Scott For 2010

Little did they know.  Trudging with pack horses and equally loaded up with dreams of hitting the big vein, 19th century gold miners were making some of the best trails there are.  Every gold rush seems to have left a bounty of suede-smooth trails that follow the contour and preserve your vertical.  The gold rush came to Sun Valley in 1860 and the town at the bottom of the ski hill is named after one of the early prospectors – David Ketchum.  Most of the miners left when the market collapsed in 1893 – but the trails still lead to gold.

 Silas Hesterberg strikes a vein in Sun Valley Utah riding a 2010 Scott Genius. Photo ~ Ian Hylands

More recently Sun Valley’s best-known treasure has been steep slopes and dry snow.  It’s a playground for the wealthy, particularly in the winter, but mountain bikers of all stripes have begun to plunder the goods in the warmer months.

 This was a multi bike adventure – mostly dirt but some road mixed in for flavour. Photo ~ Cam McRae

The good folks at Scott USA planned a little adventure for the spoiled journalist crew.  Although we started off at the posh Sun Valley Lodge, the next night was spent camping outside of town in a stunning little valley that just happened to have single track rolling through it.  We didn’t arrive on the trail though.  First we rode from the top of the ski hill on the 2010 Genius bikes – with special permission from the Forest Service – and then we got on road bikes.  Tooling around Ketchum on Scott Addicts wasn’t so bad – at first.  These are ridiculously fast and light machines and I was having fun. And then I began thinking to myself ‘road riding is so easy’ shortly before the elevation caught up to me.  Even though we were just cruising around I bonked and exploded into tiny pieces.  I managed to limp to the camping site, but only barely.  

 Our Cozy little campground set up by the awesome folks at Western Spirit.  They do it up right.  Photo ~ Cam McRae

The good folks at Nemo asked us what tent we’d like to sleep in on our outing.  Most folks chose little two person units but I figured I’d sample something bigger so I was in a nice big 5-person palace. 

 This bottle kept us warm around the fire – but it didn’t make it around many times.  Photo ~ Ian Hylands

On the night we spent in the tent, weather reports told us we were in the cold spot of the entire lower 48.  It did indeed freeze overnight and without my Canadian secret weapon – I always travel with a toque – it would have been an even more uncomfortable night.

 One cold morning in Sun Valley. Photo ~ Cam McRae

After a wicked breakfast cooked up by the stellar individuals from Western Spirit we got back on mountain bikes and rode the trail out of our little wilderness haven.  Then it was up to Greenhorn – one of the sweetest riding areas near Ketchum.  The climb up was often steeper than other Sun Valley ascents I’d done and the altitude was still getting to me.  Sure the Genius climbed beautifully and the traction was great after a big rain – but I was feeling a little bent at elevation.  The worst part was that I decided to clip in on this trip and it was an error.  I must have grabbed the wrong cleats because I kept getting stuck and about five times I tipped right over when I stalled on the climb.  Humbling to say the least – and enough to commit me to 5 tens for all my riding from now on.  We regrouped several times and I did manage to get to the top in pretty good spirits – and then it was time to point it down.  After climbing for a couple of hours I knew we had a massive high speed descent ahead.  The top was mostly long sinewy traverses topped off with nicely bermed corners.  The trail conditions couldn’t have been better because of the rain that visited before us.  It was the sort of mountain biking that everyone could love.  My 3-year old son could have fun on this descent and Wade Simmons – who had been spotted at Greenhorn just before us – did as well. There aren’t many trails you can say that about.

 Another perfect high speed berm?  We must be in Sun Valley.  Silas riding the trails at Greenhorn.  Photo ~ Ian Hylands.

A hardtail would have worked but the light and fast Genius platform – with 6” of travel – was the perfect complement to Sun Valley’s serpentine trail delights.  Big tires would slow you down and any more travel would leave you struggling out of the corners.

 This was th Genius I rode.  On fast singletrack these bikes are rocket ships.  Vid cap ~ Cam McRae

New for this year’s Genius is a one-button travel adjuster – Twinloc. With one thumb you can go from full travel (150 generous mm) to 95mm (traction mode) or lockout and back again in the rear.  The fork stays fully active when the rear shock goes into traction mode and then locks out completely with the rear with a full thumb application.  That’s right – one thumb application will lock out front and rear at the same time. This worked for the rear shock last year but now, thanks to a collaboration with Fox, the fork complies as well.  The Genius is a great bike for around Sun Valley but it would be less than ideal for many places in B.C.  The frame is unchanged from last year so if you’d like to know more check out my review impressions from last year here. 

