First ride - 2017 S-Works Epic

[intern]

Part 1:

Yesterday was a lot of firsts for me; first 29er (after I swore I'd never go 29), first 'one by' groupset, after I recently said to hubber DawieO that I'd never dispense with my 3x9, first trigger shifters in a very, very long time and, yes, first ride on a brand spanking new Spez S-Works Epic.

 

My immediate impression: Not an improvement on the bike it replaced. But, I would say that, because I've never liked any new bike immediately. I've always preferred my own bike over any other, because the setup is right and the components are familiar. When I was still involved in Tread Mag, i didn't like testing new gear because it meant not using the stuff I knew and liked. And I'd always decline to ride my brother's endless new fancy bikes (he owns a bike shop - perks, yeah).

 

Anyway, this is what the bike looks like (this is a glamour shot, not my own):

 

My local bike shop, Whakatane Cycle Centre, set it up for me and did a great job of it too. Only adjustment I had to make was to push the seat up by 1.5cm, they guessed pretty close to the 91.5cm height I prefer.

 

The spec list includes:

• SRAM Eagle 1x12, with SRAM and not S-Works cranks, trigger shift
• a Phenom S-Works saddle
• RIDICULOUSLY wide S-Works flat bar
• SID Brain fork
• Roval Control SL carbon wheels (not Boost 148) with Thru Hub axles - and no QR skewers!
• SRAM Level Ultimate brakes
• 10-50 cassette and 32 front blade

 

All of the specs and whatnot you can get from The Internet, so if that's your thing, go for it.

What I liked about the bike before riding it: It felt pretty light, but not substantially lighter than the only bike I had to compare it with, my wife's 2009 Cannondale Scalpel. The matt black carbon looks pretty cool. The SID fork - I'd read about that upside down RS1 and had hoped it would not be on my bike, much happier with a SID. The Eagle 1x12 looked interesting, to say the least. The Control tyres. The SWAT tool tucked under the top tube. The reassuring Fox rear shock (I like Fox better than RS. Could just be the logo, but there you are).

Here's the Fox shock (all bike pics to follow are post-ride):

 

What I didn't particularly like: The weird choice of yellow for some of the decals (although I have a yellow Uvex helmet from my days racing for the Club 100 vets team - twee, I know, colour-matching). The single 32 chainring and no option to ever add a front derailleur (I believe SRAM's has greatly overestimated the demise of that particular instrument; Karl Platt's bike attests to the venerated FD). The absence of QR levers! That massive flat bar. Trigger shifter, which with SRAM is 'thumb only.

Here's the trigger shifter:

 

Old and resistant

A little more on me. I'm 40, a grumpy old sod and quite a keen collector of Strava KOMs (I think the proper term for such an individual, regardless of age, is 'stravassshole'). I don't like change very much (see above), unless it is larger denomination coins.

 

Like me, my previous bike was pretty long in the tooth, but I was perfectly happy with it, a 2010 Epic S-Works; I'm no weight-weeny, with the latest upgrades to that bike including a new Gobi saddle, new 3x9 GripShift and a steel middle ring to replace the worn out XT part. I've ridden Specialized MTBs since 2007, starting with a Marathon Carbon, then a 2008 S-Works which I really liked, and on to the 2010 (which I also have thoroughly enjoyed). My frame, which was in excellent condition, broke, so Whakatane Cycle Centre and Specialized organised me a warranty deal on the new S-Works. So that's how I wound up making all these radical changes.

 

Here's my old bike, with some dude riding it:

 

The course

For the first ride on the new machine, I chose a familiar course - to the Transmitter in the local MTB park. This is a demanding ride with about 800 metres of climbing in 20-odd kilometres. The climbs getting up to the Transmitter (which is a big radio mast on top of a hill) are up to 20% gradient, so it would allow me to fully test the range of the 10-50 cassette. The route on the day was pretty muddy after recent rains; it is a fairly technical course, not so much on the up, but certainly on the down.

Here's the route profile, from Strava:

 

The ride

On setting out, the first thing I noticed was the ridiculously wide handlebar. I like a narrower setup; my old bar, a low-rise Ritchey Carbon, was cut down to 56cm. The new S-Works is 72cm. WAAY to wide for me. I'd wanted to cut them immediately, but Blair at Cycle Centre admonished me and said 'ride it for at least a week, first'. Clever Blair.

