2022 Scott Spark RC Comp (Yellow)
Aussie approved.
2022 Scott Spark RC Comp - Custom build by racer J
It’s a trail bike. Scott’s down-country XC Spark is the ultimate lightweight racing evolution of a trail bike. Whereas the Trek Supercaliber is a highly modified hardtail with riding characteristics that match, the Spark is tuned from the opposite end of the spectrum like an enduro bike on a diet. It rides with supple initial damping that stays fairly linear throughout the travel range ending with a noticeable stiffness and spring-loaded feeling as you get to the end of the travel stroke.
Racing machines should be Red. Or Yellow.
it rides like an enduro bike on an ultra-diet. The diet costs your kidney and part of your liver in organ sales. IF YOU HAVE A WALLET DEEP ENOUGH, it can be made to weigh under 25 lbs. When I brought it home from Sports Basement the 2022 Scott Spark RC Comp was a bit heavier at 27.9 lbs.
Where is the rear shock?
IT’S HIDDEN INSIDE THE FRAME!!! Amazing! Aesthetic! Aspirational! This means that the shock is protected from debris and out of the way from any potential impact. Access to the shock is through a trap door in the bottom of the frame near the bottom bracket.
Classic race car, Modern race bike
Can you tell I like how it looks?
All racing machines are a compromise of sorts
The Scott Spark is no different. It isn’t as efficient as the Trek Supercaliber when it comes to climbing and transferring power to the ground. However when the surface gets rough and rocky, the Spark really shines, as it can attack directly into technical terrain with brute force and power. It’s also faster on the small washboard undulations that give the Supercaliber harmonic resonance interference waves. However when the course gets smoother and the trail twists more tightly, the Supercaliber really shows its nimbleness, and the Spark begins to feel sluggish by comparison.
Ok, so in all honesty, I bought the 2022 Spark basically for how it looks alone. Yes, I am that vain; yes, I buy things with my eyes. I wanted a Team Issue green and purple color shifting paint scheme, but it was sold out throughout California from LA to Sacramento to San Francisco. So I went and bought the last full carbon Spark RC frame in stock in the SF Bay Area. Yup. That was me. The story goes that Racer H actually tried to purchase the bicycle the night before, but his bank declined and locked the card due to an overzealous fraud protection system. The next day he purchased the Trek Supercaliber instead, and I went and purchased the Scott Spark RC Comp that he had tried to purchase the night before. Sometimes, the universe just decides things.
The 2022 Scott Spark comes specced with a Fox 32 Rhythm fork, and a FOX DPS EVOL shock inside. This is the basic bitch version of what is offered on the higher-end models. The drivetrain is full SRAM NX, and the rear wheel is an older style HG freehub and not the more modern XD Driver or Shimano Microspline. It is still 12 speed, but they somehow managed to fit it on a classic HG-style freehub. This means that the rear wheel is a boost, NON-XD driver hub. Please keep this in mind because it means when you upgrade your cassette, you must also upgrade your wheel hub with it.
The wheels themselves are quite heavy Alexrims, but at least they are wide and durable.
The tires that come on the bicycle are Maxxis’ Rekon Race in 2.4WT x 29. The short knob height and tight knob spacing make for a fast-rolling tire with just enough braking grip to do anything with. It recovers well from the bicycle almost rolling onto its side, but it is not a trail tire.
The riding position and handling
are both fairly weight forward. Just like the Scott Scale, the bicycle rewards you for keeping your body in pushup position and weighting the front end of the bike. However, the Spark RC does not require nearly as aggressive stance as the Scott Scale.
The headtube has a pair of angle-changing cups that slacken the front end. I do recommend using this as the bike has no problem avoiding wheelies when climbing, and could afford to use that little extra stability when fully compressing through a high-speed berm. Using the slackened head angle with a 120mm fork is not an issue.
Scott’s special trick is the dual- two-stage-lockout for both fork and shock. Called Twinloc, the lockout lever is mounted on the left hand and provides 3 vastly different lockout/suspension settings that really do give you 3 drastically different feels. It reminds me of the FOX TALAS CTD fork and shock with multiple lockout modes. Scott took the idea one step further and slaved the Climb-Trail-Descend controls of both the fork and shock together with a dual lever controller on the left-hand side.
Update — Jan. 7, 2023
Now that I’ve owned the 2022 Scott Spark RC Comp for about half a year, I think I can be honest with myself about certain aspects of the machine. First and foremost, I think the handlebar clutter is an issue and the Climb-Trail-Descend/Twinloc controls are a bit faffy when combined with an AXS dropper controller. When I’m dead tired at the limit of my brain and body, I’d rather have the lockout and suspension just simply work without having to think about it. Yes, you can leave it in the middle trail setting or wide open fully soft, but pedal strikes become an issue.
Second, is that the shock and shock’s damper MUST be tuned for the rider’s body weight and power output. From the factory, the supplied Fox Float DPS does not have enough damping control for a 190 - 200 lb rider. If you weigh more than 180 lbs, I would suggest you send the shock in to be custom tuned by either FOX or Rockshox. I sent my Float DPS in to be tuned by FOX. After it came back from FOX’s Nevada service center, I was absolutely blown away by the difference in feeling.
Having the shock tuned for my body weight solved several issues I was experiencing all at once:
BEFORE: the shock required too high of air pressure for my body weight to sit at the appropriate sag level. As a result, the shock was a super springy undampened pogo stick. When pressurized appropriately to ride on the trail without pogo-sticking, the indicated sag was too deep in the compression stroke. The bike sat too low in the compression stroke and I found myself consistently pedal-striking roots and rocks.
AFTER: the shock has much more damping control and was much firmer. This allowed me to set the air pressure low enough to match the trail and still have the appropriate sag levels and bottom bracket height to clear my pedal strikes.
Yes, it is a capable race bike, but it honestly requires a stronger and fitter rider than I am to go fast. It’s also kind of heavy compared to the Scott Scale. It takes carbon wheels, carbon one-piece bar-stem, and expensive cranks —used sports car money — to build the Spark into a 25 lb. race machine; in comparison, the Scale can be built to 23 lbs without even resorting to carbon wheels. For the grassroots XC racer doing short punchy sprint courses that average twelve to eighteen miles over three to four laps, the Scott Scale might be a better pick. For an extended 40+ mile XC burner the Scott Spark fits the bill.
Updated Jan 7, 2023