Crankworx 2013 - Altitude 770 Rally Edition: Best Bike at Rocky Mountain

Aug 14, 2013
by Richard Cunningham  

Rocky Mountain's 27.5-inch-wheel 2014 Altitude is the pioneer, BC bike maker's most versatile AM trailbike. We tested the top-of-the-line, carbon fiber 790 MSL in May, 2013 and loved it - but we wanted more. Rocky's Altitude 770 Rally Edition is exactly what the doctor ordered. Pinkbike's Matt Wragg gave us a first look at the Rally a month ago, but if you missed it, here's a double-take.

Rocky Mountain Altitude 770 Rally Edition
  Best in show at Rocky Mountain's display in Whistler Village - the Altitude 770 Rally Edition was thrown into the fire at the Canadian Open Enduro last weekend.

Rocky Mountain Altitude 770 Rally Edition details
  (clockwise) Adding some muscle: Fox's Float X piggyback shock and Rocky's Nine-position adjustment chip. Race Face Turbine crankset and e*Thirteen chain guide. TIG-welded aluminum rear suspension. Fox CTD Remote lever. Massive Continental Trail King 27.5 x 2.4-inch tires on Stan's ZTR tubeless rims and Avid X9 Trail brakes.

The Rally is tougher and its component selection is tailored for a harder-charging, more gravity oriented trail rider - and for an enduro racer, it is a turn-key race bike. The upgrades begin with a Fox Float X remote reservoir shock and a 160-millimter-stroke Fox Kashima 34 Float fork for suspension, and continue with a Race Face Turbine-powered one-by-ten SRAM X9 drivetrain. Add an e-thirteen chainguide and a RockShox Reverb stealth dropper to complete the basic build. Wheels are wide Stan's ZTR Flows mounted tubeless to aggressive, 2.4-inch Continental Trail King tires. The 150-millimeter-travel rear suspension is welded aluminum to add some lateral rigidity - and for survival value in the rocks. The Rally retains Rocky's Ride Nine adjustable suspension chip, which gives the rider a wide range of chassis options (head tube angles from 66.2 to 67.8 degrees a range of bottom bracket heights and seat angles) Weight is stated at just under 30 pounds and the price is $5600 CAD for the carbon-aluminum Altitude 770 Rally, and $3300 CAD for the 750 Rally, aluminum model.