Here's the front end:

 

I was a bit disappointed that the front ring was a 32 as I immediately thought 'that's not going to give enough top end' on the flats and downhills. This was true; five minutes from home and it wasn't enough, with a cadence of 100 at just 40km/h. I spin out at about 135 or so and, on the road bike, generally average between 91 and 94, a bit lower on the MTB.

Here's the front ring, caked in schmeg from the ride:

 

 

The big wheels, after always being on a 26, didn't feel too bad; despite the fact that the last time I'd ridden a 29er, apart from a brief spin on a mate's new Santa Cruz Tallboy two weeks ago, was aboard a Gary Fisher review unit from Andrew McLean back in 2009.

 

The first test of the day was a fast downhill on a 'metal' (dirt) road. This one is significant because it is windy (as in windy windy windy windy, not as in the air moving around Cape Town) and therefore would provide a test for the Control tyres and the overall handling of the bike (which I can upfront say is 'typical Epic'. I'm not one to go on about technical aspects of handling, like head and seat tube angles, etc, but those who know Epics should have an idea of what I am on about - sharp, even twitchy, front wheel has a tendency to dive in turns).

Here's the result of that:

I'd have to say it went pretty well; 6 seconds shy of best time and I wasn't really able to hammer it, fiddling a bit with the trigger shifter and unfamiliar with the handling into corners.

 

The next oppo to give it some stick was Woolshed to Barn, a good longish climb on which I'd a few days prior done my best time on my wife's Scalpel. This didn't go well, not because of the bike, but because the segment goes through a working farm and if the gates are closed, you have no chance of a good time as you have to jump over them. But it did give me an idea of what the S-Works felt like on a climb - pretty good. Not, I must add, spectacular; it still didn't feel as good as my old bike, but then, it wouldn't.

Here's the segment. You can see I went at it pretty hard:

 

Already, however, I was NOT liking the 1x12 drivetrain. I missed my GripShift most, with the trigger feeling obtrusive on my right hand. The 'thumb only' design is nowhere near as good as I remember Shimano's 'thumb forefinger' interpretation. It constantly felt like I was in the wrong gear, cadence either too high or too low. I wanted my Mummy and I also wanted my choice of front blades. I got neither.

Here's the massive 10-50 cassette:

 

[26er]

I appreciate your honest straight forward review

I hope you will enjoy the bike a bit more when you are a little more use to it

I ride the same bike but a bit lower range and have to say it has been flawless so far

Congrats on the bike

[Rocket-Boy]

lol!! stop being a gumpy old git and enjoy it! 

You will get used to it and you will love it, otherwise you can ship it off to me and I will find you a 26" s-works to make you feel at home

[intern]

Part two:

The Transmitter

The real big test of the day would be The Transmitter, a pretty fearsome ascent up to the top of the MTB park. The Strava segment has it as a Category 2 climb of 5.2km with 328m of uphill at an average gradient of 6%. That doesn't really do it justice. For one thing, the gradient isn't constant, it varies between some brief respites of downhill, and some gnarly 20 percenters. It is a combination of jeep and single track, through pine forests. It is a hard climb and on a muddy-ish day, a bit more so.

The S-Works, it must be said, felt pretty good going uphill. Aside from the weird stance of the super wide bars, everything was more or less as it should be. With some transitions from fast short downhill into steep uphill, the 1x finally showed something worthwhile: no bungled front shifts and no need to plan the FD shift ahead of time.

I gave it some stick up the Transmitter and had to have a bit of a rest at the top as it was warm and I was thoroughly knackered. It felt like an OK time, not super fast, and definitely hard. When I uploaded the ride, I was pleasantly surprised with the result - about a minute faster than my previous best.

Here's the segment:

 

The big question - was this thanks to the bike? Here it is, post-ride:

 

I'm going to say 'no'. My wife immediately said, with a hint of wonder in her voice, 'So a 29 IS faster!'. Well, I am fitter and lighter than I was when I did it a minute slower about a month ago, so it isn't possible to compare. It didn't feel faster either; if anything, I had paced myself better.

 

Going downhill fast

So, after gathering myself at the top of the hill, it was time to test the bike on a downhill. This did not go well.

Coming off the Transmitter is Jeff's Downhill and it is a proper downhill for dudes with long travel bikes and short life expectations. 

