The Cycling Plus team know the Scuro frame well. We had three of them as long-term test rigs for a couple of years, clocking up thousands of miles on them.
- Highs: Lightweight and responsive, but comfy too
- Lows: Pricey for the component spec you get
- Buy if: You like to mix racing with day-long jaunts
For 2012 Dedacciai have gone back to the drawing board and reworked every part of the frame – aside from the geometry – into the Super Scuro.
It has a new tapered head tube with huge joints between the top tube and down tube. Frame weight is less than a kilo and is complemented by the latest lightweight RS fork, a similarly trim 350g. It might be light but this broad-shouldered fork feels taut, muscular and as rigid as you’d ever need.
The subtly arched down tube flows into a large bottom bracket shell and deep chainstays. The aero-shaped seat tube features a cutaway for the rear wheel and is topped with an integrated seat mast. The seatstays are an unusual shape – deep, but very narrow in the horizontal profile. This is at odds with most frame designs, but we found the Super Scuro’s rear end remarkably compliant and comfortable.
Componentry is an all-Italian job. Campagnolo’s 11-speed carbon Chorus groupset is about as good as mechanical gears get. It offers continuously crisp shifting, great braking and an impressively low weight. Yes, you could go lighter still with Record, but with Chorus this good that would be for kudos rather than performance.
The Campag Zonda front wheel has a 24mm rim and radial spoking, the rear a 30mm rim with Campag’s unique three-spoke grouping. We’re not sure what it adds, but the rear wheel felt suitably stiff. Vittoria’s excellent Open Corsa CX tyres are soft and gummy with exceptional grip, and stayed puncture-free throughout testing.
Riding the Scuro is rewarding. It’s light, swift and responsive, and this combines with the compact gearing for great climbing ability. The bolstered front feels stable plummeting down hills, with remarkably little road buzz. Acceleration on the flat is rapid, it holds its pace well and its quick steering makes cutting through a pack or snaking through traffic fun. The result is a genuine all-rounder – comfortable enough for all-day riding, nimble and light enough for racing.