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New season, new bike, new motivation

With less than 4 weeks to go until the start of the 10/12 hour race season, it seems perfect timing to reveal my new bike.

2018 Specialized S-Works Epic

I'm super stoked to announce Chain Reaction Cycles have jumped on board to help support me and have given me the opportunity to be a Specialized ambassador. Based on my first ride, I'm incredibly motivated to get out there and achieve the results I know I'm capable of, the bike certainly won't be holding me back!

After much deliberation on what bike to get (Rosey can attest to this), I decided to get the 2018 Specialized S-Works Epic frameset in a stunning charcoal tint. The paint job really shines in person thanks to a healthy amount of glitter through out #sparklewatts. While I have a focus of 10/12/24 hour events, I am off for a multiday stage race in Nepal in February and as such I wanted the bike to be built with quality, durable, reliable parts. We selected Shimano xt brakes matched to a xt/xtr drivetrain with the exception of my Quarq power meter cranks. I've always been a fan of Shimano products thanks to their durability and figured if anything was to go wrong in Nepal, I'm probably more likely to find replacement parts which will work. The bike was then finished off with S-Works parts throughout and a Rockshox Sid World Cup (included with the frameset).

I just need to keep it this shiny!

I've been fortunate enough to ride a lot of nice bikes over the years however my first ride on the new 2018 S-Works Epic blew me away. In fact it blew away my previous pb on my time trial course by quite a substantial margin. Without sounding too cheesy, the new Epic is epic. The bike seems to have an ability to give you a boost at every point on the trail and there were several moments where I found myself carrying far more speed than I am used to for that section. The Brain 2.0 is buttery smooth and the added efficiency definitely contributed to the gain in speed. It's not often you smile during an effort like a time trial but this bike achieved one! I'm actually looking forward to the McLeans Island 10 hour again as it will be the perfect opportunity to really get used to this bike (that plus they just announced a nice amount of prize money).

A paint job so nice I almost didn't want to get it muddy!
 If you are sitting on the fence about buying a new bike for the summer I would highly recommend heading on down to your local Specialized dealer (ideally Chain Reaction 😉) and trying out the new Epic. Once word gets out about how good they are, they will sell out fast!

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