Here's the segment - it drops 138 metres in 700m, and most of that drop happens rather suddenly:

 

I've pranged once on Jeffs, a long time ago, and generally don't have any issue riding it, although I am way off the best times. Not this day. The handling of the S-Works on a proper downhill was completely different to my 26. I think it was probably more the wheels than anything else, but I very quickly dismounted and had to walk most of Jeffs (the walk of shame...luckily, if a man does the walk of shame in a forest and nobody is there to see it, did it really happen? Unless a man writes about it on The Internet). I properly struggled.

 

I even considered riding out of the park using the access trails and not the awesome single track and dropoffs which are your reward for slogging up the Transmitter. Then I remembered the whole point of MTB is the awesome single track, and also acknowledged that I need to get to know this new machine. So I persisted.

 

None of the single track was fun or fast. The difference in handling was too much and the trigger shifter I found to be a major impediment, just so much less responsive than a gripshift (for me).

 

Here's a singletrack segment:

 

My fastest time on that is 2:21 - way slower than the 'real' trail riders, but a lot faster than 3:09.

 

Was this the bike's fault? No. It's a lot of change for a dude who doesn't like even small changes. The differences were just far more noticeable on 'real' MTB trails than they were on uphills or dirt roads. That just means this - 'you've got some getting used to to do'.

 

A highlight of my ride home from the MTB park was that I managed to get shouted at and chased by a farmer who was moving sheep 'Out of the road! Out of the road! Can't you f-ckin see we're trying to do something here! Dmrse!' he bellowed. I started to protest with a feeble 'hey man, there's no reason to speak to me like that', but then I realised, hang on, this fellow is working and I am in the way, button it and move on. Anyway.

 

After the ride

In the final analysis, did this fancy new 2017 model bike feel like a big upgrade? No. It was actually a bit disappointing. I'd recently upgraded my 2007 S-Works SL2 road bike to a 2015 Tarmac S-Works and immediately noticed an improvement in the frame (to a lesser extent) and especially the 11 speed Dura Ace. The groupset was noticeably miles ahead of the old 10sp Campag Record it replaced.

 

With the MTB, the advancements in the components wasn't really noticeable at all. The gear shifting was just gear shifting.

 

The SRAM Level Ultimate brakes were pretty poor, TBH, though they may need bedding in. They simply aren't as good as the Deore XT (M780) which were on my old bike and which didn't need bedding in. They were disappointing.

 

Here's the rear caliper:

 

Modulation was poor and stopping power felt inadequate.

 

There simply aren't enough gears, on this first ride, on a 1x12 setup. Not for me, at any rate - my 3x9 and its many overlaps almost always felt better.

 

Here's a view of chunky chainstays and drivetrain:

 

The SID brain shock and the rear Fox were awesome. Here's the SID:

 

The bottom line is that yes, this is an awesome bike. But, it didn't blow me away by any means. That is probably more a case of who I am, though, than what the bike is. I am fairly confident that as time goes by, I will probably get used to the 1x12 and the weird big wheels. What I do also know is that time tends to go by quickly when it comes to getting used to a new bike, and that within a week or two, I will probably be utterly convinced of this thing's attributes.

 

For now, though, it is lurking in the garage, waiting for another thrashing. Best I get to it.

 

QUICK EDIT - had to rush off earlier. The 32x50 gear on the bottom end was more than enough up the Transmitter, so I reckon changing to a 36x50 will probably address some of the top end issues, while giving a better range through the cassette. I also reckon once I get a 12x Eagle gripshifter, the whole package will feel better, that is, closer to what I prefer in terms of the feel of the cockpit and the response of the gears.

 

Full Strava file is here: https://www.strava.com/activities/797411066

[DJuice]

I can always swop you the S-works 26er in the front.

Sid...3x9...xtr brakes and lovely sti shifters.

 

Enjoy your new bike, give it time and keep the handlebar lenght.

[Harryn]

What a fantastic and dead honest review. I will be watching this thread with much interest as you tame the beast.

 

It's a beautiful bike, may you ride it in good health.

