N + 1 = My New Bike, The Scott Scale 910

Oooh, it is so pretty!

When I decided to jump into the 29er market I did my research, looked at what my local bike shops had to offer, and even considered an internet bike buy.  When my LBS guy got back to me on pricing for the Scott Scale, I didn’t hesitate – it was such a fabulous deal, I jumped before he got a chance to rethink his offer. 

Let’s take a tour…

General Awesomeness

I knew the new carbon bike would be light, but I didn’t realize how odd it would feel to lift a big wagon-wheeled bike and discover it was significantly lighter than my 26er.  It is 23.5 pounds without pedals, while my 10-year-old steel 26er is about 27.5 pounds.  The mechanic who set it up claims I could get it under 20, though I know that would require an insane amount of dollars per ounce lost. 

It has a full Shimano Diore XT build, a beautiful tapered head tube, and a nice 1 x 10 set-up that will hopefully be easy to adjust to.  I knew about the Fox Float fork (one thing that made my shopping easier is that I eliminated any bike that couldn’t come with a Fox), and am looking forward to utilizing the lock-out with its three modes.  Still there were some nice surprises when the mechanic at my LBS took me through everything…

Cool New Stuff

The adjustability in the brakes and shifters is incredible.  The breaks can be brought closer to the bars with an easy adjustment, allowing you to really dial in your positioning.  Even better is the in-and-out adjustability of the shifters in relation to the brakes.  On my old bikes I’ve swapped things around (moved the brake to the inside of the bars) in order to make a set-up that is comfortable and usable for my size of hands.  With the XT it is easy to move the shifter levers without having to rearrange your entire bar set-up.  Within two minutes I had everything I needed to accomplish one-finger braking and easy shifting with my thumb.

Another new feature that I’m excited to use is the clutch on the rear derailleur.  Essentially, when you engage the clutch it increases the stiffness and tension on the chain, increasing stability and making it very difficult for the chain to bounce around on the rear cassette.  This will be awesome on those mountain bike courses that are a bit more rough (Afton, I’m looking at you…) where I would reach the bottom of the hill and discover my 26er had selected a new gear on the way down.

The major downside to the new bike?  It is sitting there, pleading with me through its beautifulness to get out on the trails, and they’re all closed right now…  Spring just got a lot further away…