Specialized Epic
 

New to the forum, but from what I see, I know I am going to learn alot about MTB. Just a quick question. I would like to know your opinion about Specialized Epic full suspension and the "brain" rear shock. Worth the price or just a gimmick.

Just to let you know, I currently have a hardtail and would like to upgrade to a full suspension as I love to ride XC trails to more aggresive trails.

Thanks for any opinions.

Hi and welcome to the forum, well i dont own a Epic caused its freakin expensive in Malaysia or worst is my Brain shock went broken and I wont be able to ride my bike for like months, no way im going to own one. Anyway some people say when the name FOX SHOX there, its going to be expensive service parts anyway, when they say it rides likes a hardtail, IT REALLY DOES, I actually test rode one at my bicycle dealer, no lies in the advertising, for the price it depends on how you look at it, considering how much specialized invested on this technology and the price you are paying for it, maybe its a well priced bike. Well another source you could check on bikes is on www.mtbr.com.

I test rode one of them for two weeks back in 2004. I never could get used to it. I don't know if I just couldn't get it set up right or what it was. I gave it a fair shot though. From what I have been told there have been a lot of improvements in the shock since then and it is now "smarter". Not sure if I want a bike that is smarter than me. :rolleyes: Some people love them, including the guy that has been handing me my arse for the past two weeks at the races. That guy is fast! Not sure if it has anything to do with the bike or not though.

I think the only way to tell if it is the bike for you is to test ride it as well as a bunch of other full suspension bikes.

I've got the 06' with the brain fade control, it allows you to make the suspension fully active or mostly locked out. For my strictly XC riding it's perfect! But if I were going to ride mostly trail or all mountain rides I would go for the stumpjumper FSR Enduro. Your mileage may vary!

I test rode an 06 stumpy about a month ago with the brain and yes it feels just like a hardtail. The blue dial on top switches from soft to firm ride, in other words you can switch it to a regular trail bike (soft) or turn it up for the hardtail feel (firm). The stumpy has more travel at 5" the Epic I think 3.9". Now whether the brain is worth it is your decision. For me it's way too expensive and would simply rather have a lockout on my rear suspension.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20..._fade_unit.jpg

I rode a 2006 Epic Comp last weekend on one of our local trails. I generally ride a six year old Cannondale hardtail. I was pleasantly surprised with the ride of the bike, and I did take the time to set up both shocks the way I wanted. The bike climbed better than I thought it would given that it's heavier than my hardtail. It also held the trail better downhill since I wasn't getting bounced all over the place. That said I was comparing a 100mm travel bike with a rear shock, disc brakes, and better tires with my (no longer) 70mm travel hardtail with v-brakes, and pretty basic tires. I'm planning on either buying this or a Santa Cruz Blur XC.

It's not a gimick. It works as advertised. Whether it's worth it to you or not, only you can decide. I've had mine for a couple of years now and love it. Had the Stumpy w/ Brain been available when I bought it, I might have gone the Stumpy route.

Either way, go to a bike shop that has one and demo it; spend an hour or two or three riding one on some trails. Preferably ones you're familiar with so you can concentrate on the bike rather than a new trail.

Personally, I thought it was worth it when I got the bike and still do.

I just bought my brand new 06 Specialized Epic Disc and I LOVE it! The bike performs amazing. I have nothing negative to say about this bike. The "brain" shock performs flawlessly. It is so smooth, and the transistion from "soft-tail" to "hard-tail" is totally un-noticeable. In fact, I am glad the shock has an o-ring on it, becasue I kept pushing the o-ring up against the shock to see if it moved - so I could be sure the rear shock was working. It does, and the 4 inches of travel is plush, both front and rear. I have been riding for a lot of years, and on a lot of bikes, and this is the best bike I have ridden. I love XC riding with the occasional all-out down hill, and this bike does both GREAT! Great Bike!!!

I have an '04. love it, for the ease of climbing hills alone over my old '01 stumpjumper. I commute with it to work everyday as well on the street, the floating pivot design is really effective. I can jump on the cranks for all I'm worth and sprint away without any suspension 'bob'. but still rides smoothly when hammering over rocks.

that said it's not the only bike on the market now that offers rear suspension designs that counter pedal force, Iron horse, ellsworth and giant all have bikes in the XC range that offer a similar type of ride. If your looking for a different cheaper(?) options.

http://static.flickr.com/54/156083231_8378023575_o.jpg

Rode with a guy briefly that had one. He swears by it, and it looked mighty at home on the trail to me.