SCOTT ADDICT 30 £2099
› Designed to race hard and play hard
Black Beauty was, allegedly, written in our tester’s home town, though we doubt that Anna Sewell had the Scott Addict 30 in mind when she wrote it. Okay, so it’s not entirely black – it’s a very dark matt grey with black highlights for a bit of variety, but the result is no more colourful than a stealth fighter. While its history may not stretch back to Black Beauty’s time, the Addict has a decade or more under its belt and was ridden to victories by a littleknown British sprinter in his HTCColumbia days, one Mark Cavendish. Orica-Scott are riding Addict HMX bikes this year, with the British Yates twins among those looking to make their mark.
The Addict has a lot in common with the rest of the bikes here, with a weight just under 8kg and a Shimano drivetrain. The carbon frame has the de rigueur tapered head-tube and carbon dropouts. But as the second most expensive bike here we’d have appreciated kit based around Ultegra rather than 105. The two are very similar, but Cube and Cannondale manage Ultegra at a similar price, while Giant specs Ultegra for £350 less, enough to kit you out with decent shoes, helmet and sunnies. The brakes have been further downspecced to non-series Shimano BR-R561 callipers, which aren’t as powerful as 105 or Ultegra. The wheels, Shimano’s durable entrylevel RS11s, have an asymmetric rear rim to even stresses, but we’d still plump for the more aero Cosmics on the Cube. At least Scott has specced the classy-looking 105 chainset so shifting is slick.
The Addict itself is equally slick. Lower-level kit allows Scott to deliver a top-of-the-line frame with a claimed 860g weight and a 360g fork. Scott was one of the first bike manufacturers to construct
The carbon frame has the de rigueur tapered head-tube and carbon dropouts
bikes using carbon fibre and its HMF high-modulus carbon is the result of all this experience. It’s light, stiff and you can see how the Manx Missile got so much out of it. Even powered by our tester’s much more modest thighs this Addict is a rocket ship. It climbs very well considering its modest wheels and descends with equal prowess.
The geometry is pretty much race bike standard with near 73-degree angles, short head-tube and a submetre wheelbase. You can get down low, power off the start line and carry on accelerating, though it doesn’t have quite the plushness of the Giant or Cube.
In-the-saddle comfort would be greatly improved by a more forgiving saddle. We often let saddles go without comment as they’re so subjective, but when we first saw it we were reminded of the ‘it’ll be like sitting on a razor blade’ from the ’80s Yellow Pages ad (under 40? YouTube it). It’s a skinny thing with sharp-looking features, but the ride isn’t especially forgiving.
There are a few unusual features. The stem, bar and seatpost all use T25 Torx bolts, so make sure you’ve got one in your tool kit and on your multi-tool. And though we love the frame and the fast, aggressive ride, the Addict 30 can’t compete on value with the likes of the Giant and Cube. But look around and get an upgraded wheel package at little extra cost and this would gain at least half a star, with the frame most certainly a ‘keeper’.