Takeaway: The all-new, fourth-generation Scott Spark gives a peek at where cross-country race bikes are heading over the next few years. The radical-looking frame pushes integration, geometry, and travel on a cross-country bike to new extremes. In essence, they are redefining what we can expect from XCO racing bikes going forward.
- 120mm of front and rear travel with a three-mode lockout.
- 29"x2.4" tires on 30mm internal wheels have nearly endless traction on rough technical trails.
- Integrated rear suspension makes for a unique look with the added benefit of fitting two water bottles.
Pros
- 120mm of travel front and rear is combined with a 3-mode remote lockout
- 2x2.4 tires as stock
- Room for two water bottles inside the main triangle
Cons
- Cables routed through headset bearing
- Press-fit bottom bracket
Style: Full suspension cross-country race bike
Frame: Scott RC Spark, BB92, 12x148mm w/ 55mm chainline
Material: Scott HMX Carbon Fiber
Wheel Size: 29"
Fork: RockShox SID Select+ RL3 Air, Custom Charger w/ 3-Mode Damper, 15x110mm, 44mm offset, 120mm travel
Rear Shock: RockShox NUDE 5 RL3, 3-modes: Lockout, 80mm travel, 120mm travel
Drivetrain: Sram X01/GX Eagle AXS, 12 Speed
Cranks: SRAM XO1 DUB Eagle Carbon
Chainring: 32
Rear Cassette: Shimano SLX M7100 10-51 12-speed
Brakes: Shimano XTR 180mm front / 160mm rear
Wheels: Front: DT Swiss 370 Hub, 15x110mm thru-axle/Rear: DT Swiss 370 Hub, 12x148mm Syncros Silverson 1.0 Tubeless Ready Carbon Rims, 28 hole
Tires: Maxxis Rekon Race 29x2.4, 120TPI EXO Casing, Tubeless Ready
Saddle: Syncros Belcarra Regular 1.5 Titanium Rails
Seatpost: FOX Transfer SL Performance Elite 100mm Dropper 31.6
Handlebar / Stem: Syncros Fraser IC SL XC Carbon, -12° rise, 8° back sweep, 740mm width
It’s not that long ago that a 120mm travel full suspension bike would have been considered a trail bike. But as trail bikes have increased in travel to 140mm, or even 150mm, cross country race bikes have generally remained frozen at 100mm travel for over a decade. (Trek even went in the opposite direction with the Super Caliber, with a mere 60mm rear-wheel travel.) Scott, meanwhile, has decided that it was time for cross-country bikes to progress.
Enter the 4th generation Spark RC, Scott’s newest edition of its race-proven cross country platform. A quick glance is all you’ll need to see that this bike is a pretty radical visual departure from any other full-suspension bike on the market, with its completely integrated rear shock and road-bike-style cable management system upfront. The visually unique suspension layout delivers 120mm of rear-wheel travel, while maintaining the vertical shock mounting that Scott has used in the past. The new Syncros Fraser iC bar and stem combo routes all the cables heading to the rear of the bike through the top headset bearing. A trick straight from the aero-road-bike playbook. Scott is sticking to its polarizing TwinLoc remote system, which now also incorporates a dropper-seatpost remote. The result is a race bike that simultaneously looks cleaner, and more complicated, at the same time.
Bike Family
The Scott Spark range for 2022 is immense. There are, quite literally, too many models to list here individually without putting you to sleep. The good news is that there is a Spark available at almost any price point, thanks to the five different frameset variations. So, to simplify this for you (All weights are for medium size with shock & hardware):
→ There are three different full carbon offerings ranging from the top-of-the-line HMX-SL (1870g), to the mid-tier HMX (1999g), to the base model HMF (2150g).
→ Scott pairs an HMF front triangle for mid-level builds to an alloy rear (2590g total).
→ For those on more of a budget, there is a full alloy frameset (3290g) as well.
The Spark RC models are race-focused and are only available with full carbon frames. There are seven Spark RC builds; ranging from the top-of-the-line Spark RC SL EVO AXS at $14,000 to the relatively modest-priced Spark RC Comp at $4,000. Our test bike was the Spark RC World Cup AXS bike which retails for $9,000.
