Scott Addict RC review

We knew that the Scott Addict RC Pro is a thoroughbred racing bike as used by both Adam and Simon Yates.

What we didn't know however, was that it would also be superbly comfortable and it's the seamless way that Scott blends aggression with comfort that has earned the Addict RC Pro a spot on our Editor's Choice list.

 This year saw Scott overhaul its Addict RC range, the bike brand's 'racing concept' level or performance bikes. The new changes brought the bike bang in line with what we have come to consider the norm for a GC racing bike, that includes a specific focus on integration, weight and comfort.

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Scott Addict RC Pro: breathtakingly integrated

The new Syncros Combo Creston iC SL carbon bar and stem is most obvious demonstration of Scott's new commitment to integration. The cables route internally from the hoods, into the bars, through the stem and through the head tube. The gentle back sweep of the bars is not just an aerodynamic touch but also to better help cable routing internally. The impressive thing about the Combo Creston iC SL bar is that it can handle internally routed mechanical cables as well as electronic one without miss-shifting.

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I was also very impressed with the comfort levels of the new Creston iC SL bar. One piece bar and stems have, traditionally, not been the most cushioning place to rest your hands but the bars did a good job of deflecting the worst of the road surface.

I also expected the bars to provide a difficult fit. After all, there's no option to adjust a one piece bar and stem. Happily though, the fit wasn't as aggressive as I expected. The reach is extended because of the sweep of the bars but not enough to cause discomfort and I actually found the setup put me in a comfortable position for riding. When developing the new bars, Scott used Rablador bike fitters, analysing over 3,000 bike fits to get the design right.

Personally, I'm still a two piece setup fan, especially when it comes to mechanics and working on a bike but, credit where credit is due, I'll applaud the Syncros Creston bar and stem.

Scott Addict RC Pro: an improved frame

The essential pairing for any new bike, Scott says that it has improved both the rigidity of the new bike and the bike's compliance. As you'd expect, there has also been some leg work done on the bike's aero credentials, a must have for any lightweight bike in this aero age.

The brand has re-designed the Torayca carbon fibre mix at the bottom bracket to increase stiffness by 14.5%. Out on the road the bike is responsive and feels snappy, no doubt that's also because of the bike's light weight, with the RC Pro weighing in at a svelte 6.9kg, even with Scott's own brand Synchros wheels and chunky 28mm tyres.

It's easy to see why the racers of Mitchelton-Scott love riding the Addict in the Grand Tours. I managed to take the bike out on the roads around Nice covering over 1000m of climbing in 35km on one ride and the Scott Addict was the perfect companion – the weight benefits shone through when sat in the saddle and the frame's responsiveness was grin inducing when the gradient kicked above 15%. Ok, so maybe that should read 'grimace' inducing, but the point is the Scott Addict RC Pro was up to it, and at no point felt like an anchor on the climbs.

If you were to do a blind test of the new Addict RC Pro, it would prove to be a tough bike to define. It's extremely comfortable, offering endurance bike levels of comfort in a lightweight bike frame. In fact, it would take the award of most comfortable bike I've ridden this year if I hadn't just hopped off the new Cannondale SuperSix Evo. But that's not the point, the point is that the Scott offers a wonderfully comfortable ride, yet doesn't sacrifice its performance to do so.

No doubt some of that comfort is offered by the wide 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tyres the bike has specced. They're large width offers up a greater amount of volume and allows you to run lower pressures while they're also just very supple and lovely to ride.

Scott Addict RC Pro: Specification

The bike's Shimano Dura-Ace groupset is, of course, a superb performer. Our model came with a 52/39 crankset and an 11-30 cassette which is my preferred combination. The semi-compact lets you crank it on the flat but the 30 gives you the range in the hills (even on the climbs in Nice...).

The decision to spec only disc brakes and only 160mm rotors is welcome. I'm not even a heavy rider and I value the added stopping power than the larger rotors offer.

There is the Scott Addict RC 15 that offers just that for £4,999 which is a sizeable discount over this model tested (it has aluminium Syncros parts rather than carbon).

Buy now: Scott Addict RC Pro at Rutland Cycles for £6298.99

The Syncros 35mm carbon wheels are decent performers and a good depth for a climbing bike. They're also tubeless ready and have a 21mm internal width which certainly blew the Schwalbe 28mm tyres up to a decent size.

It's shame I didn't have them set up as tubeless as I did suffer a couple of flats on my ride, the Schwalbe tyres very much proving themselves to be summer tyres.