The Addict is back. The model that propelled Scott into the realm of elite superbike manufacturers has been re-engineered from the ground up, with all-new technology but the same aim: to make the best ultra-light production bike.
Scott know that aiming to build the very lightest bike would drive prices sky-high. Instead, here's a complete bike with a sub-1kg (2.2lb) frameset for less than the cost of a Cervélo RCA frame. Scott say that, while making the new Addict so light, they have retained stiffness and comfort.
Ride & handling: Ultra-light without compromise
The Addict SL is made for attacking steep climbs. More than that, it's a bike made for attacking other riders on steep climbs. That isn't merely because it's light; the frame has torsional and lateral stiffness close to the levels of the Scott Foil, so up there with the best.
Light bikes are good for spinning a gear up long mountain passes. Light and stiff bikes also love to punch up short, sharp lumps with aggressive efforts out of the saddle. That makes the Scott Addict SL a lot of fun to ride hard.
The Syncros RR1.0 wheels are very light for clinchers, and pretty stiff, so they boost the Addict's responses. Their 28mm profile gives them an aerodynamic advantage over other shallow climbing wheels, too. Braking in the dry was excellent on the new SwissStop Black Prince carbon-specific pads. A wet test will have to wait until we get a bike in the rain in the UK.
The frame's rigidity extends to the head tube and fork. The steering is accurate and fast but not at the cost of neutrality and stability, so you soon come to trust it at deeper lean angles and higher speeds. As you'd expect, the Addict is great fun on descents.
The kit is equally impressive. SRAM's Red 22 feels just like Red 2012 – snappy and crisp – but has that extra sprocket to improve the spread or spacing of the cassette. Shifting and braking are superb.
The Scott Addict SL only comes in one colourway
The Ritchey components and Fi'zi:k saddle are hugely expensive parts, and impressive inclusions. They obviously help keep the overall weight low while preserving high all-round performance: the cockpit is stiff in sprints and the Arione 00 saddle, though firm, is comfortable thanks to its refined shape.
That said, it's worth checking that the Arione is your best match in terms of Fi'zi:k's saddle shapes, as the extra-thin padding means comfort is even more dependent on the shell profile.
Ineveitably, there will be people who say there's no point in a bike being this light, but they're wrong. You can feel it and it does make a difference. Climbing feels great on the Addict SL, and you will go up hills a bit faster.
The most impressive thing about the new Addict SL is that it's reached this very low weight without compromising ride or handling.
Frame & equipment: Sub-kilo frameset with high-end kit
There are four Addict models, with three versions of the new frame between them. But the Addict SL is the special one. It uses a new grade of carbon fibre – HMX-SL – developed by Scott with their suppliers and, in a 54cm size, is claimed to weigh under 1kg for the frame and fork.
At the Addict launch, BikeRadar borrowed a hotel kitchen's electronic scales to weigh the bare 56cm frameset Scott had on display. It came in at 1,020g – spot on given the size difference.
The Addict's geometry is identical to that of the Foil, and the tube shapes are also derived from the aero Foil's 'virtual airfoils'. The subtle shaping is claimed to save 7.8 watts on average across a full range of wind angles (-20 degrees to 20 degrees) at 45kph.
That's less than half the benefit of the Foil but useful nonetheless, and it sees the Addict follow the likes of the latest Cannondale SuperSix EVO and Trek Madone by making aerodynamics a consideration even for the lightest bikes.
Scott also say comfort has been improved by 25 percent over the previous Addict, a measure of frame deflection taken at the top of a steel seatpost. Torsional stiffness at the bottom bracket is claimed to be 6 percent higher than on the previous Addict, and “very similar” to that of the Foil.
The head tube, top tube and down tube are produced as a monocoque
The Addict 20 (Ultegra 10-speed) and Addict 10 (Ultegra Di2 11-speed) share a frameset made from Scott's more affordable HMF carbon fibre and claimed to weigh 1,261g (frame and fork, 54cm). The Addict Team Issue (Dura-Ace) has a frame and fork made with HMX carbon (1,088g frame and fork).
To save weight – Scott say they worked hard to cut every single gram – there are separate frames for mechanical and electronic groupsets, rather than interchangeable internal cable routing guides as is now the norm.
The Addict SL comes equipped with the latest SRAM Red 22 groupset with a standard or compact chainset. The finishing kit is high end – a Fi'zi:k Arione 00 saddle with carbon fibre shell and rails, Ritchey Superlogic Carbon seatpost and stem, and Ritchey WCS Carbon EVO Curve handlebar.
The wheels are Syncros RL1.0 carbon clinchers with a semi-aero 28mm depth and claimed weight of 1,310g. The Syncros hubs use the same high-grade internals as DT Swiss 240s. The wheels have a weight limit of 100kg (220lb); on different wheels the Addict frame has a limit of 110kg (242lb).