SCOR 6080 Z
Wheel Size: 29’’ front / 27.5’’ rear
Travel: 180 mm rear / 190 mm front
Geometry Highlights:
- Sizes Offered: S, M, L, XL
- Headtube Angle: 63° (Low), 63.4° (High)
- Reach: 485 mm (Size Large, Low), 489 mm (Size Large, High)
- Chainstay Length: 435 mm
Frame Material: Aluminum
Prices: Complete bikes: $5,499 to $6,999 USD
Intro
Swiss brand SCOR has been around for several years now, an unlikely child of the race-focused BMC brand. SCOR only makes mountain bikes, and we’ve spent time on a couple of them, including the 4060 and more recently the 2030, which we’ve had in for review for the past few months— full review coming soon. SCOR has also offered a couple of eMTBs for the past couple of years: the 4060 Z ST and 4060 Z LT, respectively offering 140 mm and 160 mm of rear travel along with a Shimano EP801 motor.
With the release of the new 6080 Z, SCOR has taken their eMTB range into new territory. The 6080 Z marks a lot of “firsts” for SCOR — their first aluminum frame, first mixed wheel bike, first Bosch-equipped eMTB, and first bike offering a whopping 180 mm of rear travel. Together, the 6080 Z’s features add up to a very burly interpretation of a full power eMTB. Join us as we walk through the details of SCOR’s new “dedicated shuttle bike” — the 6080 Z.
The Frame
With the 6080 Z, SCOR has taken its first steps into making bikes from aluminum. The 6080 Z follows SCOR’s familiar design aesthetic, but uses hydroformed aluminum tubes to bump durability up a notch, with the new frame meeting ASTM 5 testing standards for Downhill bikes.
Many brands index on the more race-oriented side of the sport, but SCOR’s brand ethos revolves around fun. For SCOR, that means short chainstays, slack head angles, and sporty suspension that claims to offer a lot of pop and support. The 6080 Z gets the same dual-link suspension layout as SCOR’s other models, packaging the shock and linkage low in the frame. SCOR mentions adding additional progression to the leverage ratio given the hard-hitting intentions of the 6080 Z, but SCOR does not provide specific kinematics details.
SCOR has drawn a full 180 mm of rear travel out of the 6080 Z, paired with a burly 190 mm travel fork. SCOR supplies an air shock with both of the 6080 Z’s available builds, but does say that the frame plays well with a coil shock if desired.
Other details include plenty of space for a water bottle, additional bosses for mounting accessories under the top tube, and internal routing though the downtube. Frame protection is ample, with a massive plastic cover over the downtube and battery access, and a rotation stopper to keep the fork crown from contacting the frame.
Drive System
Despite SCOR’s history with Shimano’s EP8 and EP801 motors, the 6080 Z swings toward Bosch. The Performance Line CX motor is a familiar quantity at this point, with 85 Nm of peak torque and 600 W maximum power output. SCOR forgoes any handlebar-mounted display for the Bosch system, instead using the System Controller unit in the top tube and wireless Mini Remote on the bars.
SCOR clearly doesn’t want riders facing range anxiety with its bikes, with its Shimano-equipped bikes using a custom Darfon battery to bump capacity to 720 Wh. The move to Bosch allows SCOR to drop a full 750 Wh PowerTube battery into the 6080 Z, which should provide plenty of electrons for hours of self-shuttling.
Fit & Geometry
The 6080 Z keeps SCOR’s geometry philosophy alive with a slack head angle, lengthy reach, and short rear center. A flip chip at the lower shock eyelet allows small geometry tweaks between Low and High positions. A size Large in Low gets a 485 mm reach, 635 mm stack, 63° headtube angle, and 76° effective seat tube angle (750 mm reference saddle height). High position sees the reach lengthen modestly to 489 mm, stack drop to 631 mm, headtube angle steepen slightly to 63.4°, and seat tube angle steepen to 76.4°. Those differences between Low and High are fairly modest, so we would expect the flip chip to have a more subtle impact on handling than the larger adjustments offered by some other brands.
Across sizes, the 6080 Z gets stubby 435 mm chainstays, which start to look notably short relative to the reach figures on size Large and XL bikes. While shorter chainstays can give a playful character to bigger bikes, they can also create some weight imbalances that become quite noticeable in steeper and more technical terrain — we will need to wait for some saddle time to see how demanding the 6080 Z is when it comes to a forward body position.
The Builds
Though not necessarily known as a value-first brand, SCOR has done a very impressive job of packing an excellent mix of parts into two fairly priced builds. Builds are a full SRAM affair, with RockShox ZEB forks maxed out at 190 mm of travel and Super Deluxe rear shocks. Despite a UDH rear hanger, both the GX and NX builds get mechanical SRAM Eagle drivetrains — a tradeoff that undoubtedly helps SCOR hit compelling price points, but also makes a lot of sense as far as maximizing the performance-to-price ratio.
Recognizing the burly intentions of the 6080 Z, SCOR kindly includes 220 mm front and 200 mm rear rotors for the SRAM Code brakes, and tire selection includes an Assegai MaxxGrip EXO+ front and Assegai MaxxTerra DoubleDown rear. While DoubleDown tires front and rear would be great to see on a bike as aggressive as the 6080 Z, SCOR has done better than many others in choosing sensible smaller parts.
Full build specs are as follows:
- Drivetrain: SRAM NX Eagle
- Brakes: SRAM Code R (220 mm front rotor / 200 mm rear)
- Fork: RockShox ZEB Select RC (190 mm)
- Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Select R
- Wheels: XDH-130 wheelset
- Dropper Post: X-Fusion Manic (S: 125 mm, M: 150 mm, L–XL: 170 mm)
- Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle
- Brakes: SRAM Code RSC (220 mm front rotor / 200 mm rear)
- Fork: RockShox ZEB Ultimate RC2 (190 mm)
- Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate RCT
- Wheels: DT Swiss H 1900 Spline
- Dropper Post: BikeYoke Divine (S: 125 mm, M–L: 160 mm, XL: 185 mm)
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) An aluminum frame, burly parts, and 750 Wh battery presumably add up to a significant amount of mass to move around on the trail. How well does the 6080 Z carry its heft, and can SCOR’s suspension system bring their lively handling traits to a bike of this size?
(2) The short 435 mm chainstays and slack headtube angle are a hallmark of SCOR’s geometry philosophy, but can also mean that riders on larger sizes need to keep a lot of weight over the front wheel. How does this geometry design work out for a bike with the aggressive intentions of the 6080 Z?
Bottom Line (For Now)
SCOR is unapologetic in calling out the 6080 Z’s downhill-focused intentions, and its burly frame and parts spec certainly looks the part. With an imposing amount of suspension travel, we can’t help but wonder if the lively feel of other bikes in SCOR’s range still made its way into the 6080 Z’s DNA somehow. What we do know is that SCOR’s 6080 Z stands as a unique offering with a strong value proposition, and we hope to get a chance to see how it performs on the trail before too long.