combfilter

Frame Storage FTW simply for the fact it gets your saddle bag off the of the saddle and inside the bike. Why this matters? Nice to not hear or have your saddle bag bottoming out/rubbing on the rear tire in situations where your rear axle is being pushed to its limits.. Not to sound sound like a douche or something, but a lot of this newer generation of "XC" riders ride their XC rigs like trails bikes. These NICA kids have people like Belivins as their hero's, they ride their XC rigs rowdy.

Oh Don't Worry! They are Pirelli's.. Their "2.4's" won't even come close to blowing up to 2.4 on wide 30mm Inner Width rims. They will come in right around 2.1 so you should be just fine...

Specialized needs to retire that dark red color they have been using non stop for the last 5-6yrs on the epics..It's cool and all, but damn they must have ordered like 6000 gallons of it back in 2020..

@DoubleCrownAddict: Actually very likely. This years Crans course has been tamed down compared to past WC courses. Yes MVDP had some brain farts earlier this year due to not being on the mtb that much but he certainly has more than enough skillset to hang on this course. Add his wattage and this course not being as technical as Les Gets then he is certainly a contender for the win. Remember on the much more technical course 2 weeks ago he went from like 30th to 6th. Yes he would lose time on the descents but made up for them on the climbs. This course is less technical than that. Luca Martin is certainly the rider to beat right now, and you can throw in Flukenger now as well. He rode really well 2 weeks ago. Blevins had a crazy hot start to the year, but has faded. Not sure whats up with VK this year either. Love VK but something is off with him. This course actually favors mvdp a lot more than Les Gets.

"My one real gripe here is the lack of a trigger shift function," --- This Sucks.. If you ever started to use the "trigger" shifting on previous shimano you fell in love with it. Was really hoping they would offer this. Springs vs. Clutch is not that big of deal. Matter of fact the one thing that was not great about previous shimano clutches was that if you were cross chained up in the 50, the clutch would make it feel horrible and put a lot of tension on how pedaling would feel.. If you released the clutch, it would feel much better.

This will get downvoted. Yes I understand he's ranked #1 in the world. Yes I know he won worlds and I believe MSA. He is truly one of the best and obviously #1 ranked XCO riders out there over the last two years. That being said, he was always a boring racer to watch, and root for. I am sure if you are from RSA you were rooting for him but he was just boring. It would seem like he would just always sit there right at 3rd wheel. Just sitting on Nino's/VK/whoever's wheel and never ever make a move or an exciting race. Sure this strategy netted him a shit ton of points, but was he ever exciting to watch? He never seemed to YOLO it or make the race really exciting. Watching VK, Blevins, Nino, MF, etc. is pretty exciting... AH...not so much.. Sorry..

Probably never. We've been seeing them on their factory rider bikes for 2.5yrs now.. Wouldn't get too excited about them. All the current specalized tires don't expand to their advertised size even on 30mm inner width rims. Thus, this "2.5" captin will just be a heavier, less volume rekon race with less grip. :)

VK should get with the folks from Zirbel for that cockpit.

How I have been treated with warranty replacements (not crash replacements) is 100% why I am a lifetime (until they screw me) buyer of Specialized bikes. Yes I pay a little bit more, but I consider that the insurance fee of not having to worry about warranty b.s. I have had about 15 specialized bikes. 2 of them needed warranty. 1. was an epic, in which they didn't have my color to send me a new rear triangle unless I wanted to wait. So they went through and found a color that would go well and got that to the LBS in like 3days. Next one was a tarmac that had a seat tube hairline fracture.. They freaking sent out and s works as a replacement. Other than that the rest of them have been bullet proof.. Sucks that others did not have great luck with specialized. If you don't, have the LBS do the process for you. Now it's going to be interesting as specaizlied moves to more direct to consumer and how they warranty will play out. Trek's warranty in my experience was shit... Will never buy a trek again. Sounds like Transition is the super safe bet these days. Great Article. Yes you should create a best and worst poll for warrenty claims. :)

@dougfs: Where did you read this or see this? Shimano has stated many times that they do not plan on having di2 xtr mtb group as there was not much interest or sales in their previous 11speed version. What other riders were on these disguised di2 groups? On MM pics of her bike yes, they are non drive side pics, but the parts where you see the rear derailleur hanging down it looks like normal xtr 12sp. Should be a pic out there somewhere that would at least show a new rear derailleur with shimano's patent they did last year of their version of a direct mount derailleur. Curious.