Scott Spark RC Comp - What to upgrade?

[AllAboutRides]

Hi all

Back into mountain biking after 4 years, so good to be back although a lot to work on my fitness and weight, already drop 4kgs in 2 weeks.

Bought myself Scott Spark RC Comp with the idea to upgrade parts in future.

Currently Sram NX groupset, alu wheels / alu handlebar / alu seatpost and shimano slx brakes

FOX 32 Float Rhythm 120mm Fork

What will you upgrade if this bike was yours?

My current weight is 98kg as my target goal is 88kg, will the suspension be fine doing stage races ect? Or should fork be upgraded as well?

Looking forward to your advice and tips!

[thebob]

Fit a dropper post and ride it. Replace bits and pieces as they wear out or break.

[Lynskey]

Unless you are a racing snake I would probably change that stem and handlebar combo. From where I am looking it looks mighty aggressive. 

[Pandatron]

1) Dropper & 3 Pos Twinloc

2) Change the bars for carbon, don't go flat, little back sweep for the hand angle or flat if you have orangutan arms etc (Listen to your fitter)

3) Check the rims out, the Scott Sparks in SA had a bad batch of those rims, they will replace them as known issue.

Extra mile

4) I never had luck with NX, I'd throw a GX AXS on

5) 4 Pot Brakes 

Edited March 21 by Pandatron

[RobynE]

Nice bike! 

Before upgrading anything I would do a bike fit, and see what needs to be changed to meet your comfort levels. 

If I were to change anything at all it would be the groupset, to manual SRAM GX for now. If you can afford the outlay of AXS then cool, but if not GX is much smoother than NX. 

Not sure what brakes are on the bike but just make sure they’re going to give you sufficient stoppage for your needs. This doesn’t necessarily mean stopping on a dime but rather the feel in the levers, the modulation, etc. 

Make sure your pedals have sufficient grip - I am assuming you are in flats. You don’t have to rush to cleats (clipless). Bouncing off your pedals is a quick way to ruin your day especially if 🥜 get involved. I’m a girl so don’t have 🥜 but a vag-punch is bad enough. 

Once you’ve done your bike fit spend some time at a bike park where you can get comfortable with the bike. As Lynskey says it’s an aggressive front end which is inclined to bring your centre of gravity forward. You want to be sure you’ve got a handle on the handling. Or you might find yourself going arse over kettle in a split second over something as innocuous as a stone or root or a wayward hand squeezing a front brake a little more than was needed. My own bike is quite aggressive and when it was in for a service I rode my wife’s bike, which has a much slacker head angle, and first ride back on my bike I nearly went over the bars over a rock garden because I forgot what bike I was on. Gotta keep your wits about you on bikes with aggressive front ends. 

 

 

Edited March 21 by RobynE

[mikkelz]

22 minutes ago, RobynE said:

Bouncing off your pedals is a quick way to ruin your day especially if 🥜 get involved. I’m a girl so don’t have 🥜 but a vag-punch is bad enough. 

🤣That is freaking funny! 👏

[Knersboy]

The NX RD clutch is about as strong as an asthmatic ant. The first thing I would do is replace the shifter and rear derailleur. 
 

My son races XC here in the US. We got him a Specialized Chisel last year mid season. It came with NX shifting. I was traveling for business when he got it and in that time he had two races, dropped his chain in both and lost out on the win. I replaced it with Deore when I got back and he has not dropped a chain since. 
 

I just don’t understand why brands spec SRAM anything below GX level, Deore beats NX and SX any day of the week. I love GX, but below that is really poo.

Edited March 21 by Knersboy

[Ruben101]

I would replace the wheels from the start, that way you at least get something back by selling them in almost new condition. 

I've seen a lot of rim, hub and freehub problems on Scott entry to mid spec level bikes before they even reach 1000km.

Then I would look at a dropper post. 

After that, I would look at doing the drivetrain. Shimano is cheaper then Sram, but it depends on your preference. You will need to replace the rear hub in any case if you want to go with a full shimano/sram gx or higher in the range drivetrain.

The rest of the bike is fine. Fork and brakes are decent. One user mentioned upgrading to 4 piston brakes. I don't think that is necessary. When you start riding harder, the first thing that will hold you back is the fork with the 32mm stantions.

[Eugene]

Don't waste your money on upgrading, because there is nothing that you can upgrade to that you will feel the difference on (except maybe a dropper). 

Wait until the parts wear out and then you can spend money on higher spec parts. 

[AllAboutRides]

Thanks for all the replies!

I’ve done a proper bike fit and very comfortable on the bike.

