When you hear the word “premium” associated with a frame, you typically expect to hand over your first born to pay for it. Not so with the SCOTT Plasma 10.

The Plasma 10 utilizes SCOTT’s HMX Carbon Fiber Plasma 3 frame, which had originally been reserved only for the Plasma Premium frame, at a more affordable price point. According to SCOTT, HMX is a fiber blend that is a full 20 percent stiffer than its HMF counterpart for the same weight. In fact, HMX filaments are both stiffer and smaller in diameter than those of HMF carbon. Therefore an HMX frame can be built of tubes with thinner wall thickness. All in all, an HMF frame is about 14% heavier than a HMX frame. Obviously that’s a huge savings in weight.

And speaking of savings, the cost of HMX is about three times that of HMF, which is why HMX has been traditionally reserved for SCOTT’s high-end Premium, Team Issue, and RC frames. From what we hear, a complete Plasma 10 with DuraAce will set you back a little under $6,000 (though this could change). We think that’s a not-so-premium price for a premium piece of equipment.