Tech

Scott launch a bold new Spark RC and Spark 900

Supplied by Scott.

· By Bike Hub Features · 191 comments

Press Release

For years, the Spark family of bikes here at SCOTT has been a cornerstone of our success in the mountain bike industry. From World Cup win to World Cup win, to riding singletrack kingdom’s and everything in between, the Spark RC and Spark 900 line of bikes have been constant go-to’s for riders of all abilities all over the world. For 2022, the all-new Spark is set to continue this heritage on race tracks and trails for years to come.

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Building on Success

Now in it’s fourth generation, the Spark made it’s way into our lives back in 2008. Since then, it’s given us the highest of highs on and off the race track. Several World Championships, dozens of World Cup Wins, some special shiny medals and countless good times on the trails later, the newest Spark platform is something else. How do you improve upon the best? Let’s find out.

Integrated Suspension Technology
Now, a more noticeable change is that we’ve moved to a frame platform with an integrated shock. If we take a deeper look, this approach allows us to refine suspension characteristics without sacrificing weight. Often, when working with bikes at this level, the concept of marginal gains becomes an ever important one. For the optimal performance of a suspension shock, power transfer must be the most direct possible. What we want to avoid are any inefficient directional movements, in other words, lateral movements (sideways to the direction of travel) as the shock goes through its compression.

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Having an integrated shock allows us to improve this in several ways. Firstly, the frame construction around the shock and with the trunnion mount can be designed to be much more rigid, reducing movement and fostering more efficient power transfer. We can also add much larger bearings to the seat tube pivot, further reinforcing this area and reducing any unnecessary motion. Our Integrated Suspension Technology also helps us to engineer frames with a lower shock placement which lowers centre of gravity. As a result, the bike benefits from better handling, and a more stable, confidence inspiring ride for the end user.

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Suspension Layout – Kinematic
A full suspension bike will never have success without, well, good suspension design. From the first time we rode the Spark’s single pivot layout we fell in love. Years later, we still believe that for technical cross-country racing and fast, punchy singletrack it is the best approach. The Spark’s suspension layout has a very specific and proven kinematic and less unsprung mass. Using a flex pivot in the seat stay is an ideal solution for bikes in this travel range. This allows us to keep a very lightweight system while still ensuring optimal suspension performance.

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Geometry & Frame Design
When deciding on the Geometry for the Spark Platform, we decided to look towards Science rather than trends. We worked closely with SWISS BIOMECHANICS to do so, particularly in collaboration with the SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team. We aimed to have one frame platform that could be the world’s fastest and most capable XC race bike and an ultra-dynamic trail bike all in one. One thing we wanted to achieve was to have a similar pedaling position for both the RC and the 900. Both of the bikes are meant to be punchy, quick accelerators when stood up or sat down. With the built in ability to modify the head angle, we can run a longer, trail oriented fork on the 900, or a fork with slightly less travel on the RC that can easily be used for a more aggressive position on the bike for racing. The result? An XC bike that has the ability to descend like a trail bike without sacrificing anything when you need to put the hammer down, and a trail bike that can fly up the hill, and excel even more on the way back down.


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Frame kit weights of Spark RC & 900 platform (including shock and hardware).

SYNCROS Fraser iC Combo
The New Spark features an all-new Fraser iC combo from Syncros. Integrating the cables presents a number of unique problems and the Fraser was designed in part to address this. Syncros’s designers worked on the shape to allow the cables to flow under the bar and around the sides of the stem before disappearing into the headset with integrated plastic parts to keep it clean and efficient. This avoids bends or kinks in the cables and provides a minimalist front end. All our bars and stems feature multiple options for computer, light and camera mounts both on top or under the bar.

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The ALL-NEW Spark Range – RC vs. 900
There are 21 Spark models to choose from. The range is split into two categories, the XC-race oriented RC, and the short-travel, trail oriented Spark 900. 
While both categories of Spark utilize the same frame, the bikes have many differences. Compared to the Spark RC, the 900 comes with a more trail oriented spec: a larger shock, a longer travel fork, wider bars, trail focused tires and so on. 

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BUT THAT’s NOT ALL(oy)!
It’s one thing to have these levels of technology and integration on carbon bikes, but we wanted to make sure to offer the same benefits throughout the range, including the alloy models. The Spark 950, 960 and 970 all have the same great features as their carbon siblings, but at a fraction of the price. 

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Comments

Mohs

Jun 9, 2021, 2:18 PM

Rather Bold of them....I assume someone stole their Swiss neighbour's blue prints.   Even the decals are on the same place. Still a really nice looking Bold, ag sorry Scott

 

 

Matt

Jun 9, 2021, 2:20 PM

Just now, Mohs said:

Rather Bold of them....I assume someone stole their Swiss neighbour's blue prints.  

 

More acquired... they purchased a majority stake in the company in 2019. 

Mark James

Jun 9, 2021, 2:53 PM

Beautiful minimalist looking bike!! . :) 

Wonder if Nino and Kate will be riding it this weekend at Leogang?? 

 

 

BaGearA

Jun 9, 2021, 3:21 PM

27 minutes ago, Mark James said:

Beautiful minimalist looking bike!! My 2019 Scott RC 900 World Cup suddenly looks a little outdated... :) 

Wonder if Nino and Kate will be riding it this weekend at Leogang?? 

