Scott Voltage eRIDE is essentially the electric version of our Bike Of The Year, the Scott Genius. Does adding watts into the mix move more mountains, or just muddy the waters?

• Brand: Scott
• Product: Voltage eRIDe 900 Tuned
• From: Scott Sports
• Price: £10,999
• Tested by: Benji for 2 months

Pros

• Well, it’s a Scott Genius that makes you Nick Craig
• Beautiful feeling frame and suspension
• Good all-rounder geometry

Cons

• Not really a midpower eMTB
• Thru-headset routing
• TracLoc is unnecessary

Oh man, I hated this bike. I hated that I loved it. It flies in the face of so many things that I preach and pontificate about. It’s expensive. It’s carbon fibre. It’s not a full-power ebike. The display doesn’t tell you the time. It has integrated everything. Its stem is too long and is not easily swapped. It has far too much jewelry on the handlebars. The motor’s MPG is not great. The bike has thru-headset routing FFS.

But I’m a big enough person to admit that the Scott Voltage eRIDE is easily on the podium of the best ebikes I’ve ever ridden. Goddammit.

And yes, the TQ motor really is incredibly quiet. You can’t hear it at all when on off-road proper. If you really, really try you can just about make out what sounds like a mouse’s disc rotor rubbing very slightly. So if that’s what you’re after – a lack of motor whine – the TQ is for you. Personally I don’t mind motor-whine (I find it quite useful, weirdly) but each to their own.

Before we dive further into the ebike stuff (motor, battery, display etc), a pedal assist mountain bike is still a mountain bike. A good ebike needs first and foremost to be a good bike. It’s here that the Scott Voltage eRIDE scores big. It has a nigh-on perfect blend of the Holy Trinity: frame geometry, chassis feel and suspension performance. More about this later.

As for the ebikey stuff, I absolutely need to make it clear that I don’t think this bike is a midpower eMTB. Despite what the torque chart says (50Nm) the TQ HPR50 feels very much on par with the ‘SL’ bikes from a couple of years ago (like the Specialized Levo SL Gen 1 and its 35Nm of torque). Even in terms of watts, the TQ HPR50 doesn’t give out the full 300w of peak power very readily until you yourself are putting in 200w+. And I did very occasionally encounter a drop in power during super long drawn out climbs (presumably due to heat management issues).

And the top level of assist (let’s call it ‘Boost’ because we all do) rinses the battery with such alarming alacrity that you will very rarely use it aside from Power Hour lunchtime blasts. How fast does Boost rinse? I emptied the battery in under 20km numerous times. With the 160Wh range extender added on (950g by the way), the best I got on a pure Boost-powered ride was around 27km.

Regarding the range extender, the fact that you can run a range extender battery AND still run a water bottle is really very pleasing indeed. Chapeau to the Scott boffins for pulling that off.

But you know what? None of the above ‘problems’ turned out to be problems at all really. Once I’d learned to treat the Voltage eRIDE as being a now rather unfashionable ‘SL’ (low-power?) eMTB. Keep it out of Boost and all my worries disappeared. I’m pleased to say that the mileage on offer in the other two assist settings (Eco and Trail, shall we say?) is exponentially better.

The TQ motor has a extremely natural feel to it. It’s very subtle but effective. There’s no surprises or jerky jarrings. It is very, very predictable which goes a long way in my book. It is also a motor that does not suffer from ‘cut-off dread’ ie. when the assistance stops when you go over 15mph. It doesn’t feel like you hit that disheartening wall of resented extra effort as you do with full- and mid-power ebikes. Similarly, it doesn’t feel like a waste of time riding it in Eco; it still feels like it’s assisting you a worthwhile amount.

For those of you who may be umming and arring between the Scott Voltage eRIDE and the lesser-travel Scott Lumen. Go Voltage. You will not regret supersizing your order.

As you can see (or rather can’t) the rear shock has been given the same treatment as on Scott’s Genius, Spark and Ransom bikes. It’s hidden away in the seat/down-tube junction box. There’s probably only the TQ motor that would actually fit into Scott’s desired signature packaging in fact.

There’s no denying that the hidden shock makes initial set-up more laborious but how often do you set-up (or even adjust) the dials on your shock? There is also definitely something to be said for keeping the rear shock away from UK filth. Oh, and the external sag indicator on the upper link is just a better way of measuring sag (and travel use) that an o-ring on a shock shaft.

