Off-the-shelf mountain bikes rarely break the magical ten-kilo mark. But that wasn't nearly enough for BIKE reader Timo Waldschik. His Specialized S-Works Epic Worldcup weighs in at an incredibly light 7.4 kilos. Through his job in the automotive industry, Timo regularly comes into contact with the carbon components of fast sports cars. He is fascinated by intricate details and lovingly designed components. He went all out for his dream of a really light cross-country fully.
Parts list
- Frame: Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup, size S, stripped (1654 g)
- Headset: Canecreek AER
- Fork: Fox 32 SC Grip SL with Hopp Carbon Parts, 100 mm
- Bottle cage: Voxom
- Rear derailleur: Sram XX SL Transmission with Hopp Carbon Parts and Extralite ceramic pulleys
- Trigger: Sram Wireless Blips
- Cassette: Sram XX SL, 10-52 T
- Cranks: Grigiocarbonio, 165 mm with carbon Ti 32 T chainring and Extralite ceramic bottom bracket
- Pedals: Crankbrothers Eggbeater Titanium
- Axles: Homemade carbon axles
- Seatpost: Gemini Älsak
- Saddle: Gelu K1
- Seat clamp: Darimo Sub4
- Brakes: Trickstuff Piccola Carbon with Hopp Carbon clamps and Extralite bolts
- Grips: Extralite Hyper grips
Tips from the tuning master and a 5.9-kilo hardtail
After 29 years as a footballer, Timo only got into mountain biking a few years ago. In the scene, he soon came across the blatant projects of tuning influencer Gustav Gullholm, aka Dangerholm, which sparked his fascination for lightweight construction. He is still in contact with Dangerholm and has also benefited from the professional's tips on his personal project. Lightweight construction expert Marco B. was also always on hand to offer advice.
Timo mainly rides gravel routes and flow trails on the Feldberg in the Taunus. To do this, he first built himself an Ahead The Frame hardtail bike. With a carbon rigid fork, the bike weighed an incredible 5.9 kilos. In the race set-up with suspension fork, the value increased to a still impressive 6.6 kilos.
Timo made further contacts in the lightweight construction scene for his Specialized Fully. The BIKE reader is well connected and was able to rely on a friend at the Swiss wheel manufacturer Lightwheels, for example, who created his own carbon rim. This saves the inner spoke holes and can therefore do without tubeless rim tape. According to Timo, it is probably the lightest mountain bike rim with a 32 millimetre rim width.
His mate Axel Fabian took care of the paint, or rather the removal of the paint layer. He removed the standard paint layer by layer with a knife to save even more grams and made his own carbon thru-axles.
Unlimited lightweight construction
With a body weight of 52 kilos and a height of 1.58 metres, BIKE reader Timo can rely on a lightweight frame in size S and rarely has to compromise on the weight limit. Most parts of his Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup are limited by the manufacturer to a maximum of 90 to 100 kilos.
According to Timo, it would be possible to reduce the weight of the full-suspension bike to seven kilos without any problems, but not without accepting restrictions in off-road use. For example, Specialized provided two of their lightest Air Trak and Fast Trak tyres in a width of 2.35 inches. By switching to Schwalbe Thunder Burt tyres with a width of just 2.1 inches, another 360 grams could be saved. For Timo, lightweight construction should always start with the rotating mass.
But in Timo's experience, you can also save a lot of weight with the right cranks, cockpit units and a lightweight seat zone. The lightweight construction fan relies on tuning parts from Giocarbonio and Gemini, among others. Of course, the parts should also look good, and details such as a limited edition Fox 32 suspension fork (number 333 of the anniversary model series limited to 666 units to mark Fox's 50th anniversary) add an emotional touch.
Although all the parts installed were brand new, Timo says the purchase price was below the RRP of the new, 8.3-kilo Specialized S-Works Epic 9 LTD (13,999 euros). Of course, the project also swallowed up time resources. He waited a month for the carbon parts from Hopp alone, which Timo used to reduce the weight of the rear derailleur.
Conclusion
It's always fascinating to see how far lightweight construction can go in the mountain bike sector. With his Specialized S-Works Epic Worldcup, BIKE reader Timo has put together an absolute dream fully for weight weenies. Thanks to good contacts in the scene, there are some special parts on the featherweight rocket that make the project even more exciting. - Jan Timmermann, BIKE editor
Jan Timmermann
Editor
