cannondale scalpel 3 or scott spark 30

tbloke

currently ride a scott scale 10 and absolutely love the bike to bits but am looking for something full suspension just to take out some of the bumps ands make longer rides more comfortable, plus try a little bit of downhill but nothing too extreme. I like the racy riding position of the scale and am not keen on a more sat upright type position, i know the scalpel has that lent forward type position but am not sure about the spark? both bikes will be 26" 2012 bikes as they flu into my price bracket and I've had 29ers before and am not really a fan if I'm honest
my biggest concern i think is can i get used to a lefty fork and is 80mm of travel enough plus is it possible to adjust the shock on the scalpel whilst riding? as it doesn't seem to have settings via a leaver like most rears so if i set it soft will i get peddle bob and struggle up hills?
any advice would be gratefully received

miceden

Personally I wouldn't pick either, but if I had to, and for the riding you describe, i'd take the Spark... the Scalpel has a pivotless suspension design, flexy chainstays + shock... it works, it'll iron out the ride, it'll climb well... but it isn't for anything even approaching downhill - land wrong or too hard, at too much of an angle, from too high a drop, or even (I've read) cornering and breaking really hard and that chainstay can snap. Yes it can happen on any bike but the scalpel is more prone to it.

I've seen one broken chainstay myself out on the trail (Afan Skyline) and read more than a few posts about people that have done it. Its not incredibly fragile, it wont snap first time out after doing something you shouldn't on it, it'd probably only happen after repeated instances.... but you sound like you want to start chucking the bike around a bit and I think the scalpel is a frame you maybe have to baby a bit (more than others).

That's my personal view, the Scalpel is a really nice bike but I don't think its quite for what you want. You may have seen them already but here are some reviews on both bikes:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... -12-46474/
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... -12-46434/

As for the Lefty... you either love or hate them. I've got a 2012 Lefty PBR, the rebound and lockout controls are really high up and close to your hand, flipping the lockout on/off is easy in the saddle even at speed... you can adjust the rebound in the saddle but that's a bit more tricky. I think they take a bit more fiddling to get dialled in, mine was very pogo like till I got the sag/pressure/rebound right, and they also take a bit more maintenance (resetting bearings) but I do like mine a lot - it tracks well and is much stiffer than any other fork I've had.