There’s more than one way to go fast and these two know a thing or two about it. Both bikes are carbon fibre, both use carbon rims and SRAM running gear, but the overall bikes are about as different as you could imagine. Let’s take a look:
Hmm... wonder who's a World Champion. Scott 899 frame weighs less than 2lbs. DT Swiss carbon suspension forks up front. And look - bar ends! When you say 'Stock SRAM XX', that somehow makes it sound ordinary. It's anything but ordinary...Ritchey Superlogic carbon rims with handmade Dugast tubular tyres - made by skinning a Ritchey WCS race tyre and sticking the tread onto a silk threaded tubular carcass. There's $400 of silk alone in each tyre.It's good to see Nino didn't go to down and ditch the stem cap. Long 'n' low cockpit
And now to something completely different:
Greg Minnaar’s World Championships bike. With a carbon frame, a touch of national pride, and a few special bits here and there. Randomly in the background we can see Mike Ferrentino, Karl Rosengarth from Dirt Rag and ex Junior hotshot Daryl Price (with rucksack).
Another winner in the 'meaningful stance' competition. Santa Cruz carbon V10.Slick paintjob and Black Box black slippery Boxxer stanchions.White hoses. Snazzy! Avid CODE brakes. Alloy bolts too.Ten speeds - no funny, special cassettes here. Not even a SRAM Red one.Blackbox rear mech. Doesn't it look long? Older Edge carbon rims (new ones are called ENVE) so we assume they're lasting the team OK then.Descendant crank is a production version of the Blackbox crank that he and Peaty have been riding for the last two years.How come Nino didn't get his name on his shifter? The shifter is ostensibly an XO one. Alloy bolts (and not XX titanium bolts?) and Peaty grips.
With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
What I’d like to know is how careful do you have to be with the frame, with it weighing less than 2lbs? Does it have a limited life & need replacing every season, or only if it gets crashed?
Scott is pretty confident in its carbon technology. I’m pretty sure there isn’t even a ride weight limit on it. For more details on the Scale 899 and 949, have a look at our Scale launch story
i’ve got bar ends on my bike…what?, it’s not niche anymore??
No rOcKeTdOg – all roadies do it.
Really enjoying this “pro’s bike” series. More!
like this series too.
“Alloy bolts (and not XX titanium bolts?)”
As alloy ones are half the weight it’s not that surprising!
I know which one I want, and it’s red…what a bike!
What I’d like to know is how careful do you have to be with the frame, with it weighing less than 2lbs? Does it have a limited life & need replacing every season, or only if it gets crashed?
Looks fast standing still…
I love this feature too. Good work fellas.
Those black stanchions are anodised with Marmite.
You heard it here first folks…
Interesting how Minnaar is using a Vivid coil and Peaty a Vivid Air.
Scott is pretty confident in its carbon technology. I’m pretty sure there isn’t even a ride weight limit on it. For more details on the Scale 899 and 949, have a look at our Scale launch story
Looking at that V10, I think Minaar might fit a 29″er better, it looks a bit small wheeled and tall