Today was the first official ride on my new Specialized S-Works Epic out at the WORS Headquarters singletrack built and maintained by Big D. The 3 mile lap was enough to get the bike setup dialed in to where I started feeling comfortable after the first lap of the four I completed even though I was somewhat tired from my morning ride. The geometry changes for 2006 are noticeable right away from my 2004 Epic. You feel like you're on top of the bike and forward instead of sitting towards the rear of the bike which made it tough at times to be aggressive in tight singletrack and on climbs where the front end of the bike seemed to float causing you to always be over correcting with steering. On the 2004 Epic I worked out this handling issue by going with a zero set back seatpost, longer stem, and flat handlebars. It wasn't perfect, but it got the bikes handling characteristics somewhat close to the upgrades that were needed and made for 2006. I also found the higher bottom bracket height to be a plus this year as I didn't worry about the rocks and roots on the singletrack that in the past have been sudden momentum stoppers when a pedal would hit and launch you like a super hero over the bars. It's hard to give too much feedback after one ride, but so far this years Specialized Epic S-Works frame geometry changes seem to be quite an improvement, along with a very smooth, quick accelerating, and an eye catching carbon frame design. I need to ride my 2004 in the near future which I still think is an awesome bike after it carried me to my 24-9 solo win last year in order to give more accurate feedback about the changes made on this years model. It was great riding singletrack today after all the miles put in on my road bike. Big D also looked pretty smooth in the singletrack as he prepares the WORS Dirt Circus for another full season as the director of the largest race series in America.
1 comment:
Nice looking trails.
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