Custom Specialized Epic World Cup - NICA Race Bike

Matt Overton
4 days ago
2 min read

The goal behind this bike was to build a race ready NICA bike that could still take on the technical terrain of Pisgah National Forest. The bike also had to stay within a reasonable budget cost wise. This bike can be built up super light if that is your goal. Ditch the dropper for the stock carbon seat post, light casing tires, super light carbon wheels, etc. I tried to make the bike capable, while factoring in weight and cost of components. In the end the bike weighs in at just over 24 pounds, which I think is a great balance and achieves the goal for this build.

My second oldest son, Will, placed in the top 10 of every NICA race last season. He started the season on his Santa Cruz 5010 (far from a NICA bike) and ended it on a loaner Trek Supercaliber. Once he changed bikes mid-season, he saw a huge performance difference. After the season ended, I began looking for this next bike and found a 2024 Epic World Cup frame, fork and brakes on FB Marketplace. The bike was almost brand new and was a great price at well over half the original retail price. I was going to use lots of parts bin parts for the build, but I did not have a wheelset. Again on FB Marketplace, I found a brand new set of We Are One Revive Carbon Wheels with I9 1:1 Hubs. The other parts I had to purchase for the bike were all found at heavily discounted prices. $100 for a Fox SL dropper, Fast Track tires were $40/each, Ibis Carbon Bars for $40. I have a total of around $3k in this build, which is great considering full builds cost more than twice that.

This bike is fast and is great on XC race courses, but it is also capable enough to ride on technical Pisgah terrain. Overall it is a good comprise and should be a great NICA bike for my son.

Bike Details