Tifosi Scalare Disc Tiagra

The Scalare Disc from Tifosi is an endurance-style road bike based around a good quality carbon frameset, that's capable of being upgraded from the entry to mid-level finishing kit fitted here. The ride quality is impressive, as is the stiffness, but for the money there is some stiff competition on the market.

> Buy now: Tifosi Scalare Disc for £1,999 from Tifosi

If you are after a new road bike, do check our best road bikes buyer's guide, which includes machines from a modest £300 to a more wallet-worrying £13,000.

Ride

Ignoring price lists and specification sheets for now, the Scalare is a fun bike to ride with a geometry that's relaxed compared to that of a full-on race bike, which makes it easy to ride at speed, with no surprises or twitchiness at the front end. And it's pleasingly comfortable too.

However, it's the not the most responsive bike around. And a good deal of that is down to the fact that a noticeable chunk of that 9.3kg weight is the wheelset, which takes away some of the nimbleness that the shortish wheelbase provides – though once you are up to speed you can really fling it around through the bends and enjoy the ride.

Once off the line it changes speed without huge amounts of effort and thanks to the stiffness from the lower half of the frame it feels tight, and in no ways sluggish should you really put the power down for a bit of a sprint.

The head angle isn't too aggressive, which stops the handling from being overly sensitive, so it's a bike that will flatter riders of any ability in the corners, although if you an experience rider who likes high-speed descents, you might find it a little subdued.

It tracks nicely through the bends, though, and isn't really unsettled on rough road surfaces, in part due to that overall weight which adds to its planted feel.

In terms of frame size, the head tube lengths don't make the front end overly tall, which allows you to get into a decent racer's tuck for riding into the wind, or on technical descents. This allows you to lower your centre of gravity, giving it a more positive feel in quick corners.

Plus, you can get out of the wind on long drags without having to stretch your back too much.

The frame and fork provide a comfortable ride. It's not the most refined bike I've ever ridden but it doesn't feel overly buzzy and there is a good amount of shock absorbency without having to run the tyres too soft.

The curved seatstays bring a small amount of flex to boost that comfort, which I could feel when seated, although that flex isn't detrimental to power output when I was pushing hard on the pedals.

At the front end the fork feels tight and coped absolutely fine when cornering hard, and there wasn't any noticeable flex when braking hard going into a corner.

Overall, from a ride point of view there is a lot to like. It doesn't scream 'exceptional' from any one direction, but it has the basis of a competent road frameset that is ideal for all kinds of riding, including entry-level racing.

Frame and Fork

Tifosi describes the Scalare as having an entry-level carbon fibre frame constructed from Toray's T500 and T700 grades of carbon.

As I've mentioned above that gives a ride quality that copes with most terrains and doesn't disappoint on the stiffness front.

I can't fault the quality of the build either. It looks well finished, and while the matt finish gives the Scalare a functional look rather than a bling one, it is at least hardwearing.

As is the norm these days, all the cable, hose and/or wiring runs internally through the frame from the top of the down tube, so the Tifosi will look clean and simple with both electronic and mechanical groupsets.

Bearing in mind that this is intended for racing and fast riding, it's no surprise to find moderate tyre clearances, with room for rubber no wider than 28mm. That said, Tifosi has included mudguard mounts should you want to press the Scalare into winter training or really quite racy commuter duties.

These aren't in the traditional places, so you might need to fettle the mudguard stays before fitting them. With the 28mm tyres fitted clearance looks tight, so I think it is safe to say you'll need to drop down to 25mm tyres if you're fitting fenders.

Other than that, you are getting twin bottle cage mounts and front and rear thru-axles.

The profile of the carbon frame follows a common theme with a narrow top tube (after it heads away from the high load areas of the tapered head tube) and those seatstays for comfort, while the down tube is boxy and of a decent sized diameter.

The bottom bracket area is large as it creates a junction between the down tube and seat tube, which allows for larger chainstays, increasing stiffness when you put the power through the drivetrain.

For a medium sized frame, the geometry kicks off with a 544mm top tube, 530mm seat tube, and a 140mm head tube.

