Bike Check: Samara Sheppard's Specialized Epic S-Works
Take a look at the new Specialized Epic S-Works being piloted by New Zealand and Oceania Champion Samara Sheppard.
We completely see the irony in profiling the bike of a New Zealander at the opening rounds of the MTBA National Series – but when we saw that Samara Sheppard had just received her new 2018 model Specialized Epic S-Works before the first two rounds in Orange we wanted to check it out before it earnt any battle scars!
Get the full details about the new Specialized Epic range.
Samara Sheppard is both New Zealand and Oceania XCO Champion, and has the skinsuits to match. 2017 has been a long and successful year for Sheppard, racing extensively at home, in her second home of Australia, and around the world.
So we thought it would be worth taking a look over not just the bike, but how this champion rider chooses to set up her XCO racing weapon ahead of the back-to-back national rounds at Orange this weekend.
Bikes with brains
The new Epic has lots of changes. With new geometry for a longer reach, slacker head angle and reduced fork rake, the frame also does away with the Horst Link in the back end, with the tiniest amount of flex that's needed being engineered into the frame.
Pulling the pivot out of this area drops weight, increases stiffness, and reduced maintenance. That sounds like something any bike rider would want!
The shock is therefore a RockShox unit, custom made for Specialized.
Cockpit and contact points
This is usually one of the most personal parts of a bike setup for any rider. While Specialized have moved to a 'gender neutral' frame geometry they tune that for a women's model like this one by contact points. Of course, most people who race more weekends than they don't know exactly what they want anyway.
Sheppard runs a 100mm Syntace FlatForce stem, which adds plenty of drop due to the negative angle and low stack height. There's a BarFly for a Garmin mount.
Grips are ESI Racer's Edge, in grey. They're thin, they stick on the bar and they're easy to fit we're told. The Specialized carbon bars are cut to 680mm, and Sheppard uses a SRAM Eagle trigger shifter for the 12-speed drivetrain.
Like many racers, the pedals of choice are Shimano's XTR Race pedals. They're light, have a low stack height, and just work.
What about the drivetrain?
The Specialized Epic S-Works comes equipped with a SRAM Eagle XX1 drivetrain, offering the huge 10-50 cassette for a 1×12 setup.
Because of the huge range, Sheppard can run a 34t chainring. She doesn't run a chainguide.
The cranks are 170mm.
One of the changes for the Specialized Epic in 2018 is a move to a threaded bottom bracket. They work so well and take out a lot of maintenance from some press fit units.
Coming to a stop
The Epic S-Works runs SRAM Level Ultimates as stock, with 100mm rotors (with Ti bolts). Sheppard runs her levers fairly inboard so her fingers fall to the ends where the most power is.
The calipers are neat, black and tiny. The mounting bolts are Titanium for further weight saving.
Suspension up front
The RockShox SID fork is Boost (110mm) width and has custom internals, using the same Brain system as out back. This means no need for a lockout, as the compressions responds only once a hit moves a brass mass off the valve that needs to open.
Rollick stock
Samara Sheppard is racing on the new Roval Control SL. They have DT Swiss internals with a 54t star ratchet in the rear hub for fast pick up.
The rims are 30mm wide and 30mm deep, which means Sheppard is running 2.1" Specialized Fast Trak tyres and they measure up wider than 2.2" did on the Roval wheels she used last year.
Currently, Sheppard has 17psi in front and rear with this setup.
So what does it weigh? 9.7kg confirmed, with pedals and the number plate and transponder fitted for round 1 of our national series tomorrow.
Want to see this bike in your shed? Here's the full spec sheet as you'll find them in your Specialized dealer.
