Scott Patron ST eRIDE 910 review – futuristic 'Super Trail' e-MTB

I tested the standard Scott Patron eRide 910 e-MTB last year and said it was “a stand out, big capability, long haul trail bike”. The ‘Super Trail’ ST version takes the same uniquely striking, internal shock, lifted motor alloy frame design, but adds more fork travel and tire for tackling the toughest trails head on. Frame geometry is still more big mountain cruiser than long and low shredder though, so the bike doesn't quite cut it as one of the best electric mountain bikes.

Design and geometry

Scott are going fully integrated across their whole MTB range right now and nothing showcases that ‘all tucked in’ approach better than the Patron e-MTB frame. Not only are the rear brake, gear and shock remote lines all fed into the frame through the headset. The shock is recessed into the massive top tube and completely enclosed by a plastic cover between the half hidden bell crank linkages that drive it. Rather than being built into the bottom bracket area, the Bosch Performance Line CX motor is crated above it. And while this sounds less integrated, it actually looks very neat and helps with the cooling. It also means you can slide the big 750Wh Bosch PowerTube battery out easily once you’ve removed the bottom cover. There’s room for a full size bottle on all frame sizes too. While the Super Trail is mostly about radical riding, there are practical daily driver touches like rear LEDs built into the seat stay fender and pre-plumbed wiring for a front light. There’s even a kick stand mount if you don’t want to be powerlifting 26+ kg off the floor every time you stop. You even get hidden rack mounts if you’re bikepacking or commuting in between your gnarly gravity sessions.

Despite its radical looks and long travel, the Patron geometry is measured rather than mental too. The head angle is certainly reassuringly slack but reach is short at 466mm on the large I rode. Large and XL bikes also get a 60mm stem (50mm on the Small and Medium bikes) which promotes all round stability not ‘Scandi flick’ silliness. 454mm rear centre length and fat 29er tires are the same across all sizes too, so smaller sizes will feel more stable than the increasingly common ‘mullet’ 27.5in rear wheel bikes.

Components and build

The differences between this Super Trail model and the normal Patron are mostly up front. The Fox 38 Performance fork gets an extra 10mm of travel to take it up to 170mm and it has the smoother, manual adjust GRIP damper not the remote control FIT4. That’s matched with a Maxxis Assegai tire rather than the fast rolling Dissector, though you still get one of those on the rear. You also get a Fox Transfer dropper post rather than an own brand Syncros model. The Fox spec you can’t see is the trunnion mount, 60mm stroke Float inline shock under the top tube cover. This comes with a Scott specific ‘Lockout-Trail-Descend’ compression damping settings cable controlled from a bar remote.

A practical mix of Shimano covers the gearing with smooth multi shift XT triggers and rear mech connected by a Deore chain running round a Deore cassette. SLX 4-piston brakes bite on big 203mm rotors. The FSA cranks look skinny compared to the imposing bulk of the Patron frame, but the short 165mm length give the leverage and clearance for smooth spinning over rough ground. Rims, saddle, 31.8mm diameter bar and stem are all Scott house brand Syncros pieces.

Ride, handling and performance

I borrowed the ST Patron for Sunday lead rider duties at a particularly wet and slippery edition of the always aggressively challenging Ard Rock Enduro this summer. That gig involves hitting every stage before the first ‘real’ riders to check tape, marshals and paramedics are all in position and nothing too lethal has happened to the course overnight. You’ve got to move fast enough to not get caught by the pack though – and when Josh Bryceland decides to set off early to get some shots in that means you’ve got some rapid (but always quality) company to try not to trip up.

In terms of covering the distance in style, the Patron was pretty much ideal for the gig. Especially as my legs were blown from a big day out round the course with my daughter the day before.

Not only is the pedaling of the Patron naturally positive even in the fully open ‘Descend’ suspension mode, but you can trigger it into the tighter ‘Pedal’ mode or (almost) 'Locked' mode from the bars. While its not as convenient as the combined handlebar remote on the normal Patron' you can flick the fork top compression switch to closed if you want a stiff platform for grunting out of the saddle. 

The Kiox 300 head unit makes it easy to keep an eye on modes and run times for the benchmark Bosch motor. The head unit can also display pedal revs (cadence) and your personal power output in watts if you want to pace yourself scientifically. The extra range of the 750Wh battery removed any worries about getting round the often savagely steep and soggy going of the 40km+ Ard Rock course too. 

2.6in tires front and rear mean more float for the hefty mass of the Patron – both in terms of soft ground and softening the blow of the ground and skinny bars and stem mean less hand and shoulder fatigue. Traction is good too, with enough sensation through the pedals to meter muscle on the many slippery or loose rock transition sections up in Swaledale, with the longer stem and relatively steep 76.2 degree seat angle giving a well poised position for rock crawler moments. The Bosch CX is one of the most intuitive e-MTB motors to use too, especially in it’s rider referencing e-MTB mode.

