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Men's S-Works Epic Hardtail Frame

2018 Men's S-Works Epic Hardtail Frame

There's not much that matches the feeling of powering up a pitch on a featherweight bike, and we designed the new S-Works Epic Hardtail frame with this in mind. It's less than 900 grams, exceptionally stiff, and it features a Rider First Engineered™ design. It's the perfect jumping off point to begin creating your dream build.

Over the last decade, cross country racing has evolved into a completely different animal—the courses are rowdier, more technical, and overall, they're inherently different. Because of this, we realized that the best bike for the job needs to not only be lightweight and stiff, but also be able to descend and climb with equal prowess. Determining the best geometry was the easier of the two, as we took our current XC race geo and added some trail DNA to the mix. This equates to a longer top tube, a shortened head tube, and a slacked out front end, the result of which is a tremendous increase in downhill stability, plus a wider fit range. And just as importantly, this doesn't require any sacrifice of climbing proficiency. The weight aspect was more complicated, though. We were posed with the question, "How do you take weight out of something that's already so light?" But the answer was relatively obvious: you get the best mountain bike engineers together in one room and let the magic come out.

Up until now, there were two ways to lighten up a frame—use less of the same grade of carbon or use less of a higher-grade carbon. Option one is never a viable solution as it sacrifices stiffness and strength, two attributes that shouldn't be tampered with. And while we did end up using option two, we weren't content with the amount of weight we could cut out by just using a different grade of carbon. So how else do you cut weight? Well, we began looking at our layup schedules to see if they could be improved, which shed light on a new discovery—layup inefficiencies.

Beginning with our Rider-First Engineered™ frame technology, each size Epic Hardtail is specifically tailored to size—every carbon layup and tube are exclusively selected based upon hundreds of hours of collected ride data. What does this mean for you? It not only creates the optimal balance of rigidity, weight, and responsiveness across every frame size, but it led us to the discovery of how to save weight through the studying of the layup.

Through extensive layup studies, we made the discovery that, by further controlling the construction and layup schedules, we could drastically decrease weight, all while maintaining the ride characteristics that you'd expect from a top-level XC race bike. With this discovery, each frame now features complex cut carbon plys that allow difficult junctions to be covered with less overlap. And while this does complicate the carbon frame puzzle by adding more pieces to the mix, it allows us to design and place them more intelligently. The result of this is a lighter frame, stronger junctions, and a drastic increase in stiffness. We then took the weight savings one step further by using Japanese military ballistic-grade carbon, which we now call 12m, to create the lightest mountain bike we've ever made. How much lighter of a frame, you ask? Less than 900 grams for a size Large frame—the same weight as a full 24oz Purist water bottle.

Technical Specifications

FRAMESET

FRAME

S-Works FACT 12m, full carbon frame w/ S-Works layup, XC Geometry, internal split-housing cable routing, PF30 BB, 12x148mm rear end, triangulated post-mount 160mm brake

SEAT BINDER

Specialized Alloy 30.0mm, titanium bolt

COCKPIT

SEATPOST

S-Works FACT carbon, 27.2mm, 0mm setback, carbon rail clamps

* Weights based on production painted frames as pictured. Actual weights will vary based on colorway, frame size, and component variation. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

Geometry

SMLXL
Seatpost Length350mm400mm400mm400mm
Stack599mm608mm622mm637mm
Reach395mm418mm441mm462mm
Head Tube Length95mm95mm110mm125mm
Head Tube Angle69.8°69.8°69.8°69.8°
BB Height309mm309mm309mm309mm
BB Drop61mm61mm61mm61mm
Trail82mm82mm82mm82mm
Fork Length, Full496mm506mm506mm506mm
Fork Rake/Offset51mm51mm51mm51mm
Front Center650mm676mm705mm731mm
Chainstay Length430mm430mm430mm430mm
Wheelbase1073mm1099mm1128mm1154mm
Top Tube Length, Horizontal568mm595mm623mm649mm
Bike Standover Height760mm790mm814mm845mm
Seat Tube Length400mm430mm470mm520mm
Seat Tube Angle74°74°74°74°
Geometry

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