The Spark 900 series is billed as the trail-oriented version of the Spark. These models use 130mm travel forks and a geometry-adjust headset, providing a 2-degree slacker head tube angle compared to the RC models. With the top of the line, Spark 900 Ultimate Evo AXS bike retailing for $14,000. There are also builds using the alloy/carbon frame and full alloy bikes that start at $2,800.
Finally, the Contessa Spark models use the same frames as other versions of the Spark, but with women’s specific touch points and slightly lighter suspension tunes. Scott currently has four versions of the Contessa Spark for sale; three being the 900 trail-tuned variety ranging from $5,000 to $3,200, and one Contessa Spark RC World Cup model that retails for $9,000.
Geometry
With the increased travel front and rear comes a new geometry set for the Spark. The headtube is more than a full degree slacker versus the previous generation Spark—at 67.2º—with a 2-3º steeper seat tube angle (depending on size). Reach grows by at least 12mm across all sizes. These changes are in line with current trends in mountain bike geometry for bikes prioritizing downhill speed and handling while remaining efficient climbers.
It’s hard not to overuse words such as “progressive,” “slack,” and “long” when talking about the new Spark, but that is precisely how these bikes stack up with their competitors in the XC race category. Comparing the Spark to bikes such as the Specialized Epic, Canyon LUX, Orbea Oiz, and Santa Cruz Blur, the Spark posts the most progressive numbers out of all of these bikes. It has the slackest head tube, steepest seat tube, longest reach, and the longest wheelbase of the bunch.
Despite these changes, the fit of the Spark remains relatively unchanged, with shorter stem lengths on all sizes to compensate for the longer reach numbers. So, sticking to your current frame size is recommended for anyone looking to upgrade to a new Spark from the current version.
Integrated shock and a whole lot more
It would be easy to dedicate this whole section to the most obvious feature of the Spark: the hidden rear shock. If you follow mountain bike tech closely, you might remember Scott Sports purchasing a majority stake in the small Swiss brand Bold Cycles two years ago. Bold Cycles was known for exactly one thing, their hidden rear shock bike. The new Spark is the first bike that Scott has used Bolds integrated suspension solution.
Despite the radical new look, the rear suspension function is not much different than the previous generation Spark. The layout features the same high single-pivot, with seat stay flex just in front of the rear axle and a linkage-driven vertical shock. You just can’t see most of it now.
Scott calls this setup Integrated Suspension Technology, which has a few obvious benefits, and drawbacks. There is (finally) room for two water bottles inside the main triangle, and as the shock is now totally enclosed inside the frame, completely shielding it from mud and grime. Scott claims that the design yields some performance gains by allowing the weight of the shock and hardware to sit lower in the frame, thus lowering its center of gravity. There are also claimed improvements in lateral stiffness due to the way the shock mounts inside the frame and the use of larger bearings in the seat tube pivot.
The theme of integration continues up front with an all-new Syncros cockpit. While the bar doesn’t run any of its many cables internally, once they get to the stem, the shift, brake, and suspension control cables are routed through an oversized upper headset cup and into the front triangle. All of this looks very tidy and clean, but it does have a major downside.
TwinLoc has been a hallmark of Scott mountain bikes for many years now, and the new Spark gets a new triple TwinLoc system with an integrated dropper remote lever. Now, your left-hand controls both the front and rear suspension, as well as your dropper. All of this with just a push of a thumb.
The central technological theme of the new Spark is integration. Scott has integrated the shock into the frame and has brought aero road-bike-style cable management to the front end of the bike as well. In theory, both provide some performance gains but at the expense of end-user serviceability. Despite my initial misgivings about the shock, it does not appear to be any harder to live with than an externally mounted shock. It’s still straightforward to adjust shock air pressure and rebound. Servicing the shock and linkage is still done the same way as before, and the giant opening in the downtube helps quite a bit with routing internal cables.
But, yes, the cables. It’s undeniable that Scott has managed to tidy up the front end of the new Spark. Is that worth having to fish hydraulic lines through your headset bearings? Probably not. This is a bit of road bike tech that I was hoping mountain bikes would avoid. Having the cables enter the head tube just a few centimeters lower would avoid having to cut and re-install your brake lines next time you want to replace a headset bearing.
