Nino's Prototype Bike - World Cup XCO 2, Germany

May 20, 2016
by Mike Levy  
Nino Schurter prototype Scott

Cross-country racing can be a game of grams, and this is especially true at the highest level of the sport where guys like Nino Schurter battle it out for an hour and a half at speeds and efforts that you and I could barely hold for mere minutes. These racers are always looking for any advantage, of course, but this is especially true given that it's an Olympic year, and it looks like Scott is going to have a new, lighter hardtail frame ready for Nino on the big day ‎in Rio de Janeiro‎, Brazil.

Information is slim at this point, but there are a few telling details that are easy to spot by comparing the current Scott Scale frame (shown to the right) to Nino's unnamed prototype. The most obvious difference is at the back of the bike, with Nino's machine sporting ultra-slim seatstays that are barely there, as well as a more traditional and sleeker looking arrangement down at the dropouts.

The chainstays appear to be a bit taller to boot, although it's hard to tell from these photos. The downtube also looks larger in diameter, and the front of the bike clearly has a different shape to the production Scale, including new cable entry ports.
Scott Scale
A production Scott Scale. Note how the seatstays, dropouts, and front-end are all different compared to Nino's bike.


Nino Schurter prototype Scott


There is no official word when it comes to weight, but the frame is rumored to be around 150 grams lighter than what Nino was on before, a relatively big chunk shaved off for a design that was already extremely light. Scott declined to say whether the weight loss comes from them using a different carbon or from the frame's new design alone, but given that Nino's full-suspension Spark is said to weigh in the low 19lb range, it's not out of line to assume that this prototype hardtail comes in well under that. The bike's featherweight build kit no doubt helps matters, with a set of handmade tubular tires from Andre Dugast glued onto carbon wheels from DT Swiss and an OPM O.D.L 100 Race fork from the same company.

Author Info:
mikelevy avatar

Member since Oct 18, 2005
2,032 articles

128 Comments
  • 166 9
 "I mean yeah, I'll run it, you guys pay the bills... but with a cassette like this I'm gonna need like a 40t in the front...."
  • 46 23
 That or "Sweet, I can run a 40 tooth up front, not run out of gear down the hills and if I really blow up I still have a bail out gear and I still don't have to have a front shifter."
  • 130 3
 @Patrick9-32: Well, yea, but that's not as funny. I like mine. Wink
  • 44 4
 @DARKSTAR63: Haha, they call me Captain Joke-Ruiner.
  • 120 0
 @Patrick9-32: HAHAH Nino blowing up? there's a better chance of peace in the middle east.
  • 9 0
 @nzandyb: ^^ This....hahaha!!
  • 9 0
 @nzandyb: Well it's not so much that he doesn't blow up as that when we does blow up everyone else was dead hours and 3000m earlier.
  • 9 5
 It's kinda crazy that he runs larger gears than Gwinn and other WC DH racers.
  • 30 0
 @dthomp325: well gwinn doesn't really care about his gears, he's got no chain anyway...
  • 13 0
 Nino's main sponsor is Cyberdyne Systems.
  • 4 3
 @dthomp325: How is that crazy? Xc is a lot more pedal and gear selection intensive than dh
  • 2 1
 Also less of a chance of the chain falling off the chain ring the bigger you go.
  • 2 0
 @dthomp325: gwin has a 9 tooth gear
  • 1 0
 Is he running 650b wheels?
  • 3 0
 @Patrick9-32: You must work for SRAM
  • 1 0
 @enrico650: yes
  • 109 1
 I had a poop that weighed more than that bike
  • 43 2
 You might want to see a doctor about that.
  • 26 0
 @rugbyred: Doctor? See Guinness World Records first!
  • 3 1
 @Fix-the-Spade: yes lad, that's the manly way around it! I'd be taking selfies with the beast too!!! Wow what a treasure...
  • 30 0
 Surely the mud doubles the weight of the bike?!
  • 8 1
 Ever noticed the fork bridge castings on most sus forks? There is a lot of bike designed gear doesn't seem to compensate for sticky/heavy mud, really think some of these design engineers have got their head up their arse.
  • 11 0
 @wobbem: I see lots of WC DH mechanics putting tape or stickers over those casting holes to keep all that gunk out
  • 4 1
 @bman33: true but isn't that like putting a plaster on the problem?
  • 6 2
 @wobbem: They could flip the casting pockets around to the front side but most people wouldn't like the looks, plus the company's industrial designers wouldn't get to do the tiny bit of surfacing design that forks require.
  • 8 1
 Or just not have the holes in the bridge..... Marzocchi ftw
  • 13 1
 @wobbem: what would you rather have? a hollow, encased bridge? That's not going to be as cheap as a cast fork bridge.

