Dangerholm's Hypersonic Spark

Sweden, 2022. In the last 10 or so years we've seen some incredible development when it comes to mountain bikes: 1x drivetrains, dropper seat posts, 29" wheels, wider tires, longer and slacker geometry, more travel and wider handlebars are now standard. And there's no question that this has resulted in bikes being more capable, faster and more fun to ride. You can ride faster and in better control on the downhills on Nino Schurter's World Cup winning cross-country rocket than on the trail bikes of yesteryear.

A natural result of some of the aforementioned innovations and improvements however is slightly increased overall bike weight compared to previous times. Of course, wider bars and wider tires for example will weigh more than their narrower counterparts. While I can be a weight-weenie to say the least, having built some of the lightest bikes in the world, I'm the first to say that weight isn't everything. I'll happily take a capable and fun modern bike over any old but slightly lighter bike, no question. 
Luckily for me, the new Spark RC is one of the lightest bikes on the market as it is. Despite adding more travel, stiffness, better integration and geometry, it barely adds any chassis weight at all over the previous generation. But when really tuning and personalizing a bike, there is of course room to push things a little further still.

The Build 
So the plan for this bike was to build a modern cross-country bike with all the new important features such as a capable frame and suspension, dropper seat post and 2,4" tires but at an old-school low weight. Quick and responsive on the climbs, fast and fun on the descents. In short - the best of two worlds.
Naturally, there's a SCOTT Spark RC frame at the heart of the build. Having spent a huge amount of time on the previous generation Spark RC released in 2016/2017, I can say that while the old one was an incredible bike, the new 2022 Spark RC is a different beast. Of course, there is the visual aspect with the hidden rear shock, but big technical changes like 120 mm travel and new geometry makes it a very different bike to ride.

"My goal for this build: Quick and responsive on the climbs, fast and fun on the descents. In short - the best of two worlds."

Gustav Gullholm
Dangerholm

The new design also pushes integration a lot, with the integrated shock and new cable routing. One good thing with tuning bikes like I do is that you strip them down to bare molecules and build them back up, so you get a perfect understanding of the design and how it is to work on. And while the new Spark can look complicated to work on at first glance, the new bike is easy to work on.
 
To match the frame there is an equally visually striking fork up front, the new Intend Samurai XC with 120 mm travel. The weight is a low 1435,5g and if that's not light enough there is also the Samurai CC version with carbon fiber steerer tube. One thing that allows for such a low weight is how the fork legs are slightly angled at the crown, allowing for the extremely minimalistic and short dropouts. It's using a standard 3-position SCOTT Twinloc compatible RockShox Charger RaceDay damper cartridge but the fork chassis is quite unique with its upside down design.

Up front is a very interesting component, a prototype crankset from Garbaruk. It's incredibly light at just 384g for crank arms and spindle. And either way they are simply beautiful with their clean design, and especially so in the raw finish shown here. The chainring is a matching Garbaruk 40T.
The bottom bracket is a Kogel ceramic with road seals, meaning a bit more maintenance but even lower friction. Kogel also makes the oversized pulley wheel system for the derailleur, which is called Kolossos. This bike features a custom-made version in raw aluminium, rosé titanium bolts and Cerakote Champagne Pink pulley wheels. The Sram XX1 Eagle rear derailleur has seen quite a lot of tuning. The b-knuckle has been polished, the cover for the cable wheel removed and several parts such as the parallelogram and the pins holding it together are made in carbon fiber from Hopp Carbon Parts. The end result is a derailleur offering lower chain friction while also being lighter than stock.
Cassettes can often be a little bit overlooked. While it's mostly good to have a really big gearing range, here I wanted to optimize things a little further. So I'm running a Rotor 12-speed cassette in 11-46T gearing as my main cassette. The 11T cog means slightly less friction than the more standard 10T, and the 46T top means tighter gearing steps. Sure, we are talking a lot of truly marginal gains when it comes to this drivetrain, but the devil is in the details.

At just 9.19 kg / 20,26lbs including pedals it's not the lightest mountain bike in the world, but I'd say that it definitely meets my goals of a modern capable cross-country bike at a low weight rarely seen these days. And most importantly, it’s so much fun to ride. It’s incredible how all-round the Spark chassis is, that you can either push the weight low like I did here or go full down-country – either way it’ll be a super fun bike.

As for the looks, the goal was never really to build the most beautiful bike possible. The idea was more along the lines of how you can look at a race car in a wild design livery. You can love the raw and striking look of it, but at the same time maybe not want it on your daily driver back home.