Rocky Mountain

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76 Comments
  • 65 0
 probably the nicest looking bike i've seen in a long time
  • 24 0
 Agreed, looks very clean and its not over 6000 which is nice
  • 4 0
 want. bad.
  • 6 13
flag Bullitproof (Aug 14, 2013 at 18:52) (Below Threshold)
 poozank, 5600 plus tax, is over six Wink
  • 3 4
 What I like best is how they have used a straight full length seat tube, which is very functional, and masked it in a swoopy bit of carbon moulding so it appears to not be straight. They have combined great looks with great performance in this way. I am a hater of straight full length seat tubes because they look totally shit. Hopefully more other brands follow Rocky's lead with this clever bit of design.
  • 56 6
 I'm in the process of inventing a 28.35 AM machine. It rolls over more than a 650b and is snappier than the 29er should be in production by 2049
  • 10 2
 Research proved that 28.35's rolling resistance is much higher than the 27.95 Enduro which we're working on. Our big weapon will be released just one year before yours.
  • 6 2
 You gotta wait untill 27.5 is widely accepted then you bring it out, blow the socs off of everyone in the industry and piss off all the really wicked riding children. Ill pre order 12 cuz I'm cool like that, I don't follow trends I set them.
  • 2 0
 Good for you dude! As one of our starting customers, you will be awarded 12 more of our 27.95 Enduro bikes. Cheers! Wink
  • 8 0
 please note that while your bike will arrive within a week, your tyres will take at least 12 more months of development...
  • 19 0
 Rocky Mountain, quit impressing me so much! My wallet is light enough as it is!
  • 5 1
 Have you ridden the altitude yet? Who cares about what other bikes it looks like. It's got a sweet build, great geometry and it rides really really well.
  • 2 2
 Have you even looked past this post? How does shock mounting position alone make this a bottle rocket?
  • 4 0
 Bigbossman, if you don't like it, don't ride it. We just brought this into the shop that I work at and I've tried it out.......it's impressive.
  • 2 0
 @ Bigbossman you said "remember when they had interesting designs and a wide range of bikes." you mean like this - www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?year=2001&brand=Rocky+Mountain&model=Slayer#.UgxpH51zaUk. How about that...same shock position. If your referring to the swing link design then maybe this - dalenet.com/~delmar/bike.jpg. The Bottlerocket is a cool bike but not an original.
  • 2 0
 Take a look at a decades worth of RM elements.... You'll see that mounting the shock up under the top tube by the seat tube has been in their heritage for guite some time. The bottle rocket is the copycat here...
  • 11 0
 i hate to say this but at $5,600 CAD and parts spec looks like its a good deal compared to others in the market.
  • 2 1
 Love the spec, except for the X9 RD. I don't see how that is suitable on a nearly $6k bike.
  • 11 0
 I'd rather they cut corners on the rear mech than anything else. It's gonna get hammered and bent anyway if you're riding hard.
  • 5 0
 X9 rear mech is great. It's light and sturdy. Mine survived enough hits and stayed functioning well enough for me to say it. I see no point of buying anything more expensive just for the sake of dropping weight because just as CaptAhab says, it's too easy to smash it.
  • 2 0
 E29er, buddy, the RD is the EASIEST thing to replace. Don't want the X9? Swap for an XO. Easy and done. Way easier than cheap hubs, hoops, BB, HS, etc. Plus, X9 is almost 2/5ths the price of an XO. I'd rather pay more for the shifter. Why pay $$$$$ for a RD yer gonna smash on a rock or stump railing down the side of something?
  • 1 0
 Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with the X9 itself. It's more than adequate for 99% of the riders out there. It's just kinda out of the norm to see anything less than XO/XT on a $5600 carbon rocket of a bike. I know of many manufacturers that offer X9 on bikes 1/3 the price.
  • 1 1
 From a point of view of a client that is after status - yes. Such people exist, Science bless them with knowledge of facts. From a purely practical point of view X9 is more than fine.
  • 1 0
 X0 is more like XTR level, X9 is at the XT level.
  • 1 1
 I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I have an XO drivetrain on my hardtail and XT RD on my Remedy and while the XO derailleur is lighter and tricker looking than my XT RD, it does not perform nearly as well. I've compared my XT RD side-by-side with new X9 stuff on Enduros and there is no way they are equivalent.
  • 1 1
 Depends on likes enduro29. I have Shimano XT/SLX S+ shifter/mech combo and Sram X0/X9 type2. Shimano stuff shifts faster and smoother, but I like clunkiness of Sram. Also comparing Shimano and Sram clutch, I find no difference between SRAM typ2 and normal one, while Shimano shifts slightly worse on Shadow+ compared to normal derailleur. It is not as crisp and it slightly more sluggish. It's easy to feel the difference on Shimano as you can turn the clutch on and off. For me the best shifting ever was on 9sp X0/X0 combo, it was just unbelievable how fast it shifted, how precise it was and how distinctive shifts were. But I know people that hate that, they like stealth, buttery shifting, like XTR just before they went into the shadow+.
  • 12 0
 Put some shimano brakes on and we have a bike fit for the Gods.
  • 4 1
 I love and ride Rocky, but what exactly does "best bike at Rocky Mountain" even mean? All the information in the article has already been stated early on Pinkbike when the Altitude was first announced (m.pinkbike.com/news/Rocky-Mountain-Altitude-770-Rally-Edition.html). What was the point of this latest article?

Also, I've seen this bike in person at Gearhub in Fernie. It is gorgeous, however I can't believe at that price point Rocky wouldn't include a chainstay protector. Also, the bars and stem felt cheap as well (maybe I'm just use to the carbon Haven bars that came on my Slayer). Not a big deal to replace, however the bike isn't exactly cheap at $5600 and should come with slightly better specs.
  • 2 0
 Brandon, I have a slayer with the bushings, I'd highly recommend them! They last longer then a standard pivot bearing and my lord they make the back end stiff! It is actually stiffer than my Devinci Wilson back end by some considerable amount. Don't be put off by them at all! Smile
  • 2 1
 Those bushings have so much friction it's ridiculous. Have you ever taken your shock out and tried moving the rear triangle? It makes a clunk and is stiff as. I had two flatline frames and they were both the same, even brand new. With all that bushing resistance there can be no fathomable reason to have a slick shock coating like Kashima.
  • 7 1
 Dear Santa....
  • 4 0
 Rocky never disappoints. Proud owner of a flatline and the rally might join my stable.
  • 5 0
 Nice AM rig but at 30lbs for a 6K bike that's just wrong!
  • 1 0
 Then you aren't the target audience. You might be more interested in the less-burly 790 MSL. Aggressive tires, wide rims and burly rear shock always weigh more than the lightest parts. Especially tires. Looks to me like Rocky has a winner on their hands.

