2018 Men's Epic Expert

Lightweight carbon frame? Check. Industry-leading suspension technology? Oh yeah. Race-ready build kit? You know it. The Epic Expert is not only ready to shine in races, but it's also ready to put your closest buddies in the pain cave on the weekends.

Race courses have evolved over the past few years. They're more technical, steeper, and simply more challenging to ride. But instead of quivering in our boots, we saw this as an opportunity to make something special—something that both World Cup athletes and XC riders alike can instantly feel the benefit from. We looked at the sum of parts that make a bike handle well, like the head angle, reach, stack, chainstay length, fork offset, etc., and reevaluated all of it. Increasing the reach made a bike that was more stable at speed and generally more comfortable to ride. Dropper posts? Yep, those fit, and not just a short-travel XC option, but full-length droppers that fit in the 30.9mm seat tube. Head angle? We slacked that out, but not without evaluating the overall handling package. It now lands on a custom offset, 42mm fork that works with the slacker head angle in order to behave itself in tight corners and through switchbacks.

Next comes the redesigned Brain technology, Brain 2.0. The Brain changed the way the bike world looked at suspension, both its inefficiencies and benefits alike. And oh was it good. It won races and put a flag in the ground for us as a true leader in innovation and suspension development, but we knew that we could make it better. Simple physics told us that, by moving the Brain closer to the rear axle, it would be in the most sensitive spot. And after countless hours with the RockShox team, the new Brain became more than just a slight upgrade. It's totally new. Now, it reacts seamlessly to bump forces, it has much more consistent damping performance, and finally, it integrates the hoses into the suspension links. This, in turn, improves oil paths, and it creates an incredibly sleek package that outperforms anything on the market.

The new Epic also gets a serious upgrade in the stiffness department. The Rider-First Engineered™ tubes place complex carbon pieces in all the right places, which greatly increases stiffness in the front end for a vast improvement in ride quality and control. To go along with this, each frame size has size-specific tubes that result in the stiffest, best riding XC bike we've ever developed—no matter the frame size.

And while stiffness, Brain technology, and geometry features are cool and all, we know what you're thinking, "What about the weight?" We're glad you asked. With the goal of the new Epic to be the fastest XC mountain bike we've ever made, weight was at the top of our priorities list. We started with an efficient frame layout and tube shapes that feature clean cable routing, integrated channels through the shock extension, straight tubes with less curves, and optimized torsion profiles in every section. And if you're curious, this weight savings is equivalent to shedding a chainstay and shock extension from the previous Epic—nearly 525 grams.

The build of the Epic Expert meshes performance with value, featuring a 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset, SRAM Level TL brakes, and a hand-built Roval Control carbon fiber wheelset. Get ready, because this is going to be Epic.

• Full fact 11m carbon fiber frame combines stiffness, strength, and light overall weight to deliver an off-the-hook race bike. Meanwhile, the new geometry, RockShox Brain shock, and 100mm of travel, make the Epic the best handling, fastest XC rig you've been on.

• Our custom RockShox SID fork with Brain features a top-adjust Brain fade, and a custom offset to make it suitable for the new Epic.

• The 12-speed SRAM GX Eagle groupset brings the performance of Eagle at a doable price point.