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Christoph Sauser's 2009 Specialized Epic

Sauser flew this number plate in Italy but will get to use the coveted '1' plate next year as defending champion.

  • 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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Sauser flew this number plate in Italy but will get to use the coveted '1' plate next year as defending champion.

© Sue George/Cyclingnews.com