Rocky Mountain Reaper 24

Rocky Mountain Reaper 24

The Reaper 24 from Rocky Mountain Bicycles is a North Shore ready, upsizeble, 130mm trail bike. For the Month of May, my lucky son had the opportunity to ride two amazing bikes back to back and I got to observe his progress on both the Prevelo Zulu and the Rocky Reaper 24.

The Reaper is a modular platform that shares the same frame between 24, 26" bikes. The 27.5" bike gets its own frame with a longer shock and different shock placement. All bikes have 130mm rear travel, paired with a 120mm fork on the 24, 130mm fork on the 26 and 150mm fork on the 27.5". The air cans on the RockShox Monarch shocks between the 24 and 26" bikes are also different hinting at different rider weight tunes. This is cool to see.

The Reaper is a classic Rocky with the Ride-9 geometry adjustment chips at the lower shock mount. The Ride-9 allows for head angle adjustments from 65.3(poz 1) to 66.8 (poz 9). Reach numbers also change with the adjustments from 353mm to 367mm. We left our test bike in the Poz 5 (neutral) with 66° Head angle and 360 Reach, Rear Center was 418mm

My lucky protégé, who had been riding the Prevelo Zulu for a couple of days, quickly ripped into the Reaper box, avoiding paper cuts like a fly dodging the swatter. The bike is packed well, if a little heavy on the non recyclable foam tubes. Cardboard makes more sense in today's world and I hope Rocky can catch up on this. After all the packaging was stripped off, the little man took his Park Blue AW10 to all the bolts and suspension components. We checked the Ride-9 hardware and everything seemed to be nice and snug. Being the month of May, with little to no rain in the forecast, we passed on the removal of every and greasing of all the hardware. We talked about the importance of this and made sure our wheel axles were nicely coated with some Super Lube for ease of installation and removal.

When we mounted the SDG Slater bars on to the steerer of the Rocky, we admired the 19mm diameter grips for the little hands that were about to grab them. 650mm width was also just about spot on and the SDG Slater Jr grips really tied the cockpit together. While the Reaper is equipped with tubeless compatible WTB SX19 rims, we didn't notice the familiar TR (Tubeless Ready) patch on the most excellent spec choice Maxxis DHR II 24x2.3 tires. This front and rear combination is one of the most ideal setups to run on the North Shore and I am stoked to see them on the Reaper. TR and MaxxTerra patches would have been nice to see although at 12-14psi for this atomweight rider, they held up just fine.

Setting up the SR Suntour Raidon 32mm LOR DS 26" fork and the Rockshox Monarch was straightforward. When you have a 9 year old that weighs as much as a loaf of sourdough bread, it can be a challenge to set a full suspension fork and shock up with a usable rebound range. The spec'ed Raidon fork at around 35psi and the Monarch R shock at 80psi did a great job of balancing a plush and responsive setup. The rebound range was usable and did not feel like molasses at those pressures. This got me excited for the experience he was about to have on some chunky Seymour and Fromme trails.

We wished the Rocky came with a dropper post or at least a quick release seat collar. On the other hand, riding with your little buddy and having to adjust their seatpost often is good opportunity to chat and bond. It is also a good time to look over their bike, but it gets old fast. An SDG Tellis v2 would have been a good choice for this mini bike and it would also add to the overall experience as a parent. To be honest, I don't think my pint sized kid cared much either way. He just accepted it as the flow of things.

Climbing the Reaper was also quite enjoyable according to my boy as he shifted easily through the 10speed 11-42 cassette. The action on the Microshift AdventX Derailleur can handle up to 48t cogs and works well. We took our slow pedaling, snack breaking selves up the Seymour Climb trail a few times. While the rider had trouble with some of the steep technical bits on the climb, he did really well and complained very little. The ride down John Deer was great as the Rocky's suspension ate up the bumps and kept his tiny feet on planted on the pedals.

The SDG Slater bars with 19mm grips paired well with the Tektro brakes. We could move the levers in close to the bars and teach Silas the technique of riding heavy on his feet and lighter on his bars. Without much upper body strength to rely on, he could get through a long trail without hand pain and plenty of braking power and control. The Dual DHR II tires from Maxxis were a great choice to ensure maximum grip without making uphills a huge chore.

For his last ride on the Shore I decided to play along and towed him up to Floppy Bunny and Bobsled 10 times on the eMTB. Every lap was better than the last, he really learned the ways to lean into the suspension to make it work. Bobsled is smooth as glass these days and has lots of rollers to pump through. I could hear him sing loudly to himself enjoying the wind on his rosy face. It gave me a sense of peace riding behind him at his speed. Not slow nor fast, it was a great time hanging out in our woods with a child who doesn't spend much of his time in the forest.

He turned things up a notch on Floppy Bunny as he mastered the entrance into it after a lap or two. He caught up and passed slower riders, excited to show his new skills on a kick-ass bike. While we barrel down the road of life in a car with no brakes, being mocked by neon signs of overstimulation, It was an incredible month of May 2024.

The Rocky Mountain Reaper 24 is a fantastic option for parents looking for a bike that can grow with their young riders. I'd put a 26" front wheel on first and then go up to 26" in the back as he grows up throughout the year. If the child is heavier or a more expert rider, the shock tune on the 26" Reaper maybe better.

Accounting for a dropper and a tubeless tire setup (because those don't come stock), the 1949 CAD reaper still seems like a decent deal.

Rocky Mountain Reaper 24