Scott Scale Premium Mountain Bike 2012

Article by Mark Taylor on Bikes.org.uk · +Mark Taylor ·

Scott Scale Premium Review

The Scott Scale Premium Mountain Bike has the lightest frame ever produced for a mountain bike weighing in at only 8.8kg. The Scott Scale Premium Mountain Bike is based on the Scott 899 bike but instead of using HMX to produce the frame it uses HMF fibre. This gives the new 2012 version of the bike an extremely lightweight frame but yet it loses no stiffness. The heavily loaded areas in the frame have an increased structural strength due to the use of extra layers of fibres. When combined with the tapered head tube which is a single unit with the top and down tubes all contributes to this world class frame design. Using these novel production methods an overall increase in the frames stiffness of around 10-15% is achieved, when compared to the Scott Scale Premium 2011 bike.

The Scott Scale Premium is produced with the innovative new shock damping system (SDS) which is unique to Scott. The unique SDS system ensures that the vertical compliance and lateral stiffness of the rear triangle is optimised for balance which gives an increased damping without loss in the directional control of the bike. Or in other words, light and strong.

A 30 gram weight saving is also achieved by the implementation of the PFBB92 press fit bottom bracket which also gives an enhanced amount of stiffness to the frame helping to make the Scott Scale Premium Mountain Bike the lightest mountain bike ever produced.

The Scott Scale Premium Mountain Bike uses a 160mm calliper interface which is directly mounted to the post eliminating the need to use calliper adaptors. The dropout and chainstay are produced as a single component and when used in conjunction with the carbon monocoque seat stay tube there is an amazing 25 grams of weight saving when compared to the 2011 bike.

The Scott Scale Premium bike incorporates the DT Swiss Tricon tubeless rims which are an extremely lightweight rim that when combined with the Schwalbe Rocket Ron EVO Kevlar beaded tubeless pace star compound tyres makes for a exceptionally durable rim and tyre that will withstand the hardest of bumps and knocks. The front and rear hubs are also DT Swiss Tricon which is a lightweight durable hub.

The Scott Scale Premium uses Shimano XTR kit for rear and front derailleurs, shifters, brake levers and Ice Tech rotor brake disc. These are all very high specification lightweight parts that will not need to be upgraded in the future until the technology moves on significantly.

The Scale Premium bike uses a Ritchey carbon WCS handlebar with a 9 degree bend, along with a Ritchey headset. The fork used is a Rock Shock SID XX tapered steerer with an air remote lockout rebound adjustable system which has 100mm of travel available to the user.

When the Premium frame is combined with the high calibre components that are on the bike you achieve a premium lightweight race bike, perfect for those who want to race to the highest standard.