Scott Patron eRide 900 Tuned Review

Scott Patron eRide 900 is one of the best electric mountain bikes we have seen; it’s designed to be ridden all day and ridden hard. There’s plenty of travel, good levels of components and an excellent frame. This bike is fitted with 29-inch wheels as standard and sits between the trail bias Genius eRide and the long travel Ransom eRide. This patron is designed to handle all off-road riding situations with ease.

Design

The first thing that hits you about this bike is its angular appearance. This aggressive design looks fantastic and has a real purpose behind it. This bike has massive levels of integration and within the frame lies an internal rear shock hidden in the top tube. It’s easily accessible, with a hatch that not only keeps the shock protected from dirt and grime - but the location of the shock also minimises side loading and reduces stiction. This shock uses a 4-bar Horst link platform, which provides 160mm of suspension travel. The amount of travel you have is optional, with this bike being spec’d with the excellent TwinLoc system. TwinLoc delivers a massive amount of suspension control, not only keeping allowing the suspension to be firmed up, but also changing the spring curve.

The bike's frame is constructed from excellent carbon fibre with a tough alloy chainstay. Motor-wise, a Bosch Performance CX Gen 4 electric motor - is mounted vertically with the carbon fibre front triangle, protecting the motor from damage and impacts. Seating the electric motor this way allows this bike to house a massive 750Wh battery. This battery can be removed without the need for tools - confirming this bike is easy to live with.

Scott also keeps all the cables hidden away, including those for the brakes, gears and seat, Twinlock, drive unit and remote. There’s also an integrated light in the bike's rear fender - which provides good performance; it’s powered directly by the bike, so it does not require a separate power source.

Geometry And Comfort

The Patron is designed to be trail friendly and allow you to travel across a vast amount of off-road terrain. The medium-sized bike we rode had a 65-degree head angle and a 76.9-degree seat tube angle. This puts you in an upright and comfortable seating position, which allows you to ride for long periods.

Specification

The Patron 900 Tuned is the highest specification Patron available. As such it’s fitted with all of the high-end specifications you expect. A Fox Factory FIT4 fork at the front of the bike provides an impressive 160mm of travel. This fork has different compression levers, including open, medium and firm. There’s also a 22-click compression dial that fine-tunes the open mode. At the bike's rear sits a Fox Nude T eRide EVOL shock. Again, this shock has three modes: available, traction and lockout. Open provides 160mm of travel, traction provides 115mm and lockout - locks the shock out.

Propelling this bike forward is a drivetrain which uses Sram Eagle components, an X01 derailleur and a GX shifter and cassette. Four-pot brakes with 203mm rotors provide plenty of stopping power, and there’s a Tofino Saddle from Syncros.

Ascending Performance

This bike feels good when climbing; the seating position is not too stretched out - so it’s a relaxed position which allows you to shift your body weight around the bike. Despite the power assistance on the bike, the front wheel felt like lifting at no point. Locking out the suspension on climbs was easy, thanks to the TwinLoc system that we are familiar with. The rest provided plenty of grip to keep the tyres rooted to the landscape on more technical ascents with undulating terrain and turns. There’s plenty of power and battery life available, so there’s no shortage in the amount of energy or the time in which power is known for.

Descending Performance

Considering this bike is an all-day capable electric mountain bike, with a pretty hefty weight of over 24kg - it descends well. It shines on tamer trails but can also ride the rough stuff. This bike rewards a good riding position, and it’s a joy to flick it on trails that link turns together. The rear travel works well, as you would expect, and the suspension is tuneable enough to be adjusted to exact rider preferences. The large Shimano Brakes performed well, providing plenty of stopping power regardless of the conditions.