Submitted by
nathan swinn
a
from Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2001
Strengths: Frame, of course. Components for price. Looks cool. It's a Rocky.
Weaknesses: Seat, but that's my butt. Grips are awful.
Bottom Line:
Hated this bike at first. I came off my Giant and its URT, heavy, bobbykins, to this fine steel hardtail. The change was huge, in bike design, set up and the way I had to ride. The Hammer felt heavy and harsh at first. Gradually I've come to love this bike. It still doesn't feel as light as I thought it would, after coming off the Warp, 30 pounds plus and an older suspension design. But the ride quality just gets better with every mile. I can feel the steel now. Two foot drops and the bike bends like a full susser. On tighter singletrack my Hammer disappears. Great component mix for the Cdn price. LX, XT, and hand built wheels. We'll see about the Judy. I would have liked to see a Zoky. But no complaints so far. The seat hurt me, so I swapped out. I'm not a big fan of the stock Rocky riser bar, and the grips are really bad. Both will be switched in time. And this is not a complaint against the bike. For the price, and the overall bike, I can put up with small annoyances like poor grips and a funky bend to the bar. I'm not sure my next bike will be a full suspension. How's that for a recommendation? Five peppers for value. Couldn't beat it. Four peppers for overall. It should ride lighter, as far as I'm concerned. If I could give four and a half, I would. Steel makes an amazing frame. Love the look, for whatever reason. Nothing cooler than steel. And nothing cooler than Rocky. I just think it should jump harder when I'm bashing the pedals. But if this is the small concession to the ride, then so be it. I'm praying that Rocky doesn't discontinue their steel lineup before this bike is retired to the wall of fame.
Strengths: good overall geometry, fork is good for the price, strong frame, good lookin', excellent drivetrain, rocky mountain seal of quality
Weaknesses: this is my first real mountain bike, coming from bmx. I bought an XC bike and that is what I got. It was quite easy to convert this bike to more of a freeride setup although next time i will probably buy a freeride hardtail. The only real weaknesses of this bike are the tires and the seat, both easily remedied. The tires are light and fast but not so good for wet conditions and aren't the best at protecting tubes and rims from hard hits. I also bent the seats rails in 3 days. On smaller sizes, the front wheel is radially laced. Although it looks cooler, is slightly lighter and adds to front end stiffness, it also is less strong side to side so it is more personal preference than anything else. All in all, the only weaknesses would be due personal preference or opinion.
Bottom Line:
If you ride moderate to hardcore XC, are looking for a bike in the $950-$1200 price range, and prefer the durability of a steel this is an excellent choice. An other good choice would be the Oxygen Race (Easton XC hardtail). If your XC riding tends to be a little more extreme and includes big airtime, big drops and radical descents this bike is not hard to modify and has durability galore. Otherwise if you have the dough and don't care if your bike is the lightest, go with the Reaper.
After riding several 'Dales, Konas, Schwinns, and others I decided on the Rocky. It was more $$ than I had planned on spending but I haven't regretted a dime. I had seen and heard about them, but never ridden one until my LBS began carrying them. I immediately fell in love with the frame geometry when I hit the saddle--very comfortable riding position. The sloping top tube provides a great deal of clearance (my 18" feels like a 16"). I hadn't ridden any of the new 9 spd Shimano stuff, but it has worked very well so far. The RaceFace cranks and Sram brakes have performed flawlessly, plus they show that the folks at Rocky aren't slaves to Shimano. The handbuilt wheels have held up very well against some extremely rough decents and crashes. The Beaumont tires have work very well in 80% of the stuff I've ridden. The front tracks well, but the rear seems to lose traction easily on slick rock and logs. However, I was told that they are a hardpack tire, so maybe I'm expecting too much from them. I did change grips because I thought the originals were too small in diameter, but that's obviously a personal preference. The Judy SL works very well, but I plan to install stiffer springs this winter (I'm 200#). The Ritchy pedals work very well when they are relatively clean and lubed. However, I've had problems with them in the muck. I plan to get ATAC carbons soon enough to alleviate that. I have ridden this bike a lot on a variety of terrain (hardpack, mud, forest floor, slick rock) and it seems to take it all in stride. It is a very capable climber, stable at speed when decending, easy to handle in the technical stuff, and is very easy to get big air with. Overall I am extremely happy with this bike. At first it did seem like a lot to pay for a steel front suspension bike, but the quality in the frame, components, and ride more than make up for it. I would recommend the Hammer to anyone looking for a unique, fun, bullet proof, xc bike that will last forever. The Hammer is very high quality and represents one of the best rides you can get in that price point.
Submitted by
a Weekend Warrior
from Hannover, Germany
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2000
Strengths: Frame, Fork, Cranks
Weaknesses: Hubs, BB
Bottom Line:
I sold my Hammer Race 1997 because the Frame was too small. This Bike is an excellent single trail machine. The handling is great and it doesn't matter that the frame is a little bit heavier than an aluminium frame... I love it!
Favorite Trail: UBC Endownment Lands and Burnaby Mtn.
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Similar Products Used: None really, I had a Cannondale 9 years ago if that counts ;)
Bike Setup: Stock. 15" size, 1999 Model, Blue/Grey color.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Clayton
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2000
Strengths: killer frame great xt components great ride wicked bang for the buck made in canada, gotta love the local boys & gals
Weaknesses: i come from a racing bike background and i find the shifters & brake system to be a bit cramped for my hands. also, i'm not the biggest fan of the judy sl, but that's just some kind of personal predjudice on my part. maybe the name just doesn't sound cool enough or something...
Bottom Line:
i've spent a while trying to replace my old road bike after deciding to switch to a hardtail mountain. dreaming about fancy-ass titanium frames (which would just get stolen anyways) and even some higher end rocky frames like the blizzard, i finally went back to the frame which i was originally pointed towards, the hammer! i'm really glad i didn't blow thousands on something that i'm not really good enough to justify the purchase. the hammer is truly an amazing bike with good parts, fantastic frame and workmanship. there seems to be a certain pride involved in rocky mountain bikes, i think every vancouver kid grows up dreaming of riding a rocky. and the proof is on the streets, if i see someone riding a bike that looks almost as old as the rider it's either a beat-up road bike or an even more beat-up rocky. i couldn't be happier with this bike, unless of course someone from rocky wanted to give me a fancy-ass vertex scandium out of the kindness of their heart... (nudge nudge wink wink) only (?!) four on the overall because of the cramps in my hands and that it's not made out of titanium (man, i wish i was rich) but really, this is the best bike i tested and was actually able to afford. but even if i could blow five grand on a bike, i'd still take good long look at the hammer
Favorite Trail: still love the ubc endowment lands and cruising the local gulf islands
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used: comparative priced frames from brodie, kona, specialized, cove, marin; nothing really comes close to these rocky mountain steel frames.
Bike Setup: stock setup, might see if i can spring for some new levers & shifters late, but i'll see if these grow on me first...
