2018 Men's Epic Hardtail Comp

Cross country courses are nothing like they used to be. Today's tracks have more in common with trail riding than the pancake flat NORBA courses of yesteryear. For this reason, we threw away the hardtail rulebook and drafted our own chapter to create the Epic Hardtail Comp. We took a revolutionary new frame design and spec'd it specifically for the rigors of racing contemporary XC courses.

It's one of the lightest frames we've ever made, tipping the scales around 1175g. And to make it this light, we built the entire frame from our superlative FACT 11m carbon fibre, and then we took some cues from our road bikes. We borrowed the Rider-First Engineered™ concept that originated with the Tarmac. Now, the frame design applies specificity to every tube size and carbon layup for every frame size. This creates the optimal balance of rigidity, weight, and responsiveness, so every frame, regardless of size, performs just as we intended.

We've also tweaked the geometry for more speed and stability by slacking- out the head tube angle, lengthening the top tube, and correcting the seat tube angle. This way, it feels more planted then ever, and frankly, it's stupid fast. We also widened the rear spacing to 12x148mm and included internal split-housing cable routing.

For the build, this Epic takes value to new heights with a custom-tuned RockShox Reba RL fork, 1x11 SRAM GX shifting, and fast rolling Roval Control alloy wheels.

• By pairing a FACT 11m carbon fibre frame with our XC 29 Geometry, this Epic places a focus on revolutionary tube angles and extremely light overall weight for explosive speed and nimble handling on the race circuit. For good measure, we also gave it 148mm rear spacing and all-new triangulated post-mount brake mounts.

• The RockShox Reba RL 29 fork offers up 90/100mm of smooth travel, while an easily accessible compression and rebound adjusts permit you to customise the feel according to the terrain at hand.

• One-by 11-speed shifting is provided by a durable SRAM GX component spec.