 

 

They've probably been riding them for a while 

Me rida my bicycle

Jun 9, 2021, 3:28 PM

I like it! It's time for something new. Don't think the bike mechanics will love it so much but tough cookie ????

Hairy

Jun 9, 2021, 3:28 PM

1 hour ago, Mohs said:

Rather Bold of them....I assume someone stole their Swiss neighbour's blue prints.   Even the decals are on the same place. Still a really nice looking Bold, ag sorry Scott

 

 

Lol ... very BOLD!

Hairy

Jun 9, 2021, 3:29 PM

so much of awesomeness!

dasilvarsa

Jun 9, 2021, 3:31 PM

Next Level

BaGearA

Jun 9, 2021, 4:06 PM

34 minutes ago, dasilvarsa said:

Next Level

Nope , the concept already existed they just added to it 

thebob

Jun 9, 2021, 4:45 PM

Want to see if they apply this to the Genius and Ransom going forward

OVERDRIVE

Jun 9, 2021, 6:40 PM

4 hours ago, Bike Hub Features said:

Press Release

For years, the Spark family of bikes here at SCOTT has been a cornerstone of our success in the mountain bike industry. From World Cup win to World Cup win, to riding singletrack kingdom's and everything in between, the Spark RC and Spark 900 line of bikes have been constant go-to's for riders of all abilities all over the world. For 2022, the all-new Spark is set to continue this heritage on race tracks and trails for years to come.

86e47beb-3d51-e722-a424-cc433b691208.jpeg

 

View full article

 

This is uber cool but I'll stick to the Titan...

Psyrax

Jun 9, 2021, 7:09 PM

So the shock position is closed in front with a removable cover, but open in the back (correct me if Im wrong). How much mud and dirt is going to get stuck there with no place to fall out of and ad to the weight of the bike?

Baron

Jun 9, 2021, 7:48 PM

Wrong, shock is completely closed in the downtube. 

PappaWatTrap

Jun 9, 2021, 7:48 PM

It's completely closed off so no mud getting in from the back. Cool design to accomplish this

38 minutes ago, FrancoisdeVille said:

So the shock position is closed in front with a removable cover, but open in the back (correct me if Im wrong). How much mud and dirt is going to get stuck there with no place to fall out of and ad to the weight of the bike?

 

W@nted

Jun 9, 2021, 7:55 PM

46 minutes ago, FrancoisdeVille said:

So the shock position is closed in front with a removable cover, but open in the back (correct me if Im wrong). How much mud and dirt is going to get stuck there with no place to fall out of and ad to the weight of the bike?

It is closed at the back as well

W@nted

Jun 10, 2021, 3:30 AM

Did I miss any indication of the selling prices?

interesting to see the xtr brakes with the axs group on the photos...

JoggiePrinsloo

Jun 10, 2021, 5:42 AM

14 hours ago, Mark James said:

Beautiful minimalist looking bike!! My 2019 Scott RC 900 World Cup suddenly looks a little outdated... :) 

Wonder if Nino and Kate will be riding it this weekend at Leogang?? 

 

 

Yes, our team will be racing these bikes this weekend at the World Cup!

Ernst Kromhout

Jun 10, 2021, 5:49 AM

Yeah its great but cleaning the shock and the frame where the shock mounts are will be a pain

Fitbull

Jun 10, 2021, 5:54 AM

3 minutes ago, Ernst Kromhout said:

Yeah its great but cleaning the shock and the frame where the shock mounts are will be a pain

You have lost me on this one.... The shock is completely enclosed so cleaning the frame will be pretty easy. No mud etc should be getting into the shock compartment. Simple wipe the frame while running the hose... voila :) 

BaGearA

Jun 10, 2021, 6:25 AM

11 hours ago, W@nted said:

Did I miss any indication of the selling prices?

interesting to see the xtr brakes with the axs group on the photos...

even the manufacturers are tired of sram brakes ????

Mark James

Jun 10, 2021, 6:41 AM

14 minutes ago, BaGearA said:

even the manufacturers are tired of sram brakes ????

Liking the XTR brakes!! wahoo

Mark James

Jun 10, 2021, 6:48 AM

LOOOOOOOVE the promo video!!! HAHA, so cool 

DieselnDust

Jun 10, 2021, 7:02 AM

11 hours ago, FrancoisdeVille said:

So the shock position is closed in front with a removable cover, but open in the back (correct me if Im wrong). How much mud and dirt is going to get stuck there with no place to fall out of and ad to the weight of the bike?

Its in the Seat Tube and closed off completely. To remove the shock you remove the access hatch at the bottom of the downtube, deflate the shock, lift the rear sus swing arm so that the top bolt aligns with the seatube access hatch and undo the bolts.

The head of the shock is trunnion mount  so the bolts are external so just undo those and the shock drops out.

 

More especially I mean  this bike has kept the winning vertical shock

11 hours ago, Baron said:

Wrong, shock is completely closed in the downtube. 

seat tube dude

JCA12

Jun 10, 2021, 7:04 AM

Interesting looking at the specs it seems that both the RC and the normal Spark come with angle adjust headsets of +-0.6 degrees which is  quite cool

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