Up next in 10
After 6 months of testing, and countless changes to tyres, wheels and the cockpit setup, Wil gives us his verdict on the 2018 Scott Genius 900 Tuned!
Read the full review of this super versatile all mountain bike right here: https://singletrackworld.com/2018/07/long-term-review-did-wil-ruin-the-scott-genius-900-tuned-test-bike-with-these-3-changes/
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everyone its rookie from single track
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magazine and single track WorldCom and
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I'm gonna talk to you about a bike that
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I've been testing for the past six
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months this is the Scot genius 900 tuned
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this is the long term test bike of mine
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and I've had the chance to play around
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with a bunch of components on this bike
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just to see how versatile it is now I'll
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start with the basics this is a 150 mm
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travel 29er like a lot of Scot models
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though it does have a few tricks up its
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sleeve and the main one for the genius
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platform is it is dual wheel size
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compatible so although the 900 model
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comes with 29 wheels this same frame and
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fork will accommodate 27.5 Plus wheels
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as well there's a simple geometry chip
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at the top of the shock mount here and
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you flip that 180 degrees you have a
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high position and a low position the
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high position is what you would run with
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27.5 Plus wheels and tires and the low
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position which is how it is set now is
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how you'd run it with the 29 inch wheels
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now this is the 900 tune model so it's
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one step down from the top of the range
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that said it's still very very expensive
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you're looking at just shy of 7 grand
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for this bike a lot of that money though
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has gone into a very high-end
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carbon-fiber frame it's got as use hmx
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carbon fiber for this frame construction
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that includes carbon fiber main frame
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and a carbon fiber swing arm with an
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alloy link in between it's also very
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very light weight we're talking two
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thousand two hundred and forty nine
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grams with the rear shock that's for a
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medium genius 900 frame and that is
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exceptionally light especially for a
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bike with this much travel and the
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ability to take such wide tires as well
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to put that weight in perspective Yeti's
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SB 100 which is a hundred millimeter
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travel cross-country trail bike actually
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has a heavier frame than this so that
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kind of puts it in perspective how light
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this thing is and Scott I've got the
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weight down with a few different
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techniques now it is a tapered head tube
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up front we've got a press fit 90 to
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bottom bracket and down the bottom there
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in terms of the suspension linkage
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weight has been saved by using bushings
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for some of the pivots rather than
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cartridge ball bearings now steel
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bearings are used for the main pivot
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and the central rocker link pivot but
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for everything else the bottom shock
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mount the top shock mount and the rear
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pivots on the seat stay and chain stay
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these are all bushings and the system is
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very similar to what you'll find in the
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end of your shocks so there's a D u
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Busch with an alloy top hat it's a press
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fit system you don't need any tools
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really to pull it apart you can do it
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just a home in your own workshop and
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that means it's very easy to service and
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clean they're very easy to replace
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they're also cheap to replace too so
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aside from them being very lightweight
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and an area where Scott has been able to
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save some weight compared to cartridge
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bearings they're also pretty easy to
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work on
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the downside is they will wear a little
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bit faster than a standard cartridge
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bearings so for those who ride in wet
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conditions
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aka most UK mountain bikers that's
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something that you will want to keep an
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eye on and the six months of testing
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that I've been doing on this bike
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granted it has been very dry lately but
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I haven't encountered any issues without
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those pivots so far but still is
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something that you will want to keep an
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eye on right so the suspension design
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out here is another key area that's
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changed significantly over the previous
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genius platform Scott that calls this
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the virtual four-link suspension design
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it's essentially a four bar arrangement
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with a horse link pivot at the back and
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a vertically mounted rear shock here now
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the shock itself is a fox evil model so
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it's got the big negative air chamber
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and the larger positive air chamber as
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well it's designed to give it a really
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smooth and kind of coil like feel but
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there are some differences on this shot
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compared to an off-the-shelf Fox float
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DPS Scott actually calls this the nude
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shock and it is their design made by Fox
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Racing shocks and the clever part about
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this shock is it's three positions now
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that's operated by a remote hannover
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Scott calls at the twin lock system
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you've got descend which is your full
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open mode you've got traction control
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which is the middle position and then
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you've got a full lockout as well now
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the middle traction control position is
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the really clever one
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rather than being just a compression
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adjustment to firm up the suspension it
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actually affects the spring volume so
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there's a valve inside here and when you
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flick into that traction control mode
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that valve closes off
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heart of the positive air spring and it
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shrinks down the volume and as soon as
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you do that you end up with a much more
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progressive feel to the rear shock
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in fact it's so progressive that it
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limits the travel from 150 millimeters
