1993-94 Specialized S-Works Epic Ultimate

This is one of my favorite bike projects. Specialized had been doing the carbon/steel Epic thing since late 1989. In 1992 Specialized commissioned Merlin Metalworks to craft titanium lugs that could replace the steel ones to make it even lighter. I think this frame would have cost like $4,000 in 1994.

The frame was an ebay purchase in Vail, and amazingly the guy was kind enough to drive it all the way into Denver to my house. This was no garage queen, but it was in decent enough shape. This project originated as a weight weenie vintage bike that, while it ended up light enough, was never really that light. 20lbs I think it came out to with the rigid Direct Drive fork.

If you were building a bike from scratch, in 1994 this thing would have set you back a few years financially. Carbon and titanium everywhere. The lack of color anodized anything just makes this thin even cooler: a serious race machine.

95 Catalog photo: