The pairing of Matt Beers and Keegan Swenson as Team Outride | Toyota | Songo didn’t go as planned at the 2025 Absa Cape Epic. Keegan battled back problems throughout the race which meant that the team had to settle for a single podium finish, placing third on the final stage.
Despite the setbacks, the duo delivered a masterclass in resilience; fighting through each stage and continuing to push on in support of the causes they were representing: Outride and songo.info.
As a three-time Cape Epic winner, Matt knows a thing or two about bike setup for ‘the race that measures all’. We took a closer look at his weapon of choice for 2025: the S-Works Epic 8:
Matt changed his chain ring size depending on the stage each day, ranging between 36T and 40T. He also had a 42T on standby for the time trial stage but opted for 40T.
After the prologue Matt changed his seat post from the Reverb AXS to the standard carbon post, depending on the stages, noting: “I can feel that the carbon post is lighter when I stand”. Interestingly, the Reverb AXS seat post appears to be a whole new design from SRAM.
Matt’s brake pads were replaced everyday, the tyres were replaced after Stage 2 because of the thorns on that stage, and then again on Stage 4 and Stage 6.
| Frame | S-Works FACT 12m Carbon, Progressive XC Race Geometry, Rider-First Engineered, SWAT downtube storage, threaded BB, 12x148mm UDH compatible rear dropout, 120mm of travel, Optimised for wireless drivetrain and seatpost |
| Fork | RockShox SID ULTIMATE Flight Attendant, Ride Dynamics developed 3 position, Debon Air, 15x110mm, 44mm offset, 120mm Travel. [Matt was changing the DOT fluid mid week for a firmer climbing setup and this was micro tuned with the Flight attendant suspension.] |
| Shock | RockShox SIDLuxe ULTIMATE Flight Attendant, Ride Dynamics developed 3 position, Solo Air, 190x45mm |
| Rims | Roval Control SL, Carbon offset design, 29mm internal width, 4mm hook width, Tubeless ready, 24h |
| Hubs | Front Hub Roval Control SL, DT Swiss Internals, Ceramic Bearings, 6-bolt, 15mm thru-axle, 110mm spacing, Torque caps, 24h straight pull Rear Hub Roval Control SL, DT Swiss 180 Internals, DT Swiss Ratchet EXP, Ceramic bearings, 12mm thru-axle, 148mm spacing, 24h straight-pull |
| Spokes + Nipples | DT Swiss Aerolite T-head |
| Front Tyre | Specialized Fast Trak, Control Casing, T7 Compound, 29×2.35 |
| Rear Tyre | Specialized Renegade, Control Casing, T5 Compound, 29×2.35 |
| Handlebar | S-Works Carbon XC Mini Rise, 6-degree upsweep, 8-degree backsweep, 10mm rise, 760mm, 31.8mm |
| Grips | ODI Grips, Road bar tape inner wrap with blip shifters next to the stem. |
| Stem | S-Works SL, alloy, titanium bolts, 6-degree (Same as Alpinist Stem) |
| Headset + top cap | Epic 8 Stop Top Cap – Computer mount. |
| Seatpost | RockShox Reverb AXS & Specialized Carbon 34.9, Titanium Bolt |
| Saddle | S-Works Mirror Power saddle, 143mm width |
| Brakes | 4-piston caliper, hydraulic disc, |
| Brake rotors | 160mm rotor |
| Shifters | SRAM AXS POD Ultimate Controller, Rocker upgrade. |
| Front derailleur | N/A – Only a MRP chain guide. |
| Rear derailleur | SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS |
| Cassette | SRAM XX Eagle AXS |
| Crank arms | SRAM XX SL Eagle Power Meter Crankset, 175mm |
| Chainring + size | 40T [Changed per stage] |
| Chain | SRAM XX SL Eagle |
| Bottom Bracket | SRAM DUB, BSA 73mm, Threaded |
| Pedals | Shimano XTR with a cable tie on the centre axle area. |
| Power meter | QUARQ SRAM XX SL Eagle Power Meter Crankset |
| Bike computer | Hammerhead |
| Bottle cages | S-Works Z Cage. |
Learn more
Keen to learn more about the S-Works Epic 8? Check it out HERE or visit your nearest Specialized dealer.
