The bike is unrecognizable: While the rear shock was previously mounted parallel to the seat stay, it is now positioned along the top tube. The aim of this new design was to make the bike both lighter and stiffer. The engineers at Specialized seem to have succeeded in doing both.

The new Epic is significantly lighter than its predecessor; the 2009 series models should weigh less than ten kilograms. According to Specialized, the frame of the new Epic weighs 1680 grams (including shock), making it one of the lightest fullys on the market. It is interesting to note that Christoph Sauser's world champion bike weighs 8.6 kilograms, which is significantly less than the weight of the Epic on sale. This is due to various custom-made components such as a special lightweight seat post, the use of DuraAce components and expensive carbon screws as well as the use of tires with fewer knobs specially made for Sauser.Suspension complete with Brain
The suspension travel remains unchanged on the Epic, which is still ten centimetres for the front and rear wheels. Specialized continues to rely on Brain technology, which automatically locks the suspension as soon as the ground no longer exerts any force. This technology, which is released via a valve mechanism, is mounted in the piston on the rear wheel and connected to the shock via a line. A new feature on the Epic is the in-house suspension fork, which also features Brain technology. The fork uses air pressure for suspension, is one of the lightest forks on the market at 1407 grams and has a tapered steerer tube. As introduced last year with the Stumpjumper, the Epic now also has a tapered head tube, with a diameter of 1.5 inches at the top and 1 1/8 inches at the bottom. This makes the fork stiffer on the one hand, but also lighter at the same time.

New carbon cranks
Specialized's new mountain bike cranks are specified on the Epic. After gaining initial experience in the production of the drivetrain in road sports over the past few years, the technology is now being transferred to mountain bikes. The carbon crank is based on a bottom bracket with a very large diameter. Like Shimano, Specialized now relies on larger bottom brackets, which in particular allow the use of larger axles. This results in a lower weight with significantly better power transmission. Specialized's bottom brackets have the same diameter (41 millimetres) as the new Shimano versions, but are slightly wider. All of Specialized's new carbon frames are produced for these large-volume bottom brackets; Shimano products are installed using special adapters. However, the Specialized cranks can only be fitted to the new carbon frames from Sepcialized.

At 684 grams, Specialized's crank/bottom bracket combination is almost 100 grams lighter than the XTR version from Shimano. The cranks are pressed together with a screw and connected via a toothing.

Height-adjustable seatpost
Another innovation in Specialized's components department will cause quite a stir: for the first time, one of the major manufacturers is venturing into the production of height-adjustable seatposts. Specialized relies on a completely mechanical system that allows three height positions. There is a total of 100 millimetres between the highest and lowest position, the diameter of the post will be 30.9 millimetres and the weight will be around 440 grams. The system will only be available with a handlebar remote, will be specified on the Enduro and Enduro Pro models and will also be sold as a stand-alone product.