At under £1,000 a decent road bike should ideally have the potential to be a good solid commuting workhorse yet still offer a ride quality that has the ability to excite and enthuse. It’s a neat trick to pull off
The Scott Speedster S30 certainly gets the workhorse elements right. The double-butted aluminium frame is equipped with mudguard and rack eyelets, and even a chain pip for when you remove the rear wheel – all great touches. The frame itself is very well finished, too. It’s remarkably simple looking, with round, slender tubes, slim seatstays and flattened but not too oversized chainstays, plus a slim tapered fork.
Out on the road it’s a wonderful cruiser. The weighty wheels take a bit of effort to get up to speed but the comfortable saddle and well shaped bar keep things nice and smooth. The handling is stable and confident enough to react well to high-pace efforts and out-of-the-saddle sprints.
At 170mm the head tube is around 10mm taller than a race-ready frame, but not so excessive that it makes it too sedate. Scott provide plenty of headset spacers to give you the option of lowering the front end should you want it a bit more aggressive.
The wheels are solidly put together, with decent Continental Ultra Sport tyres; these are wire bead rather than lighter folding versions, but the tread is good, they’re tough and they roll well – a bonus on a bike at this price.
The Shimano Tiagra gearing of a compact 50/34-tooth chainset combined with the new 12-30t cassette means you should never be reaching for a gear you don’t have, no matter how steep the climb, but what we really appreciate with Tiagra is how well it shifts. In fact, feedback from our workshop manager George is that it’s one of the best for setting up and maintenance and keeps working smoother for longer.