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on the back to just 100 millimeters that
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makes the suspension not only more pert
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and efficient it also lifts the ride
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height as well so Scott says you'll get
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an extra 5 mil in bottom bracket height
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so to lift the pedals off the ground a
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little bit more and also steepen the
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angles attached to so your head angle in
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your seat angle get around half a degree
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steeper in that traction control
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position the result of those two changes
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so the more efficient suspension
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performance and also the change to the
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dynamic geometry makes that middle
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traction control position a fantastic
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climbing aid I mean this is a big bike
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it's a 150 ml travel 29er
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but thanks to that lightweight carbon
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frame and that middle traction control
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position it climbs really really well
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you get noticeably more pedal clearance
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and because it sits up a little bit
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higher your keeps more weight on the
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front tire stops of wandering so much
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keeps a little bit more predictability
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to the steering as you kind of power
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your way up technical climbs so although
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it's a bit skeptical at first and
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especially because there are so many
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cables on the front of the bike it is a
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genuine performance enhancer that twin
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lock system so it is very impressive one
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thing I have changed though is I have
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removed the cable for the fork lock out
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now that's because the twin lock system
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only alters the fork compression it
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doesn't do anything with the air spring
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like it does with the rear shock it's a
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much more basic system with the Fox 36
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fork on the front there so essentially
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you've got open medium compression and
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then full lockout and what I found is in
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the middle traction control position the
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fork would actually get a little bit too
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firm and so wouldn't absorb bumps as
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much and it also sit a little bit higher
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which would kick back the angles and
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that would result in sort of a more
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wandering feel to the to the front tire
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so by removing the cable the fork is
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left in full open all the time and that
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allows it to say more responsive whether
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you're climbing or descending and and
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also to sit a little bit lower in its
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travel so that's one thing I've changed
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all
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meetings up the cockpit a little bit by
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removing one of those cables right so
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the build kit on this bike this being
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one step down from the top of the range
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model it isn't quite the full bling
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build kit but it is still pretty sharp
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we have fox Kashima suspension front and
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rear that's with a 36 fork on the front
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I've also got a lovely Kashima dropper
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post on here unfortunately though it's
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only hundred and twenty-five mil on the
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bigger sizes large and extra large you
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do get 150 but on the medium and small
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it's a bit shorter I'd like a little bit
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more drop out of this going down really
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steep stuff tend to catch the saddle on
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the inside of my baggy shorts so it'd be
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nice to have a little bit more drop out
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of that seat post drivetrain comes from
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SRAM we've got the XO one Eagle one by
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twelve drivetrain that has not skipped a
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beat that's been fantastic likewise the
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guide RSC brakes have been superb these
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have a really nice leaver feel great
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modulation good power as well and
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although I've nearly cooked to the brake
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pads they're very very close to the end
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of life the lever feels stayed really
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consistent and the lever throw has
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stayed really consistent - which I can't
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see for cheaper guide brakes which tend
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to end up with a lot of lever throws the
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pad starts to wear in I guess the most
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striking part of this bike in terms of
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the build kit it's got to be that
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one-piece handlebar and stem this is the
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synchros Hickson handlebar and it
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integrates the hand behind the stem into
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the one carbon fiber structure I took
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that off the bike and wader and it comes
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in at 297 grams so very very lightweight
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it's got really nice sweet to it it's
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very comfortable as well really good
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vibration damping so a nice comfortable
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position but also a little bit less
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feedback from hitting rocks and rubble
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on the trail but it is too narrow it's
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760 millimeters wide which for a big
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bike like this is too narrow now for
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2019 it looks like Scott and synchros
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have recognized that this handlebars
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gonna grow to 780 millimeters wide I did
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play around with a wider bar for the
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latter part of the test to put on a
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rental handlebar with 800 millimeter
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width which suited this bike a lot
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better gave a lot more stability on the
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front of the bike and especially when
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you've got such big wheels that big hand
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of our allows you to kind of reel
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hit the bike down and refit through the
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corners which sometimes it doesn't need
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right so I'll go through three things
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that I didn't like about this bike I
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mentioned before about the dropper post
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travel being a little bit too short part
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of that is the seat tube is a little
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long I think for a bike of this style
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other brands are running much shorter
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seat tubes which obviously allows you to
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run a longer dropper post on this frame
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not only is it a bit longer it's also
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bent in the middle of the seat tube and
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that limits how far you can put the the
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seat post down into the frame so I think
