Scott Foil Review

Scott's new FOIL carbon road bike takes an unconventional approach to reducing aerodynamic drag but the upside of its clever tube shapes is fantastic performance out on the road, with virtually zero compromises made in terms of stiffness or weight.

Shut your eyes during a big effort (not recommended, by the way) and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the FOIL and an Addict. Just like Scott's previous flagship bike, the new FOIL is phenomenally stiff both when charging up a climb in the saddle or wrestling the bars in a desperate sprint for a town sign. That rigidity is well balanced from front to rear, too, with no odd flex points in between to throw things off.

From the rider's perspective, there have been almost no compromises made to deliver the purported aero benefits, unlike some other similar machines out there – all you notice is the lack of mass and the sturdy backbone, and few riders are apt to be upset about it.

Handling is also classic Addict, as Scott have faithfully copied over that bike's geometry nearly millimeter for millimeter across the seven-size range, save for a few minor tweaks to fork rake here and there. As such, the FOIL is just as happy carving high-speed, sinuous mountain descents as it is ripping turns around a city block when you're on the rivet.

Scott's F01 tube shaping marks a sharp departure from the classic norm. Rather than use complete 3:1 or NACA airfoil sections, they've instead opted for truncated sections that reportedly mimic much deeper and aerodynamically efficient shapes despite the lopped-off tails.

The theory goes that the resultant semi-triangular shape allows for wider tube sections and thinner tube walls than the traditional approach, thus producing that impressive weight and remarkable rigidity. Scott apply this design methodology to the down tube, seatstays, seat tube and matching carbon fiber seatpost (and partially to the fork blades and chainstays as well). In case there's any confusion as to what's been done where, strategically applied red paint marks where airfoil tails have been removed.

Not surprisingly, Scott have integrated just about all of the features deemed virtually standard these days into the all-carbon FOIL, including a tapered 1-1/8 to 1-1/4in head tube, an 86mm-wide bottom bracket with press-fit cups (for 24mm spindles only), internal cable routing, plus a carbon fiber front derailleur tab and dropouts.

The lower headset bearing seat is molded directly into the carbon frame structure while the upper bearing resides in a ZeroStack-type press-fit aluminum cup. Rather than use a profiled external seatpost collar, Scott instead use a nicer-looking internal wedge-type binder that virtually disappears into the top tube. The overall frame shape is notably smooth, with rounded and gentle transitions.

The top two FOIL models use Scott's flagship HMX NET carbon fiber blend while the other pair use the slightly heavier HMF NET mix. The matching 330g all-carbon fork is an interesting beast, too, featuring a shaped crown to match up with the F01-profile head tube, carbon tips, and an integrated carbon lower bearing seat. In addition to being light, the deep and relatively broad legs are admirably stout and contribute to the bike's confident cornering manners.

The FOIL Team Issue is a ripping ride with few chinks in its armor. If your wallet allows, you demand nothing but top-end gear for yourself, and you've got room in the back of the Cayenne, we're guessing buyer's remorse won't set in – at least until the following model year…