2016 Ellsworth Epiphany Long Term Review

Hi everyone!  This blog will be about my 2016 Ellsworth Epiphany Carbon 29.  I bought this bike second hand in November of 2020 from a guy off Craigslist.

The Ellsworth Epiphany, page 5

Spec's and Value

The Ellsworth Epiphany came from the factory with a full Shimano XT suite and Fox Factory suspension in a brilliant candy-apple red paint scheme.  The Shimano XT specs included dual piston brakes with 180/160mm rotors and 11 speed drivetrain (11-42 cassette), add in my XT SPD pedals and I'm fully Shimano-ed out!  Suspension was handled by Fox with the Factory 34 (130mm) up front and the DPS out back (120mm).  The cockpit was full Thompson components.


I bought this bike second hand, which means the bang-for-the-buck is through the roof and there will be wear/tear, but I will write the rest of the post as if I paid MSRP.  When new this bike retailed for $6,500 which I think is a great price for a high end bike.  These bikes had many build kits available while it was produced, from budget friendly aluminum frame with Shimano SLX components to carbon fiber with Shimano XTR or Sram X01!  Lots of options to choose from.  

My Epiphany 

My bike was a size large and that felt spot on for me.  XC bikes definitely feel longer and lower than an enduro bike.  Couple that with the narrow (by modern standards) 750mm flat bar, this bike felt properly fast on the XC circuit.  In it's final configuration, the Epiphany weighed 29-30lbs.  

As with every bike I own it doesn't stay original.  The most notable long term change was a 2021 Fox Factory 34 fork (120mm) step cast and Cane Creek Angleset.  Everything was hard to come by during Covid including forks.  I couldn't get a 130mm fork so I added the Angleset in an attempt to maintain the headtube angle.  This turned into a huge perk as the the Angleset slacked out the headtube angle by 1.5º, and provided an estimated 10mm of lift underneath the headtube!  Now my bike was slacker with a brand new fork, and that felt nice!  I also replaced the Thompson seat post with a Fox Transfer dropper post, because dropper posts make mountain biking so much better.  

Epiphany with new Fox 34 and Angleset

Why did I change forks you ask?  Because I had the great idea of taking my XC bike for a weekend of enduro riding on Mt Lemmon trails (Tucson, AZ), which this bike was never designed for.  I bent the Control Steer Unit (CSU)[the steer tube, crown, and upper stanchion assembly].  Combine that with a blown compression circuit it made more sense to replace it.  Surprisingly that's the only part that failed on this bike, because blowing up tires doesn't count.

I learned my lesson and temporarily made a monstrosity of an XC bike for the next time!  This was a temporary configuration with Fox 36 (170mm) front and DVO Jade X coil over rear.  The spring was a too firm (bc it was spec'd for my 160mm Rogue 60).  The bike looked cool, but the Rogue 60 performed much better at enduro biking.

Monster Epiphany

Climbing & Pedaling

As one would expect with a short travel cross country bike it pedals great!  Ellsworth uses their very own Active Energy Efficient Suspension, a four-bar linkage designed to remain active while pedaling.  As opposed to firming up while pedaling.  The idea being better traction in every situation.  The Epiphany had very little pedal bob even when the sag was set to 30%.  The bike was very supple with that much sag!  Ultimately I settled on 25% sag and largest volume reducer for the super cross country feel an improved bottom out resistance.  The Fox DPS offers the Climb, Trail, Descend switch which drastically changes the dampening characteristics of the bike.  This matched up well to the 34's Fit4 dampener also with on the fly compression adjustment (basically Climb, Trail, Descend).  I spent most of my time in the Trail mode as it felt the best.  

I found the stock 30 tooth chainring paired to the 11-42 cassette was geared too slowly for me.  More accurately I wanted a slower cadence while going cross country fast, so I added a 34 tooth oval chainring (my go to on every MTB) to speed things up.  The 42 tooth climbing gear saw a lot more action after modification, the fastest 11 tooth gear still got action too meaning I didn't over do it.  

Descending

The Epiphany is first and foremost a cross country bike built for flat out pedaling, climbing, and moderate downhills (not Mt. Lemmon).  For a cross country bike with 120/120mm of travel, I thought it performed very well when the trail pointed down.  The Fox 34 and AEES suspension handled the trails with uniform predicable squish front to back.  I found this confidence inspiring and could easily push the bike to the limits of tire adhesion, and with my reward-riding (aka bad) posture I would usually lose the front tire first [riding on loose cat litter like trails doesn't help either].


The Epiphany on top of Mt Lemmon

Descending was even better after the new fork and Angleset configuration.  The stock headtube angle is so steep at 70º, slackening it out really made the bike more stable.  Going faster in general was more enjoyable in this configuration!  

The Maxxis Ardent tires became my limiting factor while riding and racing.  They are advertised as an all-mountain tire, but I would argue they are strictly XC.  The knobbies are just too small and spread out, especially when I consider how my enduro bike grips.  Much to my surprise I never flatted a tire or bent a rim out of shape on the descents!  And the rims are very narrow Stan's Arch rims.  Stans has come a long way.  

Drawbacks

Flaws with the Ellsworth Epiphany would have to be the steep headtube angle, long seat tube, and tire selection.  The stock headtube angle put a large amount of weight forward which made the possible OTB feel ever present, slackening out the headtube angle with a longer fork or Angleset improved this feeling dramatically and I would recommend it.  


The long seat tube meant I had 5mm or less of wiggle room with the 150mm dropper post, if I were any shorter I would have to run a 125mm or less dropper post.  Ellsworth would have done well to make this shorter, but that wasn't the trend at the time.  

The long seat tube limited dropper post selection and fit

When it comes to tire selection that is something the rider can easily change.  If I still had the bike I would switch to a Maxxis Recon or Terravail Honcho tire with more grip.  

Last thing to mention, the bike in its final configuration was about 29lbs, which is heavy for an XC bike.  Undoubtedly more carbon fiber would have reduced the weight considerably as all of the components were aluminum.  A Fox 32 SC instead of 34 would have saved some weight too.  

Conclusion

The 2016 Ellsworth Epiphany is a robust cross country with supple and efficient suspension.  I really enjoyed this bike and it put me on a couple podiums.  It was fast as it was beautiful.  The only reason I let this bike go is my desire for the next generation Ellsworth cross country bike.  Given how well the antiquated Epiphany performed in the XC field, I can only imagine how the Truth would ride with all of it's modernization.  

My recommendations, 
  1. Slacken out the headtube angle
  2. Swap to grippier tires

Sources

1. https://ellsworthbikes.com/model-archive/

  •  page 5, https://indd.adobe.com/view/32ac3e64-13a4-4f70-ba16-35ce4996e1df

2. https://canecreek.com/product/angleset/

3. https://ellsworthbikes.com/product/truth/

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