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hey everyone it's will here from single
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track magazine and single track WorldCom
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and this bike right next to me here is
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brand new from specialized this is the
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2020 specialized s works epic hardtail
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now this bike is all brand new for 2020
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there have been a host of changes to
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make it more comfortable more capable
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but also very very lightweight we're
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going to get onto some of those details
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in a moment I'm gonna tell you about
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some of the unique features to the epic
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hardtail frame and finally I'm gonna
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tell you how it rides on the trail we're
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out here at the North Star Resort near
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Lake Tahoe in America and I've been
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writing a bunch of new specialized bikes
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including the brand new epic hard tail
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so what makes this bike unique
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well for a start specialized claims
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you're looking at the lightest
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mass-produced carbon mountain bike frame
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on the market how light just 790 grams
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that is unbelievable and what's even
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more impressive is that number is
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actually specialized being relatively
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conservative we've got a frame here at
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the launch that we weighed a medium
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frame which actually came in around
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seven hundred and sixty grams so
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incredibly lightweight the previous
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s-works epic Kanter wasn't exactly a
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Heffalump I mean that frame had a
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claimed weight of around 860 grams so
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not a huge weight drop going to the new
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frame but it's about 10% and if in the
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world of weight weeny ism that's a
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significant weight drop what perhaps
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more impressive is the fact that this
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whole bike has gotten quite a bit longer
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and the whole bike has grown so despite
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it getting bigger it's actually gotten
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lighter so how is specialized gotten the
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weight down on this frame well they've
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scrutinized the carbon fiber layup to
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ensure there's minimal overlap between
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all of the carbon pliers throughout the
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frame you'll notice that some of the
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tube diameters have actually gotten
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smaller particularly the seat stays
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these guys have been thinned out quite a
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lot now aside from reducing weight
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that's also increased rear-end
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compliance basically to make the bike
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more comfortable to ride there's more
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tire clearance in the back here so
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special I says you can fit up to a 2.4
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inch tire in the back of this frame
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the other key junctions have been
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slimmed down as well so the tapered head
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tube and also the bottom bracket
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junction has gotten quite a bit smaller
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in size on the note of the bottom
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bracket specialised has moved away from
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the pier 30 standards so we've now got a
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good old-fashioned threaded bottom
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bracket I can hear mechanics all around
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the world rejoicing at the move from
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specialised this is something we've seen
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across a whole bunch of other
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specialised models there's been a
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general move away from the presser foot
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bottom bracket systems to a standard
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thread in system so the epic hardtail
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frame even though this is designed to be
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super lightweight purebred cross-country
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race bike we do have a threaded bottom
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bracket on this frame we're told it's
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actually lighter though so the carbon
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fiber frame is co molded with two alloy
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rings which sit on either side of the
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bottom bracket shell after the frame has
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been baked in the oven these alloy
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inserts are then tapped and the idea is
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that's designed to provide really
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precise alignments at the bottom bracket
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and the axle lines up nice and neatly
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inside there very very neat the other
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on this bike has been a move from the
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27.2 millimeter seatpost diameter to
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thirty point nine millimeters now
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normally that would mean increase weight
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and also increase stiffness as well
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what specialized has done here is
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they've made the walls very very thin
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Eve so even though the diameter is
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increased the walls have gotten thinner
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we've also got this lovely little curve
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down here just above the bottom bracket
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now this arced seat tube is designed to
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provide more compliance so even though
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the seat post has gotten bigger in
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diameter specialized says the compliance
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level is actually the same as the
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previous frame so still a nice smooth
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riding bike but with that thirty point
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nine millimeter seat post diameter you
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have a load more options for fitting a
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dropper post on this frame and fitting a
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dropper is something that cross-country
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races are increasingly looking to do
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this frame will take a dropper post and
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you can run the cable internally through
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the frame and will pop out up at the
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head tube the other big change on this
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bike has been the geometry now to make
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it more capable for highly technical
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World Cup cross-country courses
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specialized two slackened out the head
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tube angle by over a full degree we're
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now at sixty eight point five degrees on
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the head tube angle not only that but
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they're also running a reduced offset
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fork and this is something we've seen on
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the full suspension epic FS our model
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we've gone a 42 millimeter offset on
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CID fork here the idea with that shorter
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offset and that slack a head tube angle
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is to create more trail on the front of
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the bike that's to give you a more
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stable steering and reduce that sort of
