Specialized Epic Hardtail Comp (2025)

Gone are the days when a date with a hardtail race bike meant paying for it for days to come. Now, the Epic Hardtail Comp’s reality-altering combination of comfort and capability in a lighter-than-life package means counting down the hours until you meet again.

Working towards the lightest bike possible has long been the race within the race, but at what cost? The battle of the grams certainly hasn’t been without its casualties, with hardtail XC race bikes often standing for a harsh, twitchy ride at the expense of capability and versatility.

But who said fatigue from fighting against your bike makes you any faster? Instead, recognizing that the fastest bike is more than simply the lightest bike, we said out with the jarred-to-death tail, the measure-your-posteriors-sorrows-by-the-yard tail, and in with the avant-garde tail. The ridiculously capable, mystifyingly comfortable, head-shakingly light, and all-around fast Epic Hardtail.

Optimized for performance, the Epic Hardtail frame achieves the lightest production hardtail frame while prioritizing comfort and capability. Featuring aggressive singletrack-inspired geometry, increased tire clearance, and a frame engineered for enhanced vertical compliance, this bike lives and breathes the fundamentals of fast.

On the Epic Hardtail Comp, the legendary RockShox SID SL fork handles suspension duties, while a complete SRAM Transmission groupset sets the benchmark for accessible performance.

Ridiculously capable, incredibly light, and refreshingly comfortable, the Epic Hardtail’s dropper-post friendly FACT 11m carbon frame rewrites the hardtail playbook with game-changing success.SRAM's Eagle shifting has always been the benchmark for affordable high performance, and the latest offering simply raises it even further.The SID SL doles out travel with a steady hand courtesy of RockShox's Rush RL damper, while Debon Air adjustability makes dialing in suspension performance a breeze.