I'm just guessing you've probably complained about the cost of mountain bikes before, so why do you want them to do something more expensive that offers pretty much zero benefit, and that same benefit can be achieved with $0.05 of tape?
  • 2 3
 @captaintyingknots: reverse the bridge casting?????
  • 5 3
 @wobbem: damn, that's actually a great idea! It's probably just aesthetics that stops them from doing this?
  • 4 0
 @bman33: motofoam for the win!
  • 8 1
 @captaintyingknots: seriously, what a ludicrous thing to complain about. Put some damn tape over it and never think about it again. Encased hollow things are EXPENSIVE.
  • 4 0
 @bkm303: or or... a mucky nutz fender.... Smile
  • 1 0
 @captaintyingknots: It probably is mostly aesthetics. If it wasn't, I'd expect Manitou to put their hollow spots on the opposite side to RS/Fox, but they're on the rear too.
  • 3 0
 @captaintyingknots: Because let's be honest MTB is also about product aesthetics sometimes.
At least with some brands. And no, hollow encasing is not expensive per se. Shimano is offering them in dirt-cheap products, relative to other brands who charge 2-3 times more on a product with visible pockets.
Why does a RF turbine crankset cost so much compared to an XT?
  • 3 0
 @wobbem: Marzocchi's last 320 XC fork has a nice smooth bridge with no nooks for mud. It is also light, stiff, and has great damping. Too little too late I guess.
  • 4 1
 @ibex: Shimano's hollow parts are forged and/or welded.... so unless you want a 3-piece forged aluminum fork upper that's not really relevant.
  • 4 0
 @dthomp325: yeah, big shame. BAM arches were the way forward!! Mud could go in one side and out the other!

Really though, just do that fox & RS, no need for more material or weight, easier to clean & would probably look rad, like a suspension bridge on suspension forks. Covered in saline solution it'd be a suspension on a suspension with suspension on...

I'll see myself out.
  • 1 0
 @wobbem: it is very easy try out
  • 2 0
 @yerbikesux: or a nanotextured superhydrophobic surface combined with Leidenfrost levitation www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160517120506.htm
  • 18 1
 Makes you realize how outdated the 16lb UCI min weight limit on road bikes is...
  • 7 8
 UCI road bike weight limit is strictly business-oriented. The limit is still being enforced because it will help integrate discs into the pro peloton by keeping rim brake bikes and disc brake bikes virtually the same weight. UCI is catering to the manufacturers by keeping the limit artificially high. If the UCI removed the weight limit, no WorldTour pro roadie would ever choose a bike two pounds heavier on a mountaintop finish. At the end of the day, UCI is just a business that knows sponsors pay the bills.
  • 7 1
 @Jamminator: So with the UCi suspending Disk brakes can there not be a new weight regulation put in? I mean just drop it down to 11 pounds or maybe 12 and call it good for a while.

Last week I built a Trek Emonda with a Sram red build and the f*cker weighed in under 11 pounds!
  • 5 0
 @brockfisher05: The suspension of testing is over, disc brakes return in June.
  • 1 0
 @Jamminator: oh okay, thank you!
  • 7 4
 Humans are irrational dumb fks. Roadies with that disc brake resistance are a manifestation of that. I have no clue how fkng stupid you have to be to claim they are dangerous. It's been demonstrated that they provide shorter braking distances, the very fkng rule of "everyone or no one" proves that. A pro roadie I know very well is strictly against them, even though he had 3 crashes due to front tubular tyre exploding on a long descent in Alps, due to rim brake generated heat.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: I'm not sure how fkng stupid Ventoso is - but you might want to read this article:

velonews.competitor.com/2016/04/news/injured-ventoso-blasts-use-of-road-discs_402394

I suppose if you don't race pro, maybe we're not the ones who should be judging how dangerous they are in the pro peloton. I just don't understand why the rotors need to be so sharp? Couldn't they simply round the edges rather than leave them razor sharp?
Exploding tubulars - well, that's another story for another day.
  • 6 4
 @trillot: sorry, this article is ridiculous, riders died, even recently, because they didn't stop fast enough. A dude webt off the corner on Giro. How many fall and brake bones due to exploding tubulars? How many amateur racers are fortunate enough to run ceramic/carbon rims and brakes that are the only ones providing power and are fading less on long descents. Road rim brakes are a joke. Just like is electronic shifting which is nothing more but manufactured feel, just like is weight limit, just like are geometry regulations. Just like is whole elitist bullcrap embedded in this sport making most respectable people of this sport behave as they did when Peter Sagan didn't shave his legs for a few weeks. Half of them, who earn double of what I earn as an architect can't even corner in any decent way. Races where most run aways are a farse for sponsors and people watching it believe those dudes are racing for stage wins. People talk to me about Whistler hiding figures on injuries after each summer season, how dangerous MTB is. Yes to scratch yourself. There is no hiding how many die training on road bikes, killed by cars.

