The Scott Scale 950 Is a Great First Race Bike
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The Takeaway: The Scott Scale 950 is a cross-country race-inspired bike that’s a great choice for casual riders and aspiring racers alike.
100mm Fox 32 Float Rhythm fork
SRAM NX Eagle Drivetrain
Tubeless-ready wheels with Maxxis Rekon Race tires
Price: $1,600
Weight: 26.1 lb. (XL)
The Scott Scale 950 is a gateway drug to cross-country racing. It lures you in with a cheap price tag, aluminum frame, and unassuming build. You’d be forgiven if you thought this was a mild-mannered bike most at home doing leisurely rides on buffed trails. After all, we’re conditioned to think we need fatter tires and longer travel if we want to have any fun on rowdy terrain. The first clue that this line of thinking isn’t germane might be the fast and light Maxxis Rekon Race tires (note: our test bike came with Maxxis Ikon tires). But you might brush that off as an odd component choice not indicative of what this bike can and will do.
Then you might notice the 100mm Fox 32 Float Rhythm fork, with its three-position remote lockout lever, and you’ll start to think this bike is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You’d be right. This bike is every bit a race bike, with steep, aggressive angles and such sharp handling that you can’t help but push it—and your skills—to the limit.
Scale 950
scott-sports.com
Very LocalVersatile Platform
The Scale 950 is built around an aluminum hardtail frame and a 100mm Fox 32 Float Rhythm fork, creating an entry-level mountain bike that rides as sharp as any other hardtail XC bike I’ve ridden. It’s a no-frills approach to making a bike that’s both attainable in price and enjoyable to ride for beginners. That said, it’s also very capable of being pushed to the limit by experienced riders. One of the biggest selling points is the fact that the frame provides a solid platform that can grow with you as your skills, desire, and mountain bike addiction grows.
Scott Scale 950 Details
Style: Hardtail MTB
Material: Aluminum
Fork: 100mm Fox 32 Float Rhythm
Drivetrain: SRAM NX Eagle
Brakes: Shimano MT500
Chainring: 32t
Cassette: 10-50
Handlebar: Syncros FL2.0 T-Bar
Stem: Syncros FL2.0
Seatpost: Syncros FL2.5
Wheels: Syncros aluminum, 32-hole
Wheel Size: 29 in.
Tires: 2.2-inch Maxxis Ikon
Tire clearance: 29x2.4 in.
As it is now, it’s a great entry-level bike. The bike ships with tubes in the tires, but the Syncros wheels and Maxxis Rekon Race tires are, in fact, tubeless-ready. If racing becomes a bigger part of your mountain bike diet, lighter wheels can trim some weight, and if you take it even further, a fork upgrade can shed even more weight. Potential upgrades aside, the coolest feature of this bike is the fact that it can take you far down the rabbit hole of mountain bike addiction before you outgrow it.
SRAM Eagle NX Drivetrain With Shimano Brakes
The drivetrain comes courtesy of SRAM’s NX Eagle group, with a 32t chainring and a 10-50 cassette. Shimano MT500 hydraulic disc brakes offer great control and modulation for ripping trails, and the aluminum handlebar, stem, and seatpost come from Syncros, Scott’s in-house brand. The quick-release seat clamp, something not often found on bikes in this price range, is incredibly convenient for fast saddle-height adjustments. But should you prefer a clamp held in place with a hex bolt, it’s an easy swap.
The bike rolls on tubeless-ready, 32-hole, aluminum Syncros rims wrapped in 2.25-inch Maxxis Rekon Race rubber, which is a really fast race-day tire on dry trails but leaves a little to be desired when things get wet and slippery.
5 Things We Love About the Scott Scale 950
100mm Fork
The Fox 32 Float Rhythm fork offers a supple ride over rocky and rough terrain.
SRAM NX Eagle
The 10-50 cassette and 32t ring is a great combination of go-fast and get-up-the-hill gearing.
Tubeless Ready
The tubeless-ready Maxxis Rekon Race tires on Syncros wheels are as fast as it gets.
3-Position Lockout
Toggle between open, firm, and fully locked out with this bar-mounted lever.
1x Drivetrain
1x is a great option for mountain bikes, but the bike can take a front derailleur if you want one.
Scale Family
The Scott Scale family is large and very diverse, comprised of nine hardtails ranging from the $900 aluminum Scale 990 to the $3,600 Scale 910 with a carbon frame and Fox 32 Step Cast Float Performance fork. The cheapest bike that still has a carbon frame is the $1,800 Scale 940. It’s outfitted the same SRAM drivetrain and Shimano brakes as our Scale 950 test bike, the only difference being the carbon frame on the Scale 940. There are also six Contessa Scale women’s models.
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Aggressive, Race-Inspired Design
Despite the entry-level price, the Scale 950 has its roots in racing, as is evident not only when you look at the geometry chart but also when you ride it. It’s an aggressive bike with steep angles that’s ready to be pushed to the limits. The 69.5-degree head angle and 58mm bottom-bracket offset don’t fit into the current mold of long, low, and slack, and the 73.6-degree head angle keeps your weight on the rear wheel when grinding up steep climbs.
A Great First Racing Bike
The Scale 950 is a cheap mountain bike that rides like an expensive racing bike. Sure, it’s not a featherweight carbon hardtail that feels like it’s ready to lift off the ground beneath you. But the handling is extremely sharp and the Fox 32 Rhythm fork has a three-position lockout lever that allows you to micro-adjust on the fly, quickly toggling between open, firm, and locked out for maximum efficiency when needed. Our test bike rolled on lightweight Maxxis Ikon XC tires, but the bike is sold with 2.25-inch Maxxis Rekon Race tires, which are nearly identical to the Ikon with the exception of slightly larger knobs on the sides for better grip in the corners.
The biggest revelation from riding this bike is that it challenged my notion that I needed a fancy XC bike to ride fast and ride hard on my favorite trails. If anything, I began to appreciate the perception of the added durability of an aluminum frame and wheels—I have a habit of getting too excited at times and getting in over my head, and a tumble on the rocks can be more problematic for a carbon frame than an aluminum one. While I won’t be trading in my beloved Cannondale Scalpel-Si for an aluminum hardtail anytime soon, I wouldn’t hesitate to take this Scale 950 out to an XC race, and if someone came to me looking for a great beginner racing bike that doesn’t cost a small fortune, I’d quickly point them in this direction.
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