Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt BC Edition - Review

Rocky Mountain's Thunderbolt is a recent addition to the Canadian company's lineup, with 120mm of travel and slacker geometry than what you'd find on a purebred XC machine. For 2015 Rocky has added several carbon framed options, including the BC Edition tested here, to complement the aluminum versions. The BC Edition was built with the premise that it's similar to how Rocky's employees, a bunch of hard charging mountain bikers themselves, would spec their own personal rides, and compared to the standard model, the BC Edition gets wider bars, a shorter stem, and a 130mm RockShox Pike up front. These changes push the bike even further into the trail bike category, broadening the scope of the terrain that the bike can comfortably take on. Available in sizes XS-XL, the Thunderbolt BC Edition retails for $6399 USD.

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Frame Design

The Thunderbolt is an incredibly clean looking ride, with a purposeful yet graceful aesthetic that's achieved by the shaping of its carbon fiber frame. From the way the top tube curves over the rear shock to the contours of the headtube junction, it's clear that some serious time went into creating a frame that's easy on the eyes. The main frame and swingarm are both constructed from Rocky's Smoothwall technology, which relies on a rigid form rather than an air bladder during the carbon fiber layup process. According to Rocky, this allows for greater control over the amount of resin and fiber that is used while also decreasing the weight of the final product.

The majority of full suspension frames currently on the market rely on sealed cartridge bearings at most pivot locations, but the designers at Rocky Mountain have long been proponents of using bushings, citing their increased lifespan and lower weight as the main advantages when compared to ball bearings. Thanks to Rocky's new Pipelock main pivot, cartridge bearings have been completely eliminated from the Thunderbolt's pivot locations. The Pipelock uses an expanding collet housed inside the large diameter hollow axle to lock the axle into the frame while also applying even pressure to the bushings. A grease port is located on both sides of the axle for quick and easy maintenance.


As is becoming increasingly common, especially on carbon frames, internal routing is in place on the Thunderbolt - the rear derailleur housing and the line for the RockShox Reverb post run inside the downtube while the rear brake line is located outside the frame. A screw-on access plate is located on the downtube close to the BB92 bottom bracket to allow easy access to the internally routed housing, and it also makes the bike compatible with Shimano's Di2 electronic shifting system by creating a spot to mount the battery. For riders who are tired of schlepping around a hydration pack, or who want even more liquid carrying capacity, there's room for a full size water bottle to fit inside the front triangle, and another one can be carried on the underside of the downtube.


Suspension Layout

The Thunderbolt uses Rocky Mountain's Smoothlink suspension design, which places the chainstay pivot slightly above the rear axle. The intention behind this placement is to minimize any potential affects that chain tension has on the bike's suspension, allowing the shock to still respond well to impacts even in the lower climbing gears.

The bike's geometry and suspension feel can be altered using Rocky's Ride-9 shock mount system. By unscrewing a bolt and changing the position of the two inserts located at the shock's forward mounting point, riders can choose from a total of 9 different options, selecting everything from a steeper, more plush setup, to one with the slackest head angle and most progressive suspension feel. The range of head angles is between 66.5° to 68.2°, and the corresponding seat tube angle goes from 73.0° to 74.6°.

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Specifications Release Date 2015 Price $6399 Travel 120mm Rear Shock RockShox Monarch RT3 Fork RockShox Pike RCT3 27.5. 130mm Headset Cane Creek Forty, tapered Cassette Sram XG-1195 10-42T 11spd Crankarms Race Face Turbine Cinch, 175mm 32T Direct Mount Chainguide NA Bottom Bracket Race Face Cinch 30mm BB92 Press Fit Pedals NA Rear Derailleur Sram X01 Type 2 Chain Sram PC-XX1 11spd Front Derailleur NA Shifter Pods Sram X01 Trigger 1x11spd Handlebar Race Face Next SL, 35mm x 760mm Stem Race Face Turbine 35mm clamp, 50-70mm Grips Rocky Mountain lock on XC Brakes Shimano XT Ice-Tec,180mm rotors Wheelset Stan's ZTR Flow Tubeless Ready Hubs Stan's 3.30 Disc Spokes DT Swiss Competition Rim Stan's ZTR Flow Tires Maxxis Ardent EXO 27.5" x 2.4" Seat WTB Silverado SLT Titanium Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth Compare to other All Mountain/Enduro/XC

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The trails in Sedona, Arizona, are full of short, steep climbs that are followed by steep, chunky downhills, terrain that keeps you on your toes, with a constant barrage of natural puzzles lurking around each corner. It's a harsh landscape that rewards pinpoint precision, which made it an excellent testing ground for the Thunderbolt.


