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Specialized Epic World Cup Makes a Triumphant Return and Ditches Brain Shock

Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup heroThe Epic World Cup, introduced in 2023, uses a short-travel integrated rear shock.
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If you’re a Specialized mountain bike fan, you know what’s coming. It has been sensationalized, hidden under wraps (mostly), and it’s finally launching — the all-new Specialized Epic World Cup.

Specialized_epic_Blevins shoes shock

Remember in 2015 (?) when Specialized offed an Epic with slightly shorter chain stays and a bulked-up rear triangle? This bike was a snapper, racer-focused version of the Specialized Epic. After a few years, the line consolidated, and the Epic hardtail took over the space.

Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup 2015
The 2015 Specialized Epic World Cup

Now — Specialized is bringing back the World Cup name, doubling down on the no-compromise race features, and giving the Brain (and hardtail) a time-out.

What’s new — Specialized Epic World Cup

Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup full side

Specialized Epic World Cup Frame

The World Cup frame was born from listening to the Specialized World Cup athletes’ feedback and their quest to find the perfect bike for the track of the day. No longer will the team have to choose between the Epic hardtail or the Epic fully. Now Specialized riders can have the best of both worlds, in one bike.

Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup front end

The first question that’s on everyone’s mind is “what’s the travel?” The new Specialized Epic World Cup has 75mm of rear travel and 110mm of front travel. The design team at Specialized designed the new Epic World Cup for maximum power transfer, demanding courses, and overall efficiency. This, 110/75mm combo is the best of both worlds and depending on how you tune/set the new rear shock you can get a little more than 75mm.

Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup shock

Specialized created the Epic World Cup to behave on the trail with the same stiffness, weight, and response as a hardtail. Kinematics were a priority, as was how to make a frame that maintains the behavior of the hardtail without sacrificing suspension performance (more on that later).

Weight reduction

The new Epic World Cup is light, with a frame weight of just 1,765 grams (painted with shock and all hardware). The design team at Specialized focused on making the frame lightweight without impacting the BB, torsional, and overall frame stiffness.

Specialized_epic_Blevins on the beach

Embarking on its largest simulation project in Specialized history, the team created over 100,000 virtual frames across the spectrum of design. For this virtual test bike, the team tested for the bottom bracket, front end, and overall stiffness — three key measurements that give insight into how the frame will ride and perform.

The Epic World Cup frame has smaller tubes at the rear triangle and the seat cluster but a significantly beefed up down and top tube. The top tube and down tube taper smoothly to the bottom bracket and seat tube, giving the frame a sculpted look but also affecting the stiffness and ride quality.

Stiffness Distribution

Specialized Pro Epic World Cup jpeg

The Epic World Cup design ethos is equaled stiffness distribution from rear to front. This stiffness directly impacts the handling, response, and overall ride quality. Having the shock mounted directly onto the top tube gives the frame the best rear-to-front stiffness without compromising linkage. The design team feels this directly impacts the “wash-out effect,” basically pulling the bike from the brink and having maximum control.

Introducing RockShox SID WCID (World Cup Integrated Design)

Specialized Pro shock Epic World Cup

Out with the old (Brain) and in with the new WCID, but don’t get too sad; it carries over some similarities. The Epic World Cup is Specialized’s first bike with a top tube integrated shock, and they’ve developed it in a very specialized fashion.

The new RockShox SID WCID (World Cup Integrated Design) shock is co-developed with the help of Rock Shox and looks strikingly familiar to the FOX on the Trek Supercaliber. However, the RockShox SID WCID of Epic World Cup has some distinctive features that make it its own beast.

The design team opted for top tube shock placement to deliver a snappy pedal response of a hardtail with just a touch of travel — 75mm, to be precise. The travel is enough to round off drops and large rock sectors of the trail. Combined with the RockShox SID Ultimate fork with 110mm of travel, the Epic World Cup can handle rough terrain and bigger drops.

Specialized states, “Due to the engineered characteristics of the Epic World Cup, its 75mm of travel behaves like much more. When the bike is ridden in the firm setting, it is topped out, delivering the same positive travel as a 100mm travel bike set up with 25% sag.”

This short travel, active rear end preserves the “snap” accompanying a hardtail. It’s that feeling when you stomp on the pedals, and the bike goes — it is hard to match with a shock, but Specialized feels they have it cornered. But with that snap comes rigidity and harshness, and that’s where the shock tune comes in — the new RockShox SID WCID offers three air spring setting options.

RockShox SID WCID Settings

Specialized_epic_Blevins riding _

Like the Brain Shock, the RockShox SID WCID graduates from Firm, Medium, to Active, using a thumb dial (on the shock body) to change the setting as needed.

  • Firm Setting “No Gulp” is the firmest, snappiest feel, the most “hardtail.” This setting offers zero sag and delivers the feel of a 100mm travel bike from 75mm travel due to no sag.
  • Medium Setting “Half Gulp” gives a hardtail ride with a slight supple feel and performance. The flatter spring rate delivers a balanced ride, thanks to increased negative spring, contributing to a plusher ride feel.
  • Active Setting “Full Gulp” is the plushest setting, optimal for rougher courses. This setting takes the lowest initial force required to initiate travel due to maximum negative air spring pressure.

