Rocky Mountain 2015 Thunderbolt 790 MSL BC Edition

 Nutshell: This bike just makes me want to go out and ride

Frame: Carbon glory stem-to-stern, but could use some built protection on chain stay and down tube near BB

Spec: Beyond reproach, though you may want to adjust size of chain ring based on your location. Otherwise, what can you complain about with X01/XT, Rock Shox, RaceFace, Stans/Maxxis?

Ride: Firm but compliant, seems to bely the amount of travel #120isplenty

Geo: The effect of Ride-9 seems to vary from rider to rider. I have it in what I was told was "Vanderham-mode" (Position #3) (e.g. slacker and heavier), and find that the bike still climbs like a goat!

 Needs more factory protection, but this bike rips. This is my favorite of 3 mountain bikes to ride. This bike begs you to push it on the downhill and climbs like a hard-tail. Love the adjustable geometry and cinch chain-ring swaps. A bike for 90 percent of the time. Build spec combination is the best I have bought in years.

 I do not own one but demoed one for a few hours out of the 4 other bikes I rode like Santa Cruz Bronson cc, devinci Spartan rr, diamondback mission 2, and Norco sight carbon this bike felt so light in the turns and pretty much everywhere. I didn't mess with the chip but had it in the slackest setting and it felt great , when I did bottom out I never even knew until I was done with the trail. It's a very smooth bike.

 Demo'd most of Rocky's models, including the Altitude, Instinct, Element, Slayer, and Sherpa, and thought the Thunderbolt BC edition was the best of all. The demo guys and most other riders also agreed.

The TBolt had the snappy pedaling and acceleration of an XC bike, climbing and handling low speed twisty technical stuff similarly, yet cornered, jumped/dropped as effortlessly as a bigger bike. It combined the best traits of all the various bikes, on top of being stiff (predictable), tough, and having a progressive susp that allowed low pressures without bottom out for traction/comfort.

Only weakness really is that it is a bit unstable at speed, so you're gonna need a lot of balls and skill to keep up with high end 29er 160+ enduro bikes on fast open trails, or DH bikes. That's the expected price to pay for being ultra-nimble/playful. If I were nitpicky, I guess I'd complain about the long seat tube only allowing a 125mm travel dropper, and how I regularly find the o-rings protecting the pivots from crud popping out of their "grooves".

 I love this thing.. one month ownership. Ride 9 makes a diff and the bike is a playful bomber (its still a trail bike)
Basically this bike encourages me to push my riding.

 Incredible bike, the Ride 9 is definitely a game changer. It climbs just as good as it descends