Editor Dream Build - Jonny’s Scott Ransom 5

The Ransom has been a long-standing model in the Scott lineup for nearly two decades, with the latest iteration being released earlier this year. With internal headset cable routing, a plethora of remote levers, internal shock, and a one-piece bar and stem combo, it is undoubtedly a polarizing bike for many but an equally intriguing one for a handful of other reasons. Undergoing a head-to-toe redesign this year with an all-new suspension layout and geometry, I was eager to learn more about the bike and, after a bit of independent research, eager to swing a leg over one. 

Video Contents

• 0:00 - Intro and ENVE AM30 Wheelset
• 1:46 - Brakes, SRAM Maven and Magura MT7
• 4:09 - Deity Black Label Bars, Copper Head Stem, Sensus Meatypaw Grips
• 4:40 - Ohlins RFX38 Fork and Syncros Adjustable Headset
• 7:33 - SRAM Transmission X0 Drivetrain, PressFit Bottom Bracket
• 10:25 - Rear Shocks - Interface and Shocks Tested, FOX, Ohlins and RockShox
• 14:42 - Shock Access, Removal, Maintenance
• 15:26 - Rear End Pivot Teardown, Bearing Inspection, FOX Neo Transfer Seatpost
• 20:22 - Anti-Rattle Hack, Trunnion Shock Mount Bushing Wear
• 21:31 - Rebuild Timelapse

Highlights

• 170mm // 170mm
• 29-inch wheels (mixed-wheel via flip chip)
• 77.8 degree seat tube angle
• 63.8 degree head tube angle
• Angle adjustable headset cup
• Internal cable routing through headset
• Tapered headtube
• 205x65mm shock size
• Fox Float X Nude shock w/ TracLoc remote
• Internal frame storage
• Integrated multitool in downtube door and rear axle
• Full size water bottle clearance
• Sizes S-XL (size XL tested)
• MSRP: $9,999

Why Did I Choose the Ransom?

Vital's Test Sessions looked a little different this year; the idea was to build up what we felt was the best enduro bike for our needs and test a handful of components throughout the year. The concept was meant to 1.) get our hands on a range of products we've been interested in testing and 2.) see if those products offer any performance benefits or drawbacks to further refine the setup we started the year with. With that in mind, my goal was to try and nail it right off the bat by thoughtfully curating a mix of what I felt would be the best components for my own needs. Before I got my list of parts together, I wanted to start with what I felt would be the best possible foundation, something that would feel limitless on the most aggressive terrain, comfortable in a bike park setting, and lively enough to have fun pumping and jumping through jump lines and mellower terrain. To achieve this, I started by looking at geometry and suspension characteristics that work well for me on other bikes I've tested over the years. 

The two bikes that came to mind during my selection process were the Santa Cruz Megatower and Specialized Enduro, which I liked for different reasons. Still, I also had a list of things I felt could work better for me and wanted to find something that would combine the best traits of both in one. I've always felt really comfortable on a size XL Megatower but wanted something with a slightly longer front end to gain a little more stability. What stood out about the Enduro we tested last year was how well the rear suspension works. I'd never ridden a bike that eats up chatter so well, but the tradeoff was a bit sluggish. For that reason, I knew I wanted something with a six-bar platform but also a lighter and more upright feeling on the trail. After a good week or two of flipping through geometry charts for potential test bikes, the Ransom seemed to check all of the boxes and provide a nearly perfect blend of traits between the two bikes I had in mind. After mathing all of the math, I felt confident in my decision to hit up Scott for a frame, and they were nice enough to find one for me as they aren't readily available in the US. While it's great to nerd out on numbers and feel like it will directly translate out on the trail, geometry is subject to being measured differently from one brand to the next. It wouldn't be until the bike was actually put together that I could determine how everything would add up. I've never ridden any Scott bike aside from the 2015 Gambler, but I have always heard good things. They seem like highly versatile bikes, so I was rather excited to get it put together and see what it was all about. 

