Hi!
I currently ride a 130mm trail hardtail, Bombtrack Cale AL https://www.bombtrack.com/complete-bikes/cale-al I'm a quite experienced road/gravel cyclist but about a year of experience in MTB.
Being a hardtail it beats me up on long days (to the point where it becomes the limiting factor), and it's quite heavy for a hardtail (the frame is not too heavy, the cheap components are).
I was thinking that it may make sense to just change it instead of upgrading it (e.g I hate the base Level brakes), and was looking at the Epic 8 (not Evo) as its replacement. I like the fully lockable rear end (that the Evo doesn't have) for bikepacking and for riding on the road to my local trails (about 12km round trip).
Here's a geometry comparison between the Epic 8 and the Cale AL: https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=65f09f0dad793d001b6a1d4f,607ebb66994492001f149af1,
The question is: would the Epic 8 really be worse than my current bike in the descents? (10mm less front travel, but 1.6deg slacker, same reach, 25mm less stack, and adding 120mm of rear travel). I think I can handle the lower front (experimenting with this on my current bike), I have relatively short legs. I never bottomed out the 130mm fork (end up using about 115mm of travel), and I'm quite a light person (63kg).
I'm not looking to do big jumps or drops, just small ones that I can handle fine with my current bike 🙂
Edit: I like climbing, so having a bike capable in the climbs is important to me.
by Minor_Major_888
5 Comments
Great bike. Several of my friends do this and they ride Pisgah at least weekly
The epic would be better than your current bike in pretty much every way. It would climb better, descend better, and be more confidence inspiring. I say go for it, but would recommend the Evo still for even more versatility.
I use the last gen epic evo which is basically the epic 8 with a bit less travel for everything. The only time it isnt the ideal bike is when we ride the insanely steep loose stuff and its not a bike problem its a tire problem but its still rideable just need a bit more modulation on braking. I consider these bikes the perfect do it all.
It will be a great all-rounder for someone prioritizing speed in most parts of the world and will definitely be faster than your hardtail.
If you’re not racing get the Evo and ride on. Amazing bikes. Heck even if you are racing get the Evo unless you’re actually competitive at the pointy end and need every little advantage.