In mid-October 2022 we were sent a new SCOTT Genius to ride and review. We had the bike for one week and we had to be sure that we avoided crowds and didn’t let anyone take photographs or video of it because the bike was under embargo until 3 November 2022. Not as easy as you’d think, but we managed to get in four decent rides, which allowed us to compile this short summary.
Every notable mountain bike media in the world will publish a very comprehensive review on this bike today (3 November) because it’s one of those bikes that has been much anticipated and which falls in a category that’s big globally and growing enthusiastically in South Africa – the Trail/Enduro segment.
Before we get into our opinion about this bike, it’s important to know that the Genius model was launched by SCOTT in 2003 and updated in 2009, 2013 and 2018. With mid-travel suspension, it’s always been aimed largely at the recreational trail-rider. But with the increasing popularity of Enduro racing, it’s well placed to become a hit with that more competitive market.
INTEGRATED SUSPENSION TECHNOLOGY
It set a new benchmark when it was launched on the new SCOTT Spark in 2021 so it was inevitable that SCOTT would build the new Genius around this suspension design, which SCOTT says results in being able to engineer frames with a lower centre of gravity, resulting in better handling, and a more stable, confidence-inspiring ride. It’s also stiffer around the BB, which reduces unnecessary movements laterally to the direction of the shock’s travel. And, being integrated, the shock itself is protected from grit and anything else that can affect its performance.
OUR OPINION: It’s incredibly stiff and super responsive. When locked out, it accelerates like a hardtail. There’s obviously a lot of beefiness around the BB/seattube/downtube junction making the frame seriously ‘bottom-heavy’. There’s a notable stability on the descents, especially through fast turns where you put all your trust in the fact that the bike should stay planted as you let go of the brakes to get just that little bit of extra speed.
Setting the sag isn’t really an issue with the hidden shock because there’s a sag indicator on the outside of the frame. Adjusting the air pressure is pretty straightforward – just remove the moulded plastic cover beneath the downtube and you get access to the shock.
GEOMETRY
Yes, this bike is designed to dive down descents with confidence and poise. It comes with a slack 64-degree headtube, which you can tweak to 65 degrees by rotating the headset cup. The seatube angle is 77.5 degrees with 460mm of reach on the Medium sized frame.
OUR OPINION: Because we only had the bike for a few days, our trails options were limited. We did point the new Genius 900 Ultimate down Joburg’s most gnarly descents at Thaba Trails and Asidlale and loved how it took everything in its stride and gave us a feeling of trust and, to be honest, admiration, for the engineers that made a bike that light to be able to charge down anything challenging. These descents aren’t long (4 minutes at most), but they’re a solid mix of natural and man-made features that you’ll find on most gradient-rich trails in the country.
SUSPENSION
The new Genius comes with 150mm of rear travel and 160mm of fork travel. It incorporates SCOTT’s proprietary TwinLoc remote adjustment system that gives you three modes – Lockout, Traction Control and Descend. SCOTT says this gives you three bikes in one because you essentially change the bike’s geometry as well as the amount of suspension travel – depending on what you need at the time.
OUR OPINION: TwinLoc is a significant feature on this bike. We’re not new to riding with TwinLoc and really enjoyed the current iteration on the new SCOTT Spark but we are new to having this kind of suspension adjustment on a Trail/Enduro bike. To be able to fully lock out the suspension with your thumb on relatively smooth climbs is hugely satisfying, partly because it makes the climbing more efficient, but mostly because this bike is so damn light that we actually wanted to ride faster up climbs. But even if you aren’t in a rush, it climbs so efficiently, which is a bit unusual for a bike with this much travel and descending intent. Geometry differences aside, it feels very much like a high-end XCO bike when climbing due to its incredible stiffness and super light weight. Our test bike weighed 11.6kg! Remarkable.
