If you care about cross-country racing, or just enjoy watching the weight-weenie arms race escalate to increasingly absurd levels, this is worth paying attention to.
The headline claim: a 1,589g frame weight (medium, with shock, hardware, seat collar, axle, and water bottle bolts included), which Specialized say makes it the lightest full-suspension XC race frame in production. That’s 129g lighter than the nearest competitor, and 179g lighter than the Epic 8 it replaces.
To put that complete bike weight in perspective: the top-spec S-Works Epic 9 Ultralight LTD tips the scales at 8.5kg. For a full-suspension mountain bike with 120mm of travel front and rear, that is an extraordinary number.
The savings came from full-frame finite element analysis optimisation – essentially stress-mapping every gram of carbon to work out where material wasn’t earning its place. The biggest single saving (110g) came from removing the SWAT in-frame storage that featured on the Epic 8, replaced by an external bolt-on box. Whether that’s a pragmatic weight decision or just Specialized giving up on an idea they should have abandoned earlier depends on your view – but the result speaks for itself. The rear triangle shed 37g, the seat tube 17g, and the main pivot hardware another 15g.
It’s not just about the weight, though. The suspension kinematics have been revised to reduce friction by 11% compared to the Epic 8, with a lower leverage rate at sag to improve pedalling efficiency. The three-position damping setup – Wide Open, Magic Middle, Sprint-On-Lock – returns. The geometry is close to the Epic 8’s modern XC feel, which was well-regarded, with minor adjustments to head angle and stack.
The Epic 9 also simplifies the range: it replaces not just the Epic 8, but also the Epic World Cup and the Epic Hardtail, folding everything under one name. Pricing runs from $7,500 USD for the Expert build up to $15,200 for the S-Works, with the Ultralight LTD landing at $15,250. UK pricing to be confirmed. Christopher Blevins — who won both the XCO and XCC overall titles in 2025 on the Epic 8 — will be on the new bike when the World Cup season kicks off in South Korea this weekend.
Yay! to no frame storage on bikes. Boo! to headset cable routing on bikes.
I don’t particularly mind the idea in principle as long as it’s done well and doesn’t wear on the cables/steerer or anything stupid like that. Upper headset bearings of reasonable quality last forever anyway.
But it seems pointless when you’ve not got the hoses integrated from the lever to the stem like a road bike. It’s only a couple of extra inches of exposed hose to run it into the headtube rather than through the headset. If they came out and said they’d teamed up with SRAM and had brakes with the hose exiting from near the bar and Zipp were going to make concave surfaces in the bars to hide it, then it would make more sense. This just seems like all the pain, however debatable for no benefit.
In frame storage is brilliant IMO.
Amen
Thats exactly how the new generation SRAM MTB brakes are designed, the hose is routed very tight to the underside of the bars.Â
I’m still waiting for the Magura MCI for the ultimate headset cable routing
not going to lie – actually really want that magura system now.Â
agree that half arsing it as TINAS say is a bit pointless.
only worry is you get a bike that looks like it can do barspins – but can’t.
I can’t do a bar spin deliberately while riding but crashes or even putting the bike in a car could mean accidently twisting those hoses round. Is there a knockblock-like-thing that could prevent this?
In frame storage is great – cleaner and much less noisy/flappy than being in a saddle bag or some sort of tool bottle.
it’s closer, but still not particularly closeÂ
Shimano seem to have done it better:
Just seems like a missed opportunity to run the hose through the bars, it would still offer no benefit, but at least it would look cool.Â
If you need in-frame storage on a bike specifically designed for XC racing then you might be riding the wrong bike. 😀Â
and what percentage of people who buy this bike do you think ever race it? I’d imagine the majority will use it for long days out, you know, where frame storage would be useful. The frame storage was one of the reasons I fancied the previous gen.
Not sure tbh mate, I’d have thought most people who buy this probably do race? If you are marketing it as the lightest and bestest ever it’s going to be stripped back to the minimum.
You’d want something else for long days out or at least I would.
I think it will do both tbh – like the Epic 8 did. Â Same frame, 2 slightly different setups. Â It is not long ago a bike with 120/120 and seat and head tube angles like these would be a down country bike, if not a light trail bike.Â
Hmmmm, I assume there’s a new Evo coming as it seems they’ve dropped the more trail version along with the cheaper options? Far few options compared to the 8.
Right…next you’ll be saying everyone on a Specialized Tarmac SL8 does road races and definitely doesn’t just do 30-50km coffee rides…
It’s got two bottle mounts – so it’s definitely intended for marathon racing too.Â
I guess a frame storage would be nice but there are other ways to carry tools.Â
Oi, I don’t *just* do 30-50km coffee rides on my SL8! Sometimes I do a 25km coffee ride…Â 😉
That Magura system is very smart – all they have to do now is work out a way of integrating the hose down the suspension fork.
I always liked the Epic, I had a couple of them in my MTB race days including the original one with the shock next to the rear wheel:
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Mine was fine although I remember the bike needing a complete new set of pivot bearings after a muddy Mountain Mayhem once. They were actually on the way out anyway, MM just finished them off but that was an expensive bike shop visit!
If Specialized decided they’d compromise a bit by on the design of this for people who didn’t race , then they’d need to make another bike which didn’t compromise for the people who do race.
Ask me how I know… although mine is the SL7.
specialized leaning into the k economy, or they are proceeding cautiously after the post Covid bust.
No, you’re probably right. You should contact Specialized and let them know where they’ve gone wrong. 👍Â
Not sure where I said they got anything wrong? I just said the average punter who buys this probably wouldn’t race and would likely find inframe storage useful…
It’s not that deep bro.
Do average punters – no intention to race type folks – drop £6k on a base model XC race bike nowadays?