The time has come! With this Scott Foil we proudly present the development from a PRIOR bike to a finished highlight. You may still remember the white foil? The PRIOR bike no. II? That bike was already impressive, but Dangerholm has once again dug deep into the box of tricks and prototypes and turned the dial to 11 for elegance and performance as well. We hope you enjoy exploring this little dream!

Over the years, Dangerholm has ridden just about every bike that can be categorised as BMX, trial, marathon or downhill. Only road cycling remained a blank slate for him until now, for some reason. That changed when a current Foil RC frameset appeared in front of him at the end of 2022. With the first set-up of the Foil (which can be discovered here as PRIOR II), topics such as riding position and aerodynamics inevitably came to the fore for Dangerholm. In the end, he was gripped by the ambition to build one of the most powerful and best-looking bikes for the road. But easier said than done - because what works for mountain bikes cannot necessarily be adapted to road bikes. Especially when it comes to integration and clean design language, the road bike sector has a level that mountain bikes can currently only dream of. The Foil is meant to appear as a whole and not like a construction with a selection of components that have simply been assembled. Comparable to a Super Car - only on two wheels.

Bike Presentation

The Scott Foil is Scott's answer to a rule change by the UCI in 2021, which now allows frames with a more flat, aerodynamic shape for competitions according to UCI regulations. The Foil combines the factors "lighter", "stiffer", "more comfortable" and "more aerodynamic" compared to its predecessor. For Dangerholm, these are of course some "quite nice" prerequisites, but he was attracted by the beautiful shape of the Foil - lines and surfaces flow almost perfectly into each other. The Foil RC frame in size L/56cm weighs 868g unpainted including attachments, 888g with seat clamp. The fork is a matching HMX carbon construction with a deep aero shape. Due to the 1" steerer tube used, the head tube of the frame can be kept correspondingly slim.

The "Liquid Gold" effect paint used here gives the bike its name. Depending on the incidence of light, it changes from transparent to green, gold and even blue. The original paint was completely removed from all parts. Then a transparent primer was applied. Liquid Gold was applied on top of this, followed by a layer of clear lacquer. For the middle layer of Liquid Gold, Dangerholm had to make sure that the paint was applied precisely and evenly. Too little and the effect would be very weak, too much and the transparent effect would not be optimal. How much more do you think the frame weighs after painting? It turned out to be 38 grams.

You can feel the close cooperation between Syncros and SCOTT in the handlebars, because the Syncros Creston iC SL Aero matches the frame perfectly. Of course, aerodynamics are also a priority here: with its small front, the Creston offers little surface area for attack, but it remains very comfortable nonetheless.

Syncros offers several seatposts for the Foil, all of which feature the very thin Aero design. Apart from different setback options, there is a regular and a CFT version. The regular model is a one-piece, lightweight standard design - perfect when weight and clean looks are key. The CFT version has a two-piece design. The front half is very thin and provides more comfort on bumpy slopes with its flexibility. However, the seamless integration of the Campbell 20 Aero rear light is exciting. Excellent when safety and a beautiful look go hand in hand so successfully. For the saddles, Dangerholm uses his favourite, the Syncros Belcarra V1.0 Cut Out, on the one hand - on the other, when it comes to weight, the Spline from Coco Designs. The Spline is a small-series carbon saddle from France. It is also painted to match the wheel and, at 65g, is a clear tuning recommendation. The spline also looks good from all sides. In contrast to most carbon saddles, great attention was paid to the edges during production. These are cleanly finished and nicely rounded. The thin carbon saddle shell offers a high degree of flexibility and guarantees comfortable sitting.

The levers from SRAM's RED AXS group form the shifting and braking centre. When it came to the brake calipers, the time had finally come: what works on the MTB must surely also work on the road! So Trickstuff's C22s were a no-brainer for Dangerholm. With the in-house power pads, they bite reliably and powerfully into the Dächle UL discs.

At the latest when looking at this wheelset, it should become clear to even the last inclined observer what this is all about. The wheelset from Bike Ahead Composites literally screams it out: AERO. The one-piece full carbon construction allows for a slim and efficient shape of both the spokes and the hub shell. The spokes disappear completely when you look at the wheels from the front, and of course, when you look at them from the side, they fit in perfectly with the Foil's design language. The weight of the wheelset has nothing to hide: 1450g. Meti thru axles are used on the Foil, which contribute to the clean look and provide the necessary stiffness. Michelin Power Cup tyres from the Competition Line are used. Dangerholm uses 25 mm at the front and 28 mm at the rear. To ensure the perfect look of the foil, the logos unfortunately had to give way and were carefully sanded down. The Revoloop Ultra Race tubes are used. At only 25g each, they are very light and offer surprisingly good puncture resistance.

The drive highlight is clearly the titanium crank from Sturdy Cycles. The crank arms are 3D printed and offer enormous stiffness. The axle is also made of titanium and was machined by Meti. Everything rotates in a Kogel Ceramic bottom bracket. The chainrings are held by 8 bolts as standard, which leaves the option open for the subsequent installation of a power meter. You find the crank interesting, but would like a 2-speed version? That is also possible. Sturdy offers corresponding chainrings. For Dangerholm, the choice fell on a 1x drive, as he is used to larger gear jumps coming from the MTB and does not necessarily need the finer gradations of a 2x version. Depending on the terrain, he prefers to vary the cassettes he uses. A 10-36 cassette is used in flatter terrain. If the terrain is more hilly/mountainous, he switches to a 10-44 cassette. Accordingly, he shifts with a RED XPLR rear derailleur. This was also disassembled, polished and given a Kogel Kolossos Aero rear derailleur cage. The prototype shown here was created in cooperation with Kogel parallel to this Aero project. We will of course keep you informed when the Aero cage will be officially available this year.

All in all? The Foil weighs in at 7.11kg with the standard seatpost and Coco saddle. Once again, Dangerholm has created a work of art that will captivate the viewer for a long time, both technically and visually.

SCOTT Foil RC Liquid