Rocky Mountain make eye catching bikes for every discipline from Road to Downhill. They are now heavily in the all mountain scene with a weapon home grown in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. Rocky Mountain Bikes are celebrating there 30th Birthday in 2011 and with this come a new style of bike that is the talking point at any kitchen table all over the world. The bikes grass roots come form BC but with the Slayer better than ever they have cut it free too rip a trail near you.
The Slayer 70 has a simple effective suspension design that has no extra material or links causing a funky chain growth or turning it into a dirt catching device. We rode a more challenging course for the Slayer test as it is targeted to the enduro/all mountain market. The bike has a matte finish that was nice to see as a high polished bike start to look old and dull after a season of riding. It is equipped with sever innovative technologies that assist the bike in every aspect of your ride.
Climbing: This is huge part of making a Enduro/All mountain bike and rocky attacked this head on. They looked into feedback on what riders wanted in a 6inch bike and came up with a system that keeps the bike slack for the descents but most importantly nimble and fast on the climbs. Straight Up Geometry is what they came up with for the Climbing. Simply put it does what it says instead of sitting in sag and being behind the bottom bracket you are put into a positive climbing position of 73deg. You find your self with minimal peddle bob when climbing on the flat or steep and technical climbs as a result.
It is very noticeable in your forward positioning and up right feel it gives you. I found that it took away the pain from my lower back giving me a straighter back and there for more power and better transfer of energy. The fox RP23 worked wonders in giving you the edge up the climb how ever the talas 36 could be a float in my eye for when it was dropped into the lower setting I did notice my cranks hit a few times. A quick change of the talas, gearing and peddle stroke had me flying up the climb once more.
Descending: The Slayer was missing it's dropper post (Rock Shox Reverb), so after the sweet climb I couldn't rip straight into the decent with a high post for fear of injuring my self. With the post dropped it was now time to test out the Smooth Link Suspension and Angular Bushing Concept to see what all the talk was about. The first decent I held back not knowing the terrain and how the bike handled. As the ride progressed I started to find the balance point and began to double sections and get a feel for the bike. The bar and stem were a spot on to help out with the aggressive style you adapt to whilst riding technical sections. Fox 36 forks with a tapered steerer boasting a 66.5 head angle and a 20mm front wheel and 12x142 make for a super stiff ride and assisting in a point and shoot style if and when its needed. Rail the corners as hard as you like until your legs give out.
Cornering: With the bottom bracket lower this year and the added 12x142 rear axle you know that you will have no issue railing a berm or flat corner. They have spec'd it with a Maxxis ardent 2.4 up front and 2.25 for the rear. The tire was a good choice for the terrain that I was riding but I would change the front out for a slightly more aggressive tread for added control in steep terrain. It kept the bike rolling fast yet had enough grip that you could confidently change line choice and know what the tire was going to do. The 12x142 axle is noticeably stiffer than previous axles. It gives you great control assisting you to carry speed threw all types of corners. The top tube felt slightly shorter then other large bike I have ridden but a tweak of the stem and handle bar position it was good to go.
Gearing: 2x10 is spot on for the bike. I found that when I would normally say "nah I can't ride that" I turned around and said "hell yeah I can ride that". 2x10 simply makes sense for bikes like this and any other XC bikes in my eyes. With the added dropper post lever coming out and being added to bikes there is a lot to think about on you handle bars and only having to shift down to granny is a good thing. I would change out the bash ring for a plastic one as I found the alloy gripped a bit on rocks for my liking. It does fell similar to the Horst Link (FSR) when peddling which isn't a bad thing for it made the climb smooth and very efficient. I did have a miss hap attempting to jump over a shrub whilst going for my own line up the hill. You will be blow away with what this 6inch bike can ride up!
Breaking: As I became more confident with the bike I could start to push the braking later and harder. From the word go I was not happy with the Formula brakes for a few reasons. One being that you can't move the reach adjust in closer to the handle bar to avoid hand cramps and slamming on the brakes because your fingers were out to far. Two they were either "on" or "off" with the braking and I couldn't find the modulation point easy. They did have enormous amounts of power but that's no good if you can use it to it's full potential. A simple brake swap for avid elixrs would ever you the up most confidence in braking. The bike handled well under extreme braking and felt solid with no vibration from the forks or rear suspension to throw you off balance. You cold dive on the front brake and not have the rear end want to come over your head and race you down the hill.
Gully super stoked on his Slayer!
Final Verdict: The Slayer is now a true "do it all" bike. You could turn up to a local XC race and still put in a good time with the lycra whippets then turn around a race DH on it the next day and walk away with a smile on your face form having a awesome weekend. It covers all bases that you look for in a bike, stiff, responsive, smooth and most importantly Fun to ride. It will change how you view trails as your mind begins to wonder and explore the terrain looking for something big to send it off. I would change the brakes out straight up and would leave every thing else stock until parts started to wear or I rode muddy terrain causing me to change out the tires. Great value for money and would have like to have seen it wander on to my bike rack un noticed to continue Slaying trails.
Pros:
- Climbs like a Cross Country bike thanks to Straight Up Geometry.
- Descends like a mini Down Hill bike with the 12x142 rear axle.
- ABC pivot make for a remarkably stiff ride.
- Sram 2x10 is all the bike needs for gears for all day riding.
- Smooth comfy ride form Smooth link.
- Bang for your buck.
- Has a water bottle mounts.
- Bottom Bracket is low if you climb rocky terrain.
- Brakes take a while to get use to, poor modulation.
- Make sure you cable bolts on the down tube, they can come loose.
Where to find a Rocky Mountain you ask? Want to test ride a ride a Rocky?
Fallow this link, Rocky Mountain Dealers World Wide Select a country and all of the dealer information will come up. Ask them about where you can demo the Rocky line up to get you even more excited about riding.
Love The Ride.
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