Trevor, a colleague from our North America office, is full of innovative ideas about his bikes. In this blog, he shares every detail of his all-new Specialized Epic World Cup adventure bike. Want to know more? Feel free to leave a comment below!
Frameset and Size
This is my version of the ultimate backcountry exploring bike: a bike that can play the game “Where does this trail or road go?” with me.
I chose the Epic World Cup platform because it is lightweight, holds multiple water bottles, and has enough rear suspension to take the edge off during long days on varied terrain. Even with rear suspension, it remains pedal-efficient without the need for lockout. I live in an area with many steep, unmaintained logging roads and the Epic World Cup handles the rough gravel surfaces more efficiently than a rigid gravel bike could, while remaining capable of tackling singletrack when I encounter it along the way.
I chose a Medium frame instead of my usual Large because I knew I’d be running a drop bar and didn’t want to be restricted to a super short stem. Drop bars extend your reach on a frame compared to traditional mountain bike flat bars. On the Medium I can run a 60-70mm stem with a smaller frame for a perfect fit.
Seatpost, Tires, and Shock Setting
When riding flatter gravel roads or wanting something more race-oriented, I run the bike with a Roval carbon straight seatpost. I also have a Reverb AXS XPLR dropper post with 75mm travel, which I ride about 50% of the time. Being wireless, I can install it in seconds and tap both shifters simultaneously to activate it. Despite what you might expect I have never accidentally shifted the gears instead of activating the dropper. It has worked flawlessly for me so far!
I find this bike to be a bit of a Goldilocks, and takes the right combination of components to feel “just right”. When set up as a mountain bike, it’s very sporty and has limited travel. Conversely, a more gravel-oriented setup can feel too plush. For tires, I considered running 38c tires to make it feel more like a gravel bike, as the 2.25” Vittoria Terreno tires (in these images) felt oversized and touch stiff. But, I’ve most enjoyed the Vittoria Mezcal 2.35” tires for more aggressive riding. They are predictable and very fast-rolling. Gravel tires often have a different sidewall construction than mountain bike tires, and even though gravel tire options save weight, you get better rolling efficiency with most wider mountain bike tires.
I often run the rear shock in the “half gulp” setting, which I find perfectly supple at 5% sag. It bobs slightly but feels ideal for my rides, as they often include technical climbs. If I were doing a gravel race, I would run 0% sag (“No Gulp”) unless the course was 5+ hours long and very fatiguing. The fork has the Brain Fade function, which helps firm things up automatically when on tame terrain. I run air pressure in the fork slightly higher than what’s typically recommended for my weight, with the Brain Fade set 1-2 clicks from all the way open.
Wheel Build
I chose the ultralight Light Bicycle XC930 rims for my wheelset, which hit the scales at exactly their claimed 270g weight per rim! With their 30mm internal width, I get a lot of air volume, which helps smooth out rough gravel roads. Building on the comfort theme, I chose Berd Dyneema spokes. These spokes are super lightweight, but perhaps even more importantly, their vibration dampening completely transforms how the wheels ride.
I went with DT Swiss 350 hubs because I favour a centerlock and straight-pull combination, their weight is very reasonable, and they use reliable Abec 5 bearings. I don’t need high engagement for gravel riding and prefer the deeper teeth in the 18t ratchets, so I swapped these in for the current stock 36t ratchets. These ratchets are quiet and seem to have less drag, which are both pluses!
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June 25th, 2024 | Light Bicycle
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