August 22, 2005

MBUK Rides An Olympic Scale 10

Mountain Biking UK Magazine

While carbon fiber bits seem to be flooding the market, Scott is one of the few companies with long experience and a proven reputation for building composite frames. Scott’s frame guru, Peter Denk, designed the ultralight Scale specifically for snaking through the olive groves in pursuit of Gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics; in fact, this very bike was ridden into 14th place by UK Scott teamster, Oli Beckinsale.

To achieve the lightest frame weight of any production MTB—an incredible 990g—without compromising essential strength, the frame uses flowing organic profiles for maximum uninterrupted fiber length. Head tube, bottom bracket shell and seat tube are all seriously oversized and then shimmed down with alloy inserts, while the seatstays and chainstays run in a continuous loop. Alloy dropouts and disc mounts are then glued on with a non-removable gear hanger providing ultra precise shifting under race power. Other practical detailing hasn’t suffered though, with tidy hose routing, twin bottle cage bosses and plenty of mud room for racing local winter warmers.


Unlike most Scotts, the Scale is also cut really long in the top tube for easy breathing on the climbs, and the short rear end gives impressive flick around agility. As you’d expect, acceleration is also phenomenal, with a rock solid connection between cleat and rear wheel. It rips straight up through the block and into the big ring with minimum effort, often feeling more like a road bike than a mountain bike.

What really impressed us though, is the smoothness of the ride. It’s certainly still a hardtail, but the SDS (Shock Damping System) woven into the carbon frame really does take the sting out he the sharp stuff, holding lines and laying sown power far more consistently than most aluminum ultralights. It also makes the Scale far easier on your body, with a friendly feel whether you’re racing marathons or just spending a long day on the trails.

Rather than the full XTR, DT, Ritchey and Selle Italia of the production Scale 10, Oli’s bike is kitted out by equipment sponsors Race Face and Hope. This includes his name engraved on the lever reservoirs, prototype lightweight alloy spider floating discs and an exclusive gunmetal anodized colourway. We’re slightly surprised at the overall weight, though. While 22lb would be crazy light for most bikes, we’ve seen project Scale bikes from the likes of featherweight freaks tune as light as 16lb—and that’s the complete bike we’re talking about!

Not only is Scott’s Sale the lightest production frame around—with truly world class acceleration and precision—but it’s also one of the friendliest lightweights we’ve ridden. Short fork geometry and elongated position mean it’ll always be a racer at heart, but you certainly don’t have to suffer as much as usual to access excessive speed. Considering the Scale’s top end technology and performance, we reckon that the bike’s an excellent value too.