 

Although I am in nowhere near your league, I found myself identifying with lots of points you made. I too recently upgraded from a Trek EX9 26er, which I was very happy with, to a Camber Expert. My maiden ride on the new bike was my first on a 29er, and my 1st on a 1 x11 drivetrain, and also a Seriously wide bar. I seriously loved it immediately and found myself wondering what took me so long to make the change. The bike was is so light and confidence inspiring,and although I hold no Koms at all, I started racking up PR's quickly on my well ridden segments, and the difference was just dramatic. The bigger wheels really do roll over the obstacles so much easier . The roval carbon wheels are light, but sure footed, with a conti X king Race King combo.

 

On the downside, i too found the trigger awkwardky placed, and counter intuitive. It kept rubbing up against, and at times, scratching my thumb. Even worse, after an hours riding, I experienced the kind of lower back ache i never got on my old trek 26er, and also never get on my road bikes. This has bumbed me out completely. My first ride was so sore, I cut it short. Serious setup issues, which are not yet fully resolved. A longer stem has vastly improved, but not eliminated the issue.

 

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread. Its just that a lot of the things you pointed out resonated with me.

[intern]

I appreciate your honest straight forward review

I hope you will enjoy the bike a bit more when you are a little more use to it

I ride the same bike but a bit lower range and have to say it has been flawless so far

Congrats on the bike

Thanks, I am certain that when I get to grips with it, and when I ride my wife's Scalpel after a few weeks, I will be in a far better position to appreciate the new one...

[intern]

lol!! stop being a gumpy old git and enjoy it! 

You will get used to it and you will love it, otherwise you can ship it off to me and I will find you a 26" s-works to make you feel at home

Can water stop being wet?? haha

[intern]

What a fantastic and dead honest review. I will be watching this thread with much interest as you tame the beast.

 

It's a beautiful bike, may you ride it in good health.

 

Although I am in nowhere near your league, I found myself identifying with lots of points you made. I too recently upgraded from a Trek EX9 26er, which I was very happy with, to a Camber Expert. My maiden ride on the new bike was my first on a 29er, and my 1st on a 1 x11 drivetrain, and also a Seriously wide bar. I seriously loved it immediately and found myself wondering what took me so long to make the change. The bike was is so light and confidence inspiring,and although I hold no Koms at all, I started racking up PR's quickly on my well ridden segments, and the difference was just dramatic. The bigger wheels really do roll over the obstacles so much easier . The roval carbon wheels are light, but sure footed, with a conti X king Race King combo.

 

On the downside, i too found the trigger awkwardky placed, and counter intuitive. It kept rubbing up against, and at times, scratching my thumb. Even worse, after an hours riding, I experienced the kind of lower back ache i never got on my old trek 26er, and also never get on my road bikes. This has bumbed me out completely. My first ride was so sore, I cut it short. Serious setup issues, which are not yet fully resolved. A longer stem has vastly improved, but not eliminated the issue.

 

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread. Its just that a lot of the things you pointed out resonated with me.

Not a hijack at all - excellent discussion points.

 

I didn't feel like the wheels rolled better over anything, but our terrain here is more forest and mud than it is rocks and thorns (my preferred terrain is the Karoo - you do get that sort of style riding in NZ, just not where I am). The only obstacles we encounter, in other words, are fallen pine branches and cones, and the usual trail bumps which are not noteworthy.

Interestingly, unless I am proper 'mtb fit', I'd always get a sore back with my 26, particularly with a steep short ride which is typical in my local park. On this ride, there was absolutely none of that. In fact, I hadn't even thought about it until you raised the point and I realised 'hey - you usually would have had a sore back'. So that looks like a win for me - I do hope you can get your possie sorted.

Yep, exact same issue with the trigger - digging into my thumb and I had to consciously move my hand to the far end of the bar to get more comfy. This is not ideal, particularly when you have up/down/up/down on singletrack, where you want your shifts to be available immediately. I always liked that about gripshift. Very keen for that to arrive as I think it will substantially improve my experience not only of the drivetrain, but the whole bike as the focus will move away from hassling about the hand and on to focusing on the trail...

It's raining cats n dogs today, so no MTB for me (I'll avoid the mud, even if it dries up a bit later). But another great attribute of any new bike, of course, is that it does make you want to ride it a lot.

EDIT and thanks for the well wishes

[intern]

I can always swop you the S-works 26er in the front.

Sid...3x9...xtr brakes and lovely sti shifters.

 

Enjoy your new bike, give it time and keep the handlebar lenght.

