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Christoph Sauser's 2009 Specialized Epic

The rim on Sauser's new Roval wheels looks to be about the same as last year but the hubs now boast carbon shells and the spokes are bladed.

  • The familiar four-bar layout appears again only this time with modified pivot locations and a new carbon rear end.
  • Even at full speed, it's clear to see that the new Epic shares a number of design features from last year's revamped Stumpjumper.
  • The enlarged front end features a new Specialized-branded Futureshock fork that is also graced with the terrain-sensing Brain inertia valve.
  • The rear shock has moved underneath the top tube. Full-length cable housing keeps things running smoothly.
  • Christoph Sauser had only received his new 2009 Specialized Epic a few days prior to the world championships and quickly put it atop the podium.
  • Specialized claims the new Epic shaves almost 700g from last year's version.
  • Sauser flew this number plate in Italy but will get to use the coveted '1' plate next year as defending champion.
  • The remote Brain setup looks to save a decent amount of weight relative to last year's bulky mass of metal.
  • Adjustments on the new rear shock are limited to air pressure, rebound damping and Brain threshold (located on the rear Brain unit).
  • The new fork is now Brain-equipped as well which hopefully should make for a more balanced feel front-to-rear than before.
  • The all-new E100 fork uses a carbon crown and a tapered-and-oversized 1 1/8
  • Are these carbon dropouts we're seeing?
  • There's still plenty of room for a conventional bottle cage.
  • The carbon chain stay is protected by a simple patch of Velcro material.
  • Sauser ran a two-chainring setup at the UCI world championship, complete with a rather unique-looking spider.
  • Magura's new Marta SL Mag brakes and SRAM's X.0 twist shifters make for a lightweight combination.
  • A SRAM X.0 rear derailleur is mated to an ultralight KMC chain and a TiN-coated cassette.
  • Magura's new Marta SL Mag uses a magnesium calliper body instead of aluminium. Sauser's mechanic, Benno Wiliet, makes things even lighter with anodised aluminium hardware.
  • The rim on Sauser's new Roval wheels looks to be about the same as last year but the hubs now boast carbon shells and the spokes are bladed.
  • The carbon front hub wear newly bladed spokes and Sauser's usual Stan's NoTubes coated aluminium rotor.
  • Sauser's bike was fitted with a one-off braze-on Dura-Ace front derailleur setup but based on the markings on the chain stay, production units will use the increasingly popular chain stay-mounted DMD format.

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The rim on Sauser's new Roval wheels looks to be about the same as last year but the hubs now boast carbon shells and the spokes are bladed.

© Sue George/Cyclingnews.com