SCOTT Spark RC 900 Team Bike

The Spark down tube shock and linkage are clearly asymmetric, when looking from the top of the bike. Carbon fibres achieve their full potential when used in smooth straight lines. Off setting the shock slightly to the left hand side of the bike gives a clean and continuous structure from the down tube through the shock mount to the main pivot.

 

 

 

 

Boost is a hub and drivetrain standard developed by SRAM. Boost is built around a wider rear and front hub and enables stiffer wheels due to a wider spoke bracing angle. Boost 148 rear hubs move each flange of the rear hub three millimeters wider.

Boost is designed as a complete system so drivetrain performance isn’t compromised. Even though Boost pushes the cogs three millimeters outboard, the crankarm Q-Factor remains the same as the Boost system’s crankset utilizes front chainrings that sit a corresponding 3mm outward to ensure the required chainline. Boost cranks can onlybe used when paired with a 148mm hub. On the front the hub spacing is increased by 10mm to 110mm. Increased wheel stiffness and greater clearance for bigger tires are the main advantages of Boost technology. On our bikes, we wanted to go beyond the basics and reap all the benefits of this innovation by optimizing frame design and geometry.The 3 mm outboard chain ring adds clearance in the chain stay area that allows a substantial increase of the chain stay tube cross-section. Correspondingly,the stiffness in this part of the frame improves. Also, with a wider range of positions for the rear wheel, the frame geometry can be adjusted. We can shorten the chainstays for more agile handling.

Our integrated chain guide was developed in collaboration with the SCOTT SRAM MTB Racing Team. 

The idea behind was to create a reliable component that helps to avoid dropping chains but that was light, versatile and integrated in the design of the frame. The new Spark chain guide weighs just 23 grams and is easy to assemble thanks to the smart assembly system and can accommodate chain rings from 30 to 36 teeth.

With the proper selection of materials, eighty percent of the work to create a frame is done. But the remaining twenty percent requires most of our efforts. For this reason, our choice of the most advanced carbon fibers in the market is followed by intensive use of specific tools, like FEA(finite element analysis) software, to map out the carbon lay-up.

With FEA software, we can simulate different forces on a virtual model of the frame and adjust the frame construction accordingly. FEA software enables us to create complete virtual prototypes incorporating all the physical phenomena that exist in real-world environments.

With our Evo-Lap technology we model the frame to optimize the surfacearea, simulate tube structures with different ply orientations, observethe results of using diff erent configurations, and test the stress distribution in different areas of the frame. Thanks to this extensive computer modeling, we’ve optimized the carbon layers in all the parts of our frame. When the parts were bonded together in the first prototypes, the result was a super light and compact frame without a sacrifice in the stiffness, comfort or impact resistance. The entire range benefitted from our EvoLap technology.

The Spark carbon linkage is constructed with a compression moulding process. It’s 37g lighter than the aluminium equivalent and half the weight of the previous Spark linkage. Making the link in two pieces means all excess material can be removed from the inside of the linkage,without sacrificing stiffness.

On the Scale, Spark and Genius we’ve redesigned all the parts that can give us significant benefits in terms of performance and functionality. On the previous model the support of the dropout was a bulky additional part molded to the carbon chain stay. The new dropouts are designed to be integrated on the thru-axle system thanks to a hollow tubular design that allows a simple and light weight structure. Available for SRAM and Shimano DM derailleurs, this dropout increases the stiffnessand avoids damage to the frame in case of impacts on the rear derailleur.

We have adopted the new Metric shock sizing standards with a Trunnion mount. Since the shock body now extends between the two lower mounting bolts, our suspension partners have more design space. This means the shock has more stroke for the same eye to eye length. Stroke on the 165mm eye to eye shock has increased from 38mm to 40/45mm.The Trunnion standard also offers structural gains. The shorter shock enables us to build a very compact frame and shock package, which integrates tightly to the seat tube. We managed to have a very tiny yet stiff linkage-lighter than ever. Thanks to the Trunnion mount construction, stand over height on the new Spark is very low. We are still able to realize a super compact full suspension frame and provide the ability to mount both a small and big water bottle.

