fujitasummers

Hello hello

I understand this is a whole night down the pub question, but here goes.

About to by a Scott Aspect for wifezilla and myself (mainly gravelly/smallrocky trail riding in the UAE.. so it's hot/dusty). We are not MTB riders, just getting out and about on the w/e's.
As you know there are several - many - models of differing quality components.
Now I understand you get what you pay for: usability, durability and weight. But if money was no object I'd get a Spark for the jollies.
However... I'm thinking as I see all the models and the general uplift in price there must be a point that riders would advise not to go below, for certain reasons "this groupset stinks" "this is where the better wheels kick in" "I just wouldn't compromise on these brakes" etc

I understand that they're all probably good bikes, any answer here will be very subjective and the temptation is less compromise, but ... how low would you go and why?

I'll head to the bar...

livedarklions

Without knowing your budget, this is a pretty pointless exercise.

fujitasummers

fair enough ... two ways to look at this - one the one hand my budget is any bike in the aspect range, on the other (and what the question is probably about) 'as much as needed but as little as possible'
you could say it depends what my needs are but ... there are some thing people believe are non-negotiable... I'm sure you get the point

shelbyfv

Looks as if the Aspect 910, 920 and 930 are the ones with acceptable components. Deore is as far down the Shimano ladder as you want to go and will be fine for your anticipated use.

Maelochs

With Shimano components, I would not go lower than Sora and 105 tends to be the sweet spot. Wheels .... there are so many varieties, and some manufacturers scrimp on wheels on their higher-end models, I have heard, because so many riders have their own preferences.

I went to the Scott site and used their "compare" feature .... very interesting. While ai am not usually a fan of 1x systems, off-road they can be fine and the Aspect 910 seems to have a good fork, good brakes, a solid 1x12 drive train ..... looks like a nice ride, and also seems reasonably affordable.

Check https://99spokes.com/bikes/scott/2021/aspect-910 and https://bike-test.com/review/scott-aspect-910/ or do your own web searches.

Of the several Aspect models, this looks like the one I would choose. Of course it depends on the terrain you plan to ride. I don't suppose you will be climbing mountains but extreme terrain .... should be adequate but not excellent. Pretty wide tires for floating on sand and absorbing some shocks hitting small rocks, 100-mm air shock ......this looks like the one, for me.

fujitasummers

nice one. interestingly the piece I read that prompted my question talked specifically about the Deore in these terms - and I wondered if the was similar thinking about other components. Many thanks

fujitasummers

many thanks - I found 99spokes but none of it meant much to me! will look up a 1x system ...

oddly we actually have some pretty good 'mountains' here (check Hajjar Mountains if you want to see them) and only an hour out of town. Not a life goal to be flying down or up them though!

mstateglfr 

'Wifezilla'...thats a new one to me.

Anyways, a Scott Aspect 740 and 750 would be more than fine for how you plan to use a bike. The Scott Aspect 910, 920, 930, 940, and 950 would also all be fine.
All you are doing is riding paths...that wont be too much for any of the models mentioned.

Obviously the lower the second two digits, the nicer the components. Buy whatever you like. Only the 910 and 920 are really big steps up over the others as they use air forks and nicer drivetrains. But the others will be perfectly fine for how you plan to ride.

fujitasummers

thanks for the input!

Iride01 

Just buy a bike and get some experience. Then you'll learn what you do and don't like about it and can replace it later with one that better meets your cycling desires at that time. Personally, I'd let wifezilla select her own bike.

seypat

Glad to see people are comparing the different aspects of the bikes the OP is interested in.

icemilkcoffee 

On a basic level, all of these Scott Aspect bikes have hydraulic disk brakes, so I would say all of them are 'acceptable' at first glance. If I were you I would look for the cheapest model that comes with tubeless ready rims. For MTB's tubeless really is better.

veganbikes

If you are not mountain biking a mountain bike doesn't make sense. However the 10, 20 or 30 would be your sort of entry level stuff and below that I probably wouldn't bother but honestly the Aspect is sort of their bottom end of mountain bikes. If I were stuck on Scott I would probably look at the Metrix 10 it is going to be a lot lighter and has gravel oriented tires but would also work on the road. If I wanted a mountain bike from them I would look at the Scale for a hardtail those are much nicer frames and usually have better parts fitted to them. The bottom end of that line is a true entry level type bike, basic but reliable drivetrain components (Deore in the case of the 980). The Scale 970 gets me a Judy air fork which is a good solid entry level fork that will perform well and has been in the RS catalog for a long time and on a lot of decent bikes. Me I would go 965 if I was looking at budget it has I think better components then the 970 in terms of drivetrain (Shimano Deore/SLX vs SRAM SX) and it has the Judy fork from the 970 and in the white version it has tan walls and looks pretty nice.

