SCOR 6080 Z GX eMTB REVIEW

EXCELLENT FREE-E-RIDER

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Finlay Anderson

Sometimes bikes come along that we just HAVE to test. And in the case of the SCOR 6080 Z eMTB, Robert was desperate to swing a leg over one from the day it first graced our screens. But would a 180mm travel eBike with some relatively extreme geometry live up to its riotous suggestions? And in providing such capability, would it then be reserved for only the most extreme trails? We were very excited to find out.

ABOUT THE SCOR 6080 Z GX

SCOR’s first alloy bike was designed to offer downhill bike levels of capabilities in a self-shuttle package. With the well renowned Bosch CX Gen 4 system, a mixed-wheel setup with long travel, and some progressive geometry, SCOR put together the ingredients for a very good time.

DRIVE UNIT AND ELECTRONICS | SCOR’s 6080 Z uses the Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 4 drive unit to propel it up the hill. With 85Nm and 600W peak power, Bosch’s drive unit is a solid performer that’s likely to please most riders. Though it has been succeeded by the Gen 5 system, the SCOR’s Gen 4 drive unit is still very much relevant in the eBike space.

Powering the Bosch system is their 750Wh PowerTube battery, which sits inside the 6080 Z’s downtube and can be easily removed. A key locks it in place, which won’t be to everyone’s liking, but proved to be issue free. This allows for two-battery epic rides, or can make charging easier.

The Bosch Smart System features the top tube integrated LED hub display, which indicates battery life in 10% increments and the mode selected. On the handlebar, the Bosch wireless Mini Remote allows the rider to toggle through power modes and use the WALK function.

Using the Bosch eBike FLOW App, riders can modify the power delivery of each of the four ride modes selected; plan routes with estimated range; lock and track the bike to protect from theft, and apply over-the-air updates.

FRAME AND FEATURES | The SCOR 6080 Z frame is made from hydroformed aluminum alloy, with a Level 5 rating giving strength for the most aggressive downhill mountain biking. With 180mm rear travel and a 190mm fork, this is a bike that’s built to take a serious beating. The short chainstays mean the rear end is 27.5” wheel compatible only, and a 29” wheel leads the charge.

The details are well covered, with the SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH); a headset with bump stopper to protect the frame and fork; their signature jump line-inspired chainstay protector; a removable battery with full-length rubber coated plastic cover, and custom plastic and rubber motor cover. Cable routing is internal, but avoids the headset for easier maintenance. There’s plentiful room within the front triangle for a water bottle, and tool mounts on the underside of the top tube.

The rear shock is protected from spray off the rear wheel with a neat integrated mudguard. The lower shock mount features a flip chip, offering “high” and “low” geometry settings to tailor the ride to the trails. The charge port features a simple but effective rubber cover, keeping dirt and moisture out effectively.

SUSPENSION | SCOR continues to use their Lower Link Activated, dual-link suspension design. The 6080 Z packs 180mm of rear travel, and is claimed to be supple yet supportive. To achieve this, there’s a leverage curve with roughly 26% progression up to 150mm travel. Between 150mm and bottom out, there’s a small regressive portion to help to offset the harsh progression wall at the end of an air sprung shock’s stroke.

The axle path begins with 5mm rearward motion up to sag, then arcs forwards sharply to around 25mm forwards translation as bottom out approaches. This should offer good touchdown sensitivity while retaining plentiful agility during deep-compression instances, albeit at the expense of stability.

Anti Squat sits just under 100% in the 36T rear cog at sag. This should deliver a nice balance of pedaling support and comfort for an eBike. Anti Rise drops smoothly from 100% to 40% through the travel, sitting at 80% at sag.

All in all, there are no alarming characteristics of SCOR’s Instant Center suspension system on paper. Out on the trail this continued, working harmoniously with the RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock.

GEOMETRY | SCOR gave the 6080 Z some very purposeful and aggressive geometry. Looking to maintain healthy levels of agility for a long travel eBike, they combined an active and supportive suspension system with an extremely short chainstay length at 435mm across the size range. This has benefits in terms of agility and confidence in steep terrain, but is not without drawbacks.

In addition to the short chainstays, standout figures are a slack 63° Head Angle and 76° degree effective seat tube angle. The size large we tested paired a 485mm long Reach with a 635mm Stack. The resulting 1274mm wheelbase is fairly typical, though there’s a large proportion of the length in front of the bottom bracket.

BUILD SPECS | SCOR is offering the 6080 Z in two builds: the NX at $/€ 5,499, or the GX build tested at $/€6,999. Both feature mechanical SRAM drivetrains; RockShox ZEB and Super Deluxe suspension and CODE brakes, but differ in the levels and finishing kit. Each is offered in one color only: Beige for the NX, and Raw for the GX tested.