With pedals, our test bike weighed in at 24lbs, which is a little under half a pound heavier than claimed by Scott. There are lighter full-suspension cross country bikes out there, but none have as much travel as the Spark.
Finally, I need to deduct some points from Scott for sticking with a press-fit BB92 shell while other bike brands return to threaded bottom brackets. Scott bikes are some of the few I have ridden which have not had issues with their press-fit bottom brackets; and the BB on the Spark test bike remained silent throughout our test. However, at this point, there is no compelling reason to use a press-fit BB when releasing a new frame.
Ride Impressions
With the new Spark, Scott has managed to create a bike that is nearly as capable downhill as a trail bike while sacrificing absolutely nothing on the climbs. It is the cross-country bike every major company has been promising us since the term “down-country” started to bounce around the bike industry a couple of years back. Much of this performance comes from the increased travel and the ability to control that travel with the TwinLoc remote’s three riding modes. You can fully lockout all 120mm of travel, or fully open it. But additionally, TwinLoc also adds a middle setting where the fork is firmed up, while rear shock travel is reduced to 80mm. Most other lockout systems are either open or closed, with nothing in between.
Riding the Spark, the TwinLoc allows me to perfectly select the amount of suspension I need for any bit of trail. On fire roads or smooth doubletrack, the fully locked-out Spark climbed as well as a fully rigid bike. Even out of the saddle, there was no hint of flex in the rear linkage. The steeper seat tube angle centered me right over the bottom bracket for efficient power transfer when seated. The position also helped counteract the slacker headtube angle, preventing the front wheel from wandering around too much on steep climbs.
I generally skipped the middle suspension mode and went straight to fully open on steep, loose, and more technical climbs. Whatever I lost in pedaling efficiency was made up for by the suspension’s ability to maintain traction. I mostly used the middle lockout setting on fast bits of singletrack where I would need to brake hard and then sprint out of corners. Unsurprisingly, those types of efforts left the fully open 120mm rear end feeling a bit too soft under hard pedaling.
Pointing the Spark downhill had it going from strength to strength. The 20mm of extra travel and the slacker headtube actually got me into trouble a few times because I was simply underestimating how fast I was heading into a corner. The bike was quite literally changing my perception of descending speed. Even without a dropper post, which is how I rode it (please direct your angry tweets to my supervisor), the longer reach naturally put me in a good descending position, slightly behind the saddle, with good control of my front wheel. This often felt like an exaggeration on more traditional cross-country race bikes with steeper head tube angles, long stems, and short top tubes, but it felt natural on the Spark.
Scott quite intentionally built the Spark with a lot of tire clearance. Mounted to 30mm internal Syncros Silverstone 1.0 wheels, the Maxxis Recon Race 2.4” tires gave the Spark a massive footprint. In combination with the 20% more travel, the wider tires made the Spark feel like it had an endless amount of traction, even when traversing wet rocky and rooty trails. Not to mention that Scott and Maxxis claim that the larger volume tires roll quite a bit faster and negate their extra weight.
The only terrain on which the Spark struggled were old school trails. Essentially flatter, tighter, bits of trail built when the 26” wheel still reigned supreme. If you have ridden the Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I almost hesitate to use the word, struggled because the Spark was still fast, but it took more effort and concentration. The Spark has all the straight-line speed and rapid acceleration that your legs can give it, but I would often find the front end understeering in tighter, slower turns. The slacker headtube angle and longer wheelbase required me to turn in a bit sooner or pick wider lines to smooth out the corner whenever possible.
Scott managed to make the newest Spark more capable downhill without sacrificing any uphill performance. It is a cross-country race bike through and through, but it’s also one that can just as easily be enjoyed as a fast trail bike. The Spark takes another step towards cross-country bikes, becoming more like trail bikes without losing any of the raw pedaling efficiency that makes cross-country bikes awesome. It’s easy to recommend his bike to anyone who wants to race cross-country or marathon mountain bike races. The new Spark will make a fantastic mountain bike for riders who enjoy the steep climbs and techy descents but, don't want to deal with the weight of a longer travel trail bike.
