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TECH NEWS
Just in: Scott Solace 15
The Solace, Scott’s endurance road bike, was first launched in 2013 and last year the company followed up that release with a disc brake version. There’s just one model available with discs, the £2,599 Solace 15, and here it is, freshly arrived in the road.cc bike shed.
The disc bike model uses essentially the same frame as the regular rim brake Solace, but with a few key differences. One of the biggest changes is the adoption of front and rear thru-axles - most bicycle manufacturers are using conventional quick release axles on their new disc-equipped road bikes, but there’s a lot of speculation that thru-axles offer worthy benefits (increased stiffness, lower weight, better wheel security) and could one day be standard on disc-equipped road bikes. Scott certainly seem confident they are the right choice.
“Wheels with thru-axle closing mechanism offer unparalleled precision when it comes to positioning the disc brake within the wheel system making for much ease of use."
Scott uses thru-axles on its mountain bikes and has simply adopted the same 15mm front and 12mm rear thru-axle design found on those off-road bikes for the Solace. A new fork has been built and the rear stays have been modified.
Other features carry over, such as the 28mm tyre clearance, internally routed cables and BB86 press-fit bottom bracket. The geometry is retained from the regular Solace too, which is shorter and taller than the Addict race bike, built as it is for comfort over long distance. It's a smartly finished frame, with the brake hoses internally routed too, including in the fork, providing very clean lines and unfussy zip ties.
The Solace 15 is equipped with a Shimano Ultegra groupset with a non-series RS500 compact chainset, with mechanical derailleurs and RS785 hydraulic disc brakes. The 160mm front and rear rotors are fitted to Syncros RP2.0 Disc wheels and roll on Schwalbe Durano 28mm tyres.
Syncros also supply the finishing kit, an aluminium handlebar with a compact shape, matching stem, carbon fibre seatpost and Syncros saddle.
Weight on the road.cc scales is 8.45kg (18.62lb) which is about the same as the other carbon framed disc-equipped road bikes we’ve had pass through the office in the past year or two, since disc brakes became popular.
There’s growing competition in this segment of the road bike market, and road.cc has tested a fair few of the Scott’s key rivals. There’s the Giant Defy, Cannondale Synapse, Orbea Avant and other contenders like the Volagi Liscio and Specialized Tarmac S-Works.
More info at www.scott-sports.com
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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14 comments
Carbon, discs, 105, mudguard mounts, £2k 9kg
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-gt...
That's quite a review and the GT looks like an awesome all-rounder. I notice the mudguard mounts are removable, and I do now have a vague memory that the Cannondale Synapse offers a similar option. Maybe that's the way forwards. It would certainly keep the bike looking good in the dry when mudguards are off.
Disc brakes are better in the wet so every bike with discs should have mudguards?
OK....
Hydraulic disc, Di2, lighter,cheaper. And much prettier
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-xeon-cdx-3100-di2/aid:756129?forced...
Yes dear, I know all this and agree, but this bike is the equivalent of a summer bike, like all the race bikes you can buy, and so the lack of mudguard fixings on this bike are not a negative.
How so? It's surely a for-whatever-reason-you-want-to-use-it bike? If received wisdom is that disc brakes offer minimal improvement over rim brakes in the dry, yet excel in the wet, it stands to reason that this is an all-weather, all-season bike.
i rode a synapse for a week with the hydraulic discs, it was good. Where i live i spend half my ride holding the brakes on. But i'd rather get an ultegra 6800 rim brake bike and save £1000 and probably 1kg. Hard choice but top end rim brakes are really very good.
Without starting a whole new debate on discs good/bad I’m with birzzles.
Over £2500 for any bike with discs where Shimano have already announced a new ‘flat mount’ standard is not for me.
When all the discounted bikes start to appear in the summer I think there will be plenty of disc ones (Cannondale synapse excepted). Should keep local bike shops busy when the less mechanically minded try and switch brakes on some of the grey imported hydraulic ones.
It's not being sold as some dull commuter workhorse, it's meant to be a bike that gets ridden for enjoyment, like every other race style bike ever sold. The lack of mudguard fixings is not a negative.
You seem to be saying that mudguards are only for 'dull commuter workhorses' that never 'get ridden for enjoyment'.
The folks in my club with multi-grand carbon whippets or Titanium Ultegra machines *and* full mudguards would beg to differ. The UK is not Italy, or the South of France. Our roads are regularly wet and covered in crap. Mudguards stop you being wet/covered in crap. Or is that a desirable mid-ride café-stop look/feel?
No mudguard mounts.
You've got to ask: why would a manufacturer wilfully ignore the UK autumn / winter / spring market?
I completely agree with this. It's the same with quite a few other manufacturers' disc equipped bikes. Sure, it's a tiny amount of extra weight and perhaps spoils the aesthetic a little, but from a practicality standpoint it makes no sense to me.
Perhaps product segmentation - an alternative model with clearance for larger tyres and screw-in mounts, like the Specialized Diverge?
(Although I take your point that a purchaser for a disk-braked 'endurance/sportive' bike would probably also like 'guard mounts, and such hardly seems to be a design compromise, other than restoration of the seat stay bridge)
Seems very similar to the Focus Cayo Disc 3.0 too.