I have one pro roadie and one ex pro in my family. Both rode Giro, I know this sht quite well, how unreasonable bunch they are, how fkd up they are by the volume and precision of training they need to do to perform at highest levels.

Disc brakes stop bikes better and increae level of danger as much as headcams do for downhillers.
  • 3 0
 @Jamminator:
I can't believe they actually whined about rotors being dangerous.
You've got a bunch of serrated circular knives directly on the other side of the hub if that's they're concern.
An uber-light strategically placed Shark Fin, or f*ck it, go crazy with a [hugely] vented carbon fiber cover around the whole rotor and problem solved
  • 13 0
 Jeeez, it's lighter than my ultegra, rim braked road bike. Dam that's filthy light looking!
  • 11 0
 Not usually a fan of XC bikes, but this one is drool worthy!
  • 6 0
 I am the same, I love anything that focused and dialled in.
  • 3 0
 @Patrick9-32: The wheelset and tires are unreal...I bet it feels amazing spinning those up to speed.
  • 5 0
 @twozerosix: probably doesn't feel like much at all haha. You just think you're hovering
  • 8 0
 I touched a tubular tire once.
  • 5 0
 The PRODUCTION 2013 Scott HMX Premium 900 29er frame was 999 grams in a medium size... if this thing is smaller (being a 650B), and at least 150 grams lighter than last year's team frame...

Yeeeeeshhhh.
  • 4 0
 wonder if the thinner upper chainstays give the rear end a little more flex. Nino has been rocking the FS bike for a while now without much change so with a track that is a little more old school XC it's a good place to test out the new feel of the rear end.
  • 1 0
 Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but it looks like there is a pivot between the seatstay and chainstay as well?
  • 2 0
 @seaskimmer: it maybe has a bushing seat stay flex system similar to the trek XC bike but definitely not a pivot.
  • 1 0
 @brockfisher05: I see, thanks.
  • 3 0
 @seaskimmer: No pivot, no bushings. It's a straight up hardtail.
  • 7 0
 Under 19 lb and he will whip with it... damn Big Grin
  • 7 0
 sux when your mini hydration pack outweighs the bike.
  • 6 0
 The front chain ring make my legs hurt
  • 7 0
 When your chainring is bigger than your brake rotor...
  • 6 0
 man those seat-stays are slim!
  • 3 0
 everything about that frame is slim
  • 8 2
 Urban camo and tan wall rims, dude got style Beer
  • 3 16
flag atrokz (May 20, 2016 at 9:11) (Below Threshold)
 then ruins it with those skinwalls. totally ruins the 'style'.
  • 11 1
 @atrokz: Maybe not the "coolest" looking rubber out there (though I really like it) but you can't hate on the sickness of handmade tires. Style is subjective, steeze can't be denied.
  • 12 6
 @VwHarman: They aren't 'handmade'. That's a blatant misnomer to impress lumbersexuals who have zero manufacturing education. They have hand stitched casings, glued to machine made rubber. The rubber was molded in cnc machined molds, using mechanical equipment set up by an operator. The term is losing it's reality and seems that since tumberinas are setting the standards on being able to make up terms anyone can and the general public eats it up. Artisan hand sewn tires with hand formed rubber chewed into perfect knob shape by a colony of ants trained at the Parisian school of tire tread shaping.

I agree though, they are bad ass tires. Tubular on a MTB is an awesome feeling. Had tubulars on my KG461 and was able to check these out a few times at MSA. Just saying if we're talking about style the skinwall looks weird on the bike with camo and bright colors. All subjective for sure.