 The 2010 Voltage FR 10.  In this trim you can choose between 140 and 160mm of rear travel.  Photo ~ Ian Hylands

The big news for us is a new freeride duallie from Scott – the Voltage FR.  Sun Valley opened the chair for us so we could get multiple runs on this bike and I liked it more with every lap.  Eric Carter was there and he said ‘I love these pocket bikes’ which is an apt description for this versatile little beast.

 Silas in freeride garb riding the Voltage FR 10.  Photo ~ Ian Hylands

The Voltage name isn’t new in the Scott line-up but until now it’s been applied only to their dirt jump hardtails.  Scott sometimes changes names of their road bikes every year so I found it odd that they would launch a new bike with an old name – or rather just add FR to the end.  What makes this bike so cool is the adjustable travel.  If you are looking for a single crown park bike the FR 20 and 30 will bounce 180mm just for you.  If you are done with the park and feel like sessioning some features in the Boneyard or hitting some sweet jumps just pop out a couple of bolts, move the shock mount and voila – you have a 160mm travel ripper.

 Travel options vary depending on the eye to eye of your shock.  The FR 10 comes with a 215mm shock while the 20 and 30 roll with a 241.

There are actually three travel options based on the eye to eye of the shock.  You can have a 140/160mm bike with a 215mm/8.5” shock, a 150/170mm with a 222mm/8.75” shock or the 160mm/180mm bike with the 241mm shock.  You also need to swap shock mounts to make these adjustments. The FR10 comes with the 140/160 set up and the 20 and 30 roll out as 160/180 bikes.

I rode the bike in both configurations and on the smooth trail we rode it was better in 140mm (I was on a Fox Van 36 equipped Voltage FR 10).  It popped a little faster out of the corners and pedaled more crisply.  In the Whistler bike park or coming down any of the trails on Cypress I’d be bouncing 160 for sure.  When you swap the travel, geometry and spring rate make the appropriate adjustments and you can even adjust your wheelbase by swapping out dropouts. You can have chainstays that are 415, 425 or 435mm.

 Changing from shot to long travel mode is quick and easy.

Scott USA bikes, despite the name, are engineered in Germany and you can tell by a glance.  Everything is well finished and precisely manufactured – including the forged and machined linkages that allow the travel to be converted.  The innovative rear dropouts will accommodate a thru-axle 12mm, a Maxle or a conventional QR.  

 Scott bikes are refined and beautifully finished. Photo ~ Cam McRae

Part way through our laps I passed the Voltage on to someone else and jumped back on a Genius.  For Sun Valley trails the Genius can’t be beat and I was faster down the trail on the carbon beauty.  It wasn’t more fun all the time but it would have crossed the finish line first.  

 The Voltage FR 20 we saw bounced on a Bomber but the production bikes look to be rollling out on a Rock Shox Domain. Photo ~ Ian Hylands

The Voltage FR corners well and feels nicely balanced – and the spec on the FR 10 I rode was bang on.  While the suspension felt great, the terrain wasn’t sufficient for evaluating its performance when things get interesting.  It’s rare to cross a root on a Sun Valley trail let alone the sort of terrain you’ll find on Goat’s Gully at Whistler.  I can tell you with confidence that this bike would rule A Line or Dirt Merchant though.  In fact a sturdy shorter travel bike is probably the ideal weapon for either of those trails – especially if you want big boost.

 Kyle Jameson breaking in his new Voltage FR.  Photo ~ Ian Hylands

The Gambler has been criticized as pricy.  Part of the motivation for this project was to bring a capable gravity bike to the people for a more reasonable dollar. From what I’ve seen so far I’d say they are on the right track.

Voltage FR10 – $4299 CDN / $3499 US

Voltage FR20 – $2599 CDN / $2099 US

Voltage FR30 – $2189 CDN / $1799 US

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Has Scott made a gravity bike that turns your crank?  Is there a ‘pocket bike’ in your future?  Speak to us here…