Yes I will fit a dropper and already don’t like the NX shifting especially in the muddy condition ls after my ride this morning.

Will look at GX AXS shifting.

I’m already on cleats - had that before so use to it.

Also a bit worried about the fork and 32mm stantions.

It wasn’t worth it for me to by higher spec bike as I got this bike for very good deal brand new.

Just glad to be back on the bike again!

[El Duderino]

At 98kgs, that Fox 32 might feel like overcooked Spaghetti on rough terrain. I'd put on a Fox 34 or Rockshox Sid which has 35mm stanchions, I think. 

[Scott roy]

2 hours ago, El Duderino said:

At 98kgs, that Fox 32 might feel like overcooked Spaghetti on rough terrain. I'd put on a Fox 34 or Rockshox Sid which has 35mm stanchions, I think. 

My thaughts exactly 

[AllAboutRides]

Which RockShox will you guys recommend?

The current Fox, I like the plush feel but as previous user said the 32mm stantions will become a issue when riding harder.

Rockshox that is compatible with 3 way lockout or Fox?

[droo]

12 hours ago, AllAboutRides said:

Which RockShox will you guys recommend?

The current Fox, I like the plush feel but as previous user said the 32mm stantions will become a issue when riding harder.

Rockshox that is compatible with 3 way lockout or Fox?

There are some SID 35 forks that will work with the 3 position lockout, but you'll need to keep your eyes open when shopping. Plug the serial number (found on the back of the crown) into trailhead.rockshox.com to confirm.

For my money though, I'd look at a Fox 34 Rhythm, 34 Performance or 34 Stepcast with the GRIP damper. Listed in order of decreasing weight and stiffness. The GRIP damper will work with whatever remote you throw at it, and is about the most bombproof damper out there. 

[ct_rider]

I always found a lighter XC fast rolling 2.2 tyres with decent puncture protection makes the biggest difference on the overall feel of the bike for a first upgrade, more nimble and better rotational weight for climbs. Unless you riding on very technical / rocky single track, go wider tyres with more volume for extra protection for the rims.

[DieselnDust]

On 3/21/2025 at 3:16 PM, AllAboutRides said:

Hi all

Back into mountain biking after 4 years, so good to be back although a lot to work on my fitness and weight, already drop 4kgs in 2 weeks.

Bought myself Scott Spark RC Comp with the idea to upgrade parts in future.

Currently Sram NX groupset, alu wheels / alu handlebar / alu seatpost and shimano slx brakes

FOX 32 Float Rhythm 120mm Fork

What will you upgrade if this bike was yours?

My current weight is 98kg as my target goal is 88kg, will the suspension be fine doing stage races ect? Or should fork be upgraded as well?

Looking forward to your advice and tips!

you are going to spend a lot of money on Upgrades I can tell you that.

Fork: The FoX Rhythym 32 is quite portly and flexy. Bushing wear and therefore stanchion wear is no uncommon under heavy riders. As Droo suggests, a Fox 34 or SiD Select+ 35 is where you want to be. Maybe even a RS Pike set to 120mm..

I would just sell the wheels, get what you can for them and purchase some good budget carbon hoops like the ZeroTwo Race on the ZeroTwo hubs. This will ht your wallet for about R16-R18K minus what you get for the OEM wheels. You could probably upgrade the Driver body of the Formula CL148S hub but I don't feel the cost is worth it. Its not a great hub to begin with so don't polish a turd.

I would get rid of the NX rear derailleur as soon as I can and get a GX mechanical unit for now. The NX shifter is ok, does the job. You could even use a Shimano 12s Deore rear derailleur and it will work with the NX shifter and rear cassette. Long term you want to fit a AXS derailleur to eliminate one cable going through the headset (stupid stupid design).

A good dropper is about R6000K. SO maybe just spring some extra cash and fit the Lyne E-Contour dropper which is a wireless electronic unit. Another cable eliminated.

Why am I hung up removing cables on the Scott? The top bearing is very poorly shielded from the elements, it will last a few months and need replacing. Everytime the bearing needs replacing you will have to replace the gear cable and dropper cable and that dropper cable....if the housing moves too deep into the frame it gets stuck under the rear shock then that has to come out and suddenly your cable replacement includes shock removal and your service costs is Ka-ching ka-ching adding up.

The bar ad stem is fine, nothing wrong with them. They're not much heavier than carbon bars and you're pretty limited for stem options anyway.

 

Parts that will wear out fast:

1) Rear derailleur

2) brake pads

3) chain

4) Cassette

5) Rear hub bearings

6) fork

 

so you may want to budget for replacement parts in that order more or less