Spotted: RockShox Flight Attendant SID on Nino Schurter’s Scott Spark

Despite the XC race crowd’s penchant for remote lockouts no matter how little travel a bike has, when RockShox’s Flight Attendant wireless electronic suspension system initially launched it was aimed at longer travel trail and enduro bikes. The system automatically makes suspension adjustments depending on what a bike and its rider are doing in order to maximize efficiency, and it was presented as a way to improve the performance of bikes that wouldn’t typically be considered great pedalers.

Now it looks like there’s an XC-oriented version of the system in the works, at least based on Nino Schurter’s race bike. His Scott Spark RC is equipped with a RockShox SID fork that has the Flight Attendant module attached to the top right leg. I’d imagine the bike is running a Flight Attendant enabled shock too, but it’s hidden inside the frame and my x-ray specs aren’t working at the moment. Looking even closer, it appears the SID’s crown has had some material shaved away compared to the current version, likely a weight saving measure for the next iteration of the fork.

Nino is typically at the forefront of cross-country race trends, at least the ones that improve a bike’s performance – he was one of the earlier riders to run a dropper post, and he also went with a 120mm bike when many competitors were still on 80 or 100mm options. The system likely comes with a weight penalty versus a cable actuated remote, but if it allows the rider to focus on pedaling rather than remembering to toggle a lockout lever it could be worth it. We’ll see how it pans out for Nino in the World Cup XCO race on Sunday.