July 6, 2008 (Morgan Hill, CA) – It was day one at Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California and the latest and greatest in off-road was presented along with a factory tour of the Specialized facilities. The biggest news for 2009 has to be the redesign of the Epic. Specialized’s goal was to produce a stiffer and lighter cross country race machine and by borrowing technological advances already proven in their road line, they did just that.

The 2009 Epic is 220 grams lighter than last year and weighs in at less then 21.5 lbs (complete bike) – and this bike is bombproof! It is also a lot stiffer for 2009, with a 23.4% increase in the bottom bracket area alone. A lot of the weigh reduction is a result of the new chassis design using FACT IS construction. The front triangle (head tube, top tube, and down tube) is a one-piece integrated carbon unit, and is bonded to the seat tube, bottom bracket unit, which is also one piece.

Stiffness and weight reduction also comes from the Oversized BB, made as wide as possible (84.5mm) to allow for a wider downtube. There is also an integrated FACT carbon crank that registers 12% lighter and 8.3% stiffer than the 2008 XTR crank. The FACT crank has an interchangeable 2×9 spider so you can switch it up to two-ring system. Optional Shimano adaptor cups can be used to allow for traditional Shimano cranks.

Other noticeable changes on the 2009 Epic are the use of two brains, one for each suspension system, front and rear, the placement of the rear shock, and the new E100 fork. Two brains are better than one and this year the Epic sports a new Mini Brain in the AFR rear shock and a revised FlowControl Brain in the Future Shock E100. The new Mini Brain is 23% lighter than last year’s .

The E100 is 10% stiffer than it’s nearest competitor and weighs in at only 1,407grams. The E100 fork is designed to integrate with the Roval Contole SL wheelset, featuring a hub interfaced with 28mm endcaps on the dropouts. The fork is still compatible with all wheel sets.

The new central shock location is very tight to the frame and in-line with the suspension forces, which minimize loads at the pivot point. The link is minimized and it’s “clam” like appearance almost disappears into the downtube, providing lower friction and a smoother suspension overall.

The Era – Sister to the Epic

The Designs for Women’s model, the Era is also lighter and stiffer at 9.7kg (21.8lbs). Like the Epic, the Era features two brains, an integrated crankset, new shock location, and tuned FSR and women’s specific geometry.

One of the main differences with the Era is the women’s specific top tube design, which provides more standover. While this top tube curvature generally decreases lateral stiffness, the smaller frames on women’s bikes minimizes this effect. The suspension tune on the Era is also customized for women’s lower average weight and braking is handled by 160mm front and 140mm rear rotors.

We now head off to Camp Tamarancho where we will get a chance to put some dirt under the tires of these speed demons and get a real feel for their ride. Of course you can’t get a much better endorsement than Christoph Sauser’s recent elite world championship win on the 2009 Epic, but we will give it our best shot!

Stay tuned for more from Specialized and Camp Tamarancho!