 

 

 

 

Shock Compatibility

On the topic of putting the bike together, the first questions that came to mind were around rear shock compatibility. Was this going to be a proprietary one-size-fits-all setup? How do you set sag on a bike like this? Are the additional handlebar-mounted levers necessary? When the bike first launched, I immediately jumped over to Scott's website to find the owner's manual and see what the deal with the internal shock was.  If these were going to be a pain in the ass, I would immediately be looking for something else. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found and the forethought that was put into the design.

The frame uses a standard trunnion 205x65mm shock, and the listed shocks compatible with the frame are any FOX shock in that size, both coil and air Öhlins TTX shocks, or a RockShox Super Deluxe Air with no other options listed. That was a big check off the list for me as I knew I wanted to build my bike for the year with Ohlins and maybe use some creative Dremel work to fit other shocks. I didn't know if I would land on air or coil,  but the primary focus was having options. As for setting sag, a clever ring mounted around the non-drive side of the bottom bracket gives a readout as the bike moves through its travel, making it easier to set sag than with a visible shock. Rebound knobs can be accessed via a secondary door on the backside of the seat tube by using a driver-style allen wrench. Scott also released a larger shock cover in the middle of the year to keep me from hacking up the stock cover and allow things like FOX Neo LiveValve and RockShox Flight Attendant shocks to easily fit inside. 

The bike ships with a unique Float X Nude shock that FOX makes for Scott to allow the use of the bar-mounted TracLoc system to reduce rear wheel travel, which was just as intriguing to me as the bike itself. Scott introduced this NUDE technology on the previous generation Ransom, and it essentially works like adding a handful of volume spacers to the shock with the flip of a switch, which I think is a really cool way to create a better pedaling platform rather than a traditional lockout. The shock itself has a large volume air can, more similar to a Float X2, to create a super supple off-the-top feeling, and flipping the switch closes this larger chamber off to reduce volume back down to the size of a standard trail shock. This reduces travel from 170mm rear down to 120mm by aggressively increasing the ramp of the shock. I knew I wanted to try this system, but also knew a coil shock would probably suit my needs best for primarily descent-focused riding. 

Build Kit

With a better idea of compatibility, I moved on to the fun part of picking my dream parts list to get this thing together. Before any parts went on, I visited the RideWrap office in Santa Cruz to get the fresh out-of-the-box paint job protected. Because the frame is so new, there was no existing wrap in their database at the time. Thankfully, they could 3D scan it to create the kit and store it for Ransom owners to use in the future. Huge thanks to those guys for the quick turnaround and attention to detail. As mentioned, I knew I wanted to give Öhlins suspension a try, so that's where I started; the guys over there took the time to do a bit of research on the Ransom and communicate with Scott to ensure everything would fit and that the correct tune would go inside of the shock. I was also curious to ride some of the current generation ENVE wheels since a ton of development has gone into them since the last set I had way back in 2014, and a set of AM30 wheels seemed like the perfect fit for a bike park-focused enduro bike. I set the wheels up with my usual Maxxis Assegai and Minion DHRII tire combo in the Downhill casing for maximum traction without worrying about flatting. 

 

 

I have been a longtime fan of SRAM components head to toe, so I stuck with what I know and opted for an XO Transmission group set, MAVEN Ultimate brakes with HS2 rotors, and an AXS Reverb dropper. While the AXS Reverb maxes out at 170mm of drop, and I've got a pretty tall saddle height, I had little concern about pedaling the bike very often as the primary focus would be testing around descending performance anyway. Deity components are a staple item on all of my bikes. They were nice enough to set me up with the limited edition Sand color Blacklabel 38mm rise bar and Speedway saddle that match the Ransom nearly perfectly and one of their newly released 42.5mm length Copperhead 31.8mm stems. Final touches included my usual Sensus Meatypaw grips and DMR Vault flat pedals to help create an at-home feeling right off the bat. 

