Scott Reflex FX-15 2007 Model

I had been riding my Avanti Ridge Rider for the past two years and needed to upgrade as I was getting better at riding, climbing steeper hills, and coming back down even quicker! My old Avanti was a good bike for when I started, but just wouldn't cut it now as it was a fairly basic bike.

Scott Reflex FX-15 2007 Model

I had been riding fire trails and now have started getting into Single tracks and more aggressive trails with steeper hills. I mainly ride in Loftus National Park in Sydney.

I went to a few bike shops, with Scott's in my mind. I rode a Giant Anthem - Which I liked - well most of it. The brakes just did not have enough stopping power. I didn't rule it out - that was my 2nd bike of choice.

I went back to the Scott dealer, where my Mum and another bloke I ride with bought their bikes. They both have Genius model, which are same frames, but with better components (Except MC 10, 20, 30 now are built from Carbon Fibre)

I had ridden both of these along with a Trance 1 and an Ellsworth ID. Obviously these last 2 were way out of the equation as they are $5k + but was good to compare them to the Scotts.

Geniuses started at $3000, which was a little over budget. So I went for the Scott Reflex FX-15 2007 model. I had a ride of it and was very impressed with it.

The main differences I could find from The Genius MC-50 and The Reflex FX-15 were:

MC-50 Had: Rock Shox Recon Shocks with U-Turn. FX-15 Had: Rock Shox Tora - The Recon's were lighter and had the useful U-Turn, But weight was not extremely important, as long as it was lighter then my old bike.

MC-50 Had: Scott TC rear shock with 2 separate air chambers and 3 way full-medium-lock travel Handle Bar adjustment. FX-15 Had: Scott LCR Shock with 1 air chamber and a 2 way full-off Handle Bar adjustment. - Again this didn't worry me, the LCR shock was nice as I expected and the full-lock travel adjustment didn't bother me as the medium travel on my mums bike I never used. A few other things were different, but not major parts.

So after buying two bikes from this dealer before, I obviously had to get it cheaper! My Dad always bargains and is always prepared to walk on a sale (Being an ex-car sales man) and he got 15% of $2700, being $2300. He was happy and so was I.

My back-up plan was if we couldn't get the bike to $2300 I'd get the Anthem (Which was a 2006 model).

The sale went well and I received my Large Scott Reflex FX-15 a month before Christmas. I was allowed to give it 1 Test run so I made it a good one! I rode a local fire trail - but someone had turned it into a Dirt Bike trail, with small drops and challenging uphills and down hills. I was very, very happy with this bike.

So now being January I have been riding all the local trails, doing either long rides or quick short rides averaging 30 - 40kph over a few Kms. I look to take it down to Loftus National Park sometime in Sydney.

So I am very happy with this bike:

• The Lx components are very good for the budget,
• The rear XT Derailleur is obviously good,
• Rock Shox Tora are great Budget forks,
• The rear LCR Shock is just awesome!

Overall I'd rate this a 8.5 / 10.

Pros:

• Great for the budget;
• Good quality components;
• Rear lockout from the handlebars is a very good idea.

Cons:

• Steering is very loose, and has to be gotten used to.
• Standard tires do tend to slip

I'd definitely recommend this bike to anyone looking for a Quality bike for Cross Country Riding.

- Doug R