The seat angle comes in at 73.5°, while the head angle is a little slacker at 72.25°.

The stack and reach figures are 543mm and 384mm respectively. Tifosi has managed to keep the overall wheelbase length at 982mm, which is short for a disc brake-equipped road bike as disc hubs increase the width at the dropouts.

On shorter stays they have to splay out quite quickly which can cause your heel to catch the chainstay as you pedal, but I had no issues with that on the Tifosi.

Finishing Kit

The Scalare comes with a near-full Tiagra groupset, which delivers mechanical gear shifting and hydraulic braking. It's a 10-speed system pairing an 11-34 cassette with a compact 50/34T chainset.

This gives a good spread of gears at both ends of the range, although the cassette can feel a little gappy at times, with biggish jumps between the larger sprockets.

The Tiagra components mimic Shimano's latest mechanical 105 11-speed groupset – one step up in the Shimano line-up – in terms of ergonomics and aesthetics, plus the performance is pretty much identical too.

The shifting feels crisp and precise up and down the cassette whether under load.

And it is the same with the front lever moving the chain across the twin chainrings of the FSA Omega chainset.

The Scalare's braking features a 160mm diameter front rotor and 140mm rear. Once bedded in the pad and rotor combination provided a decent amount of bite and impressive stopping power. Not quite the same amount of modulation as you'll find on Shimano's higher-end setups, but a massive step up compared to cable-operated systems.

Wheel-wise the Scalare is wearing a set of Vision Team 30 TLRs that have a 30mm-deep aluminium alloy rim with 24-spokes front and rear.

They aren't light, and that is noticeable when you're accelerating or climbing, but they are dependable and stiff, which makes them ideal for training or winter riding. For any kind of performance riding, you will want to factor in an upgrade at some point to something lighter.

I had no issues with durability, though, with both the wheels remaining true and tight throughout testing.

Wrapped around the rims is a set of IMPAC RacePac 28mm tyres. These are quite basic with a rigid wire-beaded design and a modest 24 threads per inch weave, but the ride quality they deliver is decent enough. Their rubber compound is quite hard, though, so the grip is average, and the rubber's rigidity impacts on the amount of feedback coming through.

I'd say the tyres are decent performers for their sub-£20 price, with decent puncture protection and reasonable rolling resistance.

Tifosi-branded alloy components finish off the rest of the build covering the handlebar, stem and seatpost.

It's all basic stuff but does the job and the dimensions of the handlebar reflected the frame size well.

The Selle Italia Model X Superflow saddle is slender like a true road seat, and I found it relatively comfortable. I liked its minimalist shape and padding that gives a firm and direct feel to the bike, with just enough flex in the hull to prevent it feeling overly harsh.

Value

I actually tested the Scalare back at the beginning of 2022 when it was priced at £1,849, though at that point it wasn't in stock – hence the review running now. Since then the price has jumped to £1,999, the sort of rise that isn't unusual these days.

That said, the Scalare's specification is on the low end of things for the money.

For instance, Vitus's Zenium CRS features with a carbon frameset, lightweight Prime Barouder wheels and Schwalbe's One Performance tyres for the same money – oh, and a full Ultegra mechanical groupset.

The Ribble R872 Disc is available for just £1,699 in a 'Sport' build that incorporates a T700/T800 carbon fibre frameset with an upgrade to a hydraulic Tiagra discs, the same chainset as the Scalare and Mavic Aksium wheels. Mat tested an earlier version, very largely the same, and rated it very highly.

The latest version of Giant's Defy Advanced 3 costs £2,349 (it was £2099 when Mat reviewed it in 2021) and also features a hydraulic Tiagra groupset and a carbon frameset, so is a chunk more expensive than the Tifosi. It has clearance for 35mm tyres though.

Conclusion

The Scalare Disc is pushed hard on price by some brands considering the spec list, but on the whole it's still a worthy contender if you are looking for an entry-level road bike with a frame of a high enough quality that you could upgrade over time. A lighter set of wheels would be the first place to start.

Verdict

Carrying some weight and could do with a wheel upgrade, but a good ride quality and stiffness overall