Frame Features & Motor Details

The Epocalypse is more or less a motorized version of the Wreckoning, Evil's 166mm freeride and enduro bike, though the Epocalypse features slightly more conservative geometry than the Wreckoning.

The frame comes protected with a skid plate under the motor, rubber chainstay and seatstay coverings, and a "shuttle shield" on the underside of the downtube where a truck tailgate might rub - just in case riders get tired of self-shuttling and want to truck haul their Epocalypses.

There's the same tube-in-tube internal routing that comes standard on Evil's other bikes, as well as Super Boost 157mm rear axle spacing. It also sports a flip chip, which lowers the bottom bracket and slackens the head angle for those looking to transform the all-arounder into a more aggressive downhill machine.

Evil boasts that the techy bits are stealthy, with the power button hidden under the top tube and the wire to the mode selector hidden inside Evil's own handlebar. Still, most of the e-stuff is hard to miss: the controls are in the standard location for Shimano's EP8 motor, with the mode selector over by the left grip and the simple one-button display just to the right of the stem.

The 630 Wh battery comes out in just a few seconds, so that piece is pretty foolproof, as is the straightforward charging port on the non-drive side of the bike, though the charging port cover less so - I struggled to get it to stay closed, though that's a Shimano problem, not an Evil one.

The motor provides up to 85 Nm of torque, more than enough to power up the steeps, so the bike's ability to crank won't be a limiting factor as much as the sheer weirdness and traction troubles of smashing up a rutted, techy wall of dirt.

It uses the same display as the other EP8-powered eMTBs, so the display is still a bit more rudimentary than the Specialized and Bosch screens that display battery life using a percentage, rather than a rougher battery bars image. Regardless, each part of the system does its job.

One of eMTB designers' biggest tasks is to figure out how to fit all the different pieces of the motor, battery, drivetrain, and suspension in one very small zone, and that often doesn't leave room for much, but thankfully there's still space for a water bottle in the front triangle. Depending on the cage, a standard 22 oz water bottle can just barely fit on the large frame. Slightly smaller bottles fit more comfortably. As for the smaller sizes, Evil says the small frame can fit a 16 oz bottle and the medium frame a 20 oz one, but those are rough cage-and-bottle-dependent estimates.

Geometry & Sizing

The Epocalypse is available in sizes S, M, L, and XL, with reach numbers ranging from 438mm to 495mm in the flip chip's standard ("Low," as opposed to "X-Low") position, with the flip chip shortening the reach by 7mm. My large test bike in the "Low" chip setting had 170mm fork, a 482mm reach, a 1263mm wheelbase, and the same 64.5° head tube angle, 75.6° seat tube angle, and short 442mm chainstays shared across all the sizes. Running a 160mm fork steepens the angles a bit, to a 65.3° head angle in the standard chip setting.

Suspension Design

The Epocalypse uses Evil's DELTA suspension design, which stands for Dave's Extra Legitimate Travel Apparatus. Dave Weagle, that is, of DW-link and Split Pivot fame. The linkage-driven single pivot DELTA system stays quiet and level under both pedaling and braking forces. The use of a coil shock seems like a good choice here and helps to counteract any upper-stroke harshness that could result from the same factors that keep the bike feeling efficient - though I haven't ridden the bike with an air shock, nor is it available with one, so that's just speculation on my part.

It's also important to once again nod to the flip chip, which lowers the bottom bracket by 9mm and slackens the head angle by 0.7°, since Evil places extra emphasis on keeping the bike's kinematics consistent regardless of the chip position.

Climbing

When pointed uphill, the Epocalypse's balance of moderate angles, shorter chainstays, and 85 Nm of torque made it relatively maneuverable for a long-travel eMTB.

The bike sits riders in a comfortable, centered position, and I felt I could easily control both the front and rear ends of the bike. I was glad that the bike wasn't any longer. Compared to the mullet setups that have become common on eMTBs, the Epocalypse rolls on dual 29" wheels, but that extra bit of length is balanced by short-for-a-29er-eMTB 442mm chainstays, so the handling in tight spots both uphill and downhill stays pretty neutral without leaning too quick or too slow, praise the lord - or devil, since we're talking Evil here. The bike is enough of a beast without any extra weight or length to throw around. The head angle helped keep the front end from wandering too much on steep, tough climbs, especially when considering that the short rear end puts the rider back over the rear wheel a bit when grinding hard and digging in for traction.

Efficiency feels much less important on eMTBs than on non-motorized bikes, but it's still worth mentioning that the suspension felt quite well supported while climbing, which made things more comfortable than if the bike had been bobbing around. On dirt road climbs especially, the upright body position, steep seat tube angle, and efficient suspension make it easy to spin away and let the motor do its job.

Descending

I've mentioned it a few times already, but Evil's choice to give the Epocalypse a slightly steeper head angle compared to some of the competition (which mostly sits in the low 64s or even 63s) has been really interesting to me. However, even when riding the Epocalypse in its steeper setting, the front end never felt sketchy because the bike continually felt planted and stable thanks in part to the weight of the motor and battery, and the back end is short enough to keep the bike from feeling unbalanced.