I did not find the multi-limbed TracLoc remote to be terrifically useful. The geometry and suspension can just be set and forget. There is compression and rebound damping available on the rear shock even in ‘open’ mode; it’s still damped and adjustably so. The seat angle is steep, the chainstays are relatively long (15mm longer than the Scott Genius) and the highish bottom bracket all make for an excellent ascender, whether it be fireroad grinds or technical challenges.

I will say that the TracLoc didn’t impinge anything (the conjoined dropper lever is cleverly setback and away ‘just so’ from the rear shock levers so ‘wrong lever syndrome’ wasn’t a thing). The TracLoc was just a bit superfluous. I’d probably remove it and just run a trad dropper remote if it was my bike.

Adjacent to the TracLoc is the dinky e-remote. Whilst it doesn’t do anything more than it has to (up/down assist level) it is easy to operate and discreet. Similarly discreet is the top-tube display. Although it’s monochrome nature does look a bit 1980s compared to multi-coloured higher resolutions screens (such as SRAM Powertrain’s display), the info there is clear and concise and useful (cadence, motor output watts, rider input watts, battery remaining, assist level etc). I do really wish it could display the time though!

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Scott Voltage eRIDE 900 Tuned was its ‘softness’. It may look like a Stealth Fighter Jet but it’s much more like Herbie the VW Beetle. It’s a friendly and helpful little bike. Call this chassis flex/feel if you wish. It is exceptionally comfortable. Which makes it exceptional grippy, and an extremely capable descender.

This fantastic give ‘n’ go quality can’t really be assigned to one thing. It’s not just frame construction. It’s componentry too. The wheels, the handlebars, the gorgeous grips, the 2.6in tyres (well, the rear one at least – the front was a tad too wibbly!) and the suspension units.

It didn’t go unnoticed that the fork was a Grip 2 damped Fox 36, not one of the newer GripX ones. The rear shock is also from Fox and is a co-designed version of a similar era Float X. The suspension felt incredibly supple off-the-top but with plenty of support deeper in. It’s grippy and comfy at slow, mild stuff but steps up its game when the terrain get hectic. Really, really good.

Overall

The Scott Voltage eRIDE 900 Tuned is a unique bike. In a weird way it’s slightly old fashioned (if anything carbon and e-bikey can be ‘old fashioned’). It’s like one of those diet eMTBs from a few years ago that were so desperate to be light AF that they forgot to be actually capable. Or fun. The Voltage is highly capable and hilariously fun. It feels like a more considered, wiser, just plain better execution of an SL eMTB. Actually, it is not old fashioned really. What it is is unfashionable. And it’s all the better for it.

Scott Voltage eRIDe 900 Tuned Specification

• Frame // HMF Carbon, 155mm
• Shock // Fox Float X Nude Factory EVOL, 185x55mm
• Fork // FOX 36 Float Factory Grip 2, 160mm
• Wheels // Syncros Revelstoke 1.0-30 CL
• Front tyre // Maxxis Assegai, EXO+, 3C MaxxTerra 29×2.6in
• Rear tyre // Maxxis Dissector, 3C MaxxTerra, 27.5×2.6in
• Chainset // e*thirteen e*spec Race Carbon, 175mm, 34T
• Drivetrain // SRAM GX AXS Eagle Transmission, 10-52T
• Brakes // SRAM Code Silver Stealth, 200/200mm
• Stem // Syncros Hixon iC Carbon, 50mm
• Bars // Syncros Hixon iC Carbon, 780x25mm
• Grips // Syncros Endurance Lock-on
• Seatpost // Syncros Duncan Dropper Post 1.5S, 210mm, 31.6mm
• Saddle // Syncros Tofino 1.5 Titanium rails
• Bottom Bracket // TQ
• Motor // TQ HPR50, 50Nm
• Battery // TQ 360Wh (plus 160Wh range extender)
• Size tested // L
• Sizes available // S, M, L, XL
• Weight // 19.3kg

Geometry of our size L

• Head angle // 63.9°
• Effective seat angle // 77.1°
• Seat tube length // 450mm
• Head tube length // 120mm
• Effective top tube // 630mm
• BB height // 27.4mm BB drop
• Reach // 485mm
• Chainstay // 455mm
• Wheelbase // 1,285mm

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