First Impressions: Scott Contessa Genius 710
We headed to Lenzerheide to test out the all new Scott Contessa Genius women's trail bike, but what makes this women's specific exactly?
The Swiss company SCOTT Sports actually stems from Sun Valley, Idaho, where in 1958 Ed Scott, an engineer and enthusiastic skier, invented the first ever aluminium ski pole. Based on the success of the pole, which was competing against the flimsy bamboo or heavier steel ones of the time, the company began to diversify and produce a range of innovative sports products. They found further success with goggles for motocross riders and in 1978 the company expanded to Europe, setting up headquarters near Fribourg in Switzerland.
SCOTT Sports produced their first mountain bike in 1986, but their real breakthrough into cycling came in 1989. This is when they introduced the clip-on aerodynamic handlebar, which Greg LeMond used to help win the time trials in his Tour de France victory. In 1991, they introduced another major advance, when they introduced the ‘Unishock’, the first ever suspension fork. We only had to wait another year for SCOTT to start selling the first full suspension mountain bike.
This history should give you an idea of what the company is about today. It still holds to those guiding principles of high-performance through innovation. SCOTT Sports doesn’t specialise in bicycles, but those that it does make are very advanced and made to high specifications. These are bikes for triathletes, for racers and for serious mountain bikers. The SCOTT 2014 All Mountain Genius LT is very highly regarded in the all terrain, enduro cycling world and comes with a range of All Mountain accessories.
