Specialized S-Works Epic 8 on test: How the world's most expensive MTB rides

The Specialized S-Works Epic 2024 is not just any bike. It is as light as a super sports bike, as long, flat and suspension-spotted as many a trail bike and costs more than any other MTB. Specialized is not stingy with full-bodied promises and equips its perhaps biggest new development in recent years with everything that is good and expensive. This includes the new Rockshox Flight Attendant suspension, which reacts fully automatically to the terrain and is supposed to learn from the rider thanks to a smart algorithm. BIKE has already been able to test the new Specialized S-Works Epic 8 with electric suspension extensively in the lab and in practice. Is the most expensive production bike on the planet also the best mountain bike in the world?

E-bike without motor: Specialized Epic with Rockshox Flight Attendant in a practical test

With the Flight Attendant System, Specialized makes setting up the new S-Works Epic as easy as can be. The power meter, drivetrain, shock, fork, seatpost, TyreWiz air pressure sensors and the two pod controllers can be linked together in the Sram AXS app. The assignment of the four AXS buttons can be customised as desired. Meanwhile, the air pressure and rebound in the fork and shock can be set up in the usual analogue way. Theoretically, the behaviour of the electronic automatic suspension system could now be preset using the bias adjust function - but more on that later.

Typical Specialized S-Works: price and build quality are at the very highest level. The fact that the tight-fitting cables of the Sram Stealth brakes are the only cables in the picture and that no lockout cables are required despite the racing ambitions contributes to the futuristic, sleek look. The fork and frame shine in an elaborate fade finish. As a marathon bike, the Epic naturally has space for two bottle cages. Practical: A mini tool sits under one of them. There's no denying that Specialized has a lot of experience with integrating a storage compartment into carbon frames. The latest version of the SWAT box simply works better than most other solutions on the market, looks high quality and is ergonomic to use. The storage compartment has space for a fairly large tool bag, bars and even a windbreaker - which also scores points with long-distance enthusiasts.

>> The presentation of all features and models of the new Specialized Epic 8 can be found here <<

Anyone who, after looking at the geometry table, suspects at most subtle race genes in the 2024 Specialized Epic will be disabused the moment they get on the bike. Despite 120 millimetres of travel, the new Epic has little of the relaxed attitude of a trail bike. The long main frame and the low, flat front put the rider directly into an aggressive riding position. The 10.4-kilo bike pulls away quickly. Despite the wide tyres and rims, the elegant carbon wheels are quickly brought up to speed.

Thanks to sensor technology and a link to the power meter, the electronic Rockshox suspension immediately recognises when the rider is pedalling and locks the fork and damper all by itself on asphalt and gravel climbs. The lock mode is a real lockout: not a crumb of energy is wasted here. Marathon racers will be pleased to know that the S-Works Epic is not an uncomfortable bike even with fully locked suspension elements thanks to the voluminous tubeless tyres.

With conventional XC suspensions, racers lock their suspension mechanically via a twist grip or lever. If the bike is heading for a pothole, you either have to take the hit with the suspension locked out or open your suspension in anticipation. Rockshox Flight Attendant cannot look ahead, but only releases the suspension in real time when the pothole is reached. This works extremely well, but requires a level of trust in the automatic system that should not be underestimated. Switching between modes takes just five milliseconds - faster than the best racing drivers can think. Racing towards a pothole at full throttle with stiff suspension elements is something that most drivers will probably have to relearn. After a few rides with the Flight Attendant system, however, the pleasant realisation sets in that you no longer have to pay attention to every pothole.

As the Rockshox Flight Attendant System is designed to relieve the rider of lockout decisions under pressure, the technology promises a better focus on the racing action. This may not really work at first: Your eyes are constantly checking the position of the coloured LEDs on the fork crown: "Am I in the right mode now?" The servomotor of the automatic transmission cannot be ignored. At the beginning of the test, curiosity and scepticism often win out, and we are constantly subjecting the automatic system to a counter-check. This behaviour can be "trained away" in two ways: firstly, through habituation, and secondly, through a situational shift in attention.

