Ransom LTD

New Equalizer shock

We've got some further details of Scott's forthcoming Ransom "all-mountain" bike that we mentioned in last week's Incoming. The new bike has 165mm travel from a single-pivot back end with a linkage-driven shock. The front end is CR1 carbon fibre (complete with "Ultra High Impact Resistance" down tube), as are the seatstays - the chainstays are 6061 aluminium. All the pivots are double-sealed cartridge units, and at the back there are detachable dropouts that you can swap out for 12mm through-axle ones if you so wish.

The shock is Scott's own Equalizer unit, which looks like something the Terminator would carry (but doesn't appear to feature Edward Woodward). Like Scott's Genius shock, the Equalizer has a three-way travel mode lever on the bars. A is "All-Travel" mode, giving full plushness and, as the name suggests, the full 165mm of travel. TC switches you to a taut 100mm of travel. Cunningly, the travel you lose is at the top end, so the bike sits higher and steeper in TC than in A mode, giving nippier handling. Then there's L, which is locked out.

As if that's not enough, there's also a switchable platform valve (called the "Power Stabilizer" by Scott). That big red knob on the top of the shock is the rebound adjuster, but pull it out and the platform is engaged. Push it in and it goes away. It's independent of the mode lever, so you can have whatever combination of platform and travel you want (although obviously the platform doesn't do much in L...). The shock also features an "Intelligent Rebound Valve", which is essentially speed-sensitive damping - not much on the little pattery stuff, plenty on the big hits. The shock's called the Equalizer because the positive and negative air chambers are designed to run at the same pressure, making for easy set up.

A neat detail is that the seatstays are designed in such a way that you can drop the seatpost right down without interference - there's a slot for it in the stays. Good thinking. The frame and rear shock are claimed to weigh 3.1kg (6.8lb), which is pretty impressive for a 6.5in travel chassis.

We're looking forward to getting a ride on this, but for now have a look at www.scottusa.com/ransom for more details.