Paid partnership with SCOTT Sports Africa
There was huge global interest in the launch of the new SCOTT Spark full-suspension mountain bike last week. And also plenty of discussion. The reason: SCOTT’s engineers moved integration to a new level with radically different design from the industry norm. Here’s why they did it – and how.
You only have to run out of nourishing carb drink once on a long ride on a hot day to understand the importance of being able to carry a second bottle on your bike. Fatigue, dehydration and the dreaded bonk are all powerful motivators to ensure that you don’t experience any of them again.
The accommodation of the second bottle inside the frame is the most obvious feature on the new SCOTT Spark. But it didn’t’ come via sacrificing SCOTT’s proprietary, highly effective TwinLoc suspension design. Instead, SCOTT Sports invested heavily in one of its key models by acquiring a majority ownership of Bold, a niche, innovative bicycle brand best known for its internal suspension design.
While other brands have had to make compromises for two-bottle accommodation, SCOTT raised the bar by not only retaining, but also refining its existing successful rear suspension design. Here are the benefits of the new frame design:
- Accommodates two bottles inside the frame
- Retains SCOTT’s efficient, race-winning trunnion-mount suspension
- Enhances SCOTT’s proprietary Twin-Loc (3-bikes-in-1) remote adjust suspension
- Increases lateral rigidity which improves power transfer further
- Allows insertion of larger seattube pivot bearings for greater reinforcement
- Shock placement lower down improves centre of gravity for increased stability
- Protects rear shock from mud, dust and other external influences
- Enhances the look of the bike with cleaner lines
MORE TRAVEL
Previously, the SCOTT SPARK RC had 100mm of suspension travel front and rear. The new Spark now has 120mm of travel front and rear, which gives the bike more ambition and the rider more confidence to tackle more challenging terrain. This has been done without compromising the bike’s weight, which is normally a compromise required when adding suspension travel.
ALUMINIUM TOO
It’s one thing to integrate an internal rear shock inside a carbon fibre frame. But SCOTT’s engineers took full-suspension frame design to a new level by ensuring the new design runs through full Spark range into the aluminium models. This ensures that the most advanced full-suspension is now accessible to all budget levels right from the 970 base-model.
FULL RANGE, FULL BENEFITS
Anyone that buys any model of the new SCOTT Spark will have the full range of benefits, including:
- TwinLoc remote suspension adjustment
- Remote adjust dropper seatpost
- 1×12 drivetrain
SYNCROS COCKPIT INTEGRATION
The integration of the rear shock is just one of SCOTT’s updates to the new Spark. Integration has become a priority for SCOTT. Owning a components brand (SCOTT purchased Syncros in 2012) allows a bike brand to pioneer integration technology. This is best shown in SCOTT’s addition of the new Syncros Fraser iC Combo which integrates the cables to ensure a cleaner cockpit without compromising the efficiency of gear shifting, TwinLoc suspension control and dropper post activation.
Besides being more practical, it also looks cleaner and also accommodates bike computer, lights and camera mounts above or below the bar.
There are 21 models in the new SCOTT Spark 2022 range, incorporating both the RC (Racing Concept) and 900 (Trail) sub-categories and ranging in price from R45000 for the alloy 970 through to R184 900 for the RC World Cup EVO with SRAM AXS.
Watch the full new SCOTT Spark 2022 launch video here.
Paid partnership with SCOTT Sports Africa