Even without excess length, it feels best at high speeds, cruising through choppy lines compared to picking its way through low-speed tech. While it could hold its own just fine in the slower, twisty spots, it didn't feel quite as at home there and just took some effort to ride - as you'd expect from a 170mm e-crusher.

Despite the freight train feel of many eMTBs, it cornered surprisingly quickly, likely thanks to a combo of the shortish back end, moderate head angle, and well-supported but sensitive rear suspension.

It feels oxymoronic to call the Epocalypse handling "aggressively neutral," but that's kind of how it feels. The bike is ready for just about any trail, but doesn't lean too hard in any direction. It feels great pumped through compressions and pushed at higher speeds, it has excellent traction without feeling dead, it carries momentum and holds off-camber lines easily, and the length is medium enough to keep the twisty sections fun.

It's the same story in the air: the bike stays stable and will pretty much keep going wherever it's pointed. It has enough energy to pop off jump lips and side hits, but it's a calm enough handler to stay predictable.

The Shimano EP8 motor, like all EP8 motors before it, sometimes rattled a bit, but it seems like companies are finally figuring out how to build it into their bikes in quieter ways, and the noise level was actually much lower than on some similar bikes on the rough descents.

How Does It Compare?

Compared to our current benchmark for eMTBs - the Specialized Turbo Levo - the Evil Epocalypse has 166mm of rear travel to the Levo's 150mm, a 630 Wh battery to the Levo's 700, and sports dual 29" wheels compared to the mullet setup. The Levo's motor is noticeably quieter, and the in-frame display is much more useful than the Shimano EP8 display. The Epocalype's extra travel does come in handy on bigger hits, although the Turbo Levo's wide range of geometry adjustments make it possible to give it more gravity-oriented geometry than the Evil.

For some closer comparisons in terms of travel, Epocalypse finds its home among the other long-travel, self-shuttle rigs out today:

The Santa Cruz Bullit sports 170mm of both front and rear travel and rolls on a mixed wheel setup, but measures longer than the Epocalypse - even in the chainstays despite the smaller rear wheel - making it an aggressive but less maneuverable package than the neutral-handling Epocalypse.

The Specialized Kenevo SL also has 170mm of travel front and rear, but in a much lighter, less powerful package with about half the torque and battery capacity of the Epocalypse. More in line with a normal mountain bike, the Specialized is longer and slacker than the Evil, though its low weight helps maintain maneuverability.

The Yeti 160E might be one of the Epocalypse's most direct competitors, an all-arounder with the same Shimano setup and a similar intended purpose and spec. The 160E, too, features a slightly longer rear end, and most notably a higher price tag by about $1000 for a pretty similar XT build.

Technical Report

BikeYoke Revive dropper post: The BikeYoke Revive dropper post is truly one of the best seatposts on the market these days, so it's great to see the somewhat smaller brand coming stock as part of a quality build kit like this one. The lever has more adjustment than most, so riders are almost guaranteed to find a position that works for them, and it's available in multiple versions and lengths for riders who want extra customization. The lever moves smoothly, as does the post itself.

The dropper has an easy-to-access "Revive Valve" that lets users bleed air out the post in a matter of seconds, something that gives the post an edge over its competition and helps mitigate the air-where-it-shouldn't-be inevitability that seems to come along with hydraulic seatposts.

Shimano XT brakes: Shimano's 4-piston XT brakes are a fine, but not amazing choice here. When it comes to eMTBs, in my book, companies should prioritize brake performance over almost all other components, and those XTs just don't quite compare to the power, modulation, and consistency of some offerings from SRAM, TRP, Magura, and others. The Shimanos have the classic wandering bite point and a little less power that I'd have hoped, but they're not bad - just not exactly the powerhouse stoppers I want to see on an otherwise supercharged build.

Battery and motor: The 630 Wh battery is the biggest one Shimano makes, and it lasts long enough for most rides - even with liberal use of the bike's Boost mode, it took about three hours for the bike to give me a low battery warning, and it's possible to extend that by using the Eco and Trail modes more frequently. Still, on full-powered eMTBs like this one, why not have the best range possible? The Levo has a 700 Wh battery and the Heckler a 720 Wh one, so a few more watt-hours would be nice to see on this bike. Note, too, that the battery range is heavily affected by terrain and rider weight.

The EP8 setup also comes pre-loaded with two power profiles that users can choose from: one that gives riders the full wattage and the other than dampens the power delivery a bit to extend the battery life. Riders can fine-tune their preferences using the Shimano E-Tube Project app, though riders definitely aren't required to download the app in order to ride the bike. To just ride, it's charge, power up, and go.

Pinkbike's Take

The Epocalypse has finally broken cover. The burly machine is built with top-end suspension, a robust feel, and enough travel to hold its own on the gnarly descents, and it has Shimano's most aggressive electric offerings to power it back up for another lap. And yet, it's still maneuverable. Modest geometry keeps the cornering lively and the front and back ends within reach of each other, while the centered weight of the motor and battery work nicely to give the bike lots of traction. It's worth looking at not because it does anything especially new or crazy, but because it takes the existing job of a 170mm eMTB and does that job extremely well.— Alicia Leggett