Assembly Procedure

Putting the Ransom together was pretty straightforward despite the level of internal components and integration. The press-fit bottom bracket fit nice and snugly, headset cups just dropped in, and cable routing was mostly open throughout the front triangle. This bike uses the internet's favorite headset cable routing, and I intentionally minimized the number of cables and hoses on the bike in anticipation of our Enduro Fork Shootout. Knowing I would need to swap between six or seven forks in a weekend motivated me to make that process as easy as possible. The result was only needing to route a single brake hose through the headset and frame, but I don't see adding shift and dropper housing causing too much of a hassle during assembly. I found the rubber grommets around the ports of the rear triangle and around the bottom of the down tube to be more difficult than anything related to the headset. These tight-fitting rubber grommets proved to be a bit difficult to wiggle into place on my initial setup, and the snug fit around the brake hose made pulling or pushing excess hose difficult. On the flip side, this was great for keeping things quiet on trail and ensuring hoses would stay firmly in place. Installing the fork was simple because of the drop in headset cups, and I could determine brake hose length easily thanks to a large window around the headset ports. 

Moving on to the shock installation, I knew I'd be playing around with different shocks and was reluctant to find that the window to access the rear eyelet bolt made removal a breeze, as did the standard trunnion-mounted forward mounting bolts. Mounting the shock took a little finesse, as anticipated, needing to line up the rear shock eyelet without being able to see it while simultaneously aligning with the window to access said bolt, but once I got the hang of it, installation time was quick. The down tube cover that hides the shock has a nice positive click when it snaps into place and is super easy to remove, thanks to a spring-loaded button. The rest of the assembly was very straightforward, thanks to the wireless shifting and dropper post, which required minimal effort to get up and running.

Setup

I spent a good bit of time adjusting bar height to get my weight distribution sorted out and damper settings to get things balanced. The Ransom features a really cool sag indicator around the non-drive side bottom bracket shell that gives a readout for sag, and it's worth noting that the ring indicates sag at the rear wheel rather than shock stroke. I learned this through trial and error by starting at my usual 30% and realizing I was riding very high in the travel. To achieve my usual starting point of 28-30% sag at the shock, I needed the ring to sit closer to 35%.

I got the bike together before receiving my suspension from Ohlins. My initial setup included the stock Float X NUDE shock and a FOX 38 fork up front. I had the fork setup and good to go pretty quickly, but I needed to play with the shock settings for a while to feel like I landed in a happy place. My first ride on the bike revealed the range of rebound damping on the shock provided was fairly light in comparison to what I would normally run, and the main chamber pressure of 285psi seemed to surpass what felt controllable for my body weight. From that point, I swapped over to Ohlins, and the shock felt much more controlled in terms of rebound while the fork took some fiddling to land in a happy place. It took a few laps to mitigate some harsh bottoming, but after getting the ramp chamber up to a better place, I couldn't believe how well it tracked the ground over rapid chatter and more significant high-frequency undulations. This remained true through our Enduro Fork Test Sessions, and the RXF38 stayed on the front of my bike for the rest of the season. 

One of the benefits of hiding the shock away was my ability to let go of wanting to match suspension front to rear. This helped eliminate my own urge for front and rear suspension to match and focus purely on performance. Matching suspension can help create more balanced ride characteristics in many instances, but a big part of it for me is just a visual aspect of having a bike that matches front to rear nicely. Another benefit was the ability to test unreleased products on camera and in public without worrying about breaking any embargoes. One of those products was the new Vivid Coil from RockShox this year; I swapped over to give it a try and felt that it resembled many of the same characteristics as the TTX22 coil shock but with a bit more tunability thanks to the hydraulic bottom-out adjustment and some finer increments of high-speed compression adjustment. After a few back-to-back runs, I realized the Vivid had a slightly firmer rebound tune that allowed me to sit much more open than the TTX22, and the compression damping allowed a bit more personalization, so it stayed on my bike for the rest of the year.