LMAO at the neg probs. Children get so upset before their can eat their lunchables at recess.
  • 5 0
 @atrokz: propping for the lunchables reference
  • 3 0
 I think you are all missing the point. It isn't urban camo it is Dazzle Camo used for prototype parts (same with the helmets Scott have here and out on the road)
  • 2 2
 @BeardlessMarinRider: Dazzle camo matchups are to be taken even more seriously. Do you even color combo bro? Brooooo. Camoooooooh
  • 4 0
 @atrokz: Ok, it is "MTB" dazzle camo Wink Which means: "let's tell the world this is a prototype part but not disguise it too much that people can't speculate on the internetz"... agreed? Smile
  • 5 1
 So everything TLD makes is a prototype?
  • 1 2
 Plus tyres/wheels are mimmicking what tubulars were doing since a long time: getting large contact patch and low rolling resistance thanks to low pressures, but with next to no risk for puncturing.
  • 2 1
 @WAKIdesigns: Yup. can run decent pressures without the risk of rolling them off and Burping. I wonder how long till DH tries it out.
  • 6 0
 @atrokz: The Syndicate guys were testing tubular tires on custom ENVE rims awhile back. Maxxis tread glued onto a casing, but not sure if it was Dugast or something else.

I hear you on the handmade argument, probably a misnomer on my part. Also, this was gold ''Artisan hand sewn tires with hand formed rubber chewed into perfect knob shape by a colony of ants trained at the Parisian school of tire tread shaping.''
  • 2 0
 @atrokz: not a blatant misnomer at all. It is about what is required to be able to actually use certain terms. A certain percentage of a process must be done by hand to qualify to legally use such a term. Whether that legal qualification is misleading to consumers is another discussion. Also, different manufacturing zones have different requirements so there isn't a set standard as to what actually qualifies as hand produced. Not 100% handmade at all, but legally qualifies as handmade nonetheless. I think that is what you are getting at when you say the term loses its reality.
  • 3 0
 @atrokz: Also, I have never been called a lumbersexual before. I know a bit about manufacturing, but I love being called a lumbersexual. Nicely done!
  • 2 0
 @mikelevy: those would be some well trained ants! Enjoyed that as well! Also lumbersexual and tumberina. I think we need @atrokz to write up a new terms section on pinkbike, these are gold! And cheers for the syndicate info, I hadn't heard that.
  • 2 0
 @VwHarman: those are all very good points and I hadnt thought of how it is treated differently across the pond!
  • 2 0
 @VwHarman: I didnt mean you in specific but hey if the shoe fits! Haha.
  • 2 0
 @mikelevy: very cool. Any idea on how they liked it? Would be a pita to seat but could do so mechaically on a few wheelsets for qually and race. And thanks, I have shit humor but a few good ones make it out now and then Wink
  • 1 0
 @atrokz: Of the many different things I have been called, that one is up there with the best! I'm adding it to my business card!
  • 2 3
 Lumbersexuals are awful, no doubt about that. They are almost as gay in trying to appear manly as Body builders. But they are nowhere as sick as twentysixualls and flatpaedos
  • 1 0
 @atrokz: I'm wondering whether the relatively small weight savings would be worth the extra hassle in dh
  • 2 0
 @kabanosipyvo: Think of it more as a way to run lower pressures with the benefits of tubeless like less friction but no risk of burping. Can still puncture but could run some sealant like tubeless. There are downsides which could be addressed but it seems like the procure answers the same questions in a different way.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Rooney going gilfing tonightSmile
  • 7 1
 makes my ass hurt just looking at that bike
  • 4 0
 I didn't think the new eagle drive train XX1 could be run with out the gold chain....
  • 3 0
 Yeah, first thing I noticed. Maybe the gold paint weighs more...
  • 4 0
 That's not Nino. I don't see any Tabletop doubles.
  • 3 0
 that derailleur comes pretty damn close to the rim lol....
  • 4 1
 that rear cassette just looks ridiculous along with the chain length...
  • 2 0
 I would look upon those seat stays with my 'you won't let me down now will you' face everytime I climbed aboard
  • 1 0
 Ha. Low 19 pound full sus. ... jeez. So what's that, full tits ax-lightness and Extralite parts with a rider weight limit at 80kgs? Holy smoke
  • 4 1
 Looks like a... hardtail.
  • 1 0
 Id happily snap those stays for scott testing dept Razz
  • 1 0
 that 50 tooth cassette makes it look like a 24" wheel lol
  • 1 0
 I want to see this prototype in the 29er version.
  • 1 0
 The new scale-solace,the seat stay is almost the same as on the Solace Wink
  • 1 0
 handmade tubular tires? how?
  • 3 3
 They call everything handmade these days, even when they are technically not handmade. The tires are hand stitched but certainly not entirely made by hand or 'handmade' by any correct use of the term.
  • 2 1
 Handmade dugast tubular casings, and then the mtb tread is glued onto the outside.
  • 1 0
 that is pretty bad ass. Cost?
  • 2 1
 @atrokz: How are Dugasts "technically [or otherwise] not handmade"? It is difficult to imagine another part of the bike (or any bike, including one with a metal frame) that is more deserving of the expression "handmade". There's a lot of Dutch here, but suggest you watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgcXTYbUhs8

