Sea Otter 2013: Rocky Mountain Bikes

Rocky Mountain
Don’t worry, we still have lots of stuff to bring to you from the recent Sea Otter event. Here’s one that should please the old school fans of this Canadian brand. Rocky is going to be back in the UK this year.

Rocky Mountain had a couple of new bikes to show us; the Altitude and the Instinct. The Altitude is a new 27.5in, 150mm bike and the Instinct is a 130mm 29er.

Starting with the Altitude 950, it’s a 150mm trail bike with 27.5in wheels. It’ll come in several models, with the top of the range being the carbon framed 790. The bike here is the 770, with a carbon front and aluminium rear. There’s 150mm travel front and rear and there’s a nine-position adjustable ‘chip’ that’ll adjust the shock (and therefore the head tube angle and BB height) to give a 1.72 degree adjustment, from 66.9 to 68.1°.

The base model starts at US$2899, going up to a lofty $6800. Rocky Mountain reckons that it’s going to be going after the market traditionally occupied by the Rocky Mountain Slayer.

Meanwhile, over in big wheel land, the Instinct is a new 29er with 130mm travel and looks to be aimed at the riders after an all-round, capable 29er trail bike.

After a couple of years out of the UK, Rocky Mountain now has an importer in the shape of Rocky Mountain UK, which aims to demo the bikes around the UK this year and build up some dealers after Rocky’s couple of years’ absence.