Scott Addict Gravel 10 - £5,899 | 7.93kg

CW editor Simon Richardson finds the Scott Addict Gravel gives him a whole new appreciation of his local area

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“It was surprising just how well a lightweight bike with a good position responded on climbs”

Scott’s Addict range covers the whole gamut of drop-barred riding from road race through to this Addict Gravel 10, its top level off-road focused bike. Perfect for the gravel-racing scene that was set to take off this year. Sadly, it’ll have to wait.

Now a bit of housekeeping, before we get into the review: this Addict Gravel 10 should come with Shimano’s top flight electronic GRX Di2 groupset. However, our test bike came with a mechanical GRX as it was built as a show bike. The price listed is for a build with Di2, which is the only version available in the UK. So bear this in mind. If you wanted mechanical, the Gravel 20 and 30 both come as such.

Moving on, this full carbon pearlescent purple frame is part of Scott’s top-of-therange Addict family that we’re used to seeing on the road and in the WorldTour under the Mitchelton-Scott riders. It’s made with its highest-grade carbon, named HMX, and the emphasis is on low weight and rigidity. From an aesthetic point of view, the Addict road and gravel frames are quite different. There are no dropped seatstays on the Addict Gravel, while many of the tubes are as chunky as an mtb - especially those full carbon straight drop forks.

But even the size of the tubes can’t hide what is basically an aero build with all the designer modifications we’re used to seeing in this genre. Aside from the big knobbly tyres, it felt as responsive as my road bike in all conditions – which is why it’s screaming ‘race me!’