Review: Scott Foil 10 Disc

Scott Sports launched the disc version of the Foil aero road bike in 2018. They were a bit late to the party, but the extra time spent developing the product was well worth it.

First launched in 2011, the Foil has seen two major updates, with the disc version being the third. With all the effort that had already gone into making the rim brake Foil as aero as possible, Scott was not simply going to slap some discs onto that bike for a quick fix. According to their research, adding discs to the Foil would come with a three watts penalty. Scott wanted to claw back those precious watts before releasing the bike to the public.

The aerodynamic gains were achieved in three ways. The first was to add “winglets” to the fork lowers to help guide air over the disc. In fact, the left-hand side wing is large enough to shield a significant part of the brake caliper without sacrificing adjustability. That design feature makes up one of the three lost watts. A second watt was saved by giving the front thru-axle a removable lever. Then, the wider tyre and rim creates a more aerodynamic leading edge, saving another watt. And there are the three watts back in your pocket. At a mere 45 gram of extra weight compared to the rim brake frame.

The down tube employs a Kammtail (a teardrop shape with the tail removed) aero profile for maximum wind-cheating properties while maintaining a practical shape for stiffness and strength. Higher up, closer to the front wheel the down tube also has a narrower profile to cut through the wind as effectively as possible. It has become an industry trend for the head tube, fork, stem, and (to an extent) the handlebar to form one front-facing profile. In this case, it’s worth mentioning that Scott has done a commendable job getting rid of “joints” with even the headset spacers and the shape of the stem clamp area forming part of the smooth design. The cables are routed around the front of the bike, disappearing into a single port on top of the downtube.

The rear dropouts feature wheel positioning guides to make fitting a wheel quick and easy, removing some risk of scratching or chipping the paintwork. The Foil also accepts both a standard derailleur hanger and a Shimano Direct Mount hanger to make it more versatile should you ever need a new derailleur hanger. The direct mount hanger provides extra room to make wheel changes faster and easier.

The Scott Foil 10 Disc arrives with a 52/36 semi-compact chainset and 11-30 range cassette, meant to give you more top end without losing the climbing potential of a low bottom gear. A separate bar and stem combination adds some adjustability over the top of the line’s one piece bar and stem, yet keeps a flat aero top that is comfortable in the hands. The Di2 junction box is tucked away at the end of the bar.

Tyre clearance has been bumped to a healthy 30 mm with the bike fitted with 28 mm skin-walled Schwalbe ONE Race-Guard as standard. The wide tyres are only part of the effort that has gone into making the bike more comfortable on longer rides and rougher roads (like ours). The lowered seat stays are flattened, and the top tube and seat tube shapes both allow for a certain amount of vertical flex to soak up road vibrations. Scott says the focused approach to improving comfort on the new Foil resulted in an increase in vertical compliance by 86% of the seat tube area compared to its predecessor and an 11% increase in fork compliance compared to the first edition of the Foil.

A note on the sizing: On the 54cm I tested my saddle height of 77cm ran the seat post to just above the minimum insert line. Keep that in mind when you are size shopping.

Specification

• FrameFOIL DISC HMF / IMP, F01 AERO Carbon tech. Road Race geometry. Replaceable Dropout. STD Seattube / INT BB.
• ForkFOIL DISC HMF, 1 1/4″-1 1/2″ Carbon steerer, Integrated Carbon Dropout
• HeadsetSyncros Integrated
• Rear derailleurShimano Ultegra RD-R8050, 22 Speed Electronic
• Front derailleurShimano Ultegra FD-R8050, Eletronic Shift System
• ShiftersShimano Ultegra ST-R8070, 22 Speed Electronic Shift
• BrakesShimano BR-R8070 Hyd Disc, 160/F and 160/Rmm SM-RT800 CL Rotor
• CranksetShimano Ultegra FC-R8000, Hollowtech II 52×36 T
• ChainShimano CN-HG701-11
• CassetteShimano Ultegra CS-R8000, 11-30
• Bottom bracketShimano SM-BB71-41B
• HandlebarSyncros Creston 1.5 Aero, 31.8mm
• StemSyncros FOIL 1 1/4″
• SeatpostSyncros FOIL aero Carbon
• SaddleSyncros Belcarra 2.0
• WheelsetSyncros Meritt 1.0 50 Disc, 24 Front / 24 Rear, Syncros RWS
• TyresSchwalbe ONE Race-Guard Fold, 700x28C
• Weight7.99kg, size 54cm excluding pedals, including bottle cages. 7.96 kg claimed
• Retail PriceR 89,910

The metallic brown paintwork, paired with the tan sidewall tyres and brown saddle makes for a stunning bike. Everyone who saw it commented on what a great job Scott did with the paint and finishing touches of the bike. Very classy.

On the Bike

The frame details paired with the wider tyres make for a very comfortable ride. Even the handlebar tape was an obvious contributor to the overall comfort of the ride. What makes this so good is that the bike never felt soft. Power transfer was direct and the bike felt fast under all conditions.

Descending was an absolute blast as the bike handles sweeping passes with ease offering a confident ride which in turn made me want to push the bike harder and harder. Riding along the coast did show the wheels to suffer a bit in crosswinds, but it always felt under control and not nearly as sketchy as even deeper wheels (naturally) or some earlier deep section wheels. The extra width of the tyres, and the increased contact patch that comes with it, no doubt added to the confidence-boosting ride when tackling a mountain pass descent. If disc brakes only gave us the ability to run wider tyres on road bikes, then it was worth it for that alone.

The Syncros Belcarra 2.0 saddle was the first Syncros saddle I did not find unbearable to ride. I found it quite comfortable and managed to complete the review period with it still mounted to the seat post.

I did experience odd shifting from Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset. On one ride, mid-ride, it would suddenly not want to shift into the big ring up front. No matter what or how much I tried it simply would not shift with the front derailleur not moving far enough outward for the chain to move over and up. Only for it to sort itself out half an hour or so later. On another ride, it would not go down all the way on the cassette to engage top gear for maximum speed. This did not sort itself out and needed manual adjustment for shifting to be perfect again. Granted it was a review bike fresh out of the box, but having ridden eTAP on my last three review bikes this is something I’ve not experienced in a while. While I’m on the topic, I still find eTAP’s shifting arrangement to be the most intuitive and rock-solid compared to other electronic groupsets that I have ridden lately.

Verdict

The Scott Foil 10 Disc is a great bike. It is comfortable to ride, well specced, competitively priced, and is a looker of a bike. There is very little to fault as it blends outright speed with a great level of comfort, and now also adding the safety of disc brakes.

Some riders would look at fitting carbon bars, but other than that, there is nothing on the Foil 10 that is in need of an upgrade. Well-specced straight out of the box.