Strengths: Great ride, excellent handling, I've have had this bike for over 2 years with no problems, except a couple of teeth sheered off the middle chain ring,,shimano issue not Rocky M.
This bike handles the tight technical stuff with no problems, in the saddle climbing is great too. This bike has taken everything I can through at it.
No regrets!
Weaknesses: Wheels, the original sun rims just don't cut it. Also the weakness of the LX chain rings should be an embarrassment to Shimano, what garbage!!! The rest of the LX components are quite good. For the price
Bottom Line:
This is a 99 bike with good value, I purchased a Rocky M because of the frame. Anyone who knows bikes will tell you to look at the frame first then the components, components wear out and are replaceable, frames are the heart and soul of the bike, they give the bike the feel and ride. Rocky tunes their frames, this bike rides like a dream, not harsh like many aluminum frames. Anyone can build a stiff aluminum frame not many of them ride well. Rocky M hand builds their own frames, no cheap off shore stuff here. Everyone is building good bikes these days,,well almost everyone. Bottom line Rocky Mountain is Canadian hand built bikes. nuf said! buy one!!
Submitted by
Ian
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver
Date Reviewed: May 9, 2001
Strengths: Great frame, good mix of parts
Weaknesses: shimano derailers and shifters, michellin tires-worst tires ive ever used, i ripped both tire's sidewalls within a month
Bottom Line:
I love my beast! I know a guy that has broken just about everything on his oxygen except the frame, he does 10 foot plus drops on it. Its getting kinda small i need a 2001 model
Bike Setup: The things ive changed to: sram rear derailer and shifters, shimano pedals, rhyno lite rims, shortened stem, riser bar
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Submitted by
Sharlene
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: November 1, 2000
Strengths: Great for fast downhills, quick turning - light for the grinds uphill.
Weaknesses: You have to drill holes in the frame or use clamps for the carrier to use panniers, something to think about if you want to do any touring. I didn't want to start drilling holes so am using clamps but don't know how good that is with alot of weight. Also, a bit of a pain when you have to take on and off, for off road
Bottom Line:
I have done 1400 km trail riding on it in 8 months and not a problem - I love my bike. Great price - Great bike
Bike Setup: I shortened the bars, alot easier on the turning...
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Submitted by
matt harvey
a
from calgary,alberta,canada
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2000
Strengths: Its a good handmade bike at a good rate that handles great and is light
Weaknesses: It's weaknesses are you might be paying alot just for a handmade frame
Bottom Line:
It's a good bike for a great price. THe handmade frame is awesome and light. It's easy to control on single track and its a good race bike for and entry level. Its fun riding in the mountains and at home in town. I think its just a great bike and I'm going to have it for a while. I reccomend every one to ride this bike because its very comforatble and a gr8 price fopr a handmade bike and it had good components.
Bike Setup: High Quality components that are great for racing,durable, and light.
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Submitted by
Jerry
a Cross Country Rider
from Antioch Ca,U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: June 22, 2000
Strengths: handbuilt frame......quick and agile,sweet climber,confident on the way down.
Weaknesses: stock RMB parts,the brick thats used for a saddle
Bottom Line:
I love her,her name is Astrid by the way.back in Jan,I stacked on the bottom of a downhill,into a trailmarker,my leg was shattered in 8 places.....the bike?.......the stem was a little off towards the left,no biggie,even the wheels stayed true......sweet rig,I'm glad i got her.Go with Rocky mountain,you won't have to trip on breaking the bike,you will way before it does.Keep hammerin',God bless.
Similar Products Used: used to have a yeti FRO 'bout ten years ago.......till it got stolen. :(
Bike Setup: selle italia flight titanium gel saddle thing........chris king headset,race face bottom bracket,stem and low rise bars,time atac pedals,the aluminum ones.....thompson seat post.......wtb wheelset(thanks airbomb!)
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Submitted by
Timothy Chu
a Racer
from Vancouver, BC Canada
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2000
Strengths: Light, responsive
Weaknesses: Green lettering
Bottom Line:
If this bike hadn't been replaced by the 2k Oxy Race, I'd get this one again (some loser lifted my poor baby from my garage). I'm more of a roadie who does trails once in a while, but this one offered excellent acceleration and climbing because of its light frame.
