SCOTT Contessa Ransom 910 Bike

When you see that one of our bikes has a light tuned suspension you know that this bike will come with suspension optimized for lightweight riders. We worked together with our suspension partners to ensure your fork and shock perform at the highest level, no matter your size.

With the proper selection of materials, eighty percent of the work to create a frame is done. But the remaining twenty percent requires most of our efforts. For this reason, our choice of the most advanced carbon fibers in the market is followed by intensive use of specific tools, like FEA (finite element analysis) software, to map out the carbon lay-up.

With FEA software, we can simulate different forces on a virtual model of the frame and adjust the frame construction accordingly. FEA software enables us to create complete virtual prototypes incorporating all the physical phenomena that exist in real-world environments.

With our Evo-Lap technology we model the frame to optimize the surface area, simulate tube structures with different ply orientations, observe the results of using different configurations, and test the stress distribution in different areas of the frame. Thanks to this extensive computer modeling, we’ve optimized the carbon layers in all the parts of our frame. When the parts were bonded together in the first prototypes, the result was a super light and compact frame without sacrificing the stiffness, comfort or impact resistance. The entire range benefitted from our Evo-Lap technology.

While we always aim to have lightweight carbon bikes here at SCOTT, we never compromise frame strength when doing so. Taking into consideration the riding this bike is designed for, we have created our strongest carbon frame to date. Through clever layering and reinforcement in certain zones we obtain the stiffness wanted between the head tube and the rear wheel axle via a path following the downtube and the chainstays - we call this the stiffness backbone. The Ransom being a 1x only bike allowed us to optimize the width of the main pivot which is normally the weak point on this stiffness path. Additionally, the Trunnion mount on the DT close to the BB allows us to obtain great stiffness at the bottom of the bike and lightweight construction up top for compliance and for having the center of gravity as low as possible.

With TwinLoc, a rider can effectively control the complete frame, fork, and shock as a system. Why does this matter? A bike with 150mm of suspension travel, correctly set up, has more sag than a bike with 130mm. It's that extra travel that makes it more fun to ride and more capable on the descents, but the greater sag has an oversized effect on the bike's geometry and climbing performance. That's where TwinLoc matters.

TwinLoc helps manage the sag effect in several ways. Whereas most systems only increase low-speed compression in an effort to gain pedaling efficiency, TwinLoc allows us to not only change compression damping, but also to change the spring curve, dynamically altering the geometry of the bike. In Trail mode, the shock is not only firmer, but it has dynamically less travel. The bike sits higher, maintains a steep seat angle for those climbs, and becomes more agile. We also offer a third, full lockout mode for going up in the most efficient manner possible.

These unique settings optimize climbing geometry, even on longer travel bikes. We can eliminate the "long travel effect" that can rob your pedaling efficiency, but we're not robbing you of the full-fun, 150mm travel when you point it downhill. From a race setting, to a lunch ride, to an after work trail shred, being able to switch from mode to mode depending on a trails profile at the push of a lever is paramount to riding faster and having a damned good time. 

With our mountain bikes, we try to achieve ultimate versatility. These specific models can switch from 27.5" to 29" or from 24" to 26" wheels with nothing more than the flip of a chip. No need to change the fork, all you need to do is flip a shock mount chip, change your wheels and off you go. The flip chip allows us to maintain a similar BB height when switching from one wheel size to the other which is key to keeping handling similar for both wheel sizes. 

On several Ransom and Genius models, you'll find the all new FOX NUDE TR EVOL. What the TR allows you to do is to select what sort of progression you would like in Descend mode: more linear, or more progressive. By flipping the Ramp Adjust Lever, you can decide how your shock behaves while descending.

A more linear shock gives a rider the same amount of support throughout a shock's travel. The suspension is supple throughout, and is "easier" to reach the end of the travel, or "bottom out." A more progressive shock will offer more support towards the end of travel, and is harder to bottom out. These settings are really linked to riding speed. When it is wet, techy, or when impacts are small and riding tends to be slower, one might favor the more linear setting. When the conditions are dry and fast, or when bigger impacts are in play (jumps for instance), then the progressive mode is ideal. With the NUDE TR Evol, choosing and changing is easy. 

Protecting the Ransom's frame was an integral part of the project. We've integrated a clever DT protector under the BB and along the downtube, and have also implemented a newly developed, noise-silencing Chainstay/seatstay protector. A quiet ride is a fast ride.