Specialized Epic Comp Carbon

Gtpulse

Dyna-Tech Fan
Not posted a road bike for a long time, been over in MTB getting my other projects documented.
I’ve been motivating myself to keep getting unfinished stuff completed, photos done and documented on here. I kept accumulating bikes/frames/stuff without doing much with them. Setting a goal of getting them completed and posting on here has helped keep going with it - real world problems lol!
A very slow burning project. The frame has been in the cave for a long long time. I’ve been squirrelling away Shimano 600 Tricolor for about the same amount of time. Think it’s quite an underrated groupset, I find both the form and function as nice as the later 7700 Dura Ace stuff I’ve had on a couple of other bikes. Granted it’s not quite as polished or light but there’s something about it I just like.

A few components took a lot of waiting to find - the Nitto/Specialized stem and bars (not sure if the bars were also made by Nitto) eventually turned up on here at reasonable money.

The forks aren’t the right ones, eagle eyed amongst you will spot mudguard eyes. I found these cheap having given up for the moment on finding something closer to the direct drive forks it should have. These arrived scuffed, dull and with a non threaded steerer. A rub down with a scotch pad to even out the scratches/scuffs then a polish with a felt wheel and some compound and I’m pleased enough for now with the finish. I had to cut the thread on the steerer. I wondered about cutting off the mudguard eyes but have left in case I find the right forks and can sell these on!

I started off with black cables but then spotted a yellow cable set that had been relegated to the bottom of the box as a novelty item. Think the yellow cables work well in a 90’s sort of style.

It’s a tight, solid ride if a little unforgiving in terms of comfort. I’ll probably get the correct saddle at some point for garage queen duties but as with most “correct” saddles I’m guessing it’s sore arse inducing so the Brooks will stay on for actual riding.
Anyway, photos….
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That bike looks really great! I'm curious how this rides, it appears you think it's stiff? I was under the impression that older carbon frames were more noodly, but it's cool that they were able to make it solid.
 
That bike looks really great! I'm curious how this rides, it appears you think it's stiff? I was under the impression that older carbon frames were more noodly, but it's cool that they were able to make it solid.
Honestly - that’s the first carbon frame I’ve ever ridden and certainly the most focused bike/narrowest tyres I’ve ridden for a while so that may be influencing my opinion! The last few bikes I’ve ridden have been either MTB or my steel touring bike, all of which are going to feel more comfy than this. As soon as I swung my leg over it and rode for a bit my immediate impression was immediate feedback from the road and a much stiffer ride than what I had been riding.
 
Honestly - that’s the first carbon frame I’ve ever ridden and certainly the most focused bike/narrowest tyres I’ve ridden for a while so that may be influencing my opinion! The last few bikes I’ve ridden have been either MTB or my steel touring bike, all of which are going to feel more comfy than this. As soon as I swung my leg over it and rode for a bit my immediate impression was immediate feedback from the road and a much stiffer ride than what I had been riding.
Very cool, although maybe not the comfiest, but fast at least? One thing to think about, and you probably have since you've got various other bikes, is to get more comfort you can lower the tire pressure more than you'd think would be okay to avoid pinching the tubes. I run 25mm wide road tires (clinchers with tubes) at around 83psi, and don't have issues with pinch flatting. I'm 185 pounds so not light, either. As long as your roads aren't too sh*te, the lower pressure does wonders for comfort.
 
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