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that could be a little bit shorter and
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that would allow riders like myself with
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short little legs to get a bit more
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travel out of that dropper post I think
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the stock tires on this bike are a
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little bit undergunned they're very very
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lightweight these two point six inch
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knobby Nick's but they're a little bit
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scraggly on kind of loose terrain in
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fact I didn't really find too many
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conditions where they were really good I
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think because this bike is so capable it
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warrants heavier duty tires ties that
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can match the capabilities of the frame
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geometry and suspension the knobby
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Nick's are very very lightweight these
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are the snakeskin version they're under
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a kilo each which for a tire this high
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volume is quite lightweight and you can
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feel that in the casing it is quite thin
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I guess the third thing on this bike
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that that doesn't float my boat is the
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twin lock system it's so close to being
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perfect but there are a few things on
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here that let it down notably the clamp
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that holds the whole system including
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the dropper remote to the handlebar is
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hidden behind the dropper post noodle
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which is really really dumb that makes
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it really hard to access and it does
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mean if you want to adjust the angle of
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the twin lock remote in theory you
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actually need to remove the seat post
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from the frame take the cable off the
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end of the dropper post undo the noodle
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at the handlebar so you can access that
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bolt which is which is stupid I don't
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know why it's like that for 2019 Scott
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has refined a twin lock system though so
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that is already being addressed on the
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new version of this bike obviously the
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clutter on there I've mentioned before
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but as I said the twin lock system is a
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big performance enhancer for this bike
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so if you can get over the fact that
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there's an extra cable on the bike being
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able to remotely control that rear shock
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he's a big performance advantage for
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this bike on two three things that I
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loved about this bike right so the
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suspension quality is superb
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Scot I've got the kinematics on the rear
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suspension on this bike absolutely
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dialed combined with a 36 fork up front
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which is proven performer the platform
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on this bike is really really nice very
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plush it's got an ear bottomless feel to
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it great sensitivity all of the
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buzzwords this bike has it even in the
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open mode actually pedals pretty well so
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the kinematics have been tuned so that
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there's a bit of anti-squat there so
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when you're on the pedals it's not going
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to dive and Bob through the travel
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obviously you've got the remote there to
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help you out with pedal efficiency when
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you need it but it's surprising how well
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it pedals in the open position that said
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big hit capabilities been fantastic as
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well and this bike is surely capable of
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those those bigger drops and hit I guess
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that's the second thing that I would say
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that I love about this bike the handling
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and geometry
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absolutely superb and a lot of that
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comes down to that lightweight and stiff
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carbon-fiber frame gives it a load pop
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and agility a lot really for 150 ml
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travel 29er but it's tracks really true
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even when you kind of like ping
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pinballing around really rough rocky
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Tundra descents
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it's got great tracking and great
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accuracy when you need to kind of pick
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your line around those bigger bigger
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boulders and bigger rocks and the last
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thing I really like about this bike is
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the wheel size adaptability I did play
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around with 27.5 Plus tires on here and
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and it was an absolute hoot I put on a
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DHR on the front and a high-roller too
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on the back which are very slow rolling
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tires very heavy duty but Wow I mean on
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the rough stuff this bike just
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absolutely flies and with the plus
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rubber you can dump it into some awful
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trail conditions and it will come out
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the other side it's got loads of
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traction loads of comfort to be honest I
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think that plus tires are probably a bit
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wasted on a bike with this much travel
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that's already it's already very
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comfortable as it is but it's great to
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have that wheel size adaptability and
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you can also play around with putting a
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27 plus wheel on the back and a 29 inch
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wheel on the front and then you've got
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that geometry adjuster in between as
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well for
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for messing around with so loads of
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capability for for experimenting
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depending on your terrain and your
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riding style and now I have written two
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separate reviews on this bike the first
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one that came out a couple of months ago
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which is a bit of a look at the bike in
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its stock configuration and if you jump
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on single track wheel calm now you'll
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see my final review where I've made a
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few different changes such as that wider
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hand over the change to the twin lock
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setup and also the 27.5 Plus wheels - if
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you jump on the website you can read
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both of those reviews now and if you've
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got any questions in the meantime drop
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them in the comment section below and
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I'll do my best to answer them for you
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but there you go that's a bit of a look
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at the Scot genius 900 tuned my name is
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will thanks for watching
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Teru
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