Rocky Mountain Slayer Broken Frame - Photos Updated!

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Rocky Mountain Slayer Broken Frame - Photos Updated!
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Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 8:08 Quote
Hi guys

Im very angry as you might imagine. Last sunday I broke the rear triangle of my 06 Rocky Mountain Slayer. I havent been able to contact Rocky Mountain, because the warranty guy seems to always be away from his desk. Also, the closest delaership from Miami Florida, is like 5 hours away.

Anyway, I have no idea how Im going to settle this. But it sucks. It broke on a climb, can you imagine that? As I approached a small but steep rock assent, I felt like I had bottomed out when the rear wheel hit the rock. Then I looked closely.

I dont have pictures yet, but here is the idea.

This is the frame.

photo

1584214


This is where it broke. It didnt breake by the welds, but right in the middle of that bridge that connects the swing arm.

photo

1584215


This is my bike before the break

photo

1445754


I really dont know what to make of this, and I really hope rocky comes through with a replacement. I bought it a year ago. The only thing that has me worried is that I do not have my receipt with me. And the shop where I bought it is in the other side of the country in California.

Comments are welcomed on speculations on why it happened, similar experiences, and suggestions as to how to deal with this situation.

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 8:27 Quote
thrice wrote:
Hi guys

Im very angry as you might imagine. Last sunday I broke the rear triangle of my 06 Rocky Mountain Slayer. I havent been able to contact Rocky Mountain, because the warranty guy seems to always be away from his desk. Also, the closest delaership from Miami Florida, is like 5 hours away.

Anyway, I have no idea how Im going to settle this. But it sucks. It broke on a climb, can you imagine that? As I approached a small but steep rock assent, I felt like I had bottomed out when the rear wheel hit the rock. Then I looked closely.

I dont have pictures yet, but here is the idea.

This is the frame.

photo

1584214


This is where it broke. It didnt breake by the welds, but right in the middle of that bridge that connects the swing arm.

photo

1584215


This is my bike before the break

photo

1445754


I really dont know what to make of this, and I really hope rocky comes through with a replacement. I bought it a year ago. The only thing that has me worried is that I do not have my receipt with me. And the shop where I bought it is in the other side of the country in California.

Comments are welcomed on speculations on why it happened, similar experiences, and suggestions as to how to deal with this situation.
no afence but this is why i would never buy a rocky mountain they always break i know a 40 year old guy (my english teacher) who broke his 03 swich and i wasn't a bad bike 3 other friends of his all bought the same bike and did the same thing and now he says never buy a rocky

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 8:34 Quote
I have an 05 Rocky Mountain Switch which has never given me a problem. There isn't a dealer close to me and the guys at RM have been really cool when I have needed stuff(derailler hangers). I think your bike broke because your seat is about a mile high which puts added stress on the area your bike broke at due to the angle the post leans back at. You should run your seat about three inches lower or get a bike that fits better. The reason I say this is because a friend of mine recently broke a cannondale frame for the same reason. His seat wasn't too high but he had a lean back post on a bike not meant for one. Because he is a big guy it put way too much pressure on an area not meant to take it. You can see from the pic that your weight would be centered too far back instead of closer to the bottom bracket.

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 8:57 Quote
^ Good point

Still, the seat tube was still about 3 inches lower when it broke. I have been running it about 3 inches lower for about a month now. The frame is a large frame which is perfectly suited for me. Also I was about to pedal up that steep small climb, so I was out of the seat.

Anyway, if by some strange reason that is the case, and your right about what happened. I find it pretty lame. I hope the integrity of the bike is not depending on a seat post being 2 or 3 inches higher or lower. I would agree if it was over the limit specified, and then the seat tube could bend, but not this. I hope you understand me, I try to buy an expensive, well made bike, so I dont have to worry about breaking it. Specially with the kind of riding I do.

I dont want to bash Rocky Mountain, really. This is my first experience with them. But danm. Do I have to buy like a freeride frame to ride cross country? Its not a joke, probably my next bike will be something like vp free or bullit or something along those lines, something ment to freeride that I can still pedal, so I wont have to worry about my seat being 3 inches higher or lower because it might break.

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 8:57 Quote
ryan12210 wrote:
I have an 05 Rocky Mountain Switch which has never given me a problem. There isn't a dealer close to me and the guys at RM have been really cool when I have needed stuff(derailler hangers). I think your bike broke because your seat is about a mile high which puts added stress on the area your bike broke at due to the angle the post leans back at. You should run your seat about three inches lower or get a bike that fits better. The reason I say this is because a friend of mine recently broke a cannondale frame for the same reason. His seat wasn't too high but he had a lean back post on a bike not meant for one. Because he is a big guy it put way too much pressure on an area not meant to take it. You can see from the pic that your weight would be centered too far back instead of closer to the bottom bracket.
well the reason he broke his cannondale is because it's a crack and fail and rocky mountains also crack a lot
my bro cracked his slayer off a small fall i was pretty funny never any issues with my enduro sport but i cracked a weld on my big hit that was a fun day not

O+
Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 21:15 Quote
rocky mountains are very natorious for cracking. i had a rm7 that cracked and i know of 3 other ppl in my own town with a rm7, rm6 and a slayer that all cracked.

good luck, just keep calling and calling. eventually u'll get threw.. be patient.

