Dangerholm is back with another Spark RC masterpiece—this time built around Scott’s 5th‑generation frame. That’s a platform he’s been refining for a decade. What started with the world’s lightest 29er has evolved into his most complete XC bike yet: an 8.99kg Spark RC SL tuned for speed, durability, and elegance.
The new Spark frame is already a standout—light, fast, cleverly designed, and surprisingly user‑friendly—but Dangerholm’s treatment pushes it into art-bike territory. He polished the raw carbon to a mirror finish (five days of scraping, sanding, and machine polishing), skipped the internal storage and cable‑octopus routing to save grams, and leaned into the frame’s sleek silhouette.
What Makes This Build Special
- A frame that punches way above its weight: a size Large comes in at 1446g, with shock at 1799g—basically the same weight as his 2017 100mm Spark, but with modern geometry, 120mm travel, and electronic suspension.
- Flight Attendant everywhere: Dangerholm refuses to build XC bikes without RockShox Flight Attendant now. He even retrofitted it into an Intend Samurai XC fork, complete with a custom extension rod and a bit of Dremel persuasion.
- A cockpit built for feel, not just grams: CeramicSpeed SLT bearings, Darimo stem and bar, Extralite foam grips, and a polished Vertical Helium dropper. Narrower bars (690mm) reflect modern XC confidence—less leverage needed when the bike handles the rough stuff for you.
- Dual drivetrains: road-light and MTB-strong. Up front: the 256g GrigioCarbonio crankset with Carbon‑Ti rings. Out back: a fully tuned SRAM Eagle Transmission derailleur, XX SL power meter, and the silver 1987 cassette Dangerholm bought an entire groupset to obtain.
- Brakes and wheels that balance weight with real-world performance: Trickstuff Piccola brakes with prototype titanium levers, Carbon‑Ti rotors, and PI ROPE textile-spoke wheels (949g) laced to Duke Lucky Jack rims. Tires are Tufo XC11/XC14—fast rear, grippy front.
The Build Philosophy
Dangerholm’s theme this round wasn’t “lightest possible”—it was the perfect XC bike. That meant choosing durability over gram-counting when it mattered. This honors Scott’s user-friendly design, and while keeping the aesthetic clean, raw, and unmistakably Dangerholm.
The result: a bike that’s not just fast, not just light, but cohesive. Every part contributes to the ride feel, the look, or the reliability. Nothing is gratuitous. Nothing is sloppy. It’s a masterclass in modern XC tuning.
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