Hi All

I have Stumpjumper carbon evo 26”,which I have had from new which is perfect in every way with no need to change it,I was in my local LBS yesterday and had a quick demo on the new Stumpjumper Carbon at 3500,which got me thinking it might be time for a change,I did a bit of research when I got home and it appears to get some great reviews,I also noticed that Westbrook Cycles have the Scott Spark Premium at £3500 reduced from £7000 with a fantastic specification,which looks great value,does anyone have one of these or tried one to give me an opinion,the obvious is answer is for me to try one but I live on the south coast so too far to travel,I realise these are listed as XC bikes but wondered if they would be any good for trail riding etc.

Rode an older spark for years. A very decent do it all short travel bike. Not exactly plush but a very capable machine. I’m 200lbs or so and ride in the lakes. Took nigh on 8 years to break it.

Spark premium with nude Evol and fit4 34…entirely plush in that set up. Raceable, all day trail 120mm rocket!

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

Bear Back, I see from your previous posts that you have a lot of experience with Scott,what is your view on the Scott  Genius 700 Premium,the same company have the 2017  model for £3495 which is about half price with a great spec,I know there is new model out which put me off a little but the it does look exceptional value.

2017 spark is as fast down as the older generation genius and faster everywhere else. It took me a couple of weeks to figure out the slacker front end coming off the genius and o to the new spark and dialling in the climbing.

I loved the old genius platform, I loved the new spark. I love my new genius. The new genius might be almost as fast as the spark in all but Lycra xc events.

I’d take the 2017 spark over the 2017 genius unless you need a 150mm front end, In retrospect, an Angleset would be nice and probably improve the older genius even more as the slacker and stiffer boosted spark actually makes up for the reduced travel.imo.. I ran my spark (700 plus tuned) most of the time with 29 wheels and a 140mm 36.

Test ride to make sure it fits too

Thanks for the advice guys,but pondered for to long and they are now sold out!!

new epic evo?

I’ve got a carbon Stumpy Evo but if I needed a medium I’d be all over that Genius 700 Premium.

What a bargain….and I never thought I’d say that about a bike that still costs £3.5k.

Its back in stock in medium looks like someones cancelled an order

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-spark-700-premium-full-suspension-mountain-bike-2017-p314444

Failing that the RC one is still an absolute snatch

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-spark-rc-700-sl-full-suspension-mountain-bike-2017-p314439

2017 Genius is the older style shock and geo, meaning the 2017 Spark is slacker, much plusher and better small bump compliance using the new Trunion mounted shock, and stupidly light.

I wouldn’t go spark RC over regular spark. 100 step cast means you need/want a fork swap for bigger days. The 34 on the premium is entirely raceable, and fully trail center ready.. you get an extra 20mm out back too by not choosing the race bike.

If I had to go genius at that money, id do that 700 plus tuned over the premium. Slightly revised geo over the non plus and I believe it takes 29 also

My 2p

Didn’t realise that RE the RC BearBack. I went for the 700 Premium.

Absolutely love it. Knocked 6lbs pretty much off my older Santa Cruz Blur, which is 140 back/150 front. It feels plusher in all respects, at only 120/120,  guessing more modern geo, better shock setup! Adore the twinlock so full lockout/trail/descent, and the double up front chainrings, 36/26 and 11-40 cassette make for a mountain goat on the climbs, yet can stomp on anything flat, where my single ring buddies are spinning out.

Its an awesome leg ripper, as soon as the trail starts to ascend it just goes, always striving to get to the top first. Then click on descend mode, drop the seat and carve up the descents.

Full XTR furnish too and Factory 34s, Gezza i’d be getting the card out! 😀

Here she is, dropped the tubes, added nobbynics, and shes coming in just over 25.5lbs.

Super, check your seatpost is on the correct way round though 😉

Manual gave both choices

“The FOX Transfer Seatpost is not directional and can be installed into the frame with either side facing forward. The saddle clamps are directional. The lower saddle clamp must be positioned with the<span data-mce-mark=”1″> longer rail supports oriented toward the rear. The upper saddle clamp must be positioned with the portion of the clamp that hangs below the rails oriented toward the rear.”  http://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=687
</span>

So went for forward facing for that ultimate OCD “s” showing in the seat collar front cutout, gives perfect alignment everytime, and quite liked the text when looking at bike front on lol

Flipped the saddle clamps round mind.

^ I must admit I’ve never read the instructions.. :0

Thanks for the heads up,just secured the last one,you and bear back have convinced me,where did you get yours from Westbrook.should be here Monday.

now just have to sell the stumpjumper for a decent price.

Hey Gezza, yeah Westbrook! Start fitness had some good deals but all the wrong size for me and model number.

Took me 3-4 rides to get used to different riding position and geo, mainly on the legs, but now, holy cow, its an absolute rocket!

Can’t wait now very excited, it looks very classy and fantastic value in your photos.when it arrived did you have to do much assembly,if so any tips and did you need a torque wrench?.

They appear to be back on sale again so must have secured some more stock.

Main unpacking was cardboard wrapped round bike, with foam, then tissue paper, then more paper, the best packed thing i’ve ever opened, everysingle part covered and took a good 30 minutes just to get it all off!

Bar that fitting bars and stem, and setting up controls how I like them, fitting saddle. I use a lazer torque wrench on everything to the spec written on all the components in small text, particularly on the carbon bars

5-25 nm range covered it all

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p34759

Oh and finally filling the shocks with appropriate air and tweaking rebound etc as per the guide on Fox site, just type on fork code.

Oh and finally filling the shocks with appropriate air

How thoughtful are the sag guides!

Arrived 12.00 today which was very impressive considering I ordered it about 09.30 yesterday and I am  300 miles away,packing was the same as yours,I don’t have a torque wrench at the moment so put it together and tightened the bolts rather tentatively so I didn’t damage anything, I quickly set the suspension and went for a trial run,first impressions are it is a real do it all machine. I will pick up a torque wrench tomorrow and check the tightness then have a play with the suspension set up and check out the fox website.

Thanks for your help and recommendations

Just noticed the three bottle cage mounts are offset what’s the thinking on this?

I think they are for a super long bottle cage, never use a bottle, so left mine blanked off.

Glad you like it, I was umming and arring for a good week as never had chance to testride, but the gamble was worth!

When you get the torque wrench undo everything again then nip very loosely with allan/torx key, before using torque wrench to nip all the way up. Comes in really handy across the whole bike, although you’ll probably need a torx hex bit too.

you can mount it high or low. easy reach or low CoG

Cheers Bearback.

What do you run in front and rear shock pressure wise? I’m got 177 PSI in rear to match bodyweight lbs, and 65 PSI in 34 factorys as 77 reccomended for weight felt too harsh.

I may have been sent wrong sag guides as I think they said 100mm, not 120mm.

Question guys, im pretty sure that this plus model will take 29er wheelset. Somebody like to confirm that for me?

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-spark-710-plus-full-suspension-mountain-bike-2017-p314468

Im torn between getting this and some nice 29er wheels. or an Intense Snyper…..The Scott seems very good value, and i do prefer rhe shift/shifters on shimano.

Pressures..I don’t remember.
29’ers…

29’s in my Spark 700 tuned plus last year. This version is HMX front and rear. The 710 plus has an alloy back end but does also fit a 29’er.

@gooner full 2017 PDF here, warning may result in emptying of wallet!

https://scott-russia.com/download/Scott-2017-Spark-tech.pdf