2019 Specialized Epic Comp Evo 29

If we're being honest with ourselves, alloy has always been at the heart of the EVO family. It's tough, it's stiff, and at least with our bikes, it's pretty damn light. Basically, it embodies everything that's good about mountain bikes, and that's what EVO is all about. But an Epic Comp EVO made out of aluminum? We say, "yeah, it's a perfect fit." And that's because this bike brings all the uphill racing, singletrack-ripping fun you want, and 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 and you're going to see plenty Epics—most of them wearing dropper posts, wider tires and bars, and slightly longer forks. That's because the Epics that we're Frankensteining are not only fast off the start line, they're even better suited to masochistically long rides, multi-day stage races, and fast backcountry missions. At some point, we looked around and said to ourselves, "We should offer this bike, right out of the box, right?" So we did.

So let's 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 68.5º. 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 tires with a grippy 2.3" Ground Control at the front and 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, and oh was it good. It won races and put a flag in the ground for us as a true leader in innovation and 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. And after some lengthy R&D, it's totally new. Now, it reacts seamlessly to bump forces, it has much more consistent damping performance, and finally, it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This means that the oil paths are improved, and that creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.

At the heart of the construction, you'll find our M5 alloy with our D'Aluisio Smartweld Technology that strategically places more welding material where it's needed, resulting in an aluminum frame that's more compliant and considerably stiffer at nearly every tube juncture. It's awesome.

For the build, we spec'd a 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle groupset, SRAM Level TL brakes, and a Roval Control Alloy wheelset.