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<\/a><\/p>\nSo, how did we get there? Considering the bike as a complete system we broke things down into four main factors:\u00a0construction,\u00a0adjustability,\u00a0geometry\u00a0and\u00a0integration.<\/p>\n
COSTRUTION<\/strong><\/p>\n We wanted the bike to be light, stiff and strong.\u00a0If you look at our racing pedigree across other disciplines, we aim to always give our athletes as many competitive advantages over other brands as possible. With the weight advantage, we\u2019ve become experts over the years, and can finally apply this expertise to a downhill race rig. The Gambler Tuned\u2019s carbon frame with hardware comes in at 2650g.<\/p>\n However, carbon design and engineering go beyond just weight, as when we set a weight target, we set up a stiffness target as well. We worked closely with our athletes to determine a good blend of stiffness and flex, aiming to give them a tool that would be proficient on all world cup tracks and in all conditions. Working with various materials and layup techniques we were able to achieve a torsionally stiff frame for responsive behavior but with the right level of lateral flex to provide compliance and comfort on difficult sections of track.<\/p>\n Even though we were able to get to our low weight target, we didn\u2019t compromise on our strength target. This is a downhill bike after all, and it needs to be able to roll with the punches. We test all our bikes to our own very high standard, which sits well above industry norms, and with the Gambler we wanted to make sure that the bike could withstand the forces a professional athlete can exert during a world cup season. There is no point in making a lightweight, fast bike if it isn\u2019t a strong bike.<\/p>\n ADJUSTABILITY<\/strong><\/p>\n Our downhill bikes have always pushed the boundaries of adjustability. Both a rider and a bike need to be able to adapt to tracks, weather conditions and choice of shock (air or coil.) The new Gambler allows you to switch between wheelsizes without changing any other components on the bike. Chain stay length can also be adjusted, independent of wheelsize choice. Short with 29\u201d, sure thing. Long with 27.5? Yep, that too. The Gambler also comes with spare angled headset cups, so that you can adjust head angle relative to wheelsize, fork choice etc.<\/p>\n We also have a 4-way chip to allow not only bottom bracket height adjustment relative to wheelsize, but more importantly for geometry\/kinematic tweaks depending on tracks, shocks or rider preference. We want the bike to be optimizable for each shock and rider given the track.<\/p>\n GEOMETRY<\/strong><\/p>\n INTEGRATION<\/strong><\/p>\n Integration is becoming a more important topic at SCOTT as time goes by. We spent a lot of time here looking at previous concepts and asking ourselves if we really wanted to grandfather into the new bike performance compromises due to old standards \u2013 we didn\u2019t. Enter our proprietary chain guide \/ bash guard solution.<\/p>\n It seems like it shouldn\u2019t make a huge difference on the bike, but it turns out it does. We even joke saying that it dictated the design of the entire bike. Why make this a proprietary piece? Chain devices are normally made to work with many different bikes and are therefore compromised. We only need to make it work for this one frame and a specific range of chainring sizes, so it can be easier to setup, better performing, lighter and allows us to gain some advantages on the frame construction, further reducing weight and increasing reliability\/durability.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n