S-Works Epic World Cup LTD

As we mark our first half-century, we celebrate the next 50 years of innovation with the S-Works Epic World Cup Forward 50 LTD.

With multiple World Cup wins in its inaugural season, the Epic World Cup immediately established itself as the world’s fastest bike for smoother courses.

The Forward 50 LTD comes together in one stunning graphic: gold represents our 50th anniversary, while pink recalls our historic Team Stumpjumper and our commitment to racing with an irreverent, rebellious spirit.

These one-of-a-kind bikes are built with the best of the besta Specialized/RockShox SIDLuxe WCID rear shock, RockShox SID SL Ultimate 3P fork, Roval Control SL Team wheelset, Roval Control SL Integrated Cockpit, Roval Control SL seatpost, S-Works Power with Mirror saddle, and CeramicSpeed DUB bottom bracketensuring these bikes go as fast as they look.

It’s time to hang up your hardtail.

The Epic World Cup is a machine built for a purpose, and its purpose is to win. We challenged ourselves to eschew the conventional understanding of what it takes to be the fastest. We rose to the challenge with an unprecedented integrated system approach to frame engineering, revolutionary shock design, and unparalleled riding dynamics. The result? An unrivaled combination of efficiency, control, and lightness. The whole is faster than the sum of its parts.

THINK FASTER:

The Epic World Cup is the worlds fastest XC race bike on smooth to moderately technical trails, thanks to its unrivaled combination of efficiency, control and light weight. World Champion Christopher Blevins said it best: This bike gives me everything I could want from a hardtail, plus the control and capability of full suspension.

AMAZINGLY FAST:

The Specialized Ride Dynamics team conceived and invented revolutionary shock technology for the Epic World Cup that gives you the efficiency and responsiveness of a hardtail PLUS the control, capability and bounce of full suspension all in one easy setup. Co-developed with RockShox, the SID Deluxe WCID shock utilizes unique, independently adjustable positive and negative air springs to deliver the coveted snap of a hardtail, combined with terrain-eating forgiveness and the ability to easily customize settings for a specific ride or fine-tune to rider preference and feel.

PERFORMING ABOVE ITS CATEGORY:

The Epic World Cups 75mm of rear travel offers the control and capability of a much longer travel bike. Because its designed to be ridden at or near the top, it produces the same positive travel as a 100mm travel bike with 25% sag. To further optimize suspension performance, the Specialized Ride Dynamics team tuned the spring to be relatively flat through the middle of the travel so it can handle most of the bump forces like a longer travel bike. Because of its large size, the custom Mega Jounce Bumper is an industry first and is crucial to smoothly managing the biggest impacts.

LIGHTNESS:

With a frame weight of just 1,765 grams (painted with shock and all hardware), the Epic World Cup outperforms lighter competitors. This translates to quicker acceleration, more efficient climbing ability, and more agile handling, all of which translates to speed. We achieved the featherweight and monstrous stiffness of the Epic WC by applying what we learned in developing our Aethos, the lightest production road frame ever made, namely advanced compound composition and tube shapes.

• The Epic World Cup frame features Ride Dynamics-developed suspension technology and 75mm of optimized rear wheel travel. With this damping technology, the Epic World Cup delivers unrivaled pedaling efficiency and is ready for the toughest descents you can throw at itno lockouts required.

• The SRAM XX SL drivetrain with CeramicSpeed DUB bottom bracket is built on what top riders demand in shifting performance and ruggedness, making it perfectly suited to the brutal demands of XC racing.

• A RockShox SID SL shock with 3-position Race Day 2 with the Epic 8’s “Magic Middle” setting provides support while pedaling, and 110mm of active, bump-damping suspension on rough terrain provides maximum efficiency.

• Weighing in at 1190 grams, the Control SL Team is the lightest production XC wheel on the planet, yet still ready for the demands of modern World Cup racing. The biggest weight savings comes from our revolutionary carbon spokes: after a three-year process that included extensive materials research and field and lab testing, we arrived at 20 optimized carbon fiber spokes that are not only 29% lighter than their steel counterparts, but also stronger and more durable.
  

  Maximum Precision

  A surprisingly lightweight 1,765-gram frame, unmatched bottom bracket stiffness and radical damping technology deliver class-leading efficiency. Thanks to independently adjustable positive and negative air springs, the Specialized SID WCID shock gives the Epic World Cup on-demand stiffness with terrain-devouring control and capability, plus the ability to customize settings to suit trail conditions and riding style.

  Control and Precision

  Compared to a hardtail or lower suspension bike, the Epic World Cup keeps the tires on the ground a greater percentage of the time, which directly translates into greater control. More control means more speed. The rigidity of the entire system, from the handlebars to the frame, through to the wheels, provides agility and handling precision that is difficult to match.

  Exceptional Lightness

  With a frame weight of just 1,765 grams (painted, including shock and hardware), the Epic World Cup outperforms even the lightest of its competitors. This translates into a bike that accelerates faster, is more efficient, and handles more agilely. And it all translates into speed.