SARAH’S SCOTT CON TESSA £4,949 RANSOM910

Sarah’s got her irst 29er and is looking to get it race-ready

Scott’s Contessa Ransom features the same geometry as the standard (unisex) model. Having raced a Ransom last year, for a feature in MBUK 368, I knew the size and dimensions would suit me. What’s new for me is riding it on 29in wheels though (the Ransom family of bikes is designed to fit both 650b and 29in wheels).

The Contessa version is expensive, but comes specced with women’s-specific Syncros grips and a Fox Nude shock that’s tuned for female riders. And, obviously, it comes in a different colour. I’m not so keen on the somewhat stereotypical paint job, but it’s equipped with some decent parts and an aggressive 170mm of travel, so I reckon I’ll get over Scott’s colour choice quickly. I’m sure I’ll benefit from the generous travel and 29er hoops this year. The Contessa Ransom is hopefully going to be my weapon of choice for several races, both in and outside of the UK, and I’m expecting to see some benefits from the bigger wheels when rolling through chunky rock gardens in the Alps.

I’ve only had the bike for a couple of weeks and haven’t been out for many rides yet (and sadly don’t look likely to be able to do any properly aggressive riding any time soon), but after the first outing, I lowered the bar by 5mm (one spacer) and had to swap the 150mm-travel dropper post for a shorter one. Also, the tyres had to go straight away, due to the muddy conditions. I replaced the stock 2.6in Maxxis Minion DHFs with some 2.4in Michelin Wild Enduro Fronts, which are slimmer and have more aggressive knobs, so are better suited for use in British slop.

The bike is fitted with Scott’s TwinLoc system, which allows you to not only firm-up the suspension, but also alter the geometry by changing the spring curve. As with the Scott Contessa Genius I tested for last issue’s women’s biketest, I find that the bike climbs well anyway, and have rarely found myself using the lockout, so far.

I’ve mainly been riding slow, techy trails and haven’t had the chance to test the suspension on many rough tracks yet. For the few runs I have done, I had to turn the compression damping dial to fully open and run the air pressure lower than recommended to achieve a plusher feel from the Fox 36 Performance Elite fork. I’m definitely going to spend some more time fiddling with the suspension to find the sweet spot. www.scott-sports.com