It has held up against water, sweat, heat, and other elements so far. On this note, I know some people can destroy a leather strap in a year, but for me they always last several years, so how this rubbery strap holds up will also depend on how you handle it. It works fine in our age when car interiors are plastic and yet are somehow desirable (think of alcantara, for example) – but I do prefer the durability and patina of real leather. Having had this watch for about two months and on the wrist very often, I don’t have great concerns about the durability of this material, but I do wish it was genuine leather. Therefore, even if it was genuine leather, it must have received some strong surface treatment that changed its feel. It is soft to the touch, but more like very supple and lightly textured rubber than any type of real leather. The strap is not marked as “Genuine Leather” and although because of its color and texture I presume most (including myself) would call it a leather strap after first sight and touch, upon closer inspection it actually has a strange, rubbery feel that makes me think it’s not leather. The Omega Speedmaster Racing Master Chronometer reference 329.32.44.51.01.001 comes on a black strap the material of which, at the time of writing, Omega does not publicly say anything about – not in the Baselworld launch document, nor on their site. When not riding he can be found at the climbing wall, in his garden or cooking up culinary delights.Since we’re talking wearability, we should also talk basic, but essential stuff, like wearing comfort. He’s also worked out that shaving your legs saves 8 watts, while testing aerodynamics in a wind tunnel. Outside of testing bikes, Tom competes in a wide range of mountain bike races, from multi-day enduros through to 24-hour races in the depths of the Scottish winter – pushing bikes, components and his legs to their limits. With more than twenty years of mountain biking experience, and nearly a decade of testing mountain and gravel bikes, Tom has ridden and tested thousands of bikes and products, from super-light XC race bikes through to the most powerful brakes on the market. He is also a regular presenter on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel and the BikeRadar podcast.
Tom has written for BikeRadar, MBUK and Cycling Plus, and was previously technical editor of What Mountain Bike magazine. He has a particular focus on mountain bikes, but spends plenty of time on gravel bikes, too. Tom Marvin is a technical editor at and MBUK magazine. I did run the suspension a little softer to give some more confidence on the descents, though this impacted on the climbing performance, and I found myself delving deep into the rear travel when I would have liked a little more backup.Īn extra volume spacer in the shock may have prevented it bottoming out so readily in this situation, though I feel I’d still have missed the taught feeling of the suspension under power. The fairly aggressive damping on the fork and rear suspension that’s oh so good on the climbs add to what proves to be a fairly involving ride characteristic on the descents. The shorter reach and steeper head angle conspire to make the handling a little twitchier than rival bikes. Russell Burton / Immediate MediaĪ quick look at the geometry chart will probably hint that the Scarp wouldn’t be the best suited when it comes to more technical descents, and this was confirmed in testing. The on-bar remote for the fork and shock’s compression damper makes it easy to firm up the suspension. Add in the steepest seat angle here, and it was my legs that gave up before the bike.
On steep muddy climbs, I was surprised by how well the Racing Ralph dug in, generating more grip than I thought I’d get. The suspension doesn’t flatten the roots to the same extent I found with the Scott Spark RC Team Issue AXS or Intense Sniper XC Expert, but there’s enough give to ensure reasonable grip, and the bike doesn’t compress and then lurch over rooty steps. Add in Schwalbe’s fastest-rolling rubber compound, and you have a bike that’s a rocket ship on nearly every climb going.Įven with stiff, no-compromise suspension, I found the Scarp dealt reasonably well with rooty climbs. KTM has engineered the Scarp to be one of the most rock-solid bikes under pedalling forces I’ve ridden for a long time, even with the shock fully open.įor the money, it has a competitive 11.01kg overall weight, with lightweight wheels and tyres (wheel/tyre weights of 11.75kg and 2.45kg for front and rear). Give it a long, undulating or punchy climb, and the Scarp would be top of my list of bikes to jump on. The Scarp Master proves to be one of the best climbers out there.
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