New bike days are the best days!
I was lucky to snipe a pre-raced 2018 Scott Genius 700 Tuned at Bike Improve in LA.
Looks like I’ll be racing some gnarly enduro events on a rad bike this month. First the Rim Nordic Enduro, then the Mega Kami 🤘 and the CES Expert Enduro at the Kamikaze Bike Games.
The Genius can accommodate all wheel sizes; 27.5, 27.5+ and 29er. But I’m thinking of mainly using the 29er setup. So I put on my Syncross XC wheels, for now, to see how I like the geometry. Then I’ll decide if I want to pimp it up with carbon Nir Wheels.
The FOX 36 was modded to 160mm. The extra plowing-power will certainly help my confidence level on some of the stages. The course is pretty much full on this year at KBG.
My first impressions: It feels familiar right off the bat. It has the same SRAM X01 drivetrain as my XC race bike, the Spark RC 900 WC. It has the same suspension lock-out remote. And I even transferred my Shimano XT brakes from my previous bike (my Spark has the XTRs). So the ergonomy of the cockpit doesn’t require any adaptation. It’s like an angry Hulk version of my Spark.
After a few laps, I would say there’s definitely a learning curve for the 29er wheels compared to my previous 27.5 enduro bike. It is more pinned for sure, it keeps the speed up and rolls over everything, But the first time I went sideways, I realized it was going to require a bit more commitment to bring back on a good line.
I’m going to start adding more speed to my laps and see and it goes.