On a Genius, Thomas Frischknecht won the first Marathon World Championships in Lugano in 2005. He relegated Bart Brentjens to second place in the sprint and showed that it was possible to win races at the highest level on full-suspension mountain bikes. This gave the market an additional boost and many manufacturers had to add a lightweight full-suspension cross-country bike to their range in order to remain competitive.

A bike for touring and marathons
The new Genius also has a lot to do with Thomas Frischknecht. He was at the forefront of the bike's development. The philosophy behind the Genius is based on the fact that he is ending his active career as a mountain bike racer in the fall. But the racing genes are still in him, and duel with his penchant for playfulness on the mountain bike. And because it's no longer about seconds, a little more comfort is also in order. The new Genius satisfies Frischi's demands for a bike for his racing retirement. But they also wanted to bring a very light marathon bike with the best ratio between weight and suspension travel onto the market.

Lightweight frame
The Genius has been built from scratch. The frame had to be designed to withstand the greater forces that occur with longer suspension travel. In addition, the chosen geometry gives the bike balanced, cross-country-oriented handling. The top tube is longer, which together with a shorter stem results in stable and direct handling. Due to the long suspension travel, the bottom bracket has to be slightly higher because otherwise the large chainring would hit the ground fully compressed. To keep the standover height of the frame low, Scott pulls the top tube far down towards the seat tube. The saddle can be fully lowered and the upper main bearings do not require a connecting axle, which was in the way of the seat post on the previous seat tube. The low weight of less than 2300 grams (for the top carbon frame) with shock gives an idea of how easily the bike can be assembled. The complete bike weighs a feather-light 10.6 kilograms in the Limited version with pedals.

Equalizer2 damper from DT-Swiss
The Equalizer2 shock gives the Genius 150 millimetres of travel. Like the old Genius, the shock developed by DT-Swiss is pulled apart during compression. The oil is fed into two side chambers and the air inside is compressed. The main and secondary chambers are adjusted to the rider's weight via two air valves, whereby a clearly visible scale on the shock helps. Each of the two side chambers has an adjustable damper unit through which the oil must flow when the shock is extended. The spring travel is set between 0, 95 and 150 millimetres using a lever on the handlebars. In full mode, both secondary chambers are used; in traction mode, only one of them is used. The suspension responds finely in both modes, but is much firmer in traction mode. In contrast to the old Genius suspension strut, the damping adapts to the higher spring rate at mid-travel because the oil flow rate is increased by the one damping unit.

Fox 32 Talas RL fork with 150 millimeters of travel
The models 10 and up to 40 use 32 mm forks specially manufactured by Fox with 150-125-100 millimetres of adjustable suspension travel, the compression damping of which can be continuously increased using the locking lever to calm the fork. On the 10 and 20 models, the 15 millimeter QR thru-axle system ensures high rigidity.

Custom brakes from Formula
The Limited is fitted with the new R1 disc brake from Formula. It works according to the principle of "The One", but the piston diameter has been reduced, which reduces the weight but also the braking power. But it is still very powerful. With the master cylinder pistons specially polished for the Genius, it weighs 265 grams.

Six models
The model range extends from the Genius Limited to the Genuis 50, with each bike using components from different manufacturers.

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