Even though the '99 Oxy race wasn't the best looking bike (it was a drab navy blue with green lettering), I still liked the paint job better than this year's all-green or all-yellow offerings. I also don't like this year's halfie pedals (cleats only on one side), so another reason I'd go with the '99 model.
Ok, this review probably isn't that helpful, since I just rant about colour schemes.
Excellent bike for the price. I've tried lighter bikes, but you've got to pay way more.
Bike Setup: XT derailler, axion riser bar, everything else stock
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Submitted by
Jason
a Weekend Warrior
from Canmore, Alberta
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2000
Weaknesses: Before you buy this bike, haggle with the dealer to get your seat upgraded.
Bottom Line:
This bike is great in the mountains - very responsive with a smooth suspension. I have had the bike for 2 years and had nothing break. I recomend the rocky mountain product to anyone!
Similar Products Used: Specialized Rockhopper, Stumpjumper, and Norco Nitro
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Submitted by
Tristan Sames
a Racer
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2000
Strengths: Great frame. It's Canadian. Quick bike, and hell of a lot of fun.
Weaknesses: Stock rims suck, shock is WAYYYY to loose, brakes bite, and so does that damn saddle
Bottom Line:
Great bike, the frame can take one hell of a beating, and it's a quick and fun bike, with a lot of character behind it. Needs a lot of upgrades to ever be race worthy. Free riding is a different challenge on this bike, but I guess that's why it's only meant for XC racing. The warrenty is less than perfect, with Rocky claiming it cannot be used for jumping, racing, training, downhilling, etc. Stick to paved trails basically. yea...right! Pluses: it's Canadian, and from Rocky Mountain. For riders rule!
Bike Setup: the components that came with the bike were cheap to keep the price down on the $800 dollar frame so i upgraded to all race face and chris king and xtr
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Submitted by
Edan
a Cross-Country Rider
from Vancouver
Date Reviewed: November 30, 1999
Strengths: Well rounded bike with solid handling
Weaknesses: Nothing really, just does everything well and nothing extraordinarily well
Bottom Line:
Great all around handling bike. Climbed well, descended like mad, relatively light (25.4 lbs) and extremely solid. Rode mine for 2 years, hard, and it never gave out, with the exception of 1 shattered rear wheel, but that was my fault. I went from the Oxygen to a Thin Air and I have to say the Ox has to be 75-80% of the Thin Air for $800cdn less. That in mind... Value to $$$ ratio: 5 flaming dead horses
Weaknesses: Cheesy saddle/pedals on stock bike. Although not functionally important, graphics (W/ exception of ultra-cool Canadian flag) could be much better. Looks sort of cheesy. Can't really say it climbs like a goat yet but that may be my own lard-butt and not the bike's geometry. Haven't compared the chainstay to any famous climbing bikes...
Bottom Line:
So far so good. This bike accelerates like mad and corners almost intuitively. Weight is great at this price point, and with a few upgrades (move up on the shocks) this is a great bike. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a serious rec bike or a good starter race bike. (Note the warranty shortens if you race the thing.) Wonder when everyone in the lower 48 will catch on? Very few people I meet on the trail have a clue about Rocky Mountain, which is fine since I like to be terminally unique. Plus it is nice to get a bike that you know someone lovingly welded rather than blitzed through to meet a quota. Overall this is a killer bike and has been well suited for the very rooty/rocky tight singletrack.
Bike Setup: Swapped up to Marzocchi Z-3 Light, Time ATAC pedals, XT front derailluer, and GripShift 9.0SL shifters and rear derailluer. Running Ritchey speedmax tires instead of OEM Geax things. Also swapped saddle for Specialized.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
grant barry
a Racer
from quispamsis, new brunswick
Date Reviewed: August 8, 1999
Strengths: great set of tires to star out with. suprisingly comfy seat. quick responsive form (Z4)
Weaknesses: stem, seat post, handlebar.
Bottom Line:
A great bike for the price! A real bullet on downhills and the fork soaks it up on technicals. The perfect out of the box racing bike for a novice.
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross-Country Rider
from Waterloo,ON
Date Reviewed: August 6, 1999
Strengths: Frame Quality, Wheels are build well and stay true.
Weaknesses: Stock fork is heavy, no microlube. Bar & stem combo noisy
Bottom Line:
This is a bike that you can be really happy with riding every day. The frame is of excellent quality, so it will be worth money upgrading in the future. Ditch the bomber and get a fork with lot's-o-adjustablity.
