If were being honest with ourselves alloy has always been at the heart of the EVO family. Its tough its stiff & at least with our bikes its pretty damn light. Basically it embodies everything thats good about mountain bikes & thats what EVO is all about. But an Epic Comp EVO made out of aluminium? We say yeah its a perfect fit. & thats because this bike brings all the uphill racing singletrack-ripping fun you want & puts it in a durable on-budget package. So get excited because this is the most epic Epic yet. Take a look around our office & youre going to see plenty Epics—most of them wearing dropper posts wider tyres & bars & slightly longer forks. Thats because the Epics that were Frankensteining are not only fast off the start line theyre even better suited to masochistically long rides multi-day stage races & fast backcountry missions. At some point we looked around & said to ourselves “ We should offer this bike right out of the box right?” So we did. So lets dig into the details. First off the EVO ups the fork travel from 100mm to 120mm. This gives you some relief up front while also slacking-out the front-end by one-degree to 68.5 degrees. Next up we added a zero-offset dropper post to give you more control on descents but this design keeps your saddle over the BB on steep climbs. We also put some meat on the tyres with a grippy 2.3 Ground Control at the front & a stiffer Fast Trak at the rear with GRID protection at the sidewalls. The Epic EVO also features our Brain 2.0. The OG Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension & oh was it good. It won races & put a flag in the ground for us as a true leader in innovation & 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. & after some lengthy R&D its totally new. Now it reacts seamlessly to bump forces it has much more consistent damping performance & finally it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This means that the oil paths are enhanced & that creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market. At the heart of the construction youll find our M5 alloy with our DAluisio Smartweld Technology that strategically places more welding material where its needed resulting in an aluminium frame thats more compliant & considerably stiffer at nearly every tube juncture. Its awesome. For the build we specd a 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle groupset SRAM Level TL brakes & a Roval Control Alloy wheelset. A Rock Shox Reba RL fork with 120mm of travel soaks up rocks roots & bumps & it also features both compression & rebound adjustments. The 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle groupset brings the performance of Eagle at a value anyone can appreciate. An X-Fusion Manic seatpost brings you some much-needed drop for tackling steep descents but it also features a zero-offset design that keeps your weight over the bottom bracket for the climbs. Technical Information Frame Specialized M5 Aluminum w/ DAluisio Smartweld Technology threaded BB 12x 148mm rear spacing internal cable routing 100mm of travel Fork Rock Shox Reba RL 29 Motion Control damper 42mm offset 15x 110mm thru-axle 120mm of travel Rear Shock Custom Rock Shox Micro Brain shock w/ Spike Valve AUTOSAG 51x 257mm Front Hub Specialized sealed cartridge bearings 15x 110mm spacing 28h Rear Hub Specialized sealed cartridge bearings 12x 148mm thru-axle 28h Spokes DT Swiss Industry Rims Roval Control Alloy 29 25mm internal width Inner Tubes Standard Presta valve Front Tyre Ground Control GRIPTON compound 60 TPI 2 Bliss Ready 29x 2.3 Rear Tyre Fast Trak GRID casing GRIPTON compound 60 TPI 2 Bliss Ready 29x 2.3 Crankset Truvativ STYLO DUB Chainrings SRAM Eagle 32T Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB threaded BB Shifters Sram NX Eagle trigger 12-speed Rear Derailleur SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed Cassette SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed 11-50t Chain SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed Front Brake SRAM Level TL hydraulic disc Rear Brake SRAM Level TL hydraulic disc Handlebars Specialized Alloy Minirise 10mm rise 750mm 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 hollow Cr-Mo rails 143mm Seatpost X-Fusion manic 30.9mm (S: 100mm M-XL: 125mm) Seat Binder Alloy 34.9mm