I was having a discussion about bikes the other day and the Bottlerocket came up. I had a few friends who owned one and it was their only* mountain bike. From an epic alpine pedal to bike park shuttle action that was the rig.
I was trying to think of an example of another bike that captured riders in the same way. I mean, I know folks whose only bike was a Kona Stinky, or a Rocky Switch but it was more out of necessity than aspiration. The Bottle Rocket is the only full-suspension rig I can think of where there was a legitimate trend amongst multiple riders to say "this is my only mountain bike, I ride it everywhere."
I think the closest thing I've experienced since the differentiation of categories (I get it, at one time everyone had one bike and they raced XC and DH on it - the Bottlerocket came after that time) would be the Kona Honzo ST when it came out in 2012. Folks used Honzo frames for everything, but it still didn't, I think, capture the imagination quite like the Bottlerocket.
*Actually in one case it was complimented by a rigid single-speed but still, their only mountain bike by most people's metrics.
Aug. 14, 2023, 10:45 a.m. - Andrew Major
I was having a discussion about bikes the other day and the Bottlerocket came up. I had a few friends who owned one and it was their only* mountain bike. From an epic alpine pedal to bike park shuttle action that was the rig. I was trying to think of an example of another bike that captured riders in the same way. I mean, I know folks whose only bike was a Kona Stinky, or a Rocky Switch but it was more out of necessity than aspiration. The Bottle Rocket is the only full-suspension rig I can think of where there was a legitimate trend amongst multiple riders to say "this is my only mountain bike, I ride it everywhere." I think the closest thing I've experienced since the differentiation of categories (I get it, at one time everyone had one bike and they raced XC and DH on it - the Bottlerocket came after that time) would be the Kona Honzo ST when it came out in 2012. Folks used Honzo frames for everything, but it still didn't, I think, capture the imagination quite like the Bottlerocket. *Actually in one case it was complimented by a rigid single-speed but still, their only mountain bike by most people's metrics.