Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Genius pull shock
Preview: 2009 Scott Genius
Scott set out to build "the lightest marathon/trail bike with 150mm of travel." Read more to learn about this sweet ride.
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The Genius pull shock was, like the Scott's Spark shock, co-developed with DT Swiss. Like the Ransom and Spark, it's a three-mode shock. Full travel is 150mm, "Traction" mode is 95mm and locked out is...locked out. Full travel and traction mode each have their own rebound control, allowing the rider to dial in "just right" feel for both modes. Scott's Spark and Ransom bikes also have three-mode shocks but a single, overall, rebound-control knob. If the rebound was properly tuned for full-travel mode, some riders found the rebound control in traction mode too quick. The twin rebound control fixes that. The Genius's Traction Control lever is a push/push lever similar to the Sparks, but is made from aluminum and much more robust. Both positive and negative air pressure are adjustable. Like the Ransom, the Genius shock requires very, very high pressures: a 165lb rider would have around 330psi in the positive chamber. I rode a Ransom for two years and had no shock issues - the main drawback is a shock pump with very high pressure gauge is required to make accurate adjustments, which Scott includes with bike purchase. If you forget the Scott pump, however, and you need to make a quick adjustment, your friend's shock pump won't be much help.

Other frame highlights:
? Medium through extra large frames have room for a large water bottle
? Not that we'd notice in the United States as we weren't able to ride the previous generation Genius, but Scott lengthened the top tube on the new bike - small +5mm, medium +13mm, large +16mm and XL +24mm - and spec'd shorter stems. Standover clearance was also increased on all sizes.
? Static head tube angle is 68.5 degrees.

There are some interesting bits in the Genius's spec story as well. The high-end LTD model weighs "just over 10 kilos" - that's 22lbs to us 'Mericans. A sub-5lb frame weight helps, but the spec contributes as well. The Limited is dripping in carbon - DT/Swiss fork with carbon lowers and 15QR thru axle, DT/Swiss carbon rims, Formula R1 brakes with carbon levers, Ritchey Carbon seatpost and riser bar, Fizik Tundra saddle with carbon rails, Truvativ Noir carbon cranks, SRAM X.0 shifters and rear derailleur with carbon bits. All that high-end spec will set you back - the Limited will cost over $11,500 dollars. That's right, $9k - by far the most expensive production mountain bike on the market in the United States.
2009 Scott Genius
Preview: 2009 Scott Genius
Scott set out to build "the lightest marathon/trail bike with 150mm of travel." Read more to learn about this sweet ride.
The new Scott Genius is a big deal for riders in the United States. Due to Specialized's U.S. patent on the FSR, the previous generation Genius could not be sold in the States, leaving Scott out of arguably the most crucial category - Acordingly, part of the redesign mandate was to make the new Genius "U.S. approved" and no longer blocked by the FSR patent. While the whole bike is new top to bottom, the most significant change was relocating the rear pivot from the chainstay up to the seatstay.
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In its introductory presentation, Scott said the company set out to build "The lightest marathon/trail bike with 150mm [5.9 inches] of travel." The frame is a good start - it's all carbon, right down to the dropouts; the derailleur hanger is alloy and replaceable, but mounts to a carbon dropout. Size medium only weighs 4.96 pounds, WITH shock. Scott manufactured the front end by wrapping carbon over mandrels, then cooking it in a mold. The process for removing the mandrels from the fully formed front triangle after molding is, according to the company, an "I-could-tell-you-but-I'd-have-to-kill-you" secret.

The seat-tube pivot, called IAP (Integrated Axial Pivot), is actually comprised of two stub axles molded into the carbon; no sleeve connects the sides together. Not only does this save weight, it also allows the seat post to drop all the way into the frame.

The Genius uses a Shimano direct mount front derailleur and it's a good example of the advantage of the DMD design. There's a lot going on in the Genius's BB area and trying to fit a place for a clamp-on derailleur in there would be an incredible challenge. Scott actually mounts the front derailleur to the chainstay, so it moves with the chainstay as the suspension compresses, eliminating any potential FD/stay interference issues that can plague longer travel bikes.