Plenty of tubs are machine made (Vittoria, Conti, Tufo, Challenge), but Dugasts (and FMBs) are properly hand made.
  • 3 2
 @Surlybyname: Are the rubber treads formed by hand? Is the mold used to create them machined 'by hand'? Is the process for which they get glued together, done by hand, or with a press using pneumatic or hydraulic actuation? "handmade" = "made with the hands or by using hand tools" by definition. Using the term 'handsewn casing' is apt, correct, and shares the same deserving expression. "Handmade tires" does not. The handsewn leather seats in a Bentley doesn't make the car handmade. The hand assembled motor in an AMG doesn't make the car handmade. The hand sewn casings on these tires, do not make the tires handmade. - Manufacturing Engineer.
  • 2 1
 @Surlybyname: Of note, very cool video. I didn't know they rolled them that way post glue up. I did know they measured the treads and corrected for consistency. They have that aura to them in the MTB XC world and you can clearly see why.
  • 3 1
 @atrokz: If I have understood you correctly, I disagree with your definition of "handmade". I think you are too literal. Can you give me an example of something that you consider is hand made on a bicycle (or in fact at all)? Carbon prepreg is machine weaved, even metal bikes use tubes formed in a machine (which means you woudl deny Pegoretti his fatti con mani). While I agree with you that the expression "handmade" is frequently misused, I am OK with the label "handmade" being applied to Dugasts (at the risk of cutting Richard Nieuwhuis too much slack).

And I'd be OK calling the seats in your Bentley example "handmade" (even though I agree that "handsewn" is more accurate), but I wouldn't describe the car as a whole as such.
  • 2 1
 @Surlybyname: Manufacturing Engineering is my profession, for over a decade. so I know a thing or two about manufacturing terms and the term is 'hand tools or hand made'. It jsut bugs me now since it seems like litterally everything is handmade these days,when they aren't. I make knives part time as a side thing and there's guys milling out fullers and lockbars and calling it 'handmade'. I think if we use the correct terms there is no loss. Hand sewn and hand built tires seems perfectly apt and still carries the reality of what they are. Handmade tires makes it seem like the entirety is handmade, which we both know isn't the case. Yes it's splitting hairs and pedantic. Welcome to my world! (and thanks for the reasonable and rewarding banter!) An example of handmade is hand carved items, a painting perhaps, hand formed vase, hand made tools forged by hand tools, etc. On a bike, nowadays, I don't think anything is still fully handmade, thankfully Wink
  • 10 2
 sperm bank...
  • 1 0
 @atrokz: Further to our previous discussion, I actually wish that handmade meant what you are proposing. An exclusive, actual handmade process. It would esentially wipe out the word from the manufacturing sphere, but it would at least be a more accurate description. The difficulty is that many people apply an arbitrary "value" to true handmade products, which leads to companies wanting to hijack the term. I think the problem lies in the manufacturing regulators who allow a percentage-based definition. If 35% of something is handmade, can we truly call the total product (65% remains, well over half) a handmade product, or are we allowing companies to then attach a cache to their product to help them appeal to a more discerning (read affluent) demographic. Also kudos for referencing both Bentley and AMG Benzo. Nicely done.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Second day in a row you have made me burst out laughing from my office at work. Thanks Waki, now I look like a crazy person.
  • 2 2
 Looks at those socks, they must be way lighter than normal calf high variety. What's next, barely there underwear?
  • 10 0
 You do know not to wear underwear next to a chamois, right? Bet you are chafed to high hell Smile
  • 5 1
 No underwear, no chamois. What you need is an old banana skin. Go organic.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Does that constitute hand made?
  • 1 0
 @bzmarcin: Hand peeled maybe?
  • 1 0
 @VwHarman: beat me to it
  • 1 0
 Might as well switch to a road bike frame with seatstays that thin
  • 1 0
 I doubt that Nino has ever been on a full-production bike in his life
  • 1 0
 I will take two.
  • 1 0
 Still weighs more than my current bike!
  • 1 0
 Luvin the skinwalls!
  • 1 2
 any prototype hardtailight as well be production hardtail







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