Help increase speed of SCOTT Genius 710 - Tyre Change?

rugnugdo

Recently purchased a SCOTT Genius 710 LT - Possibly too much bike for the type of riding I do and first ride on it yesterday the bike felt so slow

The bike has had a 1x10 conversion and I simply didn't have enough high gears so legs were spinning on anything without a incline.... have ordered a 34t chainring to replace the 30t to help give me more speed with some higher gears.

Main question is the bike Currently has Maxxis High Roller II 27.5 x 2.4

I'm on the Isle of Wight and ride a lot of old ex railway tracks, farm lanes, gravelled / hard bridal ways - wondered what would be a good tyre selection to get the bike rolling faster?

Something like a Maxxis Ikon or Ardent Race? Any good combinations to consider?

steve_sordy

It's a great bike for steep and rough trails ridden fast. Its 170mm travel at each end will, in the right hands, be capable of tackling just about anything this country has to offer. But it is completely the wrong bike for "ex railway tracks, farm lanes, gravelled / hard bridal ways", hence your dissatisfaction.

By all means buy a bigger chainring and fit narrower faster rolling tyres and pump them up hard.

However, instead of neutering the bike, you would be better employed selling it and buying something more suitable. You would have a lot more fun too.

I'm sorry if that advice goes down like a cup of cold sick, but it has to be said.

rugnugdo

Appreciate the reply and I kind of know it’s way too much bike for what I do!

I probably didn’t research enough when buying!

I want something to ride fast, I do a fair few climbs and descents but generally on loose gravel, unkept lanes and through fields, should I look for an XC bike or a Trail bike?

Open to selling the Scott

steve_sordy

You have bought an absolutely fantastic bike for Enduro racing and aggressive trail riding! Once the lock-down is over, why not take the bike and yourself off to an MTB skills course and then start going to trail centres. You will deffo get an adrenaline rush from that!

Anyway, back to your question. If you want to stick to your stated required riding, then maybe neither XC nor Trail?

How about not a conventional mtb at all? How about one with no suspension, but with a good gear range and room for wider tyres than you would normally get on a conventional flat barred city bike. The wider gear range will allow you to get up to speed on the smooth stuff and yet still allow you to cross grassy fields. The fatter tyres will add some suspension and help tune out the gravel buzz. That sort of sounds like a gravel bike, but you don't need to go that far; any 2x hybrid bike that can take tyres up to 2" (or close) would do the job.

The Rookie

With Steve, a 'gravel bike style' is all you need, fat tyred Hybrid or an XC style rigid would be fine and likely come in 5kg lighter to boot.

Even so with that gearing you can top 20mph on a cadance of sub 100, which I think you'd struggle to achieve for any period of time with the drag anyway.