LDB

I was at my LBS today looking at the various selections available. Here's my criteria. I'm almost 56 and 5'9" 235. I used to ride in a prior lifetime. My longest ride back then was 55 miles. My hero was the tortoise not the hare. That ride was 4:52 counting stops at a couple of rest stations for a drink or banana or whatever.

My current goal is to just ride some period. I will most likely ride just around the neighborhood and maybe on some crushed gravel and limestone paths. I expect mostly to be on pavement but want the option of off pavement as well. I won't be doing any true "mountain" biking though. I don't anticipate anywhere near 55 miles miles at any point. I suspect that 25k might be the max or for sure 25 miles.

So, what are the thoughts on this Scott? Of everything at the LBS it seemed the likeliest suspect. Any and all thoughts/opinions/comments/suggestions/etc. sought and appreciated.

pierce

I would look for something without disk brakes or suspension forks, as those both add weight, and forks on bikes under $1200 just aren't very good. heck, you need to get up into the $2000 range to get a decent mountain bike fork. that fork is probably sprung for a 150 lb rider. I'm 210 lbs (down from 230) and ride my stiff-forked hybrid on all sorts of dirt/gravel roads and hard pack trails, dont miss suspension at all.

LDB

We talked for a while about brakes, comparing the Scott to a similarly priced Cannondale with v-brakes. He pointed out that in the rain and especially combining rain with crushed limestone/gravel/etc. the v-brakes would be very ineffective while the discs would retain most all of their grip. Whether accurate or not his explanation sounded logical.

Suspension isn't a deal breaker. I can see potential benefit but I also don't see it as mandatory.

pierce

I've had no problems with cantilever and v-brakes in wet conditions. at most theres 1 turn of the wheel of sub-optimal braking, where the brakes are wiping the excess water/mud off the wheels, then they stop just fine. disks are not perfect when wet ether, and it takes the same full turn of the wheel to dry them.

my suspension bike, a 2001 stumpjumper FSR disk that cost $1200 or so new, came with a fork that was tuned for a 150 lb rider. my 215 lbs totally overwhelmed it. luckily, Mannitou had an optional upgraded spring available, designed for a 180-200 lb rider, which helped immensely, and the rear shock was a fox float air shock I could pump up to 210 PSI or so for my weight, with that, it was quite usable as a full out cross country mountain bike. then I realized I wasn't in the mood for breaking any more 58 yr old bones, so that bike has sat unridden

jbchybridrider 

The suspension vs rigid debate has raged since the dawn of time and while I prefer rigid on anything other than a full off road bike I say all the power to people that prefer a less jarring ride. As for the Sportster, I have the first year of that model "the high end P1" and noticed that later models had poorer build quality in the frames most likely cost cutting. I thought it had a harsh ride too but I think that of most alloy frames even with suspension or rigid "tried both on the Scott" and ended up building a fully carbon bike but that's me.
Here's the last incarnation of my Scott, now a lonely frame.

Forgot to add, the seat and chain stays are very beefy surely a very strong frame probably added to the harsh ride.

dynaryder

For what you're looking to do,that's fine. The suspension doesn't have a lockout,but unless you're doing alot of hills or trying to go fast,it won't be a big deal. Discs are great if you commute in all weather or are going to be offroading. If you're going to be a fair weather rider,just about any brake system will work fine.

pierce

a mushy undersprung suspension fork with a heavy rider makes stopping scary, especially downhill.

Burton

That model is marketed as a trekking bike, for transportation and light touring - not as a mountain bike. Use it for what its intended (which includes crushed limestone paths) and it'll be fine.

dynaryder

I've had two bikes with cheap forks;a Trek 7200 and a Giant Sedona DX. They we're awesome,but they certainly weren't dangerous. The Scott's fork has adjustments,he can firm it up.

pierce

on a coil spring shock, adjustments set the spring preload and maybe rebound damping, but they don't change the spring rate. so, you can set it so the shock is at a reasonable compression when you're just sitting on it, say 20% of the total range, but when your weight transfers forward to the front wheel during hard braking, it will still compress too much with a heavier rider. the only fix is a replacement spring with a stiffer spring rate.

if its an air shock or elastomer, they behave differently (elastomers are non-linear, air shocks can be pumped up with more PSI which increases the effective spring rate)

jbchybridrider 

I've not looked at the x50 to close but my P1 had damping adjustment and a remote lock out on the bars. It could be soft or very firm, the weight was quite high though.