Product news: Scott Genius 2018: The next stroke of genius?

Market / MTB: Three years after its last facelift, the Scott Genius 2018 gets a new, major update: Almost everything is new, only the orientation has remained the same.

Scott Genius 2018: The duty and the freestyle

13 years is a proud age for a bicycle model - especially in such a fast-moving market. In 2004 Scott gave a new model the name Genius for the first time - more precisely Genius RC. Even if the model from back then didn’t have that much in common with the Genius now presented, apart from the name – at least from a technical point of view – the approach behind it has at least remained the same: If you want to ride down a trail, you have to go there first come up. The duty before the freestyle, so to speak. The Genius has always aimed to be a bike that can do both – a bike that lets you rip on the trail but doesn't have to torture you on the way up.

Unsurprisingly, then, that the new Genius is placed in the modern trail bike category. These properties used to go under the All Mountain name, but recently the manufacturers have turned the screws a little towards downhill and have been inspired by modern enduro bikes. A touring bike with enduro genes, so to speak – or something like that.

One of the features of the Scott Genius has always been the carbon frame in the top versions. Nothing will change in 2018 either, on the contrary: You could use the know-how of the recently presented new Sparks and have constructed an extremely light frame: It weighs just 2249g including the damper. That would be a remarkable value even for an XC fully and even more so for a trail bike. It's made possible by a layup optimized down to the smallest detail on the computer. But don't worry: In the cheaper versions, there are of course also frames made of aluminum.

Scott Genius 2018: four-bar linkage with TwinLoc

The first sight of the new Scott Genius 2018 takes some getting used to. Not because the frame shape is particularly exotic or the rear end is extremely unusual. Much more because the reduced look of a supported single-joint has been used to the Genius for four years now. Now, as with the recently introduced Spark, they are taking a path that many other manufacturers have already successfully taken and turning the Genius 2018 into a genuine four-bar linkage with Horstlink on the rear wheel axle. There is 150mm of travel at the rear and just as much at the front. An LT version for rougher terrain has not yet been announced.

A lot of brain power has been put into the rear triangle kinematics, more precisely in the characteristics of the rear triangle that are tailored to the area of ​​application of the Scott Genius 2018. This is slightly degressive up to the point of sag, then becomes largely linear and progressive towards the end of the spring travel. Who now only understands train station: In plain language, this means that the rear end is particularly smooth-running for the first few millimeters and can therefore absorb light impacts well. In the middle of the spring travel, it then becomes a little firmer, so it doesn't sag and provides enough feedback from the ground, but can also absorb rough hits well. Towards the end of the spring deflection, it becomes tighter and tighter - this prevents the shock absorber from bottoming out in the event of hard impacts (e.g. unsuccessful jumps, high drops, etc.).

The TwinLoc system has now almost become a trademark of Scott and of course should not be missing from the new Genius. Many manufacturers offer dampers or suspension forks that can be adjusted from the handlebars and are no longer a special feature worth mentioning. Even if TwinLoc is often wrongly put in this category, the handlebar lever is much more than a glorified lockout. On the one hand, the developers consider the chassis as a whole - the suspension fork and damper are controlled together via a lever and adapted to each other in fractions of a second. In addition, not only is the damping adjusted, but the suspension travel is also dynamically reduced or extended by separating a second air chamber. This has the great advantage that the geometry and thus the seating position also change. In the middle setting - called Traction Control - you sit significantly higher on the bike, have a steeper seat angle and thus a more effective seating position on the climbs. A small downer is an additional lever on the handlebars and more lines on the bike.

Scott Genius 2018: One frame, two wheel sizes

We haven't said a word about wheel size yet. The Scott Genius 2018 is just as universal here as it is in its area of ​​application. In plain language, this means that the new Genius can handle 29″ wheels as well as 27,5″ and B+. Scott recommends 29″ wheels with tires up to 2,4″ and 27,5″ with 2,5″ to 2,8″. If you want to change the wheel size on your bike, you can quickly adjust the geometry with a flip chip.

Speaking of geometry: This is modern and quite surprising at first, because a few years ago, looking at the numbers, you would have thought more of an enduro than a trail bike. With a steering angle of less than 66°, a reach of over 470mm in size L and short chainstays of 436mm, the Genius should also be a lot of fun on rough terrain.

Scott Genius 2018: model variants

There will be a total of seven model variants of the new Genius at launch. There are four variants with either 29″ or 27,5+ wheels and three with 27,5+. As already mentioned, these are only the wheel sizes that the respective model is delivered with from the factory - the option to switch to the other size is open to every buyer and is quickly implemented with a flip chip.

The two top models Genius 700 Ultimate and Genius 900 / 700 Tuned come with the super-light HMX carbon frame, the Genius 710 and 720 / 920 rely on the slightly heavier carbon version and the 930 / 730, 940 / 740 and 750 come with an aluminum frame.

There is no information about the prices yet. As soon as these are available, we will add them to the article. The new Scott Genius 2018 will be available from September.

Web

www.scott-sports.com