I'm personally glad to see that not all 150mm+ bikes are anorexic.
  • 1 0
 mamamia, that's awesome.

things i would remove/change to make it perfect
CTD remote
9 position adjustmens chip (really?, come on. I love versatility, i really, and i dont mind changing things, but 9?...give me 2, maybe 3, that's fine, i would be fine...)
Continentals (great choice, but not my first) to Hans Dampf 2.35 Snakeskin
  • 1 0
 I have ridden the piss out of this bike for the last 2 weeks in Colorado and Moab. It kicks ass. I'm curious to see how it will perform in K country The 1x10 might be a tough climber there and the bars are really wide for tight tree's. Awesome bike. It screams for more on the downhills. Worth every penny.
  • 4 0
 really nice price for what you get! well done rocky
  • 3 0
 Makes the recently posted BMC look pretty poor from a price and style point.
  • 2 0
 I dont know why Rocky Mountain isnt atractive for Spanish customers. I love their desings, also their exclusivity (in our market).
  • 7 5
 Now if they'd only get rid of those damn bushings in all the pivots, i'd seriously consider a Rocky!
  • 3 0
 Forget the old crappy bushings of 10 years ago. While maybe not at long-lived as sealed bearings in some scenarios, they're lighter and are cheaper to replace. They also allow for smaller tubing cross sections at the pivots (lighter weight).
  • 2 0
 Loved this bike when I saw it the first time, and I want it more every time I see it... I need more money for bikes Razz
  • 1 0
 @cambrai1 you must not have looked at any bikes in a long time then.....it is a bad ass bike but no one reinventing the wheel here
  • 2 0
 "Massive Continental Trail King 2.75 x 2.4-inch tires..." 2.75 is wide as hell! I think maybe they mean 27.5x2.4-inch.
  • 2 0
 And I'm pretty sure they're mountain kings in the pic.
  • 1 0
 when will conti 27.5 tires be available?
  • 1 0
 Where is the inbuilt rubber moulded chainstay protector and the down tube protection? Apart from that its hot. Just need to add the finishing touches like the SC Bronson.
  • 1 2
 Why don't more companies spec bikes of this level with XT? Avid brakes are junk. and the X9 drivetrain isn't much better. This bike looks sweet, but at this price point give me a way better build kit. Rims are sweet, shocks are sweet, but brakes and drivetrain, no thanks, Fisher Price in my book! Gimme XT!
  • 9 2
 Agreed on the brakes part. But a X9 drivetrain works fine, there is nothing to complain about.
  • 1 0
 Maybe the only stock build I have ever seen that needs NO upgrades. Props to the product managers at rocky for properly spec'ing a bike!!
  • 1 0
 Wow this looks nice! Annnnnnnd its affordable Smile there going to sell a lot of these I think.
  • 2 1
 And this is just the beginning. In 5 years 26inch wheels are going to be as rare as 27.5 and 29ers were 2 years ago...
  • 2 1
 Did rocky debut their new flatline at crankworx? I've seen the proto twice now and it looks like it uses a Horst link.
  • 3 2
 Why would they use a horst link when their smoothlink is superior ?
  • 1 0
 I don't know, we'll probably see soon. It could have been smooth link - they're pretty similar - but the chain stay pivot looked like it was below the axle.
  • 1 0
 The one they released for next year is a re-paint. The redesigned flatline won't be released until next summer
  • 2 0
 That design is getting way long in the tooth. My frame alone weighed 13 lbs!
  • 2 1
 More advertorial guff Mr C? Nice bike though. How about a full review of the all ali version?
  • 4 1
 Folks who didn't make the trip to CW might want a look at what's in the expo. More sweet bikes coming up.
  • 1 0
 That bike looks awesome...too bad Rocky Mountain made the Instinct so awesome that I'll likely never ride anything else!
  • 1 0
 OMG....they said its just what the doctor ordered, but we want more. I'm so confused!!
  • 2 0
 No UK distribution???
  • 2 0
 There is actually. Greenover Limited.
  • 2 0
 Next bike
  • 1 0
 I'm looking into my crystal ball......
  • 5 0
 I'm just looking at my balls...
  • 1 0
 Whoaaa....just looked at Lopes bike. That is BIG ASS TITTIES!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Where is the 770 non-rally?!
  • 1 0
 Looks nice... except for that Fox garbage hanging off of it.
  • 1 0
 Pretty sweet .....
  • 1 0
 sick ride
  • 2 2
 Avid should rename their brakes 'breaks' as they don't actually work.
  • 1 2
 Nice machine but above $5000 should be weighing in at 26-27lbs for that price with better components.
  • 2 3
 damn ! race face sucks !! xx1 or xtr looks so muck beautiful !!
  • 1 4
 i've seen this bike first hand in calgary and man...........i just came.
  • 2 0
 that's so never been said before







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