Gambler Owners

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Gambler Owners
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flag johnbalz
Posted: Jan 24, 2019 at 15:02 Quote
Kicking around a new DH bike for the upcoming season. I had a YT Tues for DH last year and took my Transition Patrol a few times.
I have a new Nomad for some days but would like a dedicated DH bike again. I'm down to the Commencal Furious/Supreme, New GT Fury, Trek Session or the Scott Gambler.
I'm leaning towards the Gambler because they are just so darn cheap comparatively, but even though it seems to be such a popular bike I find next to nothing as far as real world feedback on it.
Anybody have a Gambler and by chance any of the other bikes listed? I'm not a racer and like playful bikes, but also like to get down in the rough stuff and do still have the Nomad set up for park riding.
Considering going 29 on the DH as well since it's an option on the Commencal, Trek and GT but not the Gambler that I like more than the others.
flag Tripmo
Posted: Jan 24, 2019 at 19:29 Quote
You should have maybe used the Scott Gambler owners topic?

Anyways Scott Gamblers are more racing orientated. Which means they are still playful etc, but not as playful as some other DH bikes.
Scott Gamblers are known to be very grounded, and plow through any gnarly terrain, I also can vouch for that I am riding a Gambler myself. Older model but Scott has been using for the last 5 years the same kind of model.

If you are looking into the new Scott Gambler 29er (with the new linkage system). That one hasn't been official launched so I cannot give feedback on that bike.
flag samsq
O+ FL
Posted: Jan 29, 2019 at 0:02 Quote
Another gambler rider here, this dude is spot on. They do become playful-ish once you build up some speed though. And they can monster truck their way over just about anything, which is nice. The tuneable geometry is nifty and its a very rugged bike.

But that's only for the 2015-2018 model I can't speak for the new one. The pre-2019 gambler is a little dated in some ways, it's shorter than many new frames out there and it's a heavy overbuilt tank. It's absolutely not a flow trail bike unless you are hitting big jumps and drops. It's stable in the air and you can case pretty much anything on it an survive.

Feels like every new dh bike out there is some variation of horst link so if you want to try something different the gambler is a cheap option.
flag allmountainride
Posted: Jan 30, 2019 at 6:10 Quote
I'm going to be a bit biased, coming from a trial bike onto a 2016 Scott Gambler.

It's the only downhill bike I've owned, but i have ridden a few others. Like everyone has mentioned it certainly likes to plough through most things. At low speed you can certainly feels it's weight and it's not as playful as some of the others I've ridden, such as a Norco Aurum. It seems to handle everything i take it through and I've still progressing onto bigger things. It inspires a lot of confidence.

The only downside i can think of is that i can't find a saddle position to stop my tyre buzzing!
flag samsq
O+ FL
Posted: Jan 30, 2019 at 18:47 Quote
festivetomatodip wrote:

The only downside i can think of is that i can't find a saddle position to stop my tyre buzzing!
Holy crap this is to true. The back of my saddle is raggedy as hell from being buzzed so many times.
flag KandT-MTB
Posted: Feb 7, 2019 at 17:01 Quote
One of my buddies that I ride with that owns a gambler has the same issue. We always blamed it on his rear shock not being properly set up but I guess that might not be true. He ended up taking a saw and cutting a V notch to clear the tire. I wouldn't recommend that because its only a matter of time before he gets his nuts caught between the tire and seat....but that's on him.
flag allmountainride
Posted: Feb 8, 2019 at 7:19 Quote
KandT-MTB wrote:
One of my buddies that I ride with that owns a gambler has the same issue. We always blamed it on his rear shock not being properly set up but I guess that might not be true. He ended up taking a saw and cutting a V notch to clear the tire. I wouldn't recommend that because its only a matter of time before he gets his nuts caught between the tire and seat....but that's on him.

You can get dedicated saddles with a tyre cutout to void buzz. Not sure how effective they are however.

https://goo.gl/5cc2D3

photo
flag KandT-MTB
Posted: Feb 10, 2019 at 18:59 Quote
festivetomatodip wrote:
KandT-MTB wrote:
One of my buddies that I ride with that owns a gambler has the same issue. We always blamed it on his rear shock not being properly set up but I guess that might not be true. He ended up taking a saw and cutting a V notch to clear the tire. I wouldn't recommend that because its only a matter of time before he gets his nuts caught between the tire and seat....but that's on him.

You can get dedicated saddles with a tyre cutout to void buzz. Not sure how effective they are however.

https://goo.gl/5cc2D3

photo

I showed him and he said “mine cost me five minutes.” ????????‍♂️ To each his own I guess! I’m sure he’ll have to buy a new one eventually.
flag samsq
O+ FL
Posted: Feb 10, 2019 at 22:46 Quote
KandT-MTB wrote:
festivetomatodip wrote:
KandT-MTB wrote:
One of my buddies that I ride with that owns a gambler has the same issue. We always blamed it on his rear shock not being properly set up but I guess that might not be true. He ended up taking a saw and cutting a V notch to clear the tire. I wouldn't recommend that because its only a matter of time before he gets his nuts caught between the tire and seat....but that's on him.

You can get dedicated saddles with a tyre cutout to void buzz. Not sure how effective they are however.

https://goo.gl/5cc2D3

photo

I showed him and he said “mine cost me five minutes.” ????????‍♂️ To each his own I guess! I’m sure he’ll have to buy a new one eventually.
You got a picture of the saddle by any chance? Would love to see how he did it, might cut up one of my old saddles now and try it out.
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