Scott Addict RC Ultimate Bike

The Scott Addict RC Ultimate Bike weighs 5.84kg as measured — no tricks, no missing components, complete with saddle and tape. By that number it's one of the lightest production road bikes ever built, and the way Scott got there is as interesting as the number itself. The frame uses a PP Mandrel construction technique — borrowed directly from Scott's mountain bike development program — where a solid polypropylene mandrel replaces the traditional inflated bladder used in carbon layup. The mandrel creates a completely smooth interior with no voids, no wrinkles, and no excess resin cured into the structure. The result is a frame that contains only what it needs, nothing more: walls as thin as 0.6mm in places, a raw frame weight of 599g in size M, and a fork at 270g.

Getting there required a different kind of engineering process, too. Scott partnered its Head of Road Bike Engineering with a simulation engineer running finite element analysis from the very start of the design — not as a validation step at the end, but as the primary design tool throughout. The FEA model breaks the frame into 26,000 elements and maps 200 layers of carbon across the structure, identifying exactly where material is needed, how much, and in which direction fibers should run. The downtube carries the majority of the frame's load and was the first section optimized; from there the team worked outward. The seatpost clamp was moved inside the frame. The chainstays run to a precise 410mm. Axles feature a self-centering design to save weight while ensuring precise placement. Every detail has a reason, and every reason starts with weight or stiffness — usually both.

The cockpit is the Syncros IC-R100-SL Carbon Combo: a one-piece integrated bar-and-stem in full carbon. Scott claims a 12-watt aerodynamic improvement from the revised design, which uses a slight flare in the drops to narrow the hand position on the hoods — an increasingly common approach across aero-optimized road bikes, but one that also works on a climbing platform because a narrower hand position means less frontal area regardless of speed. The clamping mechanism and carbon layup were revised to save 40g compared to the outgoing cockpit without giving up stiffness. The computer mount is magnesium titanium and weighs 12g — the previous version was 40g. The bar end houses a T25 Torx and 6mm hex tool; Scott standardized on T25 throughout the bike so you only need two tools for any contact point adjustment. Handily, one of them is already on the bike.

The drivetrain is SRAM Red AXS E1 in full 2x12 wireless electronic configuration with a power meter integrated into the crankset. Chainrings are 46/33T paired with a 10-33T cassette — a setup oriented toward pace and punch rather than ultra-low climbing gears, which is consistent with a bike this light. SRAM Red hydraulic disc brakes run a 160mm rotor up front and 140mm at the rear, a deliberate weight-saving asymmetry that Scott uses because the rear rotor does proportionally less braking work. The wheels are Syncros Capital SL 40mm — a one-piece moulded carbon wheelset where the spokes are fused rim-to-rim across the hubs, with no spoke nipples and no separate rim bed. The complete wheelset weighs 1,170g. Hookless rims with 25mm internal width run Schwalbe Pro One Microskin TL-Easy tires at 700x30 tubeless-ready.

Design Benefits

1. PP Mandrel carbon construction — the solid polypropylene mandrel used during frame fabrication creates a completely smooth, void-free interior with no excess resin. Walls reach as thin as 0.6mm in optimized zones. The technique, adapted from Scott's mountain bike program, is what makes a 599g frame possible without compromising structural integrity.
2. FEA-driven engineering from day one — the finite element analysis model with 26,000 elements and 200 mapped carbon layers wasn't used to validate the design after the fact. It was the primary design tool, which means every gram of material in the frame is there because the simulation said it needs to be — and nothing else is.
3. Syncros Capital SL 40mm one-piece wheels — the spokes are fused directly into the one-piece moulded carbon structure rather than threaded through a spoke bed. At 1,170g for the pair, the wheelset punches well above its weight class aerodynamically and provides a stable hookless platform for 30mm tubeless tires.
4. SRAM Red AXS E1 with integrated power meter — full 2x12 wireless electronic shifting with power data built into the crankset. The 46-33T front ring combination covers road racing and fast climbing without the weight penalty of a wider-range cassette.
5. Integrated tool system — T25 and 6mm hex tools live in the bar end. Scott standardized the entire bike on T25 fasteners so you only need two tools for every contact point adjustment. On a bike intended for racing, that's a practical detail that compounds over time.

Final Take

The Addict RC Ultimate is the bike for the rider who has decided that weight is the variable that matters most and wants to buy the answer to that question outright. The HMX SL carbon, the PP Mandrel construction, the FEA engineering, the Syncros Capital SL wheels — all of it points in the same direction. At 5.84kg with a power meter and 40mm carbon wheels, it doesn't ask you to make tradeoffs. It makes the tradeoffs for you, and then gets out of the way.