…to work out that 650b is here and not just a furphy anymore. Today we received our Scott Genius 720 test bike and threw it together for a car park spin. “Geez, it feels efficient!” said Caleb before realising he’d locked out the front and rear suspension via the Twinloc lever. I thought it did indeed feel snappy, but who can really tell from a 50 metre burst on tar? We’re looking forward to giving it a burl on the dirt for sure.
What we do know is that it looks just like a 26″ bike until you read the 650b label on the Nobby Nic tyres.
The Twinloc lever controls the front and rear suspension through three modes; Full 150mm travel both ends in Open mode, firming the rear shock and keeping the fork active in Traction mode, and locking out both the shock and fork in Lockout mode. The SLX brakes (and shifters) are no-frills but work damn well when compared to their lighter, more expensive siblings.
There’s routing for a RockShox Reverb Stealth post, or if you have a standard externally-routed dropper you can run the cable through the frame and under the BB to keep things a bit tidier.
There’s ISCG05 tabs for your favourite chainguide, but we’re not sure what the red thing is. We’re also a bit baffled as to why there’s a triple crankset on a bike like this. The cables pop out here too (and obviously need a trim).
Nice post mounting for the rear brake is nestled between the stays to keep things stiff and light. The rear triangle is aluminium and comes with a Syntace/DT 142×12 through-axle.
Plenty of carbon around the BB92 shell to keep things extra stiff.
A tapered head tube and internal cable routing to tidy up the mass of cables somewhat. Syncros (now owned by Scott) supply the bars, stem and seatpost.
The DT Nude2 air shock is all new, and big beefy sealed bearings keep the linkage stout and slop-free.
An XT Shadow Plus derailleur keeps the chain bounce down out back. The rims are Syncros-labelled DT Swiss, hubs are DT too.
So Rod’s made a few tweaks to the Genuis and he brought it by the office for us to check out…
From a distance it may look like the same bike. But the Genius 720 has had a bit of a make over.
The triple chain ring is gone, replaced with an XT two ring setup, and with that the long cage rear mech has disappeared and morphed into a medium cage. Rods custom designed RAM chain guide is doing a stella job holding the the chain in place.
Dropper Post… need we say more…
And it wouldn’t be a trail bike with out a nice short stem and a Easton Havoc bar…
