Scott Foil R1

When Scott unambiguous to enter the aero bike arena, it had more or less unusual design parameters to many other manufacturers: The bike would give birth to to be a stiff as their current zip engine, the Addict, and surrounded by five for every cent of its heaviness - as well as being very, very slippery.

Traditionally aero bikes purpose NACA (the American National Advisory Committee intended for Aeronautics) aerofoil shapes. The difficulty at this time is with the intention of the narrow shapes aren't a stiff as standard gigantic tubing. To cancel out this, thicker walls are used to resist more or less of the lots. The product? Heavier, flexier bikes. So Scott twisted to Simon Smart. The ex-F1 aerodynamicist has approach up in contrast to related problems as difficult to recover the performance and airflow around the suspension struts on Red Bull Racing's cars.

Truncated aerofoils are not in mint condition - Trek uses a related design (a Kamm tail) on its Speed Concept TT bike but slightly than simply slice the rear section rancid an aerofoil, Smart had found dated in his before life with the intention of the rear twist, and its changing transition had a enormous influence on the air's skill to mimic a broad aerofoil's affect. N statement, the torsional-load-resisting top and down tubes are three-to-two. The product is a supremely stiff make up with the intention of, according to Scott's data, is surrounded by a gnat's of the aero promote leaders. With lone part complete, it may possibly shot roughly finalising the lay-up to care for self-imposed stiffness figures.

Scott didn't merely match the Addict's information, the Foil is in fact stiffer by both the head tube and underside bracket. Two dated of three wouldn't be bad, but thankfulness to exacting attention to facet, the heaviness element was knocked into submission. Miniscule 17g full-carbon dropouts with shorter tubing overlap saved just about 40g, carbon bit and headset demeanor inserts a only some more and improvements in the Integrated Moulding Process low-price domestic locale material by 11 for every cent.

The purpose of proprietary high-modulus fibres (HMX) allow stiffness to be added exclusive of spare bulk and the Naked External Tubing (NET) does away with a final cosmetic layer to save more heaviness. The product: An 840g finished frame heaviness compared to 790g from the Addict.

Hanging a broad Dura-Ace groupset rancid such a frame and rolling it on Mavic's all-rounder Cosmic Carbone SL wheels would seem to be the makings of an exceptionally lovely bike, after that. The stiffness figures, low accumulation and wind tunnel data are all well and lovely but, as continually, the truth will all the time dated.

(Neil Webb, cyclingweekly.Co.Uk)