Yesterday, I wrote an extended breakdown of Scott’s all-new carbon Ransom enduro bike, however now I need to dive deeper into my expertise driving the top-spec Scott Ransom 900 RC. Scott developed the brand new bike to take enduro up a notch. And with an all-new 6-bar suspension design and distinctive rear suspension distant, they created what I see as a freeride bike for the downhills and an all-mountain path bike for the climbs. With virtually no compromises at both finish of the spectrum.
Using the brand new Scott Ransom 900 RC carbon enduro bike
I spent three lengthy days again in mid-November driving the brand new bike on steep, rocky & unfastened pure trails in Santa Coloma de Farners, simply outdoors of Girona, Spain. And I got here away desirous to journey the bike increasingly more. After which I left. Wishing that my dwelling bikepark wasn’t already deep in snowy snowboarding season for the following a number of months.
All-new 6-bar suspension design
There’s a lot that’s distinctive in regards to the new bike. Like its comparatively difficult 6-bar suspension design. Or the Built-in Suspension Expertise design that hides the rear shock contained in the bulbous downtube. Or inside body storage, inside cable routing, adjustable geometry, and extra.
Learn my full 2024 Scott Ransom launch story for all of the nerdy particulars.
However what actually struck me in regards to the bike was that it was simply tremendous composed and playful to journey. With three distinct personalities.
It might be a full fuel freeride bike that wished to fly down tough tracks at excessive velocity. It might be a progressive enduro bike that dove into technical sections and popped off each lip on the path. Or it was a upright path bike, that clawed its method up steep and tight climbs.
The way it does all three comes all the way down to Trac-Loc
That is genuinely the one most vital function of the brand new Ransom. And it’s what makes you actually in a position to benefit from the 170mm of plush 6-bar rear suspension.
You’ll be able to’t truly see the tech that makes this work. As a result of it occurs contained in the customized Fox Float X Nude EVOL rear shock. And you may’t even see that as a result of Scott hides it contained in the body. So, as a substitute we have a look at the 3-position Twin-Loc 2 distant. The 2 higher levers cycle you thru 3 rear shock modes – Climb, Ramp Management & Descend. And the decrease lever is your dropper put up distant.
It’s not a lockout, however reasonably three completely different shock tunes accessible on the push of a button.
Climb, Ramp Management, or Descend
The absolutely open Descend mode is constructed to fly. Right here you get unrestricted entry to the most effective that the 6-bar can ship. A rearward axle path and progressive linkage price that east up large hits for breakfast. Go down as quick as you possibly can maintain on, like you might be driving just a few years previous DH bike, however improve with 29er wheels to roll over all the pieces.
The center Ramp Management mode is essentially the most attention-grabbing. By closing an air chamber within the rear shock, you successfully get quantity spacers that you just drop in on the push of a button. No change to the complete 170mm of journey or your compression damping settings. The bike simply turns into immediately extra progressive.
Altering quantity spacers to regulate your shock development for various driving situations isn’t actually possible for the typical mountain biker. However having the ability to do the identical factor on the flick of a change is game-changing.
Curiously, the center Ramp Management mode is a variety of enjoyable on descents that aren’t too technical – assume flowy berms and soar strains. Nevertheless it’s additionally good for climbs that aren’t as clean or steep.
Lastly, Climb mode will increase compression damping, reduces rear journey all the way down to 130mm, and lowers the air quantity for extra development. Collectively, it makes you sit up larger within the stiffened suspension, and makes pedaling uphill a breeze. Excellent for when you actually need to stomp up some steep climbs that demand your consideration.
Using the brand new Scott Ransom 900 RC out on the path
The very first thing I did on the brand new Ransom was pedaling up steep, rocky, sandy fireplace street climbs. And alternating between Ramp Management & Climb let me alter the bike to how my legs have been feeling on the time.
Then as the large rock slab descents received steeper and rougher, I’d transition from the playful Ramp Management mode into full-on Descend to let the bike absorb the large and typically surprising hits. And as I received as much as full-send speeds, I may let the gravity-shredding magic of the brand new 6-bar actually do its factor.
How a lot does it actually weigh?
