Rocky Mountain Element 950 Review

So the time had finally arrived for me to put my mind at rest. I have now in front of me the bike that I will be racing, riding, cursing, jumping and anything else I can throw at it once I get back to Australia.We sat threw an hour of talking from alex getting the run down on every thing new with the rocky line up. We all had our ears prick up when the element came on show. New feature after another fired at us like a paint ball gun on fully automatic, I was finding getting hard to stay seated. End of the talking came around and we were given the choice to either eat or ride. All said and done I was on A-line to the 18.5 Element and back to the car to get it dialed in for a rip around Seymour.
 

Element 950

Quick Facts on the bike.

• Bottom bracket has been raised to assist in maneuverability.
• Smoothlink suspension with a carbon fiber linkage
• Custom valved Rock Shox Monarch RT 95mm
• Custom Rock Shox Revelation 95-120mm U-turn
• Internally routed derailleur cables running the length of the down tube.
• Alloy cable plug making the derailleur cables easy to feed new one in.
• RTC 29 Geomertry: shorter chain stay and top tube.
• Sram 2x10
• Tapered steerer

Let the Review begin.

Straight of the bat its a good looking bike with simple yet affective and eye catching graphics. There is nothing over the top on the bike it's clean, crisp, clear and nothing hidden from you.

We rolled around the car park on the bikes paying particular attention on getting the custom valved Rock Shox Monarc rear shock dialed in, along with its father up the front in the form of Custom Revalation u-turn. We left the tent zone in a convoy and cruised to the open car park. We were told left turn leads to a technical climb and decent where right was for the xc bikes so we went left to see what the bike could really do.

Loose Hard pact: On the ride to the trail head I found my self in 16th gear and going for it. I was so excited to be on it my adrenalin took over and the bike was at my mercy. Ripping along loose gravel with tight turns I found my self going out wide and holding copious amounts of speed in the corner. It continued to get my confidence levels high and wanted to get more out of the bike. I pushed it harder and harder and it kept going, when I got it to drift it was predictable and comfortable and simply put felt awesome.You do sit slightly higher in the corners but a quick adjustment to your body position gets you ripping harder than ever before.

Climbing: I played around with the u-turn in both 95mm and 120mm and found they both climbed well. Over bigger rocks and step up I favored the 120mm up front for it gave me more room to pre-load and pop up the front wheel enabling me to get in half peddle strokes and clear sections with ease.

It was light and fast to lift up and over rocks, roots and ledges in 95mm how ever I did hit my cranks a few times, as soon as it smoothed out the 90mm option was making up for lost time and had me in a comfortable racing position. Hairpin turns were a breeze with the top tube being that little bit shorter I could get into a aggressive position and attack the turns and power out whist keeping traction.

Descending: Having the seat dropped down so I could get off the back when needed I was off like a shot. The First 100meters I kept the wheels on the ground and my smile was growing. The bike was skipping over the terrain and not slowing down at all.  I started to get the feel for the bike and lifted the front up to see how it felt in a manual, it came up like a dream and it was on for young and old now. I picked of rocks left right and center then began to double up sections totally blind and full of confidence. The bike was plush, smooth, nimble, fast and a pleasure to rip down the trail. The shortened chain stay and slightly shorter top tube made it truly nimble ans effortless to rip down the trail. It was incredibly balanced regardless of where you were positioned on the bike be it over the front of over the back.



 Braking: Surprisingly braking was minimal until you needed to come to a complete stop. Threw out the trail ride I new that when it counted I could jump on the brakes and stop. The smoothness from the 29er wheels and suspension set up really made the bike stick to the ground and made you use the terrain more than normal. It was easy to control under heavy braking and i never found my self needing to lock up the brakes at all.

Sprinting: With the rear shock set 6 clicks from firm there was minimal bob when you put the power down. It truly wanted to take off due to how much power gets transfered to the ground and get to the trail riding duties. I only found it took 2 maby 3 more peddle strokes than a 26 to get it really hooking along and once at speed it was easy to hold a steady pace.

Good:

• Suspension, plush and makes the ride amazing
• Geometry, spot on!
• Weight, no complaints
• 2x10, all it needed

Bad:

• Brakes, not enough reach adjust.
• Flat bar, could be wider 

Final Verdict: The bike is one that a racer could own and destroy the competition on, also your average rider who simply wants to ride a bike at a comfortable pace with minimal effort for maximum reward. I was not a fan of the brakes with poor reach adjust, they had ample power and even modulation but didn't suit my style.
I would put on Avid X.O brakes, a slight rise bar at 710mm, 90mm stem and lower the stem height to one 5mm spacer below the stem. In my eyes the bike would be transformed into a unstoppable weapon. It climbs like a lizard to glass and descends faster than a F1 car at max speed.

 Love The Ride.