http://www.scottrcmtb.blogspot.com/2014/05/scott-genius-ride-and-first-impressions.html
Here are the specs of the bike...
Frame
I can’t really
make any comparisons to other trail bikes, as this is the only one I’ve owned
and I’ve never experienced any other. So this review will mostly be comparing
the bike to the xc bikes that I have owned and the pros and cons of my
experience with it.
The times I was
able to get somewhere where this bikes shines rocks, roots, drop offs it was a
blast to ride. I could ride into technical sections without a worry. After
riding a hard tail for so many yrs it felt strange to be able to ride so fast
through sections without being white knuckled and jarred.
COMPARED TO FULL SUSPENSION XC BIKE
This was also the
first yr I’ve raced a full suspension xc bike (spark 720)….
It has also made
technical rocky roots sections much more comfortable but there were
differences. My xc bike is carbon and had some lighter parts, narrower
rims and tires so I was not comfortable trying to do the same stuff I did on
the genius like big drop offs. The genius has a wider space between chain/ seat
stays so it will accommodate bigger tires and the angles are steeper making it
more comfortable on decants (made me feel less like I might go over the
handlebars)
There were several
times when I hit jumps and lost control, started sliding out around a corner or
found my self going faster than I wanted into a technical section but the big
tires, extra suspension and slacker angles made it all OK they save me. All the
sections where I had in the past thought to my self “ I’m not sure about this”
I was hitting without even thinking. The bike increased my self-confidence and
made me feel like a superhero while riding it. Some footage of riding with teammate Jeff....
All the benefits
do come with a down side. Trying to ride it at the same pace that I normally
ride my xc bike was exhausting. The extra weigh and big slow rolling tires
feels like I’m riding through mulch or sand on the climbs.
If your riding
party pace with friends than it won’t matter too much but if your trying to
keep up with your xc racing buddies it could be hard; especially if there are
long stretches of fire road or pavement included in your ride.
While it may be a
slower bike a cool thing about it is that you can ride it everyday. I
could comfortably ride the genius daily off road even on super easy rest days
without getting beat up. Being able to stay in the saddle and do a easy spin
while off road was a strange feeling that I had never experienced before.
TIRES, DROPPER
POST
An upgrade that I
would suggest if you are considering purchasing this bike is a dropper seat
post (the higher end geniuses come with one but the 730 dose not I put on a
rock shock reverb dropper post) and some wider tires (I was using 2.4 continual
trail kings, the bike came with 2.25 knobby nicks). I feel the dropper post and
wide tires did as much (if not more) for making the bike handle confidently as
the 150 mm of front/ rear suspension. Being able to move my weight around more
efficiently improved my cornering abound ability to deal with steep terrain.
The big tires improved breaking, cornering and improved stability.
REMOTE LOCKOUT
The bike comes
with Scott’s twin lock remote lock out lever. It offers 3 modes of suspension
(locked out, half locked out, and fully unlocked). I did notice that the lock
out was very sensitive if I was in full lock out. If I bumped it by accident it
would jump to half unlocked mode when I didn’t want it to. I thought this might
have been an issue with just my bike (because I set it up wrong) but my
teammate Jeff who was also riding a genius with twin lock also had the same
issue. I’ve used the twin lock on my xc bike without this issue occurring. It’s
possible Jeff and I both had this set up wrong but I think there may be another
issue linked to dealing with the extra travel.
WHEELS
The Syncros XC67
rims that came with the bike were durable (no issues with the wheel coming out
of true or broken spokes). They are 27 mm wide which is a bit wider than
an your average xc tire (normally about 24mm wide). Jeff was riding Stan’s
flows (which I also run on my training xc bike) they are 29mm wide. I think Jeff was happy with the way they performed ( i know i have been very
happy with mine, they have lasted 2 yrs of hard riding with out any issues and
are still going strong).
Unlike the flows
the Syncros XC67 where very hard to set up tubeless. I installed
Stan’s yellow tape on the Syncros rims and spent about 2 hours and when though
the majority of a 1 liter Stan’s tubeless sealant container trying to make it
happen. I finally got one wheel to hold air but ran out of patience before
getting the other. I wouldn’t recommend trying to set them up tubeless.
SUSPENSION
Comes with a Fox
32 Evolution CTD air Fork and Fox Nude shock. This was an upgrade from last
year’s genius that came with the same model fork but a DT Swiss rear shock. In
my opinion DT Swiss dose not make suspension that is as smooth as Fox. You can
read Nathaniel’s review of last yrs (2013) 730 Genius here…
http://scottrcmtb.blogspot.com/2013/08/scott-genius-730-detailed-review.html
http://scottrcmtb.blogspot.com/2013/08/scott-genius-730-detailed-review.html
WHEEL SIZE
I am 6 feet tall
and I was on the fence about choosing to go with. I decided on the 27.5 size
because I wanted a quicker handling bike. I was worried that with the extra
suspension and longer chain stays that the handling would be slow unless I had
the smaller wheels. I was happy with the decision but I think I’m at a
height where 29” wheels would have been fine too.
CONCLUSION
I am overall happy with the bike. I think the 730 or 740 models are the best bang for the buck
when compared to the other models in the genius line. However like I mentioned earlier
in the review adding a dropper post and larger more durable tires would go a
long way in making the bike handle better.
here are some pics of the bike specced the way it came (except for the ESI grips and the Continental Trail King tires)...
here are some pics of the bike specced the way it came (except for the ESI grips and the Continental Trail King tires)...
- Mike
Hi, Did you fit a dropper to the Spark. I'm currently doing battle with how to externally route a Rockshox in an optimal way - its starting to do my head in!
ReplyDeleteAndrew - just saw your post (sorry for the delay). My brother has a Spark and got an externally routed Rockshox Reverb to work perfectly on his frame. The internal routing for a Reverb Stealth is going to be tricky as I'm not sure you'll be able to easily fish the hydraulic line through the frame to the BB and then up the seat tube. I'm sure it can be done, but you're going to have to do a lot of work to make it happen. Hope you had luck making it work!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask you about how you liked XC racing on your Spark 720? I've been debating one but was worried that it might be too trail-oriented?? Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, congratulations on the excellent review of this bike.
What worries me is the following.
Since we have about the same height, I am interested that you test the model, the M or L size bike.
I am 184 centimeters tall and inseam is 83 cm, and according to all the parameters of L is recommended for me, but then again ... better to ask whether the experience is better than M L someone who already drive this bike.
So what is your suggestion, M or L?
And another question, I have chance to buy this bike for 1300 Eur......Bike is barely 1000 km used, so I belive that is a good invest....
Thank You and I have a keen provide: How Much Home Renovation Cost house renovation on a budget
ReplyDelete