The sixth round of the Enduro World Series just concluded in Loudenvielle, France where we observed two new enduro bikes from Trek and what can only be a Scott. Trek Factory Team rider, Hattie Harnden, took a new high-pivot Slash to a 4th place in the Elite Women's race.
Trek's High Pivot SlashTrek has carried the high pivot design of their Session downhill bike over to the enduro model, the Slash. The carbon frame construction includes the rear triangle, rocker link and continues on with the downtube storage compartment.
High pivot designs aren’t without pitfalls though. Drivetrain efficiency is a large concern, but Trek have bolted what looks to be a 20-tooth idler wheel at the main pivot and a specific MRP lower jockey wheel to keep the chain moving freely.
Trek hasn't released any details on how much travel the new Slash might have, but there does also appears to be a bolt-on lower shock mount for possibly tuning the leverage rate to work with either the enormous RockShox Vivid air shock, or a coil damper.
Scott's Ransom with Hidden ShockScott predictably brings their hidden shock frame design over from the Spark and Genius over to what can only be the Ransom model. The lighthearted lab notes on the paint scheme don’t reveal any true details except that this is the first version of the prototype, or at least what we’ve seen.
Additional pivots and an extra bar that connect the rocker link to the BB link increase the complexity of the frame design, but fine tune the longer travel kinematics. A larger downtube cover should offer quick access for making shock adjustments. Furthermore, Scott has stuck to their guns on the integration, which includes the cables that are routed through the 1.5” headtube.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any more prototype bikes that pop up at the races as the season carries on.
I see bigger travel Scott’s here in Northern California. Matter a fact, my buddy has the enduro model and rides it everywhere, from Northern California, to Tahoe and Canada.
And the bike is ugly as well
Vomit emoji failed to post
So the thing seems to fit at least the EXT storia coil and he was running the ERA in 180mm up front. The colour was ahm well - interesting
I've seen all the details, specs and photos etc of the next gen Slash for the last few weeks. Bonus of working in the bike industry. Several high end carbon versions running SRAM T-type transmission and one alloy version. Looks mean. 170mm front/rear. Can run mixed or full 29 wheels obviously. Price has gone up. Under embargo until the 8th, of this month.
I guess so that the self-styled Strava enduro Bros who don’t wrench on their own rides can have a sleeker bike to park in front of the coffee shop.
These beautifully sleek bike with integrated everything are lovely to look at, but as you say...
@Jmac888 what's been your experience with bearings? Had to replace main pivot ones twice in two seasons, not sure if that's considered normal.
Trek Slash Gen 6 is 170/170 but also a mullet.....
“…where we observed two new enduro bikes from Trek and what can only be a Scott.”
I’ll show myself out.
I like the aestetics of headset cable routing and the internal shock. Yes it will be more work......stop being lazy and be willing to learn something new, for godsake!
A bike should always put function first. Running cables through a headset bearing isn’t a good design.
what headset routing accomplishes: stiffer, less prone to failure frames, ease of manufacturing, tidier cockpit.
what you value: ease of maintanence.
if ease of maintanence was the only factor at play, cars would still have oil bath air filters and flat tappet cams.
As for ease of maintenance, wrench on a K or B series motor. Then pop the hood on a German car.
It’s possible to have (relatively) easy to service stuff that’s still robust and reliable.
Honestly, MTBs should have all external cables with some little zip tie guides molded onto the frame. Fairly cheap, easy to service, reliable.
Any time design (style) takes precedence over sound engineering what comes out is an inferior product.
I don't disagree with you about external cable routing, but the fact of the matter is it is the Janko jeans of MTBs......it just isn't coming back, and nor should it. There will not be a day everyone decides that looks don't matter.
The internal cable routing reduces headset stiffness as they use a pretty oversized plastic race up top that has a decent amount of flex in it, not to mention the poor tolerances of the headset cups needing loctite to avoid moving.
I'm 110% for headset routing, it's not an issue and I honestly feel people are massively overreacting to how much extra work it is; it really isn't. They're very straightforward and simple to figure out. I've worked on SO MANY bikes that have vastly worse cable routing with no internal frame guides, and yet nobody complained about how many last gen RMs were a pain in the ass to work on. I strongly get the feeling people think it's hard to work on as someone else told them it was. Try it out sometime, it's really not bad.
With that huge caveat out of the way, Scott isn't doing the headset portion of the routing correctly, none of the review guys are mentioning it as they aren't working on the bikes, and the ire of the routing itself is getting way more attention than the actual issue, which I find pretty frustrating.
I too worked with SC at the time(this was like 2018-2019ish). in Santa Cruz. So I knew a bunch of those cats at the time. They discovered it, made a change, and replaced all broken frames that were affected. broom, meet rug....
I assume you do not have a source aside from "trust me bro"