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I'm looking for a Nukeproof Scout Comp 275 but as you can probably imagine there aren't any around. A bike shop in my area is expecting a Scout Race in January which they would take a deposit on now to reserve it for me. My gut reaction is that I should just wait and get the Comp since it is what I've set my heart on but at the same time with the market for bikes at the moment being what it is there's no guarantee I'll be able to get my hands on a Comp this year. The guy at the bike shop was being pretty positive about the spec of the Race but I can't help thinking if I got the Race and there were Comps available later in the year would I regret it? As far as the components go would the Comp be worth the extra £400 and the risk of perhaps not getting one? What would you do?
Went through a similar process with my Occam.
Buy the full price one in Edinburgh now, with stupid long cranks, too short s stem and nasty paint job OR order exactly what I want for delivery in April (perhaps)
In the end I just bought what was there now, as you say, no guarantee that the other one will actually arrive ever. bikemaggeddon.
It does annoy me that it's not quite what I want. And with all the rain and mud on the trails the bike isn't actually useable just now due to the shite Shimano 12 speed that goes to shit in the mud.
Add in this eternal lockdown and I'm thinking I should just have waited till bloody April.
I think for the next few years you'll be buying what shops have not what you want.
Go with the Race and enjoy riding it and forget about the comp.
And with all the rain and mud on the trails the bike isn’t actually useable just now due to the shite Shimano 12 speed that goes to shit in the mud.
Say what now?
My SLX/XT mix 12 speed is working just fine.
Hmm
Mine is awful. I even left all the clag on it and put it on the bike stand to allow me tune the gears with the shit on place. Sounded ok on the stand so didn't make any adjustments.
Cleaned it off. Back out on Sunday desperately avoiding puddles and carrying the bike across any muddy bits. Half an hour later the mud and slime builds up and the drive train sounds like a bag of chisels. Burd's GX Stumpie sounded completely fine.
It's genuinely doing my nut in.
my mate ordered the nukeproof scout 29er in april, it was due every few weeks, he finally got it 3 weeks back mid november.. he's happy now, but what a ballache..
the occam i ordered on the website in august and it came early october, after inititally stating 4 weeks then 12 weeks, think i got lucky.
It does annoy me that it’s not quite what I want. And with all the rain and mud on the trails the bike isn’t actually useable just now due to the shite Shimano 12 speed that goes to shit in the mud.
I mean it is usable as I’ve ridden through all sorts of slurry and muddy crap but I know what you mean. It gets all horribly noisy and shifts worse when even slightly wet and muddy vs the GX 11 speed I had before it.
It’s been suggested a Sram eagle chain on Shimano 12 speed might do better in the mud as the Sram chain has better clearance to get the mud out. Just stick on an xx1 (for oil slick) chain to try it out. In the stand it’s shifting better than the Shimano one I took off (can’t remember if it’s slx or xt) already so I’m keeping fingers crossed it’s better. Testing it out tomorrow most likely.
On the comp vs race the comps probably is worth £400 more. It’s got a sturdier fork with better damping, bigger gear range with a 12 speed upgrade over 10 speed (although the above comments about Shimano 12 speed and mud), better brakes (4 pot vs 2 pot) and a dropper post included. Not sure on the wheels if the Sun Ringle ones are much of an upgrade or not.
However if the comp may become available but not definitely you could be waiting a very long time. I’m a little impatient so I think I’d take the one that’s available in the next month and upgrade any bits I fancy. £140 for a dropper, and you could go 11 speed with 11-50 cassette with Sunrace and a deore m5100 mech and shifter for not too much money. Biggest cost change would be to upgrade the fork really - but if upgrading vs either the recon or z2 I’d be looking at a Pike which is better than both.
I did exactly that. I was after the Pro 290 but they weren't going to be back in stock until earliest Jan '21, but a shop local to me had the Race 290 in stock. The frames are all the same just different colours, so I ended up buying that one and using the £1k saved on a few upgrades. I got a near brand new set of Pike ultimates from Pinkbike buysell for £450, a 200mm brand x dropper from the shop for £130 fitted and a set of deore 4 pots from Bike discount for under £150. I sold the recon forks for £150 so I'm at around £1700.
The deore 10sp has been really good and haven't noticed any issues with. It has been working really well in some of the very muddy conditions that we've had recently and I've not used my other bike with SLX/XT 12sp in similar so can't comment on if it's much better.
I was originally planning to run the groupset into the ground then next spring get a deore 12sp groupset and a new set of wheels, but might just stick with the 10sp and the current wheels as they just work.
The biggest difference between mine and your situation though is that I got mine late Sept early Oct so wasn't prepared to wait 3/4 months and you haven't got quite so long to wait and maybe you'd be better off in terms of value, but I wonder how accurate these dates are. I work in logistics and everything is getting pushed back at the moment as there just isn't the capacity.
Don't buy the Race, it's got a far inferior fork - and that combined with the other upgrades such as a dropper and 4-pot brakes easily justify the £400 extra IMO.
Don’t buy the Race, it’s got a far inferior fork – and that combined with the other upgrades such as a dropper and 4-pot brakes easily justify the £400 extra IMO.
I agree on all your points - but it’s irrelevant if you can’t get a comp and are therefore bikeless.....
OK, I thought this might go without saying, but I'd make enquiries as to whether the Comp is unavailable because they're all sold, or because they haven't arrived yet. If the latter, I'd wait.
And I'd spend some time combing NP dealers for one in stock.
And I’d spend some time combing NP dealers for one in stock.
Agreed. I phoned about 2/3 of the 278 UK Orbea dealers listed on their website before I bought mine. It took ages
Thanks so much to everyone for their replies. I've decided to go with putting a deposit on the Race - it will be more than capable of everything I want to do with it just now and I can upgrade components gradually.