{"id":272088,"date":"2025-11-08T23:57:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272088\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T23:57:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T23:57:27","slug":"bike-check-emilly-johnstons-scott-sram-team-issue-spark-rc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/272088\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Check: Emilly Johnston&#8217;s Scott-SRAM Team Issue Spark RC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At the start of 2025, Emilly Johnston joined the powerhouse Scott-SRAM team. She also stepped up from under-23 to the elite ranks. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/mtb\/post-season-emilly-johnston-looks-back-on-a-big-year-with-scott-sram\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">We talked to her about what that experience was like and how her first season as an elite went after a steallar last year in U23s<\/a>. But a new team also means new bikes. We checked out her Scott-SRAM Team Issue Spark RC to see what the Comox Valley rider spent the year racing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-32.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-131215\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-32.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Scott-SRAM-edition Johnston had at home was her training bike, only raced at one event. The race bike had a more purple frame and fancy green fork from RockShox. But the bikes are otherwise the same. Full RockShox Flight Attendant suspension, which automatically opens and locks out Johnston\u2019s suspension based on sensors in the fork, shock and power meter data. The Spark RC hides the shock inside the frame,, \u00a0but it\u2019s also electronically controlled.<\/p>\n<p>Despite some harrowing rainfall and serious wind making for a very wet week of training, Johnston was still running a Test Pilot set of Maxxis\u2019s efficiency-focused Aspen ST tires on the Silverton wheels. An integrated Syncros bar-stem makes for a reasonably attressive stance on the bike, while a 100-mm RockShox Reverb wireless dropper post give some freedom.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-25-1024x683.jpg\"\/>Emilly Johnston&#8217;s Team Issue Scott-SRAM Spark RC <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-38-1024x683.jpg\"\/>When you join a team like Scott-SRAM, you get your name painted on the bike, not just a sticker<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-26-1024x679.jpg\"\/>Flight Attendant electronic and automatic lockout from the RockShox SID SL <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-41-1024x683.jpg\"\/>&#8220;Race Concept&#8221; team edition of Scott&#8217;s Spark cross country bike <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-31-1024x679.jpg\"\/>Integrated and aggressive bar-stem set-up <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-27-1024x683.jpg\"\/>SRAM XX SL T-Type with integrated power meter keeps track of all the data <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-28-1024x683.jpg\"\/>HT pedals with Ti axles on that carbon fiber SRAM XX SL drivetrain <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-43-1024x683.jpg\"\/>And the fancy, two-piece pulley wheels <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-37-1024x683.jpg\"\/>Maxxis Test Pilot version Aspen ST tires <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-33-1024x681.jpg\"\/>Silverton wheels from Syncros, Scott&#8217;s very fancy house brand<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-34-1024x683.jpg\"\/>The shock is also flight attendant, though you can&#8217;t see it tucked away in the Spark RC frame<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-35-1024x683.jpg\"\/>SRAM&#8217;s new Motive brakes look, unsurprisingly, quite nice next to the red SID SL<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-36-1024x683.jpg\"\/>A floating rear brake on the Spark RC,<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-30-1024x683.jpg\"\/>RockShox new Reverb wireless dropper in 100mm travel <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-29-1024x683.jpg\"\/>&#8220;Team Issue&#8221;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-40-1024x683.jpg\"\/>It&#8217;s been incredibly wet in the Comox Valley this week, hiding mud in every crevice of the Spark RC. But pros have to train, rain, shine, or buckets of rain<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emilly-Johnston-Scott-Spark-RC-39-1024x683.jpg\"\/>SRAM offers a few different shifters. Johnston has this paddle-shaped one for the drivetrain and a pod-style for the dropper post and any Flight Attendant controls she sets up <\/p>\n<p>More wireless bits from the SRAM family propel the bike, with Johnston running the top-end XX SL T-Type drivetrain. The lightest version of SRAM\u2019s Transmission line adds carbon fibre cranks, a power meter, ligter cassette and fancy, two-piece pulley wheels on the derailleur. SRAM also serves up the stopping power for Scott-SRAM with a bright-green set of new Motive brakes.<\/p>\n<p>The Spark RC, while kitted out with plenty of new parts, is a staple of Scott\u2019s line at this point. It pioneered the integrated rear shock design that\u2019s since expanded to Scott\u2019s trail, enduro and even downhill rigs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the start of 2025, Emilly Johnston joined the powerhouse Scott-SRAM team. She also stepped up from under-23&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,109740,158130,158131,158132,158133,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-272088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-mtb-gear","12":"tag-rockshox","13":"tag-scott-spark","14":"tag-scott-spark-rc","15":"tag-scott-sram","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}