Sussex-MTB

I was lucky enough to go out to Switzerland back in July on the Scott Dealer trip. The main focus of the rides was the Scale 899 and the new Genius LT, but the bike I was most curious to get a go on at the time was the 949. This is Scott’s superlight carbon race 29′er. While I know 29′ers can be a great idea for people over six feet tall I was keen to get a go on one in a medium, which is the size I usually ride, and see what the benefits, if any, were to me.

I’ve been lucky enough to get my mitts on a demo of the £2099 Scott Scale 29 Pro over the Christmas break and have managed to get it out on a variety of rides, both non technical ‘mile muncher’ types as well as our more usual technical singletracky type ones.

You can see from the off that this is definitely a race inspired machine and although it does have the typically XC race look to it I was keen to find out how it would be as an all rounder. As you may have read here we did quite a long hilly loop down in Dorset. This bike really excels at this sort of stuff, the light weight makes it a joy to ride and the difference between that and my usual rides was immediately apparent, but then it is about four pounds lighter than my hardtail and about eight or ten lighter than my full susser!

One of the things that is great about a 29′er is the fact the larger wheel size really smooths out the terrain, riding over roots in singletrack or up the rocky climbs in Dorset I felt I could really push it quite hard without fear of being knocked off line by any obstacles. It really was quite an eye opener, even on the descents, for a bike with such short fork travel it was confident and sure footed the whole time.

However the day after the Purbeck ride I had a really sore neck and shoulders and I put that down to the lower front end than I am used to. I have since flipped the stem to raise the bars a bit and have found it is now more like my usual position and as such have had no more aches and pains.

Another bonus of the carbon frame is it shares the seatstay technology with Scott’s CR1 road frames and this produces a frame that gives you good power transfer, but it still has an element of vertical compliance that makes for a comfy ride.

My only real niggle is the mud clearance and tyre choice. It comes with Rocket Rons and although these make a great race tyre they may be a bit on the thin side for everyday use. If you plan riding it during the winter you are definitely going to have to get a set of mud tyres on there as the clearance just isn’t enough for a tyre like the Rocket Rons when the going gets gloopy. Something like the Bontrager Mud X’s that BigSi uses would fit the bill perfectly and make it all a lot more manageable.

So my conclusions? Well I absolutely love this bike, it’s light, it smooths the trail beautifully and once you have got used to the fact it is all round a bit bigger than a 26″ wheeled bike and adjusted your riding style accordingly there’s absolutely no reason why it should be a handicap in any way. It goes through the singletrack like an absolute rocket and eats up the miles and big climbs with ease.

Will 2011 be the year 29′ers take off in the UK? I hope so. So don’t rule one out just because you think they are for the big guys out there. If you can get a ride on one your size give it a go, you might like it!

Now how can I keep this without anyone noticing? I don’t want to give it back!!

Jimbo