a friend of mine has one,. but i wouldn't trade it for my 2017 giant anthem, the epic is such a rough ride, and it's visited the bike shop more often than it's been ridden. mind you,. we drive as a hobby,. not competition, and if you're looking for a comfortable bike,. the epic isn't the one,.
I have a 2019 Epic Evo and as a result of Specialized's unwillingness to support their riders with failed components, I will never buy another Specialized product of any kind ever again. In the limited amount of mileage I have put on my Evo (Expert build) I have been through 4 Brain shocks. I had a 2005 Epic, and other than routine air sleeve maintenance, never had an issue. The RockShox they use now is horrible. The first 3 rebuilds were on them. The last one I have to pay for and NOBODY will or can service these shocks but Specialized (including RockShox). So, $200 a pop to rebuild them, 3 weeks downtime and about 6 months of light riding until the shock starts to weep oil... again. Within a month of the first sign of oil weeping, the Brain quits and shortly after... no damping whatsoever. I agree that when it works it's fast, but being married to a constant service nightmare isn't for me. Talk to other Epic owners and see what they think of the Brain's long term reliability. And how many Epic owners have switched to another brand. And then there is their Roval CF rim warranty. I cracked a rear CF rim and took it to the dealer I got the bike from. 'Lifetime warranty' + accident warranty. Nope. I had the OEM mediocre hubs replaced with i9 Hydra hubs by a local dealer that supports our local trail (Cannondale, Norco & Scott dealer). Specialized/Roval denied the claim because of the 'aftermarket' hubs. That alone cost me $750 in a replacement wheel and rim while I waited for them to resolve the issue... to their favor and not mine. Strike one. Then the 4 shocks in 3 years problem... Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me. The answer to the shock problem is an $850 solution. A company in CO has a vendor in Germany that makes a yoke that will accept a standard style shock (eyelets on both ends) and then will build a shock (Fox),from factory supplied parts) to fit the frame and work with the German yoke. It replaces the Brain shock with a conventional shock that anyone can service. Strike two. There won't be another strike. I'm done with them I sincerely hope your bike fares better, but I predict you will tire of the issues soon enough.
Thanks for the detailed feedback! I feel like it comes down to the shop and their willingness to be the best advocate. Never had any issues that were not resolved at the local level.
@@addictcyclist Actually,My LBS that I bought the bike from was pretty decent. They really went to bat for me, but Specialized not only shot them down, but was snotty in the process. The guy who was helping me took screen shots of the emails. They weren't gracious. I just shelled out $850 to get the replacement shock and yoke. It came today and transformed the handling.
@@MrFixmeister What shock did you get? I'm looking at Sidluxe 190/45 but will lose 12 mm of travel. Were you able to get a Fox to fit? What size frame do you have? Did you get with a remote lockout? Thanks
Thanks for the good review. Considering one of these 2nd hand to replace my fs and HT bikes, other brands. You have made some good sensible upgrades similar to what I would consider, crank, bars and post to carbon best improvements for sensible cost. I am also considering Trek Supercaliber 9.8 but at £5k is alot to swallow as I use my road bikes alot more 🤔 100mm travel front and rear in a race XC is all I need now as like you probably getting a bit older and need to calm down a bit from bigger travel downhill stuff. What other comparison would you recommend/ go for if you changed? Cheers from UK.
I have an older Epic, peobably about 2015, with the Brain. I just had the Brain rebuilt and just reinstalled it. Right away I noticed that the rear suspension feels totally rigid when I just stand next to it and attempt to compress the suspension. No casset on it yet so I can't actually ride it. From what your saying then is that the rigid back end is yo be expected when the force is being applied on the top of the bike?
@@wosaks9649 When you cycle on flat ground, most of your weight will be shifted to the back wheels. If there is more movement afforded by the suspension, you will lose a lot of pedalling efficiency which goes against the philosophy of the epic. If you want more travel or require more travel from the rear suspension, a trail bike or a full suspension mountain bike would be a better choice, but you will find that you will be cycling slower on flat ground.
a friend of mine has one,. but i wouldn't trade it for my 2017 giant anthem, the epic is such a rough ride, and it's visited the bike shop more often than it's been ridden.
mind you,. we drive as a hobby,. not competition, and if you're looking for a comfortable bike,. the epic isn't the one,.
