We've spotted Ethan Craik, one of the Scott Factory Downhill team’s top riders, ripping round BikePark Wales on what appears to be the latest iteration of the Scott Gambler.
Charging down the Welsh hillside as part of BikePark Wales' Not A Race event, Craik wasn't hanging about on the new Gambler.
It’s been six years since Scott updated the Gambler and this latest version looks to follow suit when it comes to the Swiss brand’s now preferred frame aesthetics.
With the rear shock now hidden within the frame – something Scott has done with the Spark XC bike, Genius trail bike and, more recently, the Ransom enduro bike – this Gambler is clearly a very different beast from the outgoing machine, which used a vertically mounted shock and four-bar linkage suspension system.
What else is new, though?
Hidden shock, more links
Scott hasn’t exactly been super-secretive in hiding the new Gambler, having had various team members posting riding clips aboard it on social media.
Craik and Benoît Coulanges also hit the first round of the Portuguese DH Cup on it earlier this month, finishing second and third respectively.
Scott will have been working on this bike for years, not just these past few months, but it’s not as if it had to start from scratch, given how the rest of the line-up has been updated in recent times.
The new Gambler appears to share similarities with the 170mm-travel Ransom, which houses the shock horizontally in the down tube, where it's accessed via a bolt-on cover, just like the one we can see here on the Gambler.
Useful adjustments
In terms of what’s driving the shock – again, from what can be seen, there are a lot of similarities to the six-bar system used on the Ransom.
What’s different here, though, is the forward shock bolt looks to offer some form of adjustment, thanks to the diamond-shaped chips locking them in place, unlike the standard shock bolt used on the Ransom frame.
We’d guess these could alter the level of progression available through the rear-suspension travel, although it’s hard to say for sure.
There appears to be more available to tweak on the Gambler, though.
On what looks to be a machined aluminium rocker link connecting the seatstays to the main frame – indicating that this is still a prototype and not quite ready for release – there seem to be bolt mounts on the inside for what we’d presume to be a removable brace.
Bolting a brace in here will likely boost rear-end stiffness – great if you’re a heavy, hard-hitting rider. Removing it will increase flexibility and most likely help to improve rear-wheel traction. It’ll also help to add some compliance for lighter riders.
On top of that, the rear axle dropouts appear to be bolted in place, suggesting these can be swapped out, most likely for different-length options to either accommodate different wheel sizes or tweak the length of the rear centre.
Keeping it quiet
Take a look at the driveside chainstay and you’ll see the STFU chain-damping guide.
These guides have been placed above and below the chainstay. We’re guessing, in the battle to create the quietest bike at the 2025 races, this’ll help keep noise to a minimum.
There’s also the Rimpact Chain Damper, which replaces the regular chainring.
This nifty little device is used to reduce pedal kickback through the suspension system for a smoother ride feel.
Again, we’re sure this is all in a bid to create one of the smoothest, most comfortable bikes on the hillside.
We weren’t able to get an up-close bike check with Ethan Craik's new Gambler at the event, because the bike still doesn’t officially exist, but, when we do get more details, we’ll be sure to let you know.
