The Specialized Epic Hardtail Expert Carbon 29er Mountain Bike is no longer available, although you may find similar or newer versions below.

With all of the growth in full-suspension XC bikes we found that hardtails were starting to become a little same old same old. So we thought to ourselves What better time then now to shake things up with a modern revolutionary design? Say hello to the Epic Hardtail Expert.

Its one of the lightest frames weve ever made tipping the scales around 1175g. And to make it this light we built the entyre frame from our superlative FACT 11m carbon fibre and then 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.

Weve 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 its stupid fast. We also widened the rear spacing to 12x148mm and included internal split-housing cable routing.

For the build this Epic Hardtail successfully balances value with performance with a custom-tuned RockShox SID fork with Brain SRAM GX Eagle™ 12-speed shifting and quick-to-accelerate Roval Control Carbon wheels.

• By pairing a FACT 11m carbon fibre frame with our XC 29 Geometry this Epic places a focus on revolutionary tube angles and light overall weight for explosive speed and nimble handling on the race circuit.

• SRAMs 12-speed GX Eagle groupset with its 10-50t cassette provides a wide gear range that lets you spin up the climbs yet have plenty of top end for the descents. One-by setups also decrease weight and make it next to impossible to drop a chain.

• Rovals new Control Carbon wheels have many of the hallmarks of the Control Sl wheels like a 25mm internal width and a new shape—making traction low weight and durability all top priorities.

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