While the Super Trail is built up as the 'fun descender' of the Patron family, it's still definitely more XC than DH in it's vibe – despite the long travel and slack head angle. Granted the front end is noticeably more controlled. The 10mm extra travel means the easier sag of the more open Fox GRIP damper doesn’t disturb geometry and the damper itself is much more interested in tracking the ground than Fox’s more XC oriented FIT4 set up. Even in medium sticky MaxTerra compound, the Assegai tire bites harder and much more consistently at every angle than the Dissector on the standard Patron. The EXO+ carcass meant I could run lower pressures despite the notoriously puncture productive geology of the aptly named Ard Rock. 

However, while the stem, bar and big tires take the sting out of the sharper edges there’s no avoiding the monolithic frame authority underlining the ride vibe of the Patron. That manifests in rock solid accuracy in where it places it’s tires, but it can also thump pretty hard if you properly slam sections. While the inline rear shock is comfortably mobile when cruising, there's not much mid stroke support or feedback unless you run it in the mid setting – at which point it suffers on bigger slap hits. Even in the open/Descend mode I got a definite sense the Float shock was having to work harder than it wanted to on longer, rougher descents at the Ard Rock. Even the longest of those is just a few minutes duration too, so proper big mountain work will potentially really stress it out. The internal mounting means there’s no way to upgrade to a shock with a piggyback damper to add more oil volume and heat handling capacity too.

While it’s very accurate overall and the front end is slack enough to feel assured, overall geometry and handling are still more cruiser than chaos tamer too. While the relatively long stem is a help to stop wheel lift and wander on steep climbs, it’s longer than ideal when the front wheel starts to slip around on descents or the extra mass needs tricking into a tight turn. The short reach and high bottom bracket mean it trends towards high siding or pushing you over the bars when things get tense too, and it generally feels perched rather than embedded into the trail. For a variant intended for trail deviants, it’d also be good to have the reassurance of a proper heavy duty Maxxis DoubleDown carcass rear tire not just EXO+ and the lack of shoulder grip on the Dissector was evident on off cambers.

That means really aggressive riders should probably think about the longer travel Scott Ransom eRide which has 10mm more fork travel and 20mm more rear travel delivered via a Piggyback shock. It also has 10mm more reach in the Large but the head angle isn’t any slacker, the BB isn’t any lower and it still uses the previous generation ‘exposed shock’ template. 

Verdict

The ST model of the Patron is definitely more capable and confident on tougher trails than the conventional Patron which makes it the one I’d get out of the pair. The fact there’s no carbon framed ST model until you get to the 900 Tuned at £10,499 means there isn’t the 2kg weight loss win that there is between the standard Patron 910 and 900 models. 

Scott could have easily done more to reinforce the ST's rowdy capability with stickier tires and a shorter stem as standard. Even then, it would still be a relatively tall and short machine that’s more architecturally aesthetic land yacht than angry gravity yob. That means I’m still conflicted what to say overall, because there are tons of big mountain touring riders who prioritize range, pedaling efficiency and styling over actual aggro ability and that's what the Patron has totally dialled. 

However, if you want something properly progressive with Scott’s latest slick stylings, I'd suggest waiting for the new Ransom that's presumably/hopefully coming soon.

Test conditions

• Weather: Wet, around 50 degrees F (10 degrees C)
• Surface: Loose rock, big rock, ruts, drops, steep chutes, mud, wet grass, off camber, roots, basically highly entertaining treachery of all types. Except dust – there was zero dust.
• Trails: Ard Rock Enduro 2023 edition 

Tech specs: Scott Patron ST eRide 910

• Discipline: Trail/enduro
• Price: £6349
• Head angle: 65 degrees
• Frame material: Alloy
• Sizes: L 
• Weight: 26.6kg (size Large tested)
• Wheel size: 29x2.6in
• Fork: Fox 38 Performance Grip E-MTB 170mm travel, 44mm offset
• Shock: Fox Float EVOL eRide trunnion 160mm travel
• Motor and battery: Bosch Performance CX motor and PowerTube 750Wh internal battery with ‘slide out’ mount.
• Chainset: FSA CK 34T chainset with E13 Slider chain guide
• Rear mech: Shimano XT
• Shifter: Shimano XT
• Cassette: Shimano Deore 10-51T 12 speed
• Brakes: Shimano SLX with 203mm rotors
• Tires: Maxxis Assegai EXO+ 3C Maxx Terra 29 x 2.6in front and Maxxis Dissector EXO+ 3C Maxx Terra 29 x 2.6in
• Wheels: Syncros MD30 32H rims with Formula ECT hubs
• Bars: Syncros Hixon 2.0 780mm 
• Stem: Syncros AM2.0 50mm
• Grips: Syncros lock-on
• Seatpost: FOX Transfer Dropper Post 170mm dropper
• Saddle: Syncros Tofino 2.0 regular