The GX build we tested left little to be desired, and represents reasonable value as a result. The highly adjustable Ultimate level RockShox Zeb 190mm and Super Deluxe were excellent. The SRAM GX mechanical drivetrain didn’t skip a beat, and the CODE RSC brakes provided dependable power.

A DT Swiss H1900 wheelset was wrapped in a solid Maxxis Minion DHR2 DD and Assegai EXO+ tire combo, which matched the 6080 Z fairly well. Though, we’d have loved to have seen an even burlier tire combo for mindless sending through the roughest terrain.

All of the finishing kit was trouble free and blended into the background well. The Bikeyoke Divine dropper post is a solid choice, though the 160mm length was disappointing. Insertion depths may be limited somewhat, but we’d have loved to see the 185mm spec’d as standard on the size large, as comes fitted to the XL. The Burgtec Enduro MK3 stem and SCOR alloy bar were solid. The Praxis Heavy Duty eCrank handled the abuse amicably, and the WTB Silverado saddle was a comfortable perch.

Overall build weight tipped the scales at 56.7lbs (25.7kg), which is in the same realm as the likes of the similarly burly Norco Range VLT.

THE DIRT

The SCOR is a very particular, aggressive bike. As such, it required some particularly aggressive testing terrain, for which I was happy to oblige. From the biggest jumps I’ve hit in years at Revolution Bike Park, to some of Scotland’s burliest descents, testing the SCOR 6080 Z has been a straight up riot. But, it’s not an eBike that’ll please everyone.

SETUP | The 6080 Z proved to be a simple machine to set up. Neither end of the long travel RockShox suspension units were overly sensitive to air pressure or compression settings. The 6080 Z functioned well with anywhere from 28% to 35% rear sag depending on the terrain, with small tweaks to the ZEB fork mating up nicely. I settled on 30% sag in the rear as a happy middle ground setup, which offered a good balance of comfort and support.

The cockpit components were easy to get feeling comfortable, aside from the short 160mm Bikeyoke dropper spec’d. For the terrain truly worthy of a bike this burly, more clearance is required. However, it was more manageable than some other bikes due to the slack actual seat tube angle. Thankfully, the effective seat tube angle was not overly slack for my long legs, and the seated climbing position was tolerable with the saddle pushed forward in the rails.

ELECTRONICS & INTEGRATION | The Bosch Performance Line CX may have been superseded, but it’s still a very solid performer. With 85Nm and 600W Peak Power, it has enough grunt to power the 6080 Z uphill effectively. It exhibits solid control, and stacks up well in terms of range with its integrated, removable 750Wh battery. The Bosch system integrated well with the SCOR frame, with no glaring oversights and a sleek overall look.

Bosch’s eBike Flow App let me tweak the modes to my preferences with ease. Of course, I selected full-power in Turbo and eMTB; opted for a nicely balanced Tour+, and slightly ramped up ECO to take off the sting a little better.

The bash guard took a particularly harsh hit mid-way through testing, when a loose rock dislodged from a jump landing and the bike bottomed out onto it. This ripped the bash guard clean off the bike and even chipped metal off the drive unit cooling fins. Aside from a hole in the rubber coating on the bash guard, the remainder was unharmed since the design allows for the hardware to pull through the mounting holes. With some slightly oversized washers fitted, it was good to take more abuse, and remained in place for the remainder of testing.

CLIMBING | The 6080 Z is not an eBike with a particular focus on excelling uphill. That’s not only evident in SCOR’s descent-focused description of the bike on their site, but also in the geometry sheet and resulting feel on the trail. But that said, it’s a Bosch CX-powered eMTB, so it’ll get you up certain climbs without any fuss, and at a reasonable speed.

The climbing performance of the SCOR 6080 Z is entirely dependent on how your typical climbs look, and how skilled you are. If you’re blessed with shuttle road climbs that avoid being extremely steep, then the 6080 Z has the power, seating position and sufficient support in the suspension to get you up effectively.

When climbs get particularly steep or tight, the 6080 Z becomes a handful. Combining the extremely short rear end; slack head angle, and relatively slack seat tube angle, you’re left with a very rearward seated weight bias. Even with the shock locked out, it’s difficult to keep sufficient weight on the front wheel to avoid wheelie-ing and pushing the front on uphill switchbacks. That said, it’s not impossible to manage, but requires your best moto-trials skills on the rear wheel. If you’re looking for an eBike that’ll climb steep tech uphills with minimal fuss, this isn’t it.

DESCENDING | The SCOR 6080 Z offered something very special on the way down the hill in the full power eMTB space. SCOR’s bravery in spec’ing a 435mm chainstay on a long travel eBike paid serious dividends on the way down the hill. When combined with the fairly supportive rear end, the agility that was retained in this fairly heavy and well cushioned eBike was impressive as a result. That’s not to say it’s a particularly fun bike for mellow trail cruising, but when the trail tightens up it’ll do a reasonable job at darting side-to-side.

