Lighter, faster, better handling—the Women's Epic Hardtail Comp Carbon is changing XC hardtails in a major way. Even better, it plays host to tons of women's-specific components and a custom shock tune that's ideal for lighter riders.

Tipping the scales around 1175 grams, it's one of the lightest mountain bike frames we've ever made. And to do so, we built the entire frame from our superlative FACT 11m carbon fiber that, until recently, was reserved for the top echelon of our mountain bikes. And with that done, 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 hits right on the money, opting for a custom-tuned RockShox Reba RL fork, SRAM GX 1x11 shifting, and ridiculously fast Roval Control alloy wheels. Every touch point has been hand-selected for female riders, as well, from the Sip Grips, to the bar width and crankarm length, all the way down to the superlative Women's Myth Sport saddle.

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

• A custom RockShox Reba RL 29 fork offers up 80-100mm of smooth travel, while an easily accessible compression and rebound adjusts permit you to customize the feel according to the terrain at hand. Lastly, this fork has received our custom Women's Rx Tune for even better performance. 

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