During a simulated race, we hardly paid any attention to the system's own behaviour and were able to concentrate fully on the actual driving. When your own body is working at the limit, the buzzing of the electronics is easy to ignore. When you're on a trail, there's little time to think about the current setup anyway. If you learn to trust the automatic system, you are relieved of one step. In high-level competitions, this could actually make the subtle but decisive difference. The Specialized Factory Racing Team should therefore have another exciting World Cup year ahead of them. However, normal mortal bikers who switch back to a race bike without a flight attendant after a long time could also forget how to read the track in terms of suspension.

With a view to the MTB cross country competitions at the 2024 Olympics many manufacturers are currently presenting their new race fullys. These include, for example, the Liv Pique Advanced for ambitious female racers.

S-Works Epic: Fully automatic cross-country racing machine

When the route changes from tarmac to gravel on the flat, the the Flight Attendant System on the Specialized S-Works Epic switches to pedal mode in no time at all. There is noticeably more comfort here, while the movements in the shock are minimal but barely perceptible. When the speed increases (even on gravel or forest tracks), the intelligent Rockshox suspension switches back to lock mode and ensures that the watts applied are actually converted into propulsion. Even in the neutral, medium bias-adjust setting, this is often the case and on tour the suspension elements spend a lot of time in the lock or pedal mode. Logical really: the S-Works Epic with Flight Attendant is designed as a professional racing machine and not as a leisure bike for a leisurely Sunday ride.

If you still want the suspension to be open more often, you can either intervene in appropriate situations via the override function or set the bias function to a negative setting. This behavioural modification of the smart system works very effectively. In our opinion, however, the neutral bias setting suits the character of the S-Works Epic best in most situations. On a lap with lots of rough trails, the negative bias settings can often offer more reserves, while the positive bias options help to tease the last bit of efficiency out of the bike on fast race courses.

As the first production bike with the Rockshox Flight Attendant System for XC bikes, the Specialized S-Works Epic is also the world's first MTB without a drive motor that learns. Fed with data from a few rides, the suspension should adapt to the rider's performance. A slight adjustment was already noticeable during our test period, which included seven individual rides. After laps at high speeds, the fork and shock absorber switched to a firmer setting more frequently on the next ride. The Adaptive Ride Dynamics algorithm therefore seems to work and offers the opportunity for a personalised, data-based suspension setup.

If the rear suspension is forced into open mode by pressing a button in pedalling situations, the bobbing becomes significantly stronger and scratches at the barely acceptable frame. For a race bike, the rear suspension is definitely of the lively variety. We are therefore looking forward to testing one of the cheaper Specialized Epic 8 models without the Flight Attendant system. If you look at the current Epic product family as a whole, the positioning of the "normal" Epic as an XC bike with suspension reserves makes perfect sense. For maximum efficiency - in short track races, for example Specialized has the more minimalist Epic Worldcup in its range.

More than just for show: what the world's most expensive XC bike can really do

The Smart suspension on the S-Works Epic has another ace up its sleeve: With the split-states function, it switches the suspension fork and shock into different modes as required. Most mechanical lockouts can't do that. The Flight Attendant uses this trick to lock out the shock but leave the fork in pedalling mode, especially on very uneven uphill forest trails - a nice feature to increase traction and comfort at the front in such situations.

Overall, the situations in which we would have acted differently than the smart automatic suspension system are present but very rare. In the vast majority of cases, the system makes the right setting. Only on rarely travelled trails, where less hard edges under foliage offer undefined resistance and loose ground makes progress more difficult, would we have often wished for the open or pedal mode (at least in the neutral bias setting). A press of the button to activate the override function provides a quick remedy. However, the automatic system does not render the pilot completely unemployed.

Regardless of the futuristic Rockshox Flight Attendant System, the Specialized S-Works Epic climbs absolutely formidably. The low front end helps to keep the front wheel from climbing and the light yet stiff bike also takes steep ramps in its stride. On technical climbs on the trail, however, the length of the bike leaves less room for agile riding manoeuvres. Also, when it comes purely to naked time on tarmac or gravel climbs, conservative race bikes weighing less than ten kilos may be faster than the new, larger and slightly heavier Epic. Over the entire distance of an XC lap, however, the small disadvantages are completely negligible. Compared to previous generations of the Epic the gain in comfort and traction saves noticeably more energy in the real world. And then there's the descent.