COCKPIT
As with the new SCOTT Spark, the new Genius sports the Hixon cockpit from Syncros. The previous Genius had a birds nest of cables but this new bar/stem combo tucks everything neatly away below and inside the bar and stem. There are two options for bar rise (15mm and 25mm) as well as two stem-length options. As for mounting a GPS device and lights, there are multiple options, including in the stem cap for a very central position.
OUR OPINION: It’s a massive improvement over its predecessor and it really enhances the look of the bike. It doesn’t ride any different to a standard bar/stem combo, but it does feel good to ride a bike when your view as you look down is simplified and uncluttered.
GEARS & BRAKES
While these will vary across the 12 different new Genius models, it’s worth pointing out that SCOTT continues to spec a mixture of Shimano and SRAM where it makes sense. The Genius Ultimate model we test rode came with Shimano XTR brakes and SRAM AXS electronic shifting. Pretty much the pinnacle of each and appropriate for this high-end model bike.
OUR OPINION: We don’t get to ride them that often, but we were reminded just why Shimano’s XTR brakes are among our favourite. It’s the first time we have ridden XTR on a mid-travel gravity-focused bike and they were faultless! SRAM AXS shifting is a joy to ride with. It’s truly remarkable how far SRAM has pushed what’s possible in the mountain bike sector.
SUMMARY
Time was tight with this bike test. We managed to do four rides at three venues with one tester. We prefer to have a test bike for longer, get more than one tester to ride it and take it to as many different trails as possible. But we rode it enough to understand how it rides. We sent it down a few familiar rugged trails and descending segments and took a little while to get used to how light it is. At under 12kg it’s among the lightest there is for a 150mm/160mm-travel bike. We had to adjust our mindset – and riding style – slightly because a light bike like this tends to skip over rocks that a heavier bike will roll into/over. As a result, it was faster down every descent we took it compared to our previous best times. Although we couldn’t measure this, we felt less physically spent at the end of each run, wondering if we could have gone faster and regretting not trying to…
The TwinLoc suspension really came into its own on this bike. On pedally sections where we’d normally just accept the slight bob of a more traditional mid-travel bike, we were able to push the switch to Traction Control mode, which allowed us to pedal hard and efficiently, but still have some suspension for small hits. And then, when it got smooth, a full switch to Locked allowed us to pedal with even more aggression and speed. While this kind of bike is traditionally not judged by its pedalling efficiency, this was a major standout for us. With Enduro racing growing in popularity in South Africa, we expect to see the new Genius making its presence felt…
The one negative aspect was the proximity of the dropper post lever. It’s clustered with the TwinLoc levers and reachable with the left thumb. Initially, at speed on rough descending trails, it was a little frantic trying to adjust one without affecting the others. But after a while we did start thinking about it more carefully and getting the adjustments right but our timing was a bit out for the moments we needed a quick adjust. It’s one of those things that will require some repetition to become intuitive and flawless, but it was a frustration during our short time with the bike. The only negative really.
We’d love to ride this bike for longer on different trails with longer descents, but in the short time we did ride it, it really impressed us. Super light, stiff when it needs to be, plush when it needs to be, in between when it needs to be and it climbs like a XC bike! The new SCOTT Genius 900 Ultimate is the most capable all-round mountain bike we have ever ridden.
PRICE: R214 000
NOTE: There will be aluminium versions of the new Genius in the 920 model at R87 000 and the 930 at R78 000 in stock in stores in South Africa. But all models will be available through special order for South Africa.
For full spec of the SCOTT Genius 900 Ultimate we tested, click here.
THAT’S NOT ALL
There’s a Tuned version of the new SCOTT Genius, which will be available in two models. This features SCOTT’s Nude Suspension Technology and is designed for super aggressive riding and likely to be used by pros in the Enduro World Series – and those who can afford the extra cash.
There will also be lower-specced models in the carbon frame, some models with a hybrid carbon-alloy frame and some models in aluminium too. And there will be two Contessa models for women that like their bike more female-specific.
VIDEO: Watch the Tech behind the new Genius here.
More on the new SCOTT Genius range here.
