Exclusive: Thomas Vanderham’s Rocky Mountain Prototype
If you were at Crankworx earlier this week, you may have noticed Rocky Mountain athletes Thomas Vanderham and Geoff Gulevich on board something that didn’t look at all like a Flatline. We snagged a few shots of Thomas’ Rocky Mountain prototype while it was parked in the village, and it looks to be a radical departure from the current model. We don’t have a ton of details or an official release date for the new bike, but given the age of the current Flatline, it’s probably not too far off.
Rocky has told us in no uncertain terms that the linkage isn’t finalized on this bike. It definitely looks like it’ll take out whatever punishment Vanderham and Gully can throw at it.
There’s no mistaking this bike for anyone else’s, that’s for sure.
Cable routing on the top of the down tube keeps things from getting smashed.
We weren’t able to get a side-shot of the bike, but if you look closely in this picture, you can probably guess what it looks like (hint: not a Session).
So who else wants to know more? We certainly do…
Comments
cesalec
9 years, 8 months ago
Well the traditional look of Rocky Mountain is gone in that one, it certainly looks like to many other bikes out there, its sort of a pity that many brands are starting to look all about the same.
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Leon
9 years, 8 months ago
One day they will all look the same , at some point companie will realise that there is only one best suspension design , not many.
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Motoprog
9 years, 8 months ago
Agreed. Look at Motocross, every bike has the same linkage system. KTM tried for years to do their own design and ultimately went back to what everyone else is doing because, low and behold, it works.
I think this is as close to the Trek as they and Norco can get without paying.
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Mark Kitching
9 years, 8 months ago
And treks look like konas of old.
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Motoprog
9 years, 8 months ago
Agreed, they are somewhat derivative, but the full floater design I believe is somewhat unique and the ratios are totally different. The old Konas use much higher leverage ratios with those long ass horst links.
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Dirk
9 years, 8 months ago
Turner built this bike 10 years before trek had anything to do with it…
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Merwinn
9 years, 8 months ago
So, which is better? Bryceland's V-10 or Brosnan's Demo? Last year Smith's Devinci design looked to be the best. So is it the carpenter or the tools?
At a QUICK glance, several designs are similar, but the difference's for patent's sake, is in the details. It's the details that differentiate a mediocre bike from an incredible one. The biggest visual changes to come will be with materials, e.g. one-sided carbon seat tube and the new Demo.
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