As soon as the Rockshox Flight Attendant suspension hits the first root edge or the trail leans towards the valley while the rider stops pedalling, the automatic suspension opens the fork and shock immediately. The rear suspension of the Specialized S-Works Epic is very sensitive for a race fully. As you would expect from the classic Rockshox SID Ultimate suspension elementsThe Epic responds reliably to the bumps of a cross-country trail without lacking the feedback of a race bike. When sprinting over root carpets and pushing through undulating terrain, the damping offers good support. The counter support is also good when pushing and pulling off over jumps.

The 120 millimetres of travel on the latest Epic version is definitely good for the bike downhill. The suspension offers significantly more reserves than the previous models with the Brain system. The additional suspension expertise is noticeable in rock gardens and off drops, for example. The Specialized makes very efficient use of its suspension travel. Almost every MTB manufacturer is currently launching an XC fully with 120 millimetres of suspension travel on the market. Not all of them really manage to utilise the advantages of the additional stroke, becoming progressive too early and remaining tight.

The new Epic 8 is different: the Specialized engineers have done a great job to get the maximum out of the 120 mm rear triangle for downhill riding. Although the Epic is still a race bike, it should have enough reserves - given the right riding technique - to be in good hands on 90 per cent of all the trails that the average biker takes under their studs.

Specialized Epic 8: Race bike agility with trail bike expertise

Together with the long, slack geometry, the Specialized S-Works Epic with its 120-millimetre chassis masters even demanding XC features more confidently than many trail bikes. On the descents, the bike is very good on the trail. It's no surprise that the pairing of long reach and slack head angle is a winning combination downhill. Especially as the Epic, despite all its extremes, is nowhere near the values of many more progressive all-mountain or even enduro bikes and, thanks to the short 60-millimetre stem, you don't hang too far over the front end. If you really want even more reserves, the Specialized Epic EVO is an interesting trail bike option. We have tested the EVO brother of the Epic separately, you can read the article here.

The biggest difference to bikes with a more downhill-focused range of use is the rather low front end of the Epic race bike and the tyres, which perform well in most situations but reach their limits in the mud of the German winter. The suspicion arises that the Epic with a trail front tyre would be a bike with an enormously wide range of capabilities - Incidentally, most Specialized employees ride their own Epics in this configuration. Even the new Sram Level brakes do a surprisingly good job (especially compared to their predecessor). The power of the four brake pistons and the slightly larger 180 mm disc at the front also provide security on steep descents.

On descents, the Rockshox Reverb dropper post moves the saddle out of the way thanks to its generous 150 millimetre adjustment range and thus generates a lot of freedom of movement above the bike. In technically difficult downhill terrain, the rider can work so well with the lightweight bike despite its length. For the chainstays, Specialized chooses a golden mean of 435 millimetres for all frame sizes. Whether the rear end should grow with the frame in favour of better balanced handling is almost a question of personal belief these days.

We had the opportunity to test both an XL frame and an L frame with different test riders and found the chainstay length to be well chosen in all cases. It's easy to take the weight off the front wheel and pull the bike into a manual or bunny hop. On twisty trails, the Specialized Epic handles well around sharp corners without being stingy on high-speed rides - thanks to the long front centre and slack head angle.

Price assessment by Jan Timmermann, BIKE test editor

Don't talk about money? In the case of the € 14,500 Specialized S-Works Epic, it's actually better not to. If the value of a bike lies in its versatility and the potential to win races, the new Epic platform is definitely worth a tip. The entry level starts at a hefty 5200 euros. The asking price of the S-Works version is likely to be beyond the reach of 99 per cent of bikers. The five-figure price tag is only partly justified by the exciting electronic Rockshox Flight-Attendant suspension. Clearly, progress has its price. Unlike in the manufacturing industry, the cost of transport does not generally become cheaper when something is automated. Even if the technology may not be for everyone, it is still highly interesting and we can only hope that it will become much more affordable in the future.