Climbing / Handling

The Thunderbolt's light weight gives it a boost when it comes to climbing, a trait that was especially appreciated on the long fire road grinds that began many of our desert rides. The fit was comfortable, aided by the wide bars and short stem, which made for an upright, rather than hunched over position. When it came time to tackle Sedona's technical uphill sections, the Thunderbolt wasn't as lively a climber as I'd anticipated. It's more like a marathon runner rather than a sprinter – it'll get the job done in good form, but its abilities didn't have me purposely seeking out tricky climbs the way a bike with more eager climbing manners would have. The amount of grip on hand was adequate, but compared to, say, Yeti's SB5c, there wasn't the ground clawing traction on tap that makes it easy to clamber up the ugliest pitches of crumbling sandstone around. It's possible that additional traction could have been gained by adjusting the rear shock position to get a less progressive shock setting, but that would have meant steepening the head angle, and if forced to choose I'd rather have better downhill than uphill performance. On less technical climbs, like those previously mentioned dirt road ascents, the Thunderbolt was an efficient climber, and even with the rear shock left fully open there was minimal undue rear suspension movement.

Cornering is where the Thunderbolt shines, and the tighter the turns the better. The 422mm chain stays made for effortless direction changes, and slaloming around the cactus and yucca plants that were waiting to punish poor line choices was no trouble at all thanks to the bike's crisp handling. Those short chain stays and the stiff frame made it easy to carve clean arcs through the dusty soil whenever necessary, without even a hint of wallowing or sloppiness from the rear end.


Descending

The Thunderbolt has a very 'safe' feel on the descents, with precise, controlled manners that facilitated navigating the steepest and choppiest terrain in Sedona, but at the same time it didn't encourage throwing caution to the wind and blasting down the trail at full speed. After all, this is a trail bike, and as such it performs those duties without trouble, but it doesn't have the category-blurring downhill capabilities of something like Transition's Scout, a bike that has a similar amount of travel but much more DH oriented performance. It was on the slower, techier bits of trail that the Thunderbolt performed best, slicing and dicing its way down the stair steps of rock and around sharp, exposed turns. The back end is easy to pick up and pivot around, and if the Euro-nose pivot method of turning around switchbacks isn't in your repertoire, the Thunderbolt would be a good bike to learn it on.



Our test bike was set up with the slackest head angle and most progressive rear shock setting, which gave the Monarch RT3 a very supportive feel, one that resisted bottoming out well no matter how flat (or slightly uphill) the landing, although it wasn't the most supple shock, and the trail chatter wasn't as muted as it could have been. It was on the longer, rougher sections of trail where multiple squared edged about that the Thunderbolt's limitations became most noticeable - this isn't a monster truck, and you'll need to choose your line wisely or suffer the bouncing and jarring that will result otherwise.

The Thunderbolt could also benefit from a chain slap protector – even with a clutch-equipped derailleur, the sound of metal against carbon echoed through the air far too often for my liking. An old tube and some electrical tape is the quickest garage mechanic fix, but a bike of this caliber deserves to come with a pre-installed option.



Component Check

• BC Edition upgrades: I'm a fan of bike companies rolling out models that are inspired by the way their employees and team athletes spec their bikes. The resulting bikes are usually slightly different from the norm, often mirroring trends that have yet to completely make it to the mainstream – things like wide bars, short stems, and 1x drivetrains. With the BC Edition of the Thunderbolt, Rocky Mountain took a more conservative route for most of their choices, going with 760mm bars over the 785mm option, a Pike with 130mm of travel versus one with 140mm, and finally, choosing Maxxis Ardent tires over something meatier and more capable. Even though I would have liked to see them push the spec a little further past the norm, I understand settling on a middle ground that avoids alienating potential buyers, but the Ardents left me scratching my head. They might work well in the middle of summer, but conditions in BC tend to be sloppy more often than not – a tire with a more aggressive tread pattern, maybe something along the lines of a Maxxis Minion DHF seems like it would be a better 'BC Edition' choice.

• Race Face Turbine Cranks / SRAM X01 drivetrain: Race Face's narrow-wide ring worked perfectly with SRAM's 1x11 X01 cassette, derailleur, and shifter, and there were no dropped chains even without running any type of upper guide. We did need to increase the clutch tension on the rear derailleur after a couple of rides, but once adjusted there were no other issues.

• Race Face Next 35mm bars: The 35mm handlebar 'standard' is slowly spreading, and Race Face now offers a 35mm diameter version of their popular Next carbon bar. According to the Canadian company, going with the larger diameter actually allowed them to shave weight without sacrificing stiffness. On the trail, the bars were stiff without being too harsh, which is a plus when pounding over the ever-present red sandstone in Sedona. The sweep and rise both felt spot-on as well, and for many riders the 760mm width will be just right.






Pinkbike's Take:


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