Spotted: Brendog's Prototype Scott Gambler - Crankworx Rotorua 2016

Far from flying under the radar on his new bike, Brendan Fairclough was flying over it during the whip-off world championships earlier this week at Crankworx Rotorua. But the eagle-eyed amongst you will have undoubtedly spotted something unusual about Brendan's latest Scott Gambler. While we've become accustomed to seeing the likes of Brendan and Neko Mulally sporting unusual linkages on their bikes at the World Cups, the linkage in question here is however completely new and as yet unseen, at least outside of Scott's inner circle. While information is thin on the ground, we can make some educated guesses based on Fraser's photos...


While the first iteration of the current Gambler design that we all know had a heightened progressive curve built into the linkage, the engineers backed it off a touch when they went to the 650b platform, opting instead for a more 'linear feel'. They did this for you and me and not for the likes of Brendan and Neko. Those boys hit things harder than most and do so at warp speed, so their needs are on another level, welcoming a more progressive suspension curve. This has so far been achieved through a series of custom linkages that have been used over the past two seasons and all of which, looked nothing like this one...

So why a coil shock and not the new Float X2 Air option, which was favoured last year? Air shocks naturally ramp up towards the end of their stroke, while a coil shock is pretty linear throughout - the advantage for a DH bike running an air shock, aside from their low weight and heightened adjustability, is adding further progression to a linkage design that has a more linear curve. A shock like the Float X2 also allows the use of spacers to further tune that progressive feel. Granted, small bump sensitivity is a minor sacrifice from coil to air, but then the Float X2 is well known for its 'coil-like' feel. A DH bike that works better with a coil shock - more often than not - tends to have the progressive element of its ride feel, built directly into its make-up through its pivot locations and overall linkage dimensions.


Comparing this new linkage against that of a 2016 production Gambler, it looks as if the linkage element that connects the swingarm to the shock has completely changed while the rest remains very similar. The shock - now sitting lower in the linkage - is also accompanied by what looks like two additional eyelets, one for the shock and perhaps another that could be for the linkage. We can only hypothesise at this stage, but it's fair to suggest that this would allow Brendan and the team to further alter and fine tune the Gambler's suspension kinematics and even its geometry (with just a few tools) depending on trail conditions. The addition of the DHX2 Coil would also suggest that this new linkage has a more progressive curve built into it allowing him to jump to the coil option without needing the progressivity of the air.

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