Bringing NX drivetrains on a $6k bike is absolutely ridiculous. Is Mondraker’s whole philosophy to bring such uncompetitive offerings to market that they look enticing on a 30% off sale two years later?
The components get worse the more I look, for the $9k RR model you are still getting generic components from “OnOff” like the rebranded Tran-Z/Brand-X dropper.
Can’t disagree with any of that.
The cheapest F-Podium I saw locally when I looked early this year was $10999NZD (so maybe $8000USD at a guess) which was silly money compared to what else was available.
Bikes have in general gotten a bit nuts.
On another note. Any TR ARC8 riders?
I saw a few notes on MtBR saying they were going well. The only thing I’ve seen though is the catastrophic BB failure at the World Cup and all the initial look reviews.
There were a lot of ARC8 bikes on Transalp this year which was a few weeks after the “broken BB” and I was talking with a few owners and they all said that they are happy with the bikes
What bothers me is the flatmount frame caliper
And they said that i cannot put an adapter
The Essential has flatmount 180mm and adapter for 200mm. Don’t know what that means for the Evolve though.
To me, I don’t understand how it can be robust enough at that weight and how the sliding portion would wear etc.
It seems like a terrific idea though and I like the design in theory.
Any 5’10 epic evo owners here? Im really stuck on deciding between a medium & large. Currently on the last gen epic evo
I just got done building up my Epic Evo. I went with a Large, at 5’10" even despite preferring smaller feeling bikes(52cm SL7, 54cm Aethos, ETC). To my surprise, I still need quite a long stem, and have a ton of seatpost exposed(72.5cm Saddle height), which would allow for a 150mm dropper. I don’t think I could have gotten a medium to work without some extreme components. So I’d go large, 100%, unless you have a really short upper body versus leg length.
I’m 5’10 and on a medium epic right now (not evo) with a 90mm stem. My fit was setup at Retul HQ in Denver. I am getting a medium epic evo soon and it should fit well, the reach is a bit longer than my current bike (will use a shorter stem I expect) so that gives me confidence a large would not be right.
I am in the midwest and race on tight technical singletrack, going smaller has always felt better for me and definitely the right choice. I have only bought one bike that was a large (was discounted heavily) and it doesn’t fit me properly and I pretty much never ride it due to that.
I just had my wife measure my torso at 19.5 inches per this, hard thing to measure. From quick googling looks like that is above average but not long.
I am not usually a fan of skinwall tires… but DAYUM! 
That setup and color are perfect. Well setup. 
yes this bike looks great, it’s making me think I should buy that color frame when previously I was thinking I would not like it.
I would be interested to know how you set your fit. Or your torso length (although that matters less since its just one body measurement out of many). That might help the OP with his question, right now we gave him the two opposing answers.
Bike is a beut!
Care to break down what you did for your build? From the pic I see X01 AXS, a slammed stem and no dropper? Lets hear the deets!
I’ve asked so many people and gotten so many answers. Some people say medium or large. Some people on medium wish they got a large and some people on larges wish they got a medium.
Its kind of hard to tell the differences doing a parking lot ride.
I’ve not really been into these epic builds but… oh my.
If its feasible, the very best way to decide in my opinion would be a Retul fit. You can email them with your body measurements asking about doing that evaluation and they might also give you a good answer on email. They’ve given me way more info over email than I would have ever expected. I was going to recommend go to Specialized Boulder Experience Center but looks like it is closed now, they probably moved.
I have got my A-Race in a week and have about finished the build. I am super happy with how it’s turned out. I’ve been through several iterations of saddle bags etc. The bike is amazing. I don’t think I’ll go for a matt finish frame again though.
I love the clean lines of the Blipshifts and no lockouts.
I am 5 8 and on a large Epic Evo, I have a comparatively long body compared to my legs though. Standover height is high for my legs but I feel comfortable on it with a 40-60mm stem. I measures the “rider area distance” (RAD) between my old Medium bike and the large and there was only minimal difference.
I’m 5’10ish and used to have a L epic evo with a 50mm stem. Felt gr8
I’m just shy of 5’11" and my size large Epic Evo fits me very well. I have a slightly longer torso and slightly shorter legs than average if that makes a difference to you.
5-9 and I’m on a medium Epic Evo. Running an 80mm stem, but might go to 70. I’m more leg than upper body.
Saddle height is at 73.5 from BB to saddle center.
Hump
