I am on the market for a new full-suspension XC mountain bike. My budget is under $5,000 and I am looking closely at both the Specialized Epic 8 Comp and the Trek Supercaliber SL 9.6. (I know there are other brands – Orbea, Giant, Santa Cruz – with good bikes in this price range but in the Chicago area both Specialized and Trek have a lot more dealer coverage and presumably support.) But I am baffled that there seem to be very few of these bikes in my size available on shop floors, or perhaps anywhere at all. For example, according to Trek, the nearest Supercaliber in my size is at a shop 131 miles away. There are exactly two Epic 8 Comps available within a 50 mile radius, and Specialized says I can’t order online. I am confused. Both Specialized and Trek are in trouble due to inventory overhang, yet finding a physical bike seems difficult. I assume most of the inventory is at lower or at least entry level price points and I know an LBS is taking on some risk by having a $5,000 MTB on the floor. But how on earth are people supposed to buy these bikes, let alone take one for a test ride before buying? And can I reasonably expect that there will be more bikes in stock toward spring or has everything been turned on its head in this industry?
Have you called the Specialized and Trek stores?
I wouldn’t assume that you are going to get any better service from Spesh and Trek vs other shops. We have a lot of reputable mechanics and shops in the area.
If local dealer coverage is an important thing for you, then I’d restart the search with that in mind. Establish a radius from your house that you’re comfortable searching, go to those bike shop sites, and see what’s in stock. If some of those shops offer demos and credit toward purchase, that would be best. A parking lot ride is better than nothing, but trails are so different than tarmac that you won’t be able to replicate the experience of a trail ride. The good news is that it’s really hard to go wrong in this space (single-pivot flex-stay XC rig) right now.
I own both an Epic 8 and a Supercaliber, and the Epic is a more modern, capable bike and does everything the Supercal does from a performance standpoint. The Epic 8 is probably the best XC bike I’ve ever ridden, the Supercaliber is so fun in the right situations that I haven’t been able to push it out of my garage.
I have called a few. Some are more helpful than others; the main message I am getting is that it is early.
Thanks for your insights about the Epic 8 and Supercaliber. After 33 years of riding hardtails I’ve decided that my aging body would really appreciate full suspension. I imagine either of these would fit my needs quite well and feel like a big upgrade.
Inventory issues aren’t uniform. Long travel MTBs have been killed by emtb and there haven’t been big changes to those bikes for a while so there is huge surplus as demand is low.
The epic 8 was launched relatively recently so specialized may have known the market was cooling when ordering the bikes. It also launched to rave reviews and success on the race track. It is also significantly different from older shorter travel XC bikes. This all drives demand meaning I have never got the impression specialized have been desperate to shift them.
The super caliber was heavily discounted a year or two ago. I suspect they have run Inventory down ahead of the launch of their new XC race bike.