The Gambler looks similar to its predecessor, but Tim Stevens the engineer behind the bike is says that its been fully redesigned from the ground up. ‘We didn’t want to squeeze the bigger wheels (27.5″) in to our existing chassis and compromise the great geometry and handling we had on the old bike, so we redesigned the Gambler from scratch to fit the new wheels and keep the great characteristics that our test riders, racers and consumers loved’

The new Gambler benefits in a few key areas:

27.5″ wheels
Stiffer headtube and BB area
Slightly longer reach across all sizes (10mm)
Integrated fork bumpers doubling as cable guides with no possibility of crushing your hoses.
Narrow Shaft Fox RC4 and improved suspension curve.
Less shock rotation at the bushes, to improve bushing life.

It retains many of the old features:

Adjustable head angle (61-65)
Adjustable BB height +-10mm
Adjustable wheelbase 425-440mm
IDSX dropouts

The improved progression curve came from input from Ben Walker, ‘I wanted to create bike that was really easy to setup, and predictable when things get super rowdy’

After setting up the bike with Ben the Scott World Cup mechanic, riding the bike was a dream, instantly comfortable, well balanced and predictable. Sending it in to choppy sections and flat-landing jumps, not once did I feel like I was going to get bucked or thrown anywhere untoward. The bigger wheels, sizing and updated tune all work together in harmony to give the rider huge confidence.

I dragged my heels a few times in berms in the low bottom bracket setting, so spent most of the time in the high position, and I stuck with the standard 64deg head angle as felt I had enough stability in the park, for steep racing situations I would consider using the included  -1 or -2deg Angled cups, but for most of the lift accessed trails in this area I had plenty angle in the front, especially with the added rollover of the bigger wheels.

Grip levels on the Gambler are insane, the low slung and centralised weight matched to the Vertstar Schwalbe Muddy Marys  it was tough to get it sliding. The massive frame stiffness makes it easy to pinpoint the bike in the tech and predictable in the turns.

The high and low settings now share a near identical suspension curve, so when you change from high to low, the only thing that changes is the geometry taking the guesswork out of your bike setup and handling.

The Gambler should be hitting the shops towards autumn, at three price points, the bike here was the top spec 710 model. Using quality parts from in-house brand Syncros, and Shimano Zee in some areas to keep the bikes affordable.