The new Ransom is Scott’s biggest secret yet

New sleek look adds to performance of enduro ripper

Photo by: Scott Bikes

Terry McKall February 1, 2024

Scott as a brand, appears to be a big fan of hiding things. After tucking the rear shock out of view on the Spark, then the Genius, now the Ransom is keeping its most intriguing feature encased in carbon. That’s right, the 170mm enduro rig now gets IST, or integrated suspension technology.

Looks familiar? Scott brings the Ransom in line with the Spark and Genius, but with a little different shape to the shock compartment. Photo: Daniel Geiger

Scott Ransom gets a new twist on IST

With the new Ransom, it’s actually what’s hiding inside the carbon enclosure that might be most interesting. Scott moves the Ransom to a new, low-slung six-bar linkage suspension layout. That aims to balance pedaling performance with all-out descending capability.

The shock itself remains hidden in the frame. While encasing the shock in the frame helps keep debris and dirt out of the linkage area and away from the shock, the shock itself also gets a big bump. A new Float X Nude, with added reservoir, elevates Scott’s travel/geo adjust feature, which already existed on the Ransom, to better suit the bike’s 170mm travel. Longer descents, faster, but still with the ability to switch the shock to 130mm or a firm climb mode with the push of a remote, bar-mounted lever. That’s similar to the shock found on the recent Genius ST, but adapted to the Ransom’s longer travel.

Storage and small-part upgrades

Scott also brings the Ransom up to date with UDH compatibility, specing SRAM’s new Transmission on several bikes in the line. A new Matchbox system gets Scott in on the integrated frame storage game, with a storage bag sliding out of the same compartment that is used to access teh shock. An additional Matchbox handlebar-based tubeless tool adding a bit more flare. A Syncros update to a travel-adjust dropper post helps the Ransom better fit more riders, too.

Ransom meets Hixon iC. With SRAM’s new stealth brakes, the cockpit looks cleaner than ever even with a remote shock lockout. Photo: Daniel Geiger

Returning is Scott’s adjustable head angle capabaility, giving +/- 0.6-degrees via Syncros Angle Adjust headset. The Ransom is still a dual 29″ bike, though there is now the ability to run a MX set-up. And, for the higher-end models, Syncr0s’s integrated Hixon iC carbon fibre bar-stem combo helps keep the cockpit clean.

It’s not just looks. The new linkage aims to step up the Ransom’s on-trail performance, too. Photo: Maxime Rambaud.

More details on the full range of new Ransom bikes on Scott Bike’s website.