Yesterday was my last ride on the S-Works Epic Evo. I've owned it since September 2022 and covered 3000 miles. It was my XC race bike and Sunday best on the weekends in-between.
The final ride was quite a send off. A 98 mile and 9 hour epic, largely along the Southdowns Way to Winchester. The Evo was efficient on the climbs, took care of me on the descents and smoothed out the ripples all the way there and back.
This bike was my reintroduction to full suspension after 13 years of hardtails! It took me time to get used to the inherent bob. Even if I couldn't feel it, I could look down and see the shock compressing and opening with each pedal stroke. Even if it was infinitesimal, after the clinical efficiency of a hardtail, I found that lost energy hard to come to terms with. In reality the movement was slight and as soon as I hit the trails I usually forgot all about it.
The massive positive of the suspension was it meant I finally rode some of the local trial features and obstacles which I've been eyeing up nervously (and avoiding!) for years. The dropper post certainly helped a lot here.
Initially built up with a 100mm fork, the bike was transformed when I plugged a 110mm Rock Shox SID into the headset. The bike felt instantly more balanced. I really enjoyed riding this bike. It had an aggressive nature and wanted to be ridden hard. A great XC race bike. The 9.7kg weight certainly helped!
Somedays I liked the colour, as the orange sparkled in the sunshine. On duller days it reminded me of the sensible car an older "more mature" driver might choose. Jazzy brown!
The EVO is one of my shorter lived bikes, which is partly because it has lead me to quickly trying another full suspension rig. All will be revealed later this week.
