SCOTT RANSOM 920
Scott’s Ransom offers up 170mm of travel at the front and rear, making it one of the longest-travel frames on test. But unlike on the other bikes, that travel can be easily controlled on the fly, using the brand’s proprietary TwinLoc system. A bar-mounted remote lever lets you toggle between three suspension modes – Descend (open), Traction (which limits the travel to 120mm) and Lockout. The TwinLoc remote and dropper lever (which is integrated into the lockring of the left-hand grip) make for a busy bar set-up, but you adapt to it quickly.
The 442mm reach of the medium Ransom (which increases by 5mm in the high setting when paired with smaller 650b wheels) means it isn’t the roomiest bike on test, but it never felt too cramped for our 5ft 8in tester. A slack 64-degree head angle helps to stretch the front centre out for a boost in stability. While the 75.4-degree seat tube angle isn’t the steepest, climbing feels efficient in Traction mode, where the rear suspension is better supported. Up front, the Fox 38 Performance fork, with GRIP damper, offers a solid feel through the bar and a well-controlled action, even when faced with jagged rocky outcrops.
It did take time (and the removal of a volume spacer) to get the frontto-rear balance dialled in, and while we came close, it never felt like we perfected it. That’s mainly down to the supple rear end. While its sensitivity is a plus when it comes to eking out traction through loose turns, there’s a distinct lack of support through the middle of the Ransom’s travel, which becomes apparent when loading the bike up through turns, and also rakes out the front end, making it harder to keep the wheel where it needs to be. Equally, when navigating high-speed, drop-riddled sections of twisty trail, the steering can start to feel twitchy.
However, get the bike onto rougher, straighter sections of track or point it down something a bit steeper and it properly comes alive, thanks to that active back end. In these situations, it feels confidence-inspiringly stable and soaks up the really heavy hits, with enough suspension progression to avoid any harsh bottoming-out.
Scott have done a great job with the tyre spec and it’s good to see the tougher EXO+ casing being used at the rear. At this price, it’d be good to see a lighter, wider-range GX rather than NX Eagle transmission, though, especially when most of the finishing kit is in-house Syncros gear.