Theres not much that matches the feeling of powering up a pitch on a featherweight bike, and we designed the new S-Works Epic Hardtail frame with this in mind. Its less than 900 grams, exceptionally stiff, and it features a Rider First Engineered design. Its the perfect jumping off point to begin creating your dream build.

Over the last decade, cross country racing has evolved into a completely different animalthe courses are rowdier, more technical, and overall, theyre inherently different. Because of this, we realized that the best bike for the job needs to not only be lightweight and stiff, but also be able to descend and climb with equal prowess. Determining the best geometry was the easier of the two, as we took our current XC race geo and added some trail DNA to the mix. This equates to a longer top tube, a shortened the head tube, and a slacked out the front end, the result of which is a tremendous increase in downhill stability, plus a wider fit range. And just as importantly, this doesnt require any sacrifice of climbing proficiency. The weight aspect was more complicated, though. We were posed with the question, “How do you take weight out of something thats already so light?” But the answer was relatively obvious: you get the best mountain bike engineers together in one room and let the magic come out.

Up until now, there were two ways to lighten up a frame use less of the same grade of carbon or use less of a higher- grade carbon. Option one is never a viable solution as it sacrifices stiffness and strength, two attributes that shouldnt be tampered with. And while we did end up using option two, we werent content with the amount of weight we could cut out by just using a different grade of carbon. So how else do you cut weight? Well, we began looking at our layup schedules to see if they could be improved, which shed light on a new discoverylayup inefficiencies.

Beginning with our Rider-First Engineered frame technology, each size Epic Hardtail is specifically tailored to sizeevery carbon layup and tube are exclusively selected based upon hundreds of hours of collected ride data. What does this mean for you? It not only creates the optimal balance of rigidity, weight, and responsiveness across every frame size, but it led us to the discovery of how to save weight through the studying of the layup.

Through extensive layup studies, we made the discovery that, by further controlling the construction and layup schedules, we could drastically decrease weight, all while maintaining the ride characteristics that youd expect from a top-level XC race bike. With this discovery, each frame now features complex cut carbon plys that allow difficult junctions to be covered with less overlap. And while this does complicate the carbon frame puzzle by adding more pieces to the mix, it allows us to design and place them more intelligently. The result of this is a lighter frame, stronger junctions, and a drastic increase in stiffness. We then took the weight savings one step further by using Japanese military ballistic-grade carbon, which we now call 12m, to create the lightest mountain bike weve ever made. How much lighter of a frame, you ask? Less than 900 grams for a size Large framethe same weight as a full 24oz Purist water bottle.