As many times as we’ve gotten an up close look at N1NO’s Scott Spark RC 900 bikes, this custom painted version still has some interesting bits to share, including the first real mention by SRAM of the ‘XX1 Eagle Black Box‘ wireless eTap rear derailleur. After seasons of dominating XC racing, it isn’t a huge surprise to see Nino Schurter taking another win on home Swiss turf at the Lenzerheide World Championships. Take a closer look at the Switzerland themed bike and its ‘Black Box’ components.
Scott Spark RC 900 – N1NO 2018 Swiss XC Worlds bike
So yeah, Nino defended his World Champion title for the fourth year in a row over the weekend (making it his 7th World title.)
But we’re here because he did it on a sweet red & white painted bike to commemorate racing in from a home crowd in Switzerland. Oh and because his bike is decked out in some nice SRAM Black Box tech.
Scott Spark RC 900 frame & prototype suspension
Nino’s frame itself appears to be the same 100mm travel Scott Spark RC 900 with hi-mod HMX carbon that we’ve seen him take at least his last three titles on.
That’s not to say that it isn’t one of the lightest (and of course fastest) bikes on the circuit. Scott says his frame weighs just 1779g with the rear shock and all of the hardware, and is just 9.86kg/21.74lb ready to race with pedals. That sounds reasonable as we’ve weighed it a few grams even lighter than that in recent years, depending on small spec changes (although we didn’t get a chance to hang his eTap equipped bike this season.)
Interestingly Scott says the “heart of the frame is the Trunnion mount”, sinking the shock body deeper into the frame pocket for a longer shock stroke within the same eye-to-eye length. They say that helped develop the compact suspension layout. But team sponsor SRAM’s RockShox shocks don’t yet fit in that pocket it seems, at least not one that will also work with Scott’s newest TwinLoc and uses two positive air chambers. Once Nino left DT Swiss suspension behind two seasons ago, he’s actually been racing with a Fox shock to get the fit and lockout functionality he needs. The team may officially call the rear shock “Black Box”, but it still looks a lot like a de-badged trunnion mount Fox Float shock to us.
Up front Nino’s RockShox SID World Cup Carbon fork gets a little internal Black Box tuning as well.
More than just a pro tune, it gets a custom RL3 Charger Damper that has been developed to have three compression damping modes to work with Scott’s own TwinLoc remote: open Descend, a reduced travel & higher progression Traction Control, and full Lockout.
Otherwise the chassis of the 100mm travel Boost fork is unchanged besides the two-tone paint.
SRAM XX1 Eagle Black Box – eTap Eagle wireless drivetrain
The team has no given us the first official mention of the eTap Eagle wireless mountain bike drivetrain, calling it “SRAM XX1 Eagle Black Box”. It is still the same wireless 12-speed 1x mountain bike drivetrain that we broke the news on back in March, and then got a more detailed look at in May at two weekends of World Cup racing. SRAM doesn’t seem to be letting out any more info than the ‘Black Box’ moniker.
But the wireless shifter & rear derailleur do certainly look refined and ready for production, with no noticeable change since what we saw in May.
Outside of the derailleur & shifter every other part of the drivetrain (cassette, chain, cranks, chainring) seems to get its standard naming, so likely the eTap Eagle parts will be the only elements needed for a wireless conversion.
Complete Build Tech Details
The rest of Nino’s bike is pretty much the same as when we last saw it, albeit in this left vs. right red and white Swiss paint scheme. The new Fraser iC SL one-piece bar & stem gets the unique alternating paint job (and cut down to 680mm wide), as does the carbon XX1 crankset.
The rest of his build includes SRAM Level Ultimate brakes, a custom painted set of DT Swiss XMC 1200 carbon wheels with Maxxis Aspen 2.25″ tires, a Topeak shuttle carbon bottle cage, and Ritchey WCS V6 pedals.
Then, Syncros provides all of the rest, including the saddle, seatpost, headset, grips, and even the integrated stem cap hanger for Nino’s Garmin Edge 20 GPS.
Check out Elite Women’s World Champ Kate Courtney’s Specialized S-Works Epic here.