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 21:32 Quote
Sorry, I didnt mention, but I did get though to them. They asked me to send pictures, and ship the frame to the nearest dealer.

Arrangements have already been made to go through with it.

I hope I can regain respect for the frame once it has a new rear triangle

Posted: Nov 6, 2007 at 21:45 Quote
all the luck to you... maybe they'd let you upgrade to a SS, which although the geo will be altered it should have more gussets? and be over all stronger.. I make this suggestion as I see you are a XC guy that likes to have some fun on the ride down.

if the whole escapade goes sour, regin x's or a SX trail may be a good option for a guy like yourself, or a nomad if your wallet is fairly ripe (bullit doesn't have the best pedaling)

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 7:58 Quote
^ Yeah, Im not sure, but since its the rear triangle, Im guessing they will only replace that, and not the frame. Different story I guess if it would have been the headtube, downtube or seat tube.

Anyway. I thought about the bullit and those kind of frames, because I'm guessing all mountain bikes are still not ment to go too aggressive. And Id like a bike that I can actually ride through anything. Because I am wanting to get into the freeride and downhill aspect of the sport. And I know the best bet is to have two bikes. But I guess I just wanted a bike that could give me the confidence to start riding more technical and steep downhill tracks, as well as some freeriding, without having to compromise on the long rides.

But Im loosing faith in this All Mountain class. An SX Trail would be mroe along the lines of what I would be looking for. But still, I think these new frames are made for the flowy freeride riders, not the novice free ride riders who just huck over stuff and land with absolutely no style (me). But anyway, its way too soon to start thinking about a new bike. I hope this works out.

I'll post here when I have some news.

Thanks for the comments guys

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 8:20 Quote
thrice wrote:
But Im loosing faith in this All Mountain class. An SX Trail would be mroe along the lines of what I would be looking for. But still, I think these new frames are made for the flowy freeride riders, not the novice free ride riders who just huck over stuff and land with absolutely no style (me). But anyway, its way too soon to start thinking about a new bike. I hope this works out.

Don't freak out yet man.Sounds like your break is probably a one time occurrence.
That Slayer is a pretty nice bike, and should handle some tough riding.
My buddy Pete crossed the Alps and then later the Rockies riding a Slayer this summer.
If you really want to actually "freeride" or try Downhilling, You really should just get a dedicated gravity specific bike. Then you'd have two nice bikes.Smile

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 8:29 Quote
I bet they will take car of you.

Do not lose faith in the all mountain class. I have rocked a Cannondale hardtail for years and it has seen plenty of air time. I also ride a Bianchi Grizzly (steel hardtail) like it's an all mountain bike with no problems. I think most bikes are capable of handling much more than they were designed for if you understand the frames limitations and ride accordingly. As an example, I do not have any gusseting on the headtube of the Grizzly, so I run a short axel to crown fork and don't land hard on the front end when I jump. She has been going strong for about 6 years now.

I agree that your frame appears to fit you poorly. I think that you should make sure you are set up properly for your style of riding, adjust you personal style accordingly, and you should be able to get plenty of enjoyment out of that type of bike

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 17:43 Quote
the slayer was bike of the year in 2006, and it is a great frame, i honestly think you just got a lemon, and if the high seat was going to break something, i would have expected it to crack where the tt meets the seat tube. i would expect the slayer to handle what you do, and probably even more, as it was built for all mountain riding.

if they start asking questions, i really wouldnt show them the picture with the fox 40 on it, as thats defiantly not under warrenty Wink

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 17:52 Quote
Hey,

Geez, I thought my bike seatpost was high, but damn! :-)

It makes sense that it broke there when putting some good pressure on the cranks, but just curious, how much do you weigh, and how stiff do you have the rear shock set?

Posted: Nov 7, 2007 at 18:05 Quote
Hey Man, thats brutal. Rocky Will help you out. If not i will smack up the rep for ya, haha. I work at the largest rocky dealer in Alberta and we are very close to the biggest one in western Canada.

Rocky's have had their troubles in the past but they have moved beyond that, that problem right there is eastons problem. That frame was welded by hand in BC. ULsing all Easton RAD Aluminum. the old RM7's snapped like a twig because of poor design, having all of the force leveraging on a very small point, but now with the advances in rockies R&D they have grown by leaps and bounds. this is the first slayer that i have seen snap, Ever! I am surprised and i assume rocky will be as well.

Also in my experience rocky has some of the fastest customer service out there. The whole point of the slayer was to be a beefy All-Mountain Bike, infact people found it too heavy and too overbuilt so this year they made the Slayer SXC (lighter carbon) and then the regular Slayer. We had a demo bike that we beat the absolute hell out of and it came back mocking us.

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