I have a 2019 Epic Evo and as a result of Specialized's unwillingness to support their riders with failed components, I will never buy another Specialized product of any kind ever again. In the limited amount of mileage I have put on my Evo (Expert build) I have been through 4 Brain shocks. I had a 2005 Epic, and other than routine air sleeve maintenance, never had an issue. The RockShox they use now is horrible. The first 3 rebuilds were on them. The last one I have to pay for and NOBODY will or can service these shocks but Specialized (including RockShox). So, $200 a pop to rebuild them, 3 weeks downtime and about 6 months of light riding until the shock starts to weep oil... again. Within a month of the first sign of oil weeping, the Brain quits and shortly after... no damping whatsoever. I agree that when it works it's fast, but being married to a constant service nightmare isn't for me. Talk to other Epic owners and see what they think of the Brain's long term reliability. And how many Epic owners have switched to another brand.
And then there is their Roval CF rim warranty. I cracked a rear CF rim and took it to the dealer I got the bike from. 'Lifetime warranty' + accident warranty. Nope. I had the OEM mediocre hubs replaced with i9 Hydra hubs by a local dealer that supports our local trail (Cannondale, Norco & Scott dealer). Specialized/Roval denied the claim because of the 'aftermarket' hubs. That alone cost me $750 in a replacement wheel and rim while I waited for them to resolve the issue... to their favor and not mine. Strike one. Then the 4 shocks in 3 years problem... Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me. The answer to the shock problem is an $850 solution. A company in CO has a vendor in Germany that makes a yoke that will accept a standard style shock (eyelets on both ends) and then will build a shock (Fox),from factory supplied parts) to fit the frame and work with the German yoke. It replaces the Brain shock with a conventional shock that anyone can service. Strike two. There won't be another strike. I'm done with them I sincerely hope your bike fares better, but I predict you will tire of the issues soon enough.
Thanks for the detailed feedback! I feel like it comes down to the shop and their willingness to be the best advocate. Never had any issues that were not resolved at the local level.
@@addictcyclist Actually,My LBS that I bought the bike from was pretty decent. They really went to bat for me, but Specialized not only shot them down, but was snotty in the process. The guy who was helping me took screen shots of the emails. They weren't gracious. I just shelled out $850 to get the replacement shock and yoke. It came today and transformed the handling.
@@MrFixmeister incredible
@@MrFixmeister What shock did you get? I'm looking at Sidluxe 190/45 but will lose 12 mm of travel. Were you able to get a Fox to fit? What size frame do you have? Did you get with a remote lockout? Thanks
Thanks for the good review. Considering one of these 2nd hand to replace my fs and HT bikes, other brands. You have made some good sensible upgrades similar to what I would consider, crank, bars and post to carbon best improvements for sensible cost. I am also considering Trek Supercaliber 9.8 but at £5k is alot to swallow as I use my road bikes alot more 🤔 100mm travel front and rear in a race XC is all I need now as like you probably getting a bit older and need to calm down a bit from bigger travel downhill stuff. What other comparison would you recommend/ go for if you changed? Cheers from UK.
The epic was a good bike. I got a 22 s works but it let me down for the price. I ended up getting 2 spark rc. Check out my video library.
I have an older Epic, peobably about 2015, with the Brain. I just had the Brain rebuilt and just reinstalled it.
Right away I noticed that the rear suspension feels totally rigid when I just stand next to it and attempt to compress the suspension. No casset on it yet so I can't actually ride it.
From what your saying then is that the rigid back end is yo be expected when the force is being applied on the top of the bike?
Yes sounds like the rebuild was successful to give that firm platform on top of the bike. It will now open and dampen from wheel impacts
will the suspension work if i stand up and bounce on top of the bike?
Very minimally if not any movement
@@addictcyclist is there anyway to make it more movement
@@wosaks9649 When you cycle on flat ground, most of your weight will be shifted to the back wheels. If there is more movement afforded by the suspension, you will lose a lot of pedalling efficiency which goes against the philosophy of the epic. If you want more travel or require more travel from the rear suspension, a trail bike or a full suspension mountain bike would be a better choice, but you will find that you will be cycling slower on flat ground.