New Bike!!

So on Friday I got word that my new 2013 Scott Scale 910 had arrived. I had been looking forward to this bike for a long time as an upgrade from my 2012 Scott Scale 29 Pro that I had been riding for the last one and a half years. It had the same frame, which was awesome, as it is one of the lightest XC frames around, it rides really smoothly and has great geometry. The Scale 910 has a full Shimano XT groupset, Fox forks, and Syncros components.

I changed a couple things from the original spec, putting the excellent Kenda Small Block 8s on for their speed and predictability, a carbon railed Selle Italia Seat to lighten it up a little bit and a -16 degree stem to get the front end a bit lower.

The new machine at the top of Mt Victoria, looking over Wellington City

Saturday I went up to Scotts house to build it up and take it for its first ride, a quick spin around Mt Victoria.  There was a couple of things I noticed first off. The XT crankset was probably the first thing, it was noticeably stiffer under pedalling than the XO cranks on the Scale Pro, as well as a far more positive feel under shifting. The Fox forks also had a far smoother action, especially noticeable going over braking bumps. The double upshift feature on the rear shifter was surprisingly useful when going straight from an uphill into a downhill. Many good things have been said about the XT brakes and now I understand why. They have great feel at the lever, the servo wave system giving an awesome bite and really smooth and predictable power delivery with good feedback.

The frame is obviously the basis of the bike, and this is the main reason I stuck with the Scott Scale. The relatively slack head angle and micro suspension in the seatstays are the defining features of this bike, and whenever I ride it I am amazed at just how easy it is to make it go fast downhill. The stability and smoothness mean that trail vibrations are noticeably smoothed out, and the you can stay composed and relaxed through some surprisingly rough and technical terrain.

I can't wait to race it in the coming weeks at the Crazyman MTB, Rotorua Moonride, and the Mt Victoria Super D.

Cheers to my Dad and AvantiPlus Waitakere for setting it up, packaging it and sending it down so quickly. Much appreciated guys.