Since its debut midway through the 2016 World Cup XCO season, Scott’s all-new Spark dual-suspension race machine has been an absolute revelation, with Nino Schurter achieving what could be called the first ‘Triple Crown’ of mountain biking by winning – consecutively – the 2016 XCO World Championships, Olympic gold, and most recently, his and Scott’s first-ever Cape Epic title.
Frame & Fork: Identity
Schurter rides a stock-standard Frame & fork: IDENTITY medium Scott Spark RC 900, constructed from Scott’s highest-grade HMX carbon. His bike sports the same Scott-SRAM team decals as those of his male teammates (Jenny Rissveds’ has blue accents), with his name and the Swiss flag on each side of the seat tube.
For the 2017 season the team has switched suspension suppliers, moving away from DT Swiss to SRAM’s RockShox brand. This sees Schurter taking ownership of a custom-painted red RockShox SID World Cup, with boost hub spacing and 100mm of travel. As befits a world champion, ‘Schurter’ appears on the bridge of the fork lowers.
On the back, a stealthy RockShox rear shock is bolted to the frame – it’s still unbranded, as the unit is something SRAM is developing in conjunction with the team. Both front and rear shocks are connected to a handlebar-mounted, three-phase Syncros TwinLoc cable-activated lock-out lever.
Wheels & tyres: RELIABLE
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