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Haley Batten of the Specialised Manufacturing facility Race Crew rode to victory on the Shimano Supercup Massi Banyoles final weekend on what seems to be a brand new Specialised XC Race Bike. Bikerumor reader, Joe Curran, despatched us a video of Haley motoring previous on Lap 2, when Haley had already established a lead. Regardless of the muddy circumstances, the video does reveal a body sock hiding what’s more likely to be a rear shock that’s, given the tight spacing, more likely to be considerably built-in into the highest tube.
Is that this the 2023 Specialised Epic XC Bike?
Specialised’s prime tube sleeve reminds us very a lot of that point we noticed Jolanda Neff aboard a prototype Trek on the 2019 the Nové Město World Cup. It’s simple, there are stark similarities. After all, any shock-frame integration carried out by Specialised will possible be fairly totally different to Trek’s Iso Strut if solely to make sure no patent infringement happens. With out a glimpse beneath the quilt, we’re banished to the world of untamed hypotheses.
Specialised’s present XC Race Bike is the Epic, a 100mm journey carbon body benefiting from versatile seat stays; it was final up to date in 2021. Our in-house XC knowledgeable, Jordan Villella, has spent a not-inconsiderable period of time aboard the aforementioned, so his guesses are pretty much as good as anybody’s. Over to him!
The Specialised Epic has been my go-to race bike for a few years, so I used to be excited to see what the latest mannequin would give us. The up to date Epic design we see in race photographs from the Shimano Supercup Massi Banyoles seems jam-packed with new choices from Specialised. The body seems to be a shock, just like the Trek SuperCaliber, so we’re guessing this bike might have wherever from 65-80mm of rear journey.
The place’s the Mind? We’re pondering that the Specialised signature race function may very well be hidden beneath the quilt, and if that’s the case, it’s a way more compact design than prior to now.
Why much less journey than the present providing? The Epic EVO will nonetheless be within the Specialised lineup as an endurance or marathon bike. Christopher Blevins simply posted an Instagram photograph dropping off a gnarly rock on the Epic Evo with a Rock Shox SID distant fork and rear lockout…
In the event you look intently, you’ll discover some cool new Roval one-piece carbon bars. In the event you add in an excellent mild mountain MTB-specific carbon seat put up, that can spherical out Roval’s MTB choices. In the event you look nearer on the photograph above, you’ll discover no brake hose traces are going into the body externally. They appear to trace alongside or inside the brand new Roval one-piece bar and thru the headtube. Will brake producers have brakes designed particularly to route internally with one-piece bar/stem combos, as we noticed on Lars Foresters World Cup race bike at Snow Shoe? Solely time will inform, however we’re extra excited than ever to see what’s coming from Specialised.
A take a look at Haley Batten’s Instagram exhibits us that the body isn’t the one newness she was using final weekend. Given the additional machining we will see on the RockShox SID fork crown, we’re prepared to wager that’s a brand new, lighter mannequin. Additionally, it’s fairly clear from our reader’s video that Haley’s bike can also be benefiting from what seems to be that SRAM Eagle Direct Mount derailleur we uncovered particulars on final September.
