Tri Bike Reviews: The SCOTT Plasma 3

It’s easy to see how the Scott Plasma 3 is rocking in tri bike reviews. It is, simply put, one of the most elegantly designed bikes in this latest generation of cycles. It is the obvious choice of triathlon greats such as Linsey Corbin and Normann Stadler, and here are a few reasons why.

Scott Plasma 3 Review

Scott Plasma 3’s—Fifth Generation Triathlon Bikes

The Scott Plasma 3 represents the culmination of 5 generations of triathlon bikes, and it shows. It is the ultimate marriage of superbike technology with real world practicality. While other bikes that are coming out are sending bike techs back to the drawing board with total revamps of their construction, the Plasma 3 only simplifies things, and makes changes where they matter. It truly shows that Scott has seized upon what they have learned from previous designs and improved what needed improvement, what needed to be added and what needed to be left alone.

This quality definitely makes the Plasma 3s stand out from the other superbikes. Where the others have tricky front end integration, esoteric cable routing, iffy rear brake designs, and well-thought but half-hearted built in accessories, handling the Plasma 3 is practically the Zen of bicycle maintenance

SP3’s Goodies in Detail

Starting with the front end, the design of the front end integration is an exercise in simplicity that would make the Dalai Lama jump for joy. Without sacrificing any handling, they have made the design so simple you may have to fire your tech. The SRAM Return to Center bar also received an upgrade, and it actuates far more easily than many of its predecessors, mainly by returning to the basics.

Moving more toward the center, we still see the SP3 is keeping with a simplistic design. There are no safety tabs in the fork dropouts, the seat post bolt is more intuitive (you will need to use a torque wrench and a universal joint, but it’s not rocket science). The cable routing is interior, where it needs to be, and exterior precisely where it needs to be—no more, no less. Finally, the brake response is simply amazing. You hit the brake, it stops—no extra parts that can fail at any time.

Overall, if you really want to amplify your cycling event, the SP3 is a great union of simplicity and performance. Scott truly deserves all the positive tri bike reviews on this brain child.