SOPHISTICATED YET SIMPLE FRAME
There are two major changes with the new Gambler. First up is the six-bar suspension platform instead of the previous Horst four-bar linkage and secondly, the concealed, horizontal shock placement within the carbon frame. Scott claims the six-bar suspension system gave the engineers more flexibility in how the 210mm rear end could perform, while the low shock placement was all about increasing stability and traction. The shock is fully covered, which keeps all the muck and crud out, as well as safe from the punishment of pressure washers after muddy lapping.
World Cup tracks vary from fast and bike parky to rough and technical, so Scott designed the Gambler to be adjustable to each track with five different frame adjustments. The bike ships with a mullet wheel setup, but can run 29” front and rear. The aluminium chainstay is 464mm in the long and low setting or 445mm in the short and high. The reach can be tweaked +/-6mm with the headset cups included.
The bottom bracket sits at 361mm in high, and drops by a whopping 16mm to 345mm once you flip the flip chip. Finally, the progression adjustment helps to find the ideal ride feel between a linear and progressive setting with 25% and 30% progression, respectively. All in, bike geeks have 48 different ways to run this bike, not including any adjustments to the fork or shock.
This new suspension setup has led to a new design language for the bike, and it received plenty of looks and comments during my test period. People in the lift line asked me if it’s an e-bike, which was understandable as the boxy section that holds the shock looks like some sort of next gen, sleek motor. The bike follows a similar blocky design language to other Scott bikes across road, gravel and MTB, and now all their full-suspension bikes have the shock concealed within the frame. Rounding the bike off are a pair of robust fork bumpers, which give it another layer of futuristic toughness.
As the new suspension layout adds more complexity, Scott was keen to offset this by making the rest of the bike as simple to use and maintain as possible. With the shock hidden, they’ve added an external sag indicator tab where the crank meets the bottom bracket, so there’s no need to whip the shock cover off to see if you’re set up properly. There’s also the addition of a rear access panel to the shock, which can be quickly and easily popped off if you need to tweak your shock settings. The main access panel is secured with a twist locking mechanism, but the rear panel is just clipped in. I haven’t had any issues with either panel coming loose during my time with the bike, but replacements are available in case either is ever lost.
T30 bolts are used across the bike and they’ve handily included a very small, custom-made Syncros multi-tool to the shock cover, complete with a T30 bit, making trailside tweaks quick and easy. When taking the rear linkage apart, the washers remain inside the chainstay, which makes it easier to keep all those easy-to-lose bits in the right place when servicing at home. Inside the front triangle, water bottle cage mounts are fitted to offer versatility for riders looking to stay hydrated, cleanly mount a tool or spare tube, or to add data acquisition software.
SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
The Gambler is available in two build specs, and three sizes from M-XL. There’s no S, but Scott has designed the bike to fit anyone from 5’5” (165cm) to 6’5” (195cm). The top-tier Gambler RC comes with a FOX 40 Factory Grip X2 Air fork, FOX DH X2 Factory shock, SRAM Maven Silver brakes, and an X01 DH drivetrain. Scott claims this model in a size M tips the scales at 16.84kg (37.13lbs) when tubeless. I was lucky enough to ride the RC (€TBC) and felt pretty comfortable right away. The Grip X2 damper in the fork and shock shows how capable these bits of kit are, especially when you spend a few days lapping the same trails and dialling in the details.
The Gambler runs a cockpit from their in-house brand Syncros, with the 800mm Hixon bars and DH1.5 35mm stem as stock, and a set of their lock-on grips. The bars fit me well, but the grips were too thin. I ride Flowy AM grips from SB3 on my enduro bike, which max out at 35mm thickness, but people with less ogreish hands should be fine with the stock option. SRAM’s Maven Silver brakes are super powerful and have a steep learning curve, as the power is instantaneous and plentiful. I love off-on brakes, but these took some getting used to and over an extended first ride period, I did find the bite point wavered.
The cheaper Gambler 10 model is decked out with RockShox suspension front and rear with a Boxxer Base fork and Vivid Coil shock, Shimano MT520 brakes, and SRAM GX DH drivetrain. The Gambler 10 size M set up tubeless weighs a claimed 17.54kg (38.67lbs) and costs €TBC.
Colourways sometimes feel overlooked in the design process, but for people who see their bike as an extension of their personality and style, the paint jobs are really important. Scott is due some proper praise here, in my opinion. Not only does each model look brilliant, but they’ve shown that they understand the people who will be buying this bike – downhill racers on the too-spec RC, and park riders on the 10. The RC model comes in Mistyade Green, which has a 90s, “Saved by the Bell”-esque aesthetic with baby pink tiger stripes on top of a light turquoise base layer. It looks fast and clean, clearly aimed at competitive riders who own tight fitting race kit. The Carbon Black with Crackle Bronze on the 10 model pairs very well with the blacked out RockShox Boxxers for the ultimate “black is faster” look, which baggy jean wearing park rats are sure to love.
THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I’m 6’4” (193cm), pretty evenly proportioned, and sized XL in pretty much everything. As such, I went with the XL frame for my Gambler test rig. Scott wanted me to begin testing with the out-of-the-box settings that the bike will be shipped with: mullet wheels, with the chainstays set to long and bottom bracket set to high. After a quick chat with the mechanics about how I like a bike to feel, we decided to have the reach set to long and the progressive flip chip in the most progressive setting. The fork was set up to be quite progressive too and a 550lbs spring on the shock was picked to keep things plush for all 105kg+ (230lbs+) of me.
The first thing that stood out was how spot on the sizing felt. The chainstays felt snappy in the berms, and the 501mm reach allowed the bike to move up and down naturally over the rough stuff without making me change body position. The Gambler felt incredibly planted in the turns, giving me the confidence to take more speed into them and look for my exits earlier than I normally would. I was so impressed with how it felt on the flow trails, I was a bit concerned that this might mean that the performance on the steep tech trails has been sacrificed, especially as I had already maxed out most of the adjustments to make the bike feel longer.
Balance was the word that kept sticking in my mind as I made my way through the flow trails. The Gambler felt secure on the trail, but was light and responsive enough that I could correct myself when I came off line. Some downhill bikes make you feel like a passenger, where it just ploughs through your mistakes, but this bike gave me the chance to correct them.
On my second day in Châtel, I headed for the tech trails where it quickly became clear that my suspension was too plush. Pulling a bit too hard on the Maven brakes made the fork dive, particularly on slower, technical sections with steps into turns. Out the back, the planted feel on flow trails was replaced by a rear end that was far too active for my liking.
The Scott team was keen for me to make one change at a time, to really feel the difference each tweak made. By the afternoon, we had added more air to the fork, dropped the BB to the low setting, flipped the progressive flip chip, made the rebound of the shock slower, and added thicker grips. Quite a number of changes were made, and the difference between the beginning and end of these laps was huge. Rooty step down sections where the rear end was previously bucking me and the fork was diving felt much easier, as the rear wheel stayed planted to the trail and the fork gave much needed support. This did give up some of the plushness on the flow trails, but overall made it a much more capable and well rounded bike.
With that said, I did find myself wanting a touch more length in the rear on the steepest tech trails, but it’s clear that Scott made a decision here with their World Cup team to prioritise a shorter, more responsive rear end, over a longer, more stable one. It’s worth noting that only parts of two black trails had me wanting more length, and it was spot on everywhere else on the mountain. For comparison, an XL Santa Cruz V10 has 7mm more reach and a 9mm longer wheelbase than the Gambler in its longest settings.
I swapped out the mullet setup for a full 29er on an extended test period, and rode technical trails in Bernex and Morzine to see if that would give me the extra length I was looking for. Pointing it down a steep, chundery, rooty trail, I felt the bike planted to the ground, though I put this down to the overall frame design rather than the wheel change. I still felt the same issue of wanting more bike out the back in some very rare, and very steep, situations. No bike excels at absolutely everything, so a decision had to be made as to where this bike sits in the world of downhill, and Scott chose this as the geometry that they feel is the most capable of winning races. It’s not a negative, it’s just what it is. Swapping back to MX, I still enjoyed that planted and controlled feel on tech trails, and a noticeable added level of zip in the turns. Mullet is the way to go with the Gambler, and likely with every DH rig out there right now.
The Wolf’s Last Word
The previous iteration of the Scott Gambler put it on the road to becoming a World Cup ready race bike, and that ethos has become more refined with this model. The true success for Scott will be seen on the track, but for us mere mortal riders, the new Gambler is an incredibly well balanced downhill rig that’s a versatile all rounder for inside and outside the tape. Being middle-of-the-road can mean boring and plain, but when the road is a brutal bike park and you’re blasting down almost every part of it, middle of the road becomes quite the achievement. From the engineering prowess that Scott has exhibited implementing this futuristic looking downhill bike, to the adaptability and performance on the trail, the new Gambler is one hell of a machine. 
Price: $TBC
Website: Scott-sports.com
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ABOUT THE WOLF
Cían is a travelling, bike riding writer who started mountain biking in Whistler back in 2013 after a lifetime of playing team sports in Ireland. He likes posting up in different biking destinations for months at a time with his enduro bike in search of techy and tricky singletrack. Known for having a spectacular crash or two in his locker, Cían is always on the hunt for the next place to try and keep it rubber side down.
Rank: Wandering Wolf
Size: 6’4″ / 193cm | 105kg / 230lbs
Social: @cianwrites
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