2011 Rocky Mountain Slayer....Do. Want.

Pretty stoked on the latest revision of the Rocky Slayer. I've been on my 09/10 Slayer for about 9 months and it's been an amazing bike so far.

Older one that got stolen :(

Sick new bike that most of you have seen:

While I loved the old version of the SXC, seems like some some needed improvements have been made.
- The water bottle mount on the old bike made it hard to accommodate even a 21oz bottle. I often ride without a pack so having the ability to run a full size bottle and get it out easily is a bonus.
- Cool to see that I can run my current DHX RC4 on the newer frame without any contact anywhere. The larger than regular reservoir on the RC4 is about a mm away from contacting the seat post bridge assembly on either side.
- Adjustable seatpost guides on the frame.
- Tapered headtube. Nothing revolutionary here, but should be a standard offering on all aggressive AM bikes.
- Going from the 68 ht angle to a 66.5. Now I'm at odds here. I like to ride aggressive stuff, even shuttle Mt. Prevost on my Slayer so the slacker ht angle is nice, but I also climb alot. The old slayer settled fairly deep into its travel while climbing so the ht angle slackened out considerably. I managed on the climbs but would hate to ride a slacker bike. By all accounts, seems like the new design rides a bit higher in its travel, which is good. Anything slacker than 66.5 and the climbing will suffer.

I'd be really interested in seeing how much stiffer the new design is. Haven't heard to many comments on this yet. Also, I've got a pretty light build, albeit with coil F+R and wirebeaded singleply tires. The new frame looks like it will shave off at least a lb.

With any luck, I'll be throwing a leg over the new slayer for a ride or two this summer. Stoked!!!

P.S. You may now comment on what other type of frame/model/manufacturer this bike looks like.

It is growing on me, i quite like it raw

Giant.

looks even more like giant when its raw lol just without the extra link plate near the bb

Sure looks like a nice bike!

The Slayer Lee had last year wasn't the most svelte climber… looks like this one will be better. Hopefully not at a compromise to its great descending characteristics.

is there anything to "smoothlink" or is it just funky faux bar?

- Going from the 68 ht angle to a 66.5. Now I'm at odds here. I like to ride aggressive stuff, even shuttle Mt. Prevost on my Slayer so the slacker ht angle is nice, but I also climb alot. The old slayer settled fairly deep into its travel while climbing so the ht angle slackened out considerably. I managed on the climbs but would hate to ride a slacker bike. By all accounts, seems like the new design rides a bit higher in its travel, which is good. Anything slacker than 66.5 and the climbing will suffer.

I think that the bike is really hot, but when I read the HA spec on it, my opinion did a big shift. I'd have to ride the bike to really know, but for tech and steep climbing, the front end may wander around way too much at that angle.

I like… a lot. Seems to me Rocky's heading in the right direction.

I'm pretty stocked up on being stoked too bro!

I think that the bike is really hot, but when I read the HA spec on it, my opinion did a big shift. I'd have to ride the bike to really know, but for tech and steep climbing, the front end may wander around way too much at that angle.

i had the same concern re. climbing ability of bikes with slack hta for a while. have recently revised (not saying i'm right, just that i've been more or less convinced otherwise).

folks from banshee and rm and a few other companies have started positing that its sta, not hta, that really impacts climbing ability. having your weight far enough forward to keep the front wheel weighted on steep/tech climbs while maintaining traction on the back end, and having good power transfer for your legs, are how they claim their newer bikes overcome slack hta on the uphill.

i rode a chromag samurai for years with a set length fork and thought the slack hta was what made it climb so poorly. put a travel adjust fork on the front and it climbs quite well - but the change i think has been in sta, which helps my weight keep the wheels better balanced during climbing, and allows me to get behind the seat when the trail goes up-and-down - overall just provides for better body positioning for riding on varying terrain.

no substitute for actual on-bike time, of course, but i find the logic pretty sound and have found it to bear out on the trail

is there anything to "smoothlink" or is it just funky faux bar?

The smooth link is the name for Rocky's patent on the positioning of the chainstay pivot above (5mm above i think?) the rear axle, whereas Specialized places theirs 5mm below.

Rocky's pivot placement keeps the chain growth neutral with eliminates pedal feedback under suspension movement. The old design had a bit of feedback, which I noticed right away after years of riding Norco and Specialized bikes with the FSR/Horst Link design.

Also, Faux bar is also a shitty name for linkage driven single pivot, that looks like a 4 bar/horst/fsr design.

I'm pretty stocked up on being stoked too bro!

Hahaha

I think that the bike is really hot, but when I read the HA spec on it, my opinion did a big shift. I'd have to ride the bike to really know, but for tech and steep climbing, the front end may wander around way too much at that angle.

Just had a thought. Rocky also has their straight up geo. The steep seat tube means a more forward position on the bike which translates to a front end that will wander less.

i had the same concern re. climbing ability of bikes with slack hta for a while. have recently revised (not saying i'm right, just that i've been more or less convinced otherwise).

folks from banshee and rm and a few other companies have started claiming that its sta, not hta, that really impacts climbing ability. having your weight far enough forward to keep the front wheel weighted on steep/tech climbs while maintaining traction on the back end, and having good power transfer for your legs, are how they claim their newer bikes overcome slack hta on the uphill.

i rode a chromag samurai for years with a set length fork and thought the slack hta was what made it climb so poorly. put a travel adjust fork on the front and it climbs quite well - but the change i think has been in sta, which helps my weight keep the wheels better balanced during climbing, and allows me to get behind the seat when the trail goes up-and-down - overall just provides for better body positioning for riding on varying terrain.

^
I agree… My Banshee Rune has a 67 HA and dropping the fork down going up makes all the difference for me. Best of both worlds IMO.

I want an Altitude with 36 Talas.

Rode the Altitude for the Four Jacks last year and the only think holding it back was the fork.

If I was looking for a one bike quiver this new Rocky might be it, I am moving to two bikes, one DH one XC/AM.