SCOTT FOIL 10 DISC
V‘VERSATILE’ DOES NOT
jump to mind when you think about aero bikes. Fast? Sure. Purposebuilt? That, too. Finicky? Sometimes, with convoluted cable routing and tight tyre clearances.
But given its charms, and the fact that the rim-brake version of Scott’s Foil won the 2016 Paris-Roubaix – a brutal race that stiff-riding aero machines are not generally suited to – you can plausibly argue it’s the most versatile of the current crop of bikes in its class.
Scott’s Foil series uses a truncated airfoil-tube shape, sometimes called a Kamm tail, that’s popular among bikemakers because it offers many of the advantages of aerodynamic frame designs, with a better ride than conventional airfoil shapes. The Foil Disc is as stiff as non-aero race bikes, and once up to speed, seems to hold that momentum with less effort, like a lot of good road bikes in its category do. There are other bikes that balance those elements well, like Trek’s Madone, but what sets the Foil Disc apart isn’t pure aerodynamics or stiffness; it’s what it does that a lot of similar bikes don’t.
Primarily, it’s more comfortable than most aero road bikes I’ve ridden. Whether it’s due to the carbon-fibre lay-up, the 28mm Continental tyres, or some mix of the two, the Foil Disc expertly dissipates the buzzy sensation of rough tarmac, and even handles bigger jolts and bumps well. Those tyres – which measure closer to 30mm on the Syncros rims – probably factor in there, and also expand the Foil Disc’s range to include good quality dirt roads.
The result is a bike that manages to roll together several qualities – speedy! comfortable! adventurous! – that seem incongruous. Of course, this versatility
has its limits – it’s still an aero race bike and not a gravel bike, for example. And your definition of comfort should include a long and low racer’s position. But if you want a performance road bike that’s versatile enough to tackle training crits or dirt-road diversions, that pays attention to aerodynamics without sacrificing all else to it, then the Foil 10 Disc splits that difference as well as it does the wind.