I purchased this frame from all star bicycle in November of 2022 (with the BRAIN rear triangle) and rode it for a bit in 2022, all 2023 season, and now again in 2024. The bike has been issue free from a ride quality perspective. The BB has remained sound and I've removed and reinstalled BB cups a LOT of times as I've waffled between SRAM DUB and Shimano a few times.
Much like everyone else, I needed a spacer for the top dust cover when preloading the headset to prevent drag, easy fix. I also removed all of the pivot bolts and greased and applied loctite before torquing them exactly as the real Epic Evo manual calls for. I replaced the UDH hanger.
My biggest issue with this frame comes from how the rear triangle interfaces with the front triangle. The rear triangle holes that the brake hose and rear derailleur housing pass through -- the holes that are near the bb -- don't line up with the holes near the bb in the front triangle. They aren't even close. Attempting to assemble the bike in this state required me to remove the lower pivot bolt, swing the rear triangle away, run the hose/housing through the front triangle, and squeeze the two triangles together as hard as i can to even get the rear pivot bolt back in, which completely pinches the brake hose.
Its so bad that I had to take a dremel and sand away carbon to form a channel on the outer edge of the front triangle cable/hose openings near the BB, basically just making the openings wider so they'd align with the holes in the rear triangle. A bit sketchy. But it solved the problem.
Hundreds and hundreds of miles of sketchy singletrack, drops. jumps, and the frame hasn't made any scary noises. There were a few situations where I thought the frame was getting crunchy on me but every time it was just mud getting stuck between the two triangles and grinding on the hoses.
One more thing to mention: the official Epic Evo frame has two small washers that sit between the frame and the bolt heads that keep the top of the shock in place. This frame didn't include them. The washers are obviously useful for getting proper torque applied to those bolts. I was able to source some, but keep that in mind, those bolts aren't supposed to just screw snug directly against the frame.
My build is as follows:
- Rockshox SID Select+ 120mm fork
- Rockshox SIDLuxe rear shock
- Shimano XT Cassette, Cranks, Derailleur, Shifter
- Shimano XT 4 piston brakes
- Hunt XC Wide wheelset
- SRAM AXS 170mm wireless dropper post
- Specialized Zee cages with SWAT XC storage container
- Specialized Fast Trak 2.3" tires