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twitchiness and kind of nervous handling
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you can get from very lightweight racy
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cross-country hardtails
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the whole bike has also gotten longer so
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every size has grown in reached by about
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twelve to fourteen millimeters so we've
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got longer top tubes and the front
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centre is increased in length and again
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this is all about improving stability on
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really steep rough technical
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cross-country race courses with the top
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tube getting longer specialized as short
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in the stem lengths so we're now down to
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about sixty to seventy five millimeter
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stem lengths depending on the frame size
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and that short stem kind of brings the
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bars back in towards the rider so you
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don't end up with a huge reach to get
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down to the grips that shorter stem also
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quickens up steering a little bit so
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even though I've got that slacker head
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tube angle and the reduced offset fork
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the short stem helps to give the front
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steering a nice light kind of easy and
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agile feel make no mistake though this
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is still a full-blown cross-country race
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bike so the riding position is still
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fairly low at the front nice short had
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to bond here so you get the bars down
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really low for a really powerful and
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efficient climbing position the see tube
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angle remains the same at 74 degrees
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likewise the bottom bracket drop that's
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about the same at 63 millimeters below
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the hub axial line and the chainstay
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length on the back of this bike stays
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the same at 430 millimeters so some of
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the numbers have carried over from the
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previous model and that's being combined
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with that longer reach that slacker head
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tube angle and the reduced offset fork
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as well so I guess you're wondering how
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actually rides on the trail we've had a
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really good chance to get a feel for
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this bike on a nice long cross-country
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ride here at the Northstar resort near
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Lake Tahoe for a start I mean it's super
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light this bike is it's under 9 kilos
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for the s-works EPPICard tail very very
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lightweight carbon fiber Rove our wheels
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we've got fast-track tires front and
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rear these are 2.3 inches wide front and
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rear so nice high volume tire that you
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can run at relatively low pressure to
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get a little bit more comfort speaking
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of comfort that's probably the biggest
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difference I've noticed on the new bike
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compared to the previous s-works
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EPPICard tale a bike I spent a decent
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amount of time on those thin seat stays
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and that curved seat tube combined with
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the high volume tires does really really
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well to kind of soften out harsh edges
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on rocks and roots on the trail so
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surprisingly comfortable to ride given
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this is of lightweight racy hard tail
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that's definitely one of the biggest
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differences i've noticed over the
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previous generation epic and the other
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difference is the front end handling so
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all of those changes then increase
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ground trail that's come from that slack
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a head tube angle it does give it a lot
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more of a planted feel under the since
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it's still a you know it's still a very
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lightweight crisp handling hard tail and
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there's no problems at all slicing and
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dicing this bike through tight twisty
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single track but definitely the front
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end does feel a little stickier it feels
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a little bit more planted on the
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descents particularly through high speed
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berms you just get less wiggle through
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the front wheel and this was something
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I've experienced before
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on the full suspension epic which also
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has that reduced offset fork and it
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provides a noticeable difference on this
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lightweight hard tail so definitely a
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big improvement in stability but still
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with that crisp handling that fast
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acceleration and that's super low weight
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that makes this bike absolutely deadly
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on the climbs but now also very deadly
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on the descends as well so
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I've been very impressed with this new
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s-works epic cartel there'll be a range
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of different models in the epic lineup
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for 2020 now the top s-works models
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there'll be a couple of those they'll be
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running that fact 12m carbon-fiber frame
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that's the sub 800 gram carbon fiber
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frame there will be a fact 11 M carbon
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fiber frame and that will be SPECT on
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the pro expert comp and carbon 29 models
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now that adds about 140 grams bear in
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mind that still brings the frame rate
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under a kilos is still very lightweight
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and of course the overall shape and
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geometry stays the same throughout the
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line whether you get the top-end s-works
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model or the entry-level carbon 29 model
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if you want more information on the full
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2020s works epic hardtail range make
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sure you get a singletrack Worldcom to
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read my story about this new bike you
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can read all about the technical details
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on here see all of the prices UK
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availability and full spec lists on each
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of the models if you've got any
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questions for me about this bike make
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sure you drop them into the comments
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section below and I'll do my best to
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answer them for you if you enjoyed this
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video give us a thumbs up and if you
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haven't already make sure you subscribe
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to our YouTube channel for plenty more
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video reviews coming your way in the
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near future alright that's it from me
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guys hope you enjoyed and I'll see you
