Renting Global: 2016 SCOTT SPARK 900 PREMIUM BIKE

When you need a bike that provides front and rear suspension but gives a cross-country vibe, the Scott Spark 900/700 HMX provides the proper tool. As with most of Scott’s offerings, you choose between the lighter and more agile 27.5” wheel and the better-rolling 29er. Luckily, both are super-light, with the 27.5” coming in at 1890g, and the larger tipping the scales at 1900g, both in Medium. Scott has been tinkering with the design to make it more versatile, as that should be the calling card of any cross-country bike. They’ve improved the rear shock thanks to an ongoing collaboration with Fox. The Nude shock with DPS damping is not only easy to fine-tune when you’re off the bike, but thanks to the TwinLoc lever mounted on the underside of the left grip, you can shift through three suspension settings while you ride, open, traction control, and lockout. You can also raise or lower the bottom bracket height by 7mm (and adjust the head tube angle by .5 degrees by flipping a chip at the top of the rear suspension linkage. Stick with the lower position for better stability unless you have a particularly rocky but rideable route. Finally, they’ve lowered the lower part of the downtube for a practical reason: more room for a downtube-mounted water bottle. It is still a marvel of carbon construction, rendering it not only light, but stiff. Scott utilizes their HMX, High Modulus eXtreme, carbon cloth, which is 20% stiffer than their light and stiff HMF carbon for the same weight, meaning they can drop a good bit of weight and keep the stiffness identical, or increase the stiffness and still lose weight. The stiffness is enhanced by smart shaping, a tapered 1 1/8” to 1 1/2” steerer, a wide and strong BB92 bottom bracket, and smart pivot placement. It climbs like a hardtail thanks to the short chain stays and rolls over rough stuff like a bike with more suspension. Realizing that different wheels result in a different ride, the 27.5” bikes come with 120mm of front and rear squish, while the 29er sticks with 100mm. Thanks to this, the bike will not only rock cross-country, but offer enough comfort and stability for a marathon. With versatility in mind, the rear dropouts utilize Scott’s IDS SL dropouts. When you go with the frame, you get all the choices, a 135x5mm quick release version, a 135x12mm thru-axle, and 142x12mm thru axle. Complete bikes come set up, but can be swapped. The brake mounts are designed for posts and can work with 180 or 160mm rotors giving you plenty of power. The complete bikes come with 180mm fronts and 160mm rears. For the headset, Scott specifies their own Syncros model, which means the design meshes perfectly with the fork and frame. As per their want, it’s light and durable.