It turns out I’m getting a personal delivery today from a person in the shop van, so seeing as I don’t have a picture of a box…

Weeksy, is that you? :p

Petition for forum rule about no NBD threads until the B is actually in possession? 😀

😁

I’m going with a xc bike. New shape Spark?

Arriving in 21 minutes….

What an epic thread

Yep, will be interesting to see the Evolution of the thread through the day….

A very specialized thread, no?

Ah, must have missed the earlier clues… Anyway, sounds good.

Phwoar!

Thats fresh out the delivery van.   Weighing in at 11.7kg, It’ll be tubeless with a Barzo / Mezcal combo and one cage removed before it gets ridden, and I’ve yet to work out if my PM fits which I don’t thing it does.    So I’m expecting about 11.3kg.    No other changes and what a stunning Bike!   Pleased with the Balfe’s discount of course but also that I could get this before there’s none left – it’s slightly shorter in the TT and steeper SA than the epic 8 which suits the majority of my local trails.

I’ve one concern after a quick scooter around the garden – it could very well make my Occam redundant as well as replacing my old race bike!

Thanks to Balfe’s and Ian for a smooth process and personal delivery.

Oh and the garden does need attention after its initial Spring thinning 2 weeks ago, the fence belongs to the neighbour…. Etc

oh, and Spesh not only pre helitaped it but included a roll of 3m in the bits box.  Top stuff.

Weighing in at 11.7kg, It’ll be ……… So I’m expecting about 11.3kg. No other changes and ,..

Erm, are you using it for gravity riding only? If not then you’ll probably need to add some pedals…

🤦

Nice rolling nigel, looks like the kind of thing I would like to be riding.

The kicked over plant pot is a fine finishing touch to the garden. 👌

Not normally a fan of XC full sussers, but that does look the part. You must be well chuffed

The kicked over plant pot is a fine finishing touch to the garden.

That was strategically placed to stop the front wheel turning away in the breeze…

You must be well chuffed

yes I am thanks.   It’s the highest spec MTB I’ve ever owned, I’m very lucky to get it at 50%   Moreso with my recent health issues it’s the perfect race bike for mid pack riding that’ll be a quick trail bike if I stop racing at the end of the year without being a dedicated hardcore race bike.

Nice bike, I like how Spec have gone more understated with their decals in recent years. At one point their bikes looked like a rolling advertisement board.

Looks good and nicely understated.

Looks great, and the correct trifecta of matching fork/shock/dropper… Whether kashima or not, doesnt matter, but its bad voodoo when they dont match! Love it. Looks fast!

That’s a lovely looking bike. I must stop looking at them now.

Really nice 🙂

Very nice.

I’m glad and gutted in equal measures  there’s no Epic’s in XL on sale…

tidy as a tidy thing

What an absolute mess,the bikes very nice though,excellent choice 😉🤣

Very nice indeed! My pink Epic looks older and more tired each time I see a new one!

Nice. Looks very stealth in that colour, just how I like things.

it could very well make my Occam redundant

Interested to hear how you get on with it and your thoughts on this subject. I know if I had something like this then it’d force me to replace my mid-travel FS trail bike with something to have more gap between the two bikes.

Interested to hear how you get on with it and your thoughts on this subject.

I’ll let you know in a week or so/a few rides.   I think I’m lucky in the fact my Occam is the 2022 H20 SLX, Minions, so Alu, 15kg and it’s the LT so 150mm leaving a bigger gap between the use case.  I feel – as I did with my Spark – I’d still be taking the Occam for leisure and winter based riding e.g. Wales, Peaks, Quantocks and leaving the Epic for summer which currently is training / race.

The issue will likely come if I stop racing next year.  Sitting on the Epic it feels a solid confidence inspiring piece of kit, less flighty than my Spark even though they are magically somehow around the same weight.

Where’s the motor?

Where’s the motor?

In your bike 😉

@bikesandboots just did my first ride and I make you right.  It took some time for me to get used to it and I had to play with settings, right now I’d sum it up as a “fast trail bike”.   It’s easy to compare with the Occam LT – it’s 80%+ as capable, less relaxing in a good way and much more spirited.  Compared to the Spark it’s not as intense.   I describe my Occam as the “Labrador” of my bikes, and if the Spark is a Jack Russell then the Evo is a friendly Greyhound – you can go for a pleasant walk with it but show it fake rabbit on rails….

The EVO wants to move forward, feels very balanced, and very capable and as if it has more than its travel.  In open mode it’s a fantastic comfy trail bike.  In medium mode it adds a bit of platform for efficient seated pedalling and this is how I will race it, but neither of those were any good for a sprint.  But boy, if you relax and let it go downhill it rips and pops easily, it loves to jump of little lips and feels easy to control.  You can feel the suspension move more than the Occam but more linear than the Spark.

I can’t tell if it’s faster than my Spark because it feels so different, conditions didn’t allow for PB’s.  But it definitely feels trail rather than race compared to the Spark – I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but seeing as its used in XC World Cup it can’t be bad.  Maybe it’s like one of those cars where you don’t feel the speed as much.  It’s narrowed the gap between my two bikes for sure.

Just a short update for @bikeandboots after I raced the bike yesterday.  I rode it in medium mode* with both the black compression dials in the middle of thier settings.

So at race pace all of the above applies, very fast through singletrack and very technically capable.  Being “on the pedals” all the time seemed to stiffen up the bike; less comfy trail bike and more taught racer absorbing the bigger landings very nicely.  This is what I wanted so no complaints.   A little mystified I rode it slowly after the event and it felt soft and complaint again, so I can only state that Spec seemed to have found a way to create 2 bikes in one – a bike that doesn’t leave you with “race” nuances on the trail, nor “trail” laziness on the track.     I’m not sure of course whether this applies to the bike as a whole or the Fox DPS/34 combo I have with the 3 modes, I’d be interested to hear from owners with the RS setup.

Im kinda tempted to flip the chip for the next race and steepen it a little just to see what the difference is, although I feel that may be removing the above USP from the bike.

*Possible Epic8’s “magic middle”?