Wanting again at it now, it’s no large shock that my sub 16kg ready-to-ride take a look at bike climbed nicely in 130mm journey mode. (Dimension Massive at 15.96kg with 480g of Mallet DH pedals, a bottle cage, arrange tubeless, and with a spare tube, levers & chaintool contained in the matchbox inside storage.)
After all, that’s not superlight for a path bike, however with a gravity-ready burly construct it’s actually not that heavy. My metal enduro hardtail weighs virtually that with all the pieces I stick with it common rides. And my carbon fatbike with 130mm fork, a body pack to hold additional heat garments, and light-weight studded tires weighs the identical for the time being. And I’m pleased to pedal these slowly up infinite climbs, too.
Weight is basically the one compromise in Climb mode. And there don’t actually really feel like there are any in Ramp Management or Descend modes.
Remodeling from Path to Enduro to Freeride, and again once more
The transformation looks like a a lot greater angle shift than I’m used to in bikes with distant lockouts or adaptable geometry. Singling out one, I really feel just like the shift is considerably extra that the expertise I’ve had with Canyon’s revolutionary ShapeShifter on their Try enduro bike. Plus, I recognize that the Ransom achieves the identical idea solely contained in the shock, which feels simpler, and fewer more likely to deteriorate in efficiency over time.
I pedaled up so much on this bike. It undoubtedly is completely an inexpensive climber. However internally, we received to speaking about ebikes after driving this new bike, as a result of at this value & weight-level, there are some strong e-Path eMTB choices, too. For these which can be itching for the help to cram extra ascents/descents in, there’s a use-case for eMTB in some locales.
However the Ransom is solely a lot extra enjoyable descending on actually tough trails, that I’m pleased to take just a few additional minutes and sweat out a bit extra on the climbs to get to my downhills.
And actually it might/might be a blast within the bikepark. It feels far more like a DH bike happening than a lot of the enduro bikes that I commonly journey at my native uplift. And method higher at climbing than the opposite large bikes, extra on par going uphill with lighter all-mountain or path bikes. The 2024 Scott Ransom is now formally a gravity bike, nevertheless it manages to vastly enhance pedal-ability on the similar time because of Trac-Loc and consumer adjustable geometry.
2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC construct spec
The 2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC reviewed right here is the top-tier 10,000€ construct, with the complete HMX carbon frameset, Fox Manufacturing unit suspension, and a SRAM X0 Eagle AXS Transmission. Whereas, there’s not much more you may ask for, even with cash as no object. Maybe a gravity-ready carbon wheelset may save just a few grams. However for a motorcycle constructed to smash bikepark laps and race blindly by rock gardens, the aluminum RaceFace R30 wheels are at the least one thing to not fear about.
Now do I actually need all these fancy parts to take pleasure in an enduro bike? I feel there are many compromises I may make to save lots of a couple of dollars, and nonetheless be pleased.
It’s actually onerous to disregard the ten,000€ pricetag of the bike, regardless of how good it rides. Certain, there are a variety of costlier bikes on the market. However that is clearly far out of many riders’ budgets. There’s a silver lining although…. All the distinctive tech that makes this bike nice, can be obtainable at decrease pricepoints. Not precisely low-cost. However the 6000€ 920 & 5200€ 930 have the identical 3-mode rear shock perform, a barely heavier carbon & alloy body, and extra inexpensive mechanical drivetrains. At simply 1-1.5kg weight penalty.
Last Ideas on the brand new Ransom
I can’t consider a motorcycle I’ve ridden in latest reminiscence that was extra composed and assured on the downhills than this new Scott Ransom.
And I kinda fell in love with its Trac-Loc distant. Particularly, driving even downhills with the rear shock within the center Ramp Management mode was a playful blast. And I actually want this was an possibility on virtually each large journey bike I journey – from all-mountain to DH. Then, in fact, popping it into Climb mode remodeled the bike utterly. It didn’t drop 2kg which might have been good, nevertheless it did make it climb significantly better than I anticipated.
If I have been trying to purchase a brand new bike for enduro racing and driving bikepark laps, that is the primary bike that I’d consider. However realistically, I’d contemplate these extra inexpensive fashions first.
