing 100mm of travel

FORK
RockShox SID 29 w/ Brain tapered alloy steerer bottom-adjust Brain Fade Solo Air 110x15mm Maxle® Stealth thru-axle 100mm of travel 42mm offset

REAR SHOCK
RockShox/Specialized Micro Brain shock w/ Spike Valve AUTOSAG 51x257mm

INNER TUBES
Standard Presta valve
FRONT TYRE
Fast Trak GRIPTON compound 29x2.3 60 TPI Aramid folding bead 2Bliss Ready
REAR TYRE
Fast Trak GRIPTON compound 29x2.1 60 TPI Aramid folding bead 2Bliss Ready

CRANKSET
Truvativ Stylo 6K alloy Boost™ 148 24mm spindle
CHAINRINGS
Alloy Eagle 32T
BOTTOM BRACKET
SRAM GXP

SHIFT LEVERS
SRAM GX Eagle trigger 12-speed
REAR DERAILLEUR
SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed

CASSETTE
SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed 10-50t
CHAIN
SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed w/ PowerLink

FRONT BRAKE
SRAM Level TL hydraulic disc organic pads 160/180mm rotor
REAR BRAKE
SRAM Level TL hydraulic disc organic pads 160 rotor

HANDLEBARS
Specialized Mini-rise 7050 alloy 8-degree backsweep 6-degree upsweep 10mm rise 720mm width 31.8mm clamp
GRIPS
Specialized Sip Grip half-waffle S/M: regular thickness L/XL: XL thickness
STEM
Specialized XC 3D-forged alloy 4-bolt 6-degree rise

SADDLE
Body Geometry Phenom Comp Adaptive Edge design Hollow Cr-Mo rails 143mm
SEATPOST
Specialized alloy single bolt 21mm offset 30.9mm
SEAT BINDER
Alloy 34.9mm

PEDALS
Specialized Platform 9/16 spindle

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