At the heart of the Scott Aspect 930 is a lightweight aluminium frame making this one of the lightest bikes in the Sub-£750 Hardtail of the Year test.

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Most Scott mountain bikes come with some form of lockouts or travel adjustment features and this technology also trickles down to the Scott Aspect 930 hardtail. By flipping a bar mounted lever you can totally shut down the Suntour XCR-RL suspension fork for climbing. The problem is if you want to reposition the remove lever you’ll need to remove the cable first because for some reason the fixing bolt is located right underneath the barrel adjuster.

At the heart of the Aspect 930 is a lightweight aluminium frame making this one of the lightest bikes on test. Add some quick-rolling Kenda tyres and you’d think it would rocket up the climbs. Unfortunately, the ride is pretty lacklustre and the Aspect 930 really lacks pace when climbing.

The bike is the shortest here and also has a high bottom bracket, so on technical climbs or when descending steep terrain, it also feels like you’re riding on tip toes. To offset the lack of length Scott fits a long 90mm stem but all that does is make the steering even more sluggish.

There is some really good stuff here – the Aspect has some of the best drivetrain components on test, the stiffest cranks and really good wheels – but that seems secondary if the bike isn’t efficient or fun.

With the lockout, Schwalbe tyres and lightweight frame Scott has tried to make a bike that lights up the trail but there’s no spark here.