There’s a maxim that says, “It’s not the bike, it’s the rider on it.” The meaning, of course, is that a bike is a tool and it’s up to the cyclist to put it to use. Some people take this thought to the extreme and assume that a truly great rider could win a race on any bike. But I certainly wouldn’t want my dentist to fix a cavity with a DeWalt cordless drill – even the best dentist needs the right tools to do a first-rate job. In the same way, a race bike is a required tool for a racing cyclist.

If you’re a cross-country mountain bike racer, the Scott Spark might be the right tool for you.

The Spark first appeared in 2007 and was the result of an extensive, XC racing-specific development program at Scott. Their design team set out to create a world class cross country race platform and succeeded brilliantly. The Spark’s carbon frame is claimed to be the lightest production full suspension frame on the market, weighing 1790 grams (3.94 pounds) including the shock, dampener, and remote lockout lever.

Our Spark 20 is listed at 23.9 pounds by Scott and the actual weight, ready to ride, is 24.1. To be fair to Scott, that includes a switch to Eggbeater pedals, a Cateye computer, and a Sigma heartrate monitor. Lose the electronics and it’s dead-to-rights on the published weight. That’s a pretty darn light bike!

What’s amazing is that Scott goes even lighter with the Spark 10, RC, and Limited. By upgrading the XT/XTR kit on the Spark 20, the Spark 10 sees a published weight of 22.47 pounds, while the RC and Limited hit 21.92 and 20.26, respectively. I’ve ridden a lot of road bikes that weight more than 21.26 pounds! The RC and Limited achieve those remarkable results using light component groups on the same carbon frame with the exception of an integrated seat mast.

While the low weight is impressive, virtually any frame could be equally light with the removal of enough frame material. The consequences, of course, are familiar: poor durability, lots of flex, inefficient energy transfer, and compromises in handling. But, if you’re expecting the usual light weight, full suspension, cross-country bike performance from the Spark, think again.

Our Spark 20, while light, is a solid performer on the trail. We’ve seen very little flex in the rear swing arm or bottom bracket. I say ‘very little’ because we’ve only observed flex when purposely trying to flex the frame. When riding, we haven’t noticed it at all. The front end of the bike is equally stiff, with the headtube appearing to be solidly stabilized and the Fox 32 RL fork performing beautifully, as always. All of that stiffness results in dependable, responsive handling, even through the rough stuff.

One of the big selling points on the Spark series is the three position Traction Control offered by the proprietary Scott Nude rear shock, manufactured by DT Swiss. The theory is that the rider has the ability to fine tune the suspension on-the-fly: fully active with 110mm of rear travel for rough trails and downhills, 80mm of stiffer travel for normal trail riding, and fully locked out for pavement and perfect hard pack. All of those settings are adjustable from the bar mounted TravelLoc lever, positioned inside the left shifter.

We’ve found that the Travel Control theory is actually a reality and absolutely love the feature! While other manufacturers offer lockouts, many aren’t bar-mounted and none offer an intermediate setting between full-travel and no-travel. You will understand the value of the bar-mounting if you’ve ever locked out on a climb and forgotten to unlock as you top the hill. Once you’re into a downhill section, you can’t afford to fumble with a shock-mounted lockout lever while steering with one hand unless you slow to a crawl. With a bar control, you can adjust the settings on-the-fly in any conditions without letting go of the handle bars.

On a 110mm rear travel frame, we’ve often found that we don’t need all of that wheel movement unless we’re on a really bad stretch of trail. The Spark’s Scott Nude shock allows you to limit the travel to 80mm, adjusting the sag and bike geometry and creating a perfect platform for normal trail conditions. The amount of suspension bob is minimized and the bike is extremely efficient, if slightly less plush. When riding on pavement, the shock can be locked out, again changing the geometry and eliminating all sag. We’ve found that there’s still a slight amount of suspension travel in the locked out position, but it’s only about 15mm. When riding on smooth hardpack or pavement, the lockout noticeably increases pedaling efficiency.