On Trail

Overall Handling 

Right off the bat, I felt a pretty high sense of comfort on the bike, with the exception of things like a slightly higher bb and shorter rear center than I'm used to. I think with any new bike there is a bit of hesitation around the adjustment period, but a few things felt comfortable immediately. The first being the rear suspension, which created the exact kind of mind-boggling "best of both worlds" feeling I'd been after since my first experience on a six-bar bike. Secondly was the fit of the bike; riding a high-speed trail tightly weaved through redwood trees on my first outing required rapid movements to navigate, and the instantaneous response from the Ransom felt like I could dice up sections with efficiency. Coming back to things that took a bit of adjustment, the bb height felt a little tall and the short chain stays had me questioning the reliability of front wheel traction. I believe cornering traction is where most hesitation when riding any new bike occurs, and in my case, the classic "Schralp Test" kind of defines the limits of the traction when I'm adjusting to a new bike. The Ransom was quick to tighten up the radius of my test turn with travel to spare around the apex, made some great tire folding noises, and shot me out of the turn with some momentum. This got me past the mental block of more aggressive cornering and revealed the true handling characteristics of the bike as my confidence built. I was really happy to find the short rear end beneficial when changing direction on really steep terrain, and it made pumping and jumping side hits to big lips very intuitive. After a year of slapping turns, boosting lips, and navigating nearly every kind of terrain imaginable, I can define the handling characteristics of the Ransom in a single word; sharp. There is nothing sloppy about how the bike rides, pairing stability with maneuverability wonderfully. 

Suspension Kinematics 

As mentioned, my very first lap was eye-opening, to say the least, and with the coil shock installed, I don't think I've ever had suspension work so well in my life. This certainly contributed to the sharp handling characteristics because it removed so much noise from the equation. The rear wheel feels like it melts the smallest bumps on trail and throws square edge hits in the microwave to soften; maybe I'm just hungry, but the Ransom eats all day long. I've ridden plenty of bikes with the same characteristic that generally bring a dead feeling with them, and I was relieved to find the Ransom provides enough support to not only run a coil shock but to simultaneously remain fun and poppy while doing so. I felt like I achieved that best-of-both-worlds feeling I was looking for at the beginning of the season and was able to dial in my setup to a point that worked well all season with minimal adjustment required. 

Frame Stiffness

The Ransom handles with precision but isn't overbearing to ride all day; stiffness is targeted well into areas where it counts, and compliance is subtly tuned in throughout. As mentioned, cornering felt like I could lean into the bike with confidence and load the frame very heavily without being spat out over the top of a turn or experiencing any binding. Where exactly the compliance was coming from was hard to pinpoint, but I never felt like I was stuck on a line with high momentum, nor was I ever fighting for traction across off-camber bits. Situations with more violent loading where I would be forced to slot the bike into some less-than-ideal undulations, lateral flex would become more apparent, but it felt rather high wound, returning the bike to its original shape rather quickly. Additionally, stiffness around the linkage was excellent; being centered around the bottom bracket helped isolate torsional forces from the shock entirely, allowing consistent handling in any situation. 

Pedaling Performance

As mentioned, I didn’t anticipate pedaling this bike much and I built it with the primary focus being descending performance. However, I inevitably ended up pedaling it as I found myself wanting to ride the bike more and was pleasantly surprised. Things were easy to reach and even on steeper climbs I could lean back into the seat and not worry much about the front wheel lifting off the ground. The bike did have the usual kind of sluggish feeling that enduro bikes carry when compared to a trail bike, pedal input didn’t feel lighting fast but I didn’t feel much loss of input through the bike. Even with the coil shock installed, the suspension sat into a nice spot of its travel and didn’t seem to bob much but did track the ground quite well as anticipated. What stood out most was the upright posture the seated position provided and how comfortable the effective top tube length feels while pedaling.