The important thing is to go try some bikes and give us feedback on what you liked and didn't like.

Darth Lefty 

They are all comparable to the Trek Marlin range. None of them have any red-light features if you just want a bike in the garage that is competent to go on a dirt road. The upper models have hydraulic dampers in the forks, but not very fancy ones, while the cheaper ones are maintenance-free pogo sticks. That is a bigger difference than whether it has a front shifter or how many shifts in the rear.

Scott is a smaller company with a strong racing bent so pretty much all their other bikes have that flavor. They don't have a bike in every single category or price point.

If I were getting a bike for Doing Mountain Biking, the Spark 950 is the one that suits my prejudices about what's good enough and what I'd pay more for. But obviously that's another level from where you are shopping

Maelochs

@darth_Lefty raises an important point---you want Adjustable forks. Your weight, your preference, and how and where you ride determine how much rebound and stiffness you want ... and a lot of lower-end forks are really soft and ramp up really fast so you cruise on smooth dirt and bounce off the bike on medium hits (probably all that you will be hitting based on your description.)

The Scott site has that "compare" function which is nice--look at up to four models side by side. Look for adjustable forks, IMO.

The impression i get is that you don't plan to do a lot of "mountain-biking"---hard climbs, difficult descents, very technical stuff, root beds and rock gardens and big drops and such---you are more looking for really comfortable gravel rides which won't rattle your teeth if the trail gets a little rough. I think the Aspect range might meet your needs.

if you really want to hammer hard, it will be worth spending more, but I'd say what you seem to want is comfort and ease and Fun riding off-road ..... so buying all the high-tech, high-dollar, hardcore stuff would be a waste.

If my understanding is wrong ... well, save more money and buy more bike.

livedarklions

Good clarification. That explains it nicely. I'm pretty much a road guy, so I don't have much relevant advice, but it looks like you're getting some pretty solid feedback from people in the know.

My best wishes for the Zilla family.

PeteHski

1x drivetrains totally dominate the modern mtb market. Sora and 105 are road drivetrains, so not applicable here. Deore is the mtb equivalent from Shimano. SX/NX for SRAM equivalents.

livedarklions

Deore is the 105 equivalent, right? Is Alivio the Sora equivalent?

PeteHski

I think so yes. I don't have any personal experience dropping below the Deore tier - which I've found to be perfectly acceptable.

shelbyfv

FWIW, the Deore (fourth down the ladder) equivalent might also be Tiagra. Seems the road hierarchy may have an extra level squeezed in. Sora(#5) works well by most accounts but I've never read anything good about mtb groups below Deore.

Darth Lefty 

I didn't really want to participate in a groupset discussion, essentially because none of the Aspect models have anything that's much different than what budget bikes have always had. The cheaper ones have more plastic, steel with oxide coatings, and so on and the better ones have more alloy, plated steel. But none of them really rise out of the category. Yes the top one is 1x but it's not a great example of it and benefits only little. And that's okay for a bike like this.

veganbikes

SLX is more akin to 105 on the MTB side, Deore may not quite match up to anything road based. I would say Alivio is more like Tiagra and Sora is Acera and Altus is is Claris and then of course right next to it is Tourney which goes both ways to crapola.

livedarklions

I forgot about Tiagra! It's actually my lowest acceptable road derailleurs. TBH, I think it's pretty good but hampered by a name that's too easy to forget.


Does Shimano intentionally make the names confusing? I can never keep Altus, Acera and Alivio straight.

Maelochs

Thanks, @PeteHski

Only experiences with anything below Deore is with a 7-speed Alivio derailleur on my C&V Cannondale road bike .... works fine on the road.

Everything off-road I have ever owned was Deore and above .... I think the order is Deore, SLX, XT, XTR, and they could be seen as corresponding to Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, andf Dura-Ace except I have always seen XT as the 105 equivalent .... not hugely expensive, not super-light, but ultimately dependable, while in road groups, I have found Sora to actually be okay.

Deore has always struck me as also being super-dependable, which, when I am riding off-road, is of primary importance.

veganbikes

I don't know but yeah it can get confusing. Tiagra is the best of the mediocre, the whole 4600/4700 stuff is annoying still years later.