The Spark family maintains the 165mm eye-to-eye shock length of the previous Spark 900 (our shortest shock), but realises up to 7mm more shock stroke. All Spark RC and most Spark and Spark Plus bikes utilize the FOX Nude shock, specially made for SCOTT:

-165mm Metric Trunnion shock

-40mm (100mm travel RC Spark line-up) vs. 38mm (old Spark)

-45mm (120mm travel Spark line-up)

By turning the Trunnion shock upside-down, we can fully integrate it into the frame which results in several benefits.Since the Trunnion mount is the same width as the down tube and mainpivot, we can have a very clean frame design in this critical area. The lack of tight transitions and small details allows for an efficient, continuous carbon structure. Carbon material added to reinforce the shock mount also stiffens the connection between the down tube, main pivot and bottom bracket, a key stiffness path.

The flipped shock also lowers the frame’s center of gravity helping to give a more planted feel when riding. Unsprung mass is reduced since it is the lighter part of the shock, connected to the linkage, not the heavier body which must move during an impact – the suspension system can react faster.Our TwinLoc remote cable can be routed cleanly into the down tube.

Learn more about TwinLoc here: https://www.scott-sports.com/page/twinloc

With TwinLoc, a rider can effectively control the complete frame, fork, and shock as a system. Why does this matter? A bike with 150mm of suspension travel, correctly set up, has more sag than a bike with 130mm. It's that extra travel that makes it more fun to ride and more capable on the descents, but the greater sag has an oversized effect on the bike's geometry and climbing performance. That's where TwinLoc matters.

TwinLoc helps manage the sag effect in several ways. Whereas most systems only increase low-speed compression in an effort to gain pedaling efficiency, TwinLoc allows us to not only change compression damping, but also to change the spring curve, dynamically altering the geometry of the bike. In Trail mode, the shock is not only firmer, but it has dynamically less travel. The bike sits higher, maintains a steep seat angle for those climbs, and becomes more agile. We also offer a third, full lockout mode for going up in the most efficient manner possible.

These unique settings optimize climbing geometry, even on longer travel bikes. We can eliminate the "long travel effect" that can rob your pedaling efficiency, but we're not robbing you of the full-fun, 150mm travel when you point it downhill. From a race setting, to a lunch ride, to an after work trail shred, being able to switch from mode to mode depending on a trails profile at the push of a lever is paramount to riding faster and having a damned good time. 

On the Scale, Spark and Genius, to provide a clean look and a functional solution for all the different control cable standards on the market, cable routing is fully internal and designed for full length cable housing. Routing the cables internally omits bulky external hardware and looks cleaner. The cables can endure a longer lifetime as they are protected within the frame. The entry points are machined alloy removable inserts that come along with the frame and can be chosen according to the setup of the bike. Assembling an electronic group or a dropper post will not be a problem and the look will always be clean-cut.

“Anyone who followed even just half of the XC World Cup season this year must have heard of the SCOTT Spark. It’s on this bike – or sometimes on his Scale hardtail – that Nino Schurter won every single World Cup as well as the World Championships. For 2017, the bike had been redesigned with 29’’ wheels and a vertical shock position in the frame. With a frame weight at 1779g including the shock, this bike is one of the lightest XC-full suspension bikes on the market and has already convinced us in our tests with its efficient rear triangle. After so many first places on World Cup podiums, the SCOTT Spark gets now a well-deserved second place in our MTB-News User Awards.”

https://www.mtb-news.de/news/2018/02/07/mtb-news-user-awards-2017-xc-bike-des-jahres/

"It didn’t take long to realise that the Spark RC 900 Team was the standout bike in the test. You don’t have to be Nino Schurter to benefit from the blisteringly quick turn of speed, or the calm way it dispatches descents. The ergonomics of the TwinLoc remote encourage its use more than any other suspension adjustment system, so you rarely feel like you are in a compromised setting, just optimum performance for the trail ahead. It’s the bike that all privateers should be queuing up to ride this year."

MBR – March 2018

"The Scott Spark RC with which Nino Schurter won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics dominated the XC category, with 27% of the votes."

Full article: http://www.mtb-mag.com/en/mtb-mag-awards-2016-scott-spark-rc-wins-the-xc-category/