Canadian brand Rocky Mountain has been kicking serious goals lately, having released a load of new bikes over the past 12 months including the new Slayer, Altitude, and controversially, the brand’s first e-MTB. More recently, Rocky Mountain unloaded the all-new Instinct and Pipeline models, which we got a good look at back in early September at Eurobike.
Now we’ve got one of the 2018 Instinct models in our hot little hands. It isn’t any old Instinct though, as this one is wearing the BC Edition badge, which means it uses the same frame as the regular Instinct models, but pumps up the suspension and componentry to make it the biggest and baddest 29er that Rocky has released to date. The best part? We’ll be giving this bike the Calderdale treatment to see just how good it is. But first, we got some photos of it before it never looks this clean again.
“The Instinct BC Edition is our all-new Instinct platform, built up as an even more aggressive trail monster. Designed with an optimized single-position link, ultra-aggressive geometry, and a long stroke shock that provides 155mm of rear travel, we’ve kitted out the Instinct BC with wide bars, big tires, ultra-stiff wheels, and more capable suspension. It smashes all mountain lines, rails corners, and plows over everything in sight, while displaying all the climbing efficiency that makes the Instinct a crowd favourite.” – From Rocky Mountain Bicycles.
2018 Rocky Mountain Instinct BC Edition Features
- Long travel 29er all mountain bike
- Smoothwall carbon fibre frame
- Clearance for up to 29×2.6in or 27.5×3.0in tyres
- 155mm rear travel
- Updated SmoothLink suspension design w/sealed cartridge bearings for all pivot points
- 160mm travel fork
- Head angle: 65.9°
- Seat angle: 74.4°
- 425mm chainstay length
- 148x12mm rear thru-axle
- PF92 bottom bracket w/ISCG 05 gabs & integrated ‘Spirit Guide’
- 1x only frame design
- Internal cable routing w/Di2 and Fox Live Valve compatibility
- Claimed frame weight: 2550g / 5.61 lbs (Medium frame w/shock)
- Available sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
- RRP: £5499
Redesigned for 2018, the Instinct range features an all-new frame that has ditched the ABC bushing system of old, and replaces all the pivots with sealed cartridge bearings. The Smoothlink suspension design remains, but kinematics have been updated on the new frame. Compared to the regular Instinct models that run 140mm of travel, the BC Edition uses a custom linkage and a longer stroke shock to deliver 155mm of travel, at the expense of having to ditch the Ride-9 geometry adjustment. To match, Rocky has spec’d a 160mm travel fork, which complements the new longerer and slackerer geometry to create an EWS-worthy race bike.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our virtual tour of the new Rocky Mountain Instinct BC Edition, and we’d love to hear what you think. Is this a good looker? Or are there other bikes in this class that you’d pick over this one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
And in the meantime, keep a look out for our full review of the Rocky Mountain BC Edition coming to an internet near you in early 2018 once we’ve given it a good proper pasting. For further information or to find your nearest Rocky dealer, get in touch with UK distributor Greenover Sports, or head to the Rocky Mountain website for more details.
2018 Rocky Mountain Instinct BC Edition Specifications
- Frame // Smoothwall Carbon Fibre, 155mm Travel
- Fork // Fox 36 Float, Performance Elite Series, FIT4, 160mm Travel
- Shock // Fox Float DPX2
- Hubs // DT Swiss 370, 110x15mm Front & 148x12mm Rear
- Rims // Stans Flow MK3, 29mm Internal Rim Width, 32h, Tubeless
- Tyres // Maxxis Minion DHF EXO 3C 2.5in WT Front & DHR II EXO 3C 2.4in WT Rear
- Chainset // Truvativ Stylo 7k Alloy, GXP, 32t X-Sync 2 Eagle Chainring
- Chainguide // Spirit Guide
- Rear Mech // SRAM GX Eagle, 12-Speed
- Shifter // SRAM GX Eagle, 12-Speed
- Cassette // SRAM GX Eagle, 10-50t, 12-Speed
- Brakes // SRAM Code R, 200mm Front & 180mm Rear
- Stem // Rocky Mountain 35 CNC, 50mm Long
- Bars // Race Face Turbine R, 35mm Clamp Diameter, 780mm Wide
- Grips // Rocky Moutain Lock-On
- Seatpost // Fox Transfer Performance Elite, 150mm Travel
- Saddle // WTB Silverado Race
- Size Tested // Medium
- Sizes available // Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
- RRP // £5499
Comments (7)
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Mmmmmmm. Lovely bike. The 140mm, non BC would be a better choice for me. And I reckon, for £5.5K and a mere GX Eagle groupset, a little Kashima should be expected. But overall, gorgeous.
Oh yeah, I’d have that in a flash. In addition to my 2015 Instinct! For an all-rounder I’d go for the non BC version though.
Stunning bike!
Love that bike, but in the non-BC edition. I was gutted to see that the UK distributor didn’t bring the standard Instinct in XL, just the monstrous BC edition (great bike, but over the top for most of my UK riding). I enquired about ordering one but the wait was too long (this was in early October, but delivery would have taken until NY). I’ve since bought another bike, but a little part of me is crying for the Rocky as I’ve previously owned two.
Great bike, worth mentioning however, I ordered one of these in XL as soon as they did the media release, my friends father ordered a standard version same day. We were both promised an initial release by mid October, we were never contacted by Rocky and after the date came and passed and we made inquiries we were updated no bikes would be available until late march. Unless you absolutely have to have this bike is suggest going elsewhere with better availability and customer service, I.e santa Cruz or yeti, at least your bike will show up when promised.
Hi Clayton44,
I’m not sure if you are UK based or not but we have the Instinct BC in XL in stock and available right now.
Thanks
Greenover (Rocky Mountain UK Distributor)
Hi bonni,
Sorry about this. It’s not easy getting the stock right on the XL’s and we under estimated the demand for the standard Instinct in this size..
I hope we can tempt you back on a Rocky in the future!
Thanks
Greenover