Details on the Specialised S-Works Epic 8

• Front suspension travel: 120 mm
• Rear suspension travel: 120 mm
• Frame material: FACT 12M Carbon
• Wheel size: 29 inch
• Price: 14,500 euros
• Available from: Specialist retailers

For the astronomical sum of € 14,500, Specialized includes two spare batteries, two chargers, a spare memory, a SWAT holder, a venting tool, two bottle cages and a mini tool in the purchase price of the S-Works Evo. In the BIKE usability assessment, the bike scored highly with all its features.

Equipment

• Fork: Rockshox SID Ultimate Flight Attendant
• Shock: Rockshox SIDLuxe Ultimate Flight Attendant
• Gear system: Sram XX SL Eagle AXS Transmission, 1 x 12
• Gear ratio / bandwidth: 34; 10-52 / 520%
• Brakes: Sram Level Ultimate four-piston Stealth, 180 / 160 mm
• dropper post/stroke: Rockshox Reverb AXS / 150 mm
• Wheels: Roval Control SL 29 Carbon
• Tyres: Specialized Fast Track Control T7 / Renegade Control T5, 29 x 2.35"

Measured values

• Total weight: 10.40 kg (without pedals)
• Frame weight: 1682 g (without shock absorber)
• Fork weight: 1606 g
• Weight damper: 366 g
• Weight of wheels: 3534 g
• Impeller inertia: 2840 kg x cm²

Conclusion from BIKE Test editor Jan Timmermann

The Specialized S-Works Epic 8 is a true superbike and a prime example of how versatile 120 millimetre cross country bikes can be today. The updates to the suspension and geometry make the Epic one of the most versatile bikes currently available. In symbiosis with a classy chassis and the Rockshox Flight Attendant System, which is not immediately intuitive but works well, the S-Works version is a high-end race bike that will give the competition a run for its money. As a technology carrier, the most expensive production bike in the world is extremely exciting but by no means for everyone.

Pro

• Acceleration and lightness despite long stroke
• Suspension travel utilisation and comfort despite sportiness
• Automatic Flight Attendant helps to focus on the route
• Downhill supremacy at the level of many trail bikes

Contra

• Insane price
• Rockshox Flight Attendant requires slight adjustments to the rider's behaviour
• Efficiency trim from Flight-Attendant on leisurely laps (can be customised, however)

Top 10: The lightest MTBs 2023 & 2024 - frame weights in comparison

Cross-country bikes are the supreme discipline for MTB engineers. A huge amount of development work is required to continually raise the supposedly optimised models to a new level.

In order to achieve maximum range of use and minimum weight with full race track suitability, special carbon fibre, innovative frame construction and cleverly composed equipment are used to combat every superfluous gram.

The basis for a super light mountain bike is a super light frame. Filigree damper linkages and the elimination of everything that is not really necessary will enable frame weights of well under 2000 grams in 2024. Including the shock, mind you. And with very good stiffness.

These are currently probably the lightest and most expensive mountain bikes we have tested - the top stars will be competing with them in the 2024 Olympic year. The bare figures.

Overview: The 10 lightest MTB frames 2023/2024 - weighed & tested by BIKE

1. Arc8 Evolve FS (size L): 1536 g
2. Trek Supercaliber (size L): 1672 g
3. Canyon Lux CFR (size L): 1675 g
4. Specialised S-Works Epic 8 FACT 12M (size L): 1682 g
5. Cannondale Scalpel Series 0 (size M): 1775 g (on test: Series 1, size L, 2052 g )
6. Scott Spark RC World Cup (size L): 1780 g (in the test: Scott Spark RC Pro for 6799 euros)
7. Pivot Mach 4 SL (size M): 1845 g
8. Specialised Epic EVO 8 FACT 11M (size L): 1872 g
9. Simplon Cirex 120 (size L): 1880 g
10. MMR Kenta SXC (size L): 2125 g

Close behind:

• Canyon Lux Trail (size L): 2137 g
• BMC Fourstroke 01 (size L): 2286 g
• BH Lynx Race LT (size L): 2351 g

Without integration, as without BIKE test & without BIKE measurement

• Orbea Oiz: from 1750 g (without thru axle, manufacturer's specification)