Long Term Durability

The first two things that come to mind for most people looking at this bike on the internet and in person are the life of the door that covers the shock and the external routed portion of the brake hose that runs below the bottom bracket; I think both concerns are valid in the long term. I cracked the extended door rather quickly from a rock strike, although it's worth noting the material feels more brittle in hand than the stock cover. When looking at the stock cover, I have very little concern about rock strikes causing any issues, and the mechanism both doors share feels very robust. As for the portion of the brake hose that sits below the bottom bracket, I think the probability of slicing the hose from a rock strike is a gamble and seems somewhat likely but not guaranteed to happen. I think a section of thick rubber hose to slide over that portion of the brake hose could be a simple solution for some cheap insurance if it's a more immediate concern for anyone. 

On top of the two more apparent concerns, another underlying one that I anticipated early on was the use of plastic headset cups. I initially thought they would explode upon my first case and that I would need to replace parts throughout the season; thankfully, that wasn't the case. Instead, I experienced no issues with the headset, and the ease of removal proved to be beneficial when going through the bike and cleaning things. Any re-greasing of the headset components was done as part of deep cleaning and entirely by choice rather than necessity; the headset is still running as smoothly as it did on day one. 

I built the bike with durability in mind, but I had a few concerns about some specific frame components that I could see being potential issues down the road if neglected. I experienced some knocking after a few weeks of riding, and a bolt check revealed that the main upper link hardware would find its way loose somewhat often. If not attended to, I could see this potentially wreaking havoc on the bearings pressed into the front triangle, I think a link with bearings pressed into it instead and some threaded inserts within the front triangle could be a viable solution on the next generation bike, but I can also bet that Scott's engineers had a purpose for doing it this way instead. 

Another interesting choice is the use of plastic bushings in the forward shock mounting positions, similar to what is found on shock eyelet hardware. Thinking I had solved my problem, a knocking sensation at the top of the travel remained consistent after bolt-checking one day. This turned out to be a result of the bushings deteriorating and needing to be replaced. I'll be interested to get my hands on a set of replacement bushings to get a more accurate timeline of how long they'll last and estimate how many sets consumers can realistically expect to go through in a year. Unfortunately, they are a different size than the bushings used for standard shock mounting hardware. On the topic of shock hardware, the rear eyelet hardware will also require attention a bit more often with the high level of rotation around it. The shock that Scott provides has an eyelet-mounted bearing to help mitigate wear. I found the standard plastic-style eyelet hardware to take a beating, while the metal DU bushings that RockShox provides appear to be much more durable for the application. 

What's the Bottom Line?

Safe to say, the Ransom is one of my favorite bikes I've ever ridden, and it even convinced me to sell my downhill bike because it felt like it fit the need better than what I was riding, but I do have a few things I wish were different. A more durable material or bearing solution used in the forward shock bolts would be great to see despite them hardly rotating. On the topic of bearings, I know packaging is a challenge and space is restricted, but a way to fit 8x30mm shock hardware in the rear eyelet would open up the possibility for standardized eyelet bearings rather than being limited to the special 8x20mm eyelet found on the Nude shock. As for my own preferences, a 445mm chainstay length on the size XL frame would be great, or a size-specific taper for even further balancing ride dynamics, but I'm still very happy with the way the bike rides. Overall, the Ransom does a great job at providing the most desirable traits of both trail and enduro bikes into a package with minimal compromise. 

Please visit scott-sports.com for more information on the Ransom and the rest of the Scott lineup.

View key specs, compare bikes, and rate the new Scott Ransom in the Vital MTB Product Guide.

About The Reviewer

Jonny started mountain biking in 2003 after taking a trip to Northstar and discovering how much more could be ridden than on a BMX bike. He began racing at age 12 and raced for 12 years until ultimately deciding having fun on a bike was more important. After working in the industry for a few years and developing a deeper understanding of bikes inside and out, he has an aptitude for pairing his riding ability with the analysis of bikes and breaking down what makes them work well. He rides for fun and finds the most enjoyment out of going fast with friends.