One area where the 6080 Z was exceptional was in ultra-steep terrain. This comes with the caveat that the saddle height was problematic with the stock 160mm dropper spec. I was forced to manually lower it in the frame, and ultimately swapped it for a 210mm OneUp unit. With the saddle out of the way, the rearward weight bias and general planted nature of the 6080 Z inspired extreme confidence.

The stability as a result of the reach, slack head angle and eBike system weight meant there was rarely a situation the SCOR 6080 Z felt out of depth. Big jumps were dispatched with impressive calmness and predictability; rough terrain was handled amicably, and big repeated compressions never phased it. The frame struck a good balance of reassuring stiffness, without feeling harsh or prone to deflecting.

The initial suspension stroke was very sensitive, and felt to offer reasonable comfort and traction through rough terrain. It’s not the ultimate trail-muting bump gobbler, still giving a little feedback and support to let you know what’s going on beneath. This made it feel more active and engaging than the likes of the Norco Range VLT, but it didn’t quite maintain the same momentum through rough terrain.

FINISH AND VALUE | The SCOR 6080 Z was a well-finished machine, commanding a premium impression overall. The details were fairly well covered, and it ran smooth and quietly throughout testing. The only issue sustained was the bash guard and drive unit cooling fin damage mentioned, but the impact was extreme enough for a similar fate to be suffered on most bikes.

Seatpost insertion is limited by the shock position on the SCOR 6080 Z frame. Shorter legged riders and those who demand the lowest saddle height for the descents should check that they will have suitable insertion depth to get their saddle out of the way. My long legs on the size large were able to accommodate a 210mm OneUp dropper, but it was tight.

Following some issues on their first mountain bikes, SCOR worked to improve the performance and longevity of their suspension system in muddy conditions. As a result, the 6080 Z fares better, but not perfectly. Mud can still get in on the worst days, and it can take a little work to clear, but it’s not impossible.

Cable routing was solid, providing rattle-free performance once the area in front of the bars was tidied up. The raw finish was durable, and the only evidence of abuse was on the pre-fitted clear protection tape. The chainstay protection was solid, keeping noise and damage to a minimum. Tire clearance was adequate in the rear end, avoiding rubbing on hard cornering efforts or any blockage on the muddiest of days.

Analyzing the geometry through the size range, SCOR’s decision to make the rear end essentially as short as possible will likely please size Small and Medium riders in particular. Riders on the size large may begin to suffer from the imbalances of the long front center and short rear, however it was manageable. On the XL frame, the imbalance is quite severe, and it may take a particularly skilled rider or one who descends exclusively in ultra-steep terrain to handle the 6080 Z effectively.

COMPONENT REPORT

RockShox Zeb Ultimate 190mm | This might just be my favorite aggressive fork on the market right now. With a great combination of comfort and support, the current crop of RockShox forks are excellent, and getting a whopping 190mm out of a single crown without stiffness concerns is impressive.

Maxxis Assegai DD / EXO+ | I’d consider the tire casings selected by SCOR to be the absolute minimum required to support the intentions of the 6080 Z. Although they held up to the abuse amicably, I’d consider the full-on DH casing Assegai a more fitting selection, personally.

The Wolf’s Last Word

As a long travel eMTB claiming to be a downhill bike with built in shuttle, you’d expect good things from the SCOR 6080 Z on the way down the hill. But it goes a step further than this, and is excellent when ridden purposefully. It offers a clever blend of weight and front end-fed stability; with the agility and snappiness coming from the short chainstay and supportive, poppy, rear suspension.

Larger sizes require aggressive riding to maintain sufficient front end traction, due to the heavily rearward weight bias. But give the SCOR 6080 Z suitably gnarly terrain, or ride it with the intent that it begs of you, and it’s an ultra-capable and very fun machine. 

Price: $6,999 / €6,999
Website: scor-mtb.com

ABOUT THE WOLF

Robert’s habitat is the Tweed Valley, Scotland, which is renowned for its root-littered enduro mountain bike trails. Robert has been developing his bike handling skills for the last 16 years. Since he was a pup, he’s been riding everything from BMX through to enduro and downhill bikes. Combining a playful style with occasional speed-focused aggression, he favors supportive bikes, and does his best to push them hard.

Rank: European Tech Editor
Size: 6’2” / 189cm | 220lbs / 100kg
Social: @robert_johnston

SUPPORT AND JOIN THE LOAM WOLF PACK

Did you find this review helpful? Would you like the chance to review (and keep) products? Are you interested in saving big bucks by getting exclusive Members Only discounts from industry brands all while helping support a small, rider-owned media crew?  We have big plans for our members beyond big discounts and product giveaways! To learn more and help support small, independent media, visit our Member’s Page.