While it does take some time to get used to having yet another control on the bars, the ability to fine tune the rear suspension for efficiency in different conditions is one of the great features of the Spark. Once you’ve experienced that flexibility, you’ll always notice it’s absence when you ride a bike that doesn’t have it.

That said, there’s no mistaking that this is a cross-country machine designed to race. Even at the full-travel setting, the suspension doesn’t eliminate the bumps, it just softens them. On a bike like this one, the suspension isn’t plush – it’s efficient. It’s pedigree is also obvious in the way the bike handles. With a 70 degree headtube angle on our size large frame, the steering is quick, responsive, and unforgiving of laziness. Like the Cannondale Scalpel, Giant Anthem, and Trek Top Fuel, you have to actively steer the Spark.

Overall, the Spark’s suspension performance and bike handling are at the top of our ratings list. We all love riding it and would be very happy riding it hard through a 2 hour race or a 24 hour marathon.

The component groups available on the Spark models vary widely, but the group on the Spark 20 is solid and reliable. Both the 18mm riser bars and 34.9mm seatpost are Ritchey Carbon Pros and have the expected quality and comfort. The entire drivetrain is Shimano, with XT shifters, cranks, cassette, and front deraileur, and an XTR rear deraileur. Brakes are Shimano XT hydraulic discs, while the wheels are DT Swiss XR1s with Centerloc rotors. The front rotor is a 180mm for extra stopping power with a 160mm in the back for weight savings. The tires are Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.1s, weighing in at a svelte 495 grams each, and the seat is an equally light Selle Italia SLR XP at 180 grams.

The Shimano drive train performs flawlessly, as expected, while the brakes required some adjustment due to the power behind the 180mm front rotor. It’s easy to lean a little to hard on the front brake lever and lock the front wheel in loose or slippery conditions.

The DT Swiss wheels proved to be durable and almost maintenance free, but they’re heavy at just over 1800 grams. A lighter wheelset is one of the obvious ways to trim some fat from the Spark 20’s fighting weight, though we don’t have any complaints about the performance of the stock wheels. The light weight tires help make up for the heavy hoops and they’ve been a joy to ride on – they’re grippy in most conditions, light, and fast. However, their durability is questionable, as they have very thin sidewalls and are relatively soft rubber.

Finally, while all of our reviewers loved the comfort and weight of the familiar Selle Italia SLR XP saddle, we have to question the wisdom of spec’ing a white saddle on a mountain bike. While it looks great in the showroom, 50 miles of trail riding will turn it into a grungy brown. If it had been our choice, we would have gone with the black . . .

When a rider buys a carbon frame, there’s always a voice in the back of his head saying, “Carbon?! Are you crazy? One crash and you’re frame will be toast!” We admit, we had the same thought with the Spark. We’ve seen plenty of carbon frames that perished when an aluminum frame would have suffered only a rideable dent. However, we took the Spark to Brown County, Indiana, for some single track riding just after a good rain. The Indiana clay was like grease on the trails and we (and by that, I mean me) had 3 hard spills in 25 miles of riding, including a pile up in a rock-filled gully. The net result was that the frame fared much better than I did: three small, superficial scratches on the left chain stay for the Spark, about a dozen, tennis ball sized bruises and scrapes for me. After that ride, we don’t doubt the Spark’s durability.

If you’re on a budget or just plain like metal, the Spark is also sold in an aluminum frame version. The Spark 60, 50, and 40 are available in the alloy frame, while the Spark 35, 30, 20, 10, RC, and Limited are carbon. Since our review bike was carbon, we can’t comment on the riding characteristics of the aluminum frames and should also note that not all aluminum versions have the Scott Nude shock with Traction Control.

As it turns out, we were very pleasantly surprised with the Scott Spark 20. We expected it to be a fragile, loose, flexy bike, but found a durable, tight, stiff, efficient cross country racing platform, all wrapped up in a sub-24 pound package. Whether on the flats or in the climbs and descents, in a race pack or on an epic solo cross-country ride, there is no doubt that the Spark series of carbon-framed bikes is the perfect tool for the cross-country rider or racer. If you don’t land on the podium, you can be assured that the issue isn’t the potential of the bike . . . it’s the engine!