I had that model S-Works as my first S-Works MTB, the red and white one. Really enjoyed that bike...if it weren't for the STI shifters, we might have had a deal

[intern]

Some additional comments:

What I find impressive on the bike is attention to detail in the finishing kit. The slap protector on the chainstay; this is screwed in with rubber over a hard plastic. One of those things that makes you go 'why have they not always done this, it is so obvious':

The caps which go over the leading edges of the cranks:

Note how little clearance there is for the Garmin cadence sensor, which I think will need to move to the drive side which seems to offer more room.

The protective film almost everywhere protective film should be, including on cranks to prevent crank rub (one exception was where the rear brake hose passes between the chainstay and Brain hose - I put some insulation tape on that).

The two carbon bottle cages (a second one fits inside the main triangle; I took it off as I only need one, I don't race any longer). Although I don't like the 'side entry' style, probably need to get used to that, too. Note how I found a bottle with a yellow cap; Lance Armstrong sunnies looking a viable option these days, too.

What bothers me a bit is that the rear pivot point behind the BB is a bit of a mud catcher and I can imagine the mud will soon rub as the suspension works, and likely abrade the carbon:

That's probably not ideal.

Note the absence of QR skewers; I imagine this is why the SWAT tool came with, as it looks like a 5mm Allen key is necessary to remove the wheels (the rest of the SWAT stuff was not supplied with this bike):

And then, finally, one thing I was unreservedly impressed with (to my delight) is the Phenom S-Works saddle. I am VERY fussy about saddles and only recently replaced a Gobi I'd had for over 7 years and which had all but fallen apart. The Phenom looks amazing, so that's why I was chuffed when it treated my fussy erse well and can therefore stay on the bike and respect the aesthetic of the machine.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Excellent review.

 

Well written and thorough.

[V12man]

Good review- when I swapped to a 29er I had to relearn some bike handling things - 29er needs to be handled more like an mx bike than a 26" with a.lot.more body english but once I had it I am not going back... neither is my epic partner who was dead set against it...

 

I am not a fan of those tires you have on at all and you need to spend some time getting the shock/brain setup working properly for you - took me about a year to trust it...

[Rocket-Boy]

I had an interesting discussion with a club mate on Saturday night. He was the most die hard 26" fan I know. He bought a 29er and sold it after a month because he said it made him slower over his benchmark routes.

 

After recently cracking his frame he was forced into a 29er and said that his first ride took 20 mins off his normal route, he tested it again the next day and found the same thing.

 

Its more understandable in his circumstances though because he is more of a dirt roadie/marathon kinda guy. Now Im pretty sure all the tea in China wouldnt convince him back on to the 26.

[intern]

Good review- when I swapped to a 29er I had to relearn some bike handling things - 29er needs to be handled more like an mx bike than a 26" with a.lot.more body english but once I had it I am not going back... neither is my epic partner who was dead set against it...

 

I am not a fan of those tires you have on at all and you need to spend some time getting the shock/brain setup working properly for you - took me about a year to trust it...

Thanks doc. I'm pretty sure this will be the case for me too, need to spend some quality time with the machine and get to know it's idiosyncrasies.

 

I've used Control tyres before and liked them; at the moment, they are set up 'tubed' as there is no real need for tubeless in our terrain here, punctures and sidewall gashes are all but unheard of. Notable, though, is that a tubeless kit was supplied as standard with the bike - I might have that fitted as I have several bottles of sealant lying around the place (over 5 years old, imported from SA!)

 

On the brain, having ridden brain-equipped bikes since 2007, no issues getting it dialed PDQ. Also, I'm not that fussy about my setup, though I do favour slightly soft at the front and hard at the back.

[intern]

I had an interesting discussion with a club mate on Saturday night. He was the most die hard 26" fan I know. He bought a 29er and sold it after a month because he said it made him slower over his benchmark routes.

 

After recently cracking his frame he was forced into a 29er and said that his first ride took 20 mins off his normal route, he tested it again the next day and found the same thing.

 

Its more understandable in his circumstances though because he is more of a dirt roadie/marathon kinda guy. Now Im pretty sure all the tea in China wouldnt convince him back on to the 26.

Interesting indeed. Being forced onto a 29er, too (although given the level of this bike, hardly kicking and screaming) I am in a similar position - and hey, if I can score a few minutes here and there, I'll take what I can get