Specialized Epic World Cup Features

Specialized Epic pro World Cup front end
  • Travel: 110mm front, 75mm rear.
  • Max chainring size: 36T
  • Max tire size: 2.35″
  • Frame weight: 1765g (S-Works model painted with shock and all hardware)
  • Available models: Epic World Cup S-Works, Epic World Cup Pro, Epic World Cup S-Works Frameset
  • Available Sizes: XS (Frameset only), S, M, L, XL *Can accommodate two water bottles (standard size) in all frames, including XS

Specialized Epic World Cup Geometry

Specialized Epic World Cup geo sizing

Pricing and Availability

Coming soon

For more information, check out Specialized.com

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24 Comments
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fitness
fitness
1 year ago

Nice Trek Supercaliber

tech9
tech9
1 year ago

It’s good to see Trek and Specialized burying the hatchet and working together to share designs.

G Long
G Long
1 year ago

4 years later, an extra $1800 and Specialized has managed to add 15mm of travel to a Trek Supercaliber and call it innovation, gotta love their marketing machine.

n8sters
n8sters
1 year ago

Insert obligatory vanilla SuperCaliber joke here.
All kidding aside I love my 2021 SuperCaliber, curious to hear how this differs, if at all.

Andrew
Andrew
1 year ago

Surprised to see no mention of the linkage setup. With everyone obviously comparing it to the Supercaliber I would have thought you’d point out what appears to be a much more conventional (albeit small) swing-link design to actuate the shock.

Greg
Greg
1 year ago
Reply to  Andrew

It’s a super important distinction, circumventing a lot of weight, complexity, flex inherent in the Supercaliber.

WearsMyBike
WearsMyBike
1 year ago

Anyone else confused how 75mm of travel has 120mm of travel in the firm setting at 25%sag? This reads of a marketing guy fresh of their first ever MTB ride piecing together a bunch of phrases off the engineers brainstorming notebook

Tyler
Tyler
1 year ago
Reply to  WearsMyBike

It means it doesn’t sag in the firm setting, preserving the full 75mm of travel to absorb bumps, same as a 100mm travel shock with 25% sag.

Exodux
Exodux
1 year ago

Why didn’t they make the Diverge gravel bike with a shortened version of this design rather than the stupid(and ugly) contraption they used on the bike? Somewhat off the subject, but it seems like manufacturers are afraid to build a real FS/ softtail gravel bike.

Chris
Chris
1 year ago

Looks like a new SID SL fork with 110mm travel up front.

blablabla
blablabla
1 year ago
Reply to  Chris

Except it’s SID (with 35mm stanchions), not the SL version.

hllclmbr
hllclmbr
1 year ago
Reply to  blablabla

The PB article has a photo showing that it’s the SL version

Hamjam
Hamjam
1 year ago

This is good. A focus on fast bikes. Everybody wants to be fast.

Joel Ulrich
Joel Ulrich
1 year ago

what wait, max 36T and 2.35“ tire size! that’s the only thing that surprises me, everything else was already known since weeks. new bike with outdated geometry, well done haha

Technician
Technician
1 year ago

If the bike ditches Brain, why there’s Brain logo sticker on the lower leg?

blablabla
blablabla
1 year ago
Reply to  Technician

Cause nobody said the fork will be a normal one, they ditched the brain system for the rear shock.

Technician
Technician
1 year ago
Reply to  blablabla

Makes sense. Though, they definitely should. Useless bullshit technology that barely works for what it’s intended to do.

blablabla
blablabla
1 year ago
Reply to  Technician

Proprietary tech is almost always a bad thing for a consumer – imagine getting spare parts, or a whole rear shock after a few years, since You can’t use any retail one.

Samuel Vrooman
Samuel Vrooman
1 year ago

Questions: Why not call it “Big Gulp”?

Answer: Cause Spec is worried 7/11 will do to them what Specialized does to everyone else –litigate!

Matt
Matt
1 year ago
Reply to  Samuel Vrooman

Trek has opposed more than 400 applications for trademarks the company felt came too close to its turf, earning it the #4 spot on a list of prolific opposers, just behind Apple, Inc. and ahead of brands like Nike and Red Bull.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2022/12/28/trek-ranks-high-trademark-oppositions#.ZEfmwXZKiUl

BTW Specialized didn’t make the list

Roger Pedacter
Roger Pedacter
1 year ago

“However, the RockShox SID WCID of Epic World Cup has some distinctive features that make it its own beast.”

And then proceeds not to mention any of them…

Tyler
Tyler
1 year ago
Reply to  Roger Pedacter

You missed the section of the article: “RockShox SID WCID Settings”

Roger Pedacter
Roger Pedacter
1 year ago
Reply to  Tyler

Uh, no, I didn’t. How in the 2010 is three damping positions a distinctive feature?

Racer
Racer
1 year ago

Nearly the same weight but more aggressive geometry. Very similar bikes.

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