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Rocky Mountain
Element Race
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Submitted by
Mark Wilson
a Weekend Warrior
from Ramstein, Germany
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | fatty 50 Rodalben Germany | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$350.00 | | Purchased At: | MTBR.com classifieds | | Strengths: | Quality craftsmanship, great geometry, relatively light (not as light as my dad's superlight), great climber, easily serviced bushings, great handling, variety of rear shocks fit | | Weaknesses: | Minor amount of suspension feed back in the big ring when downhilling, In germany it rains all the time and it is very muddy, the bushings had to be replaced after one 1.5 years, but the new ones make it feel new, rear derailler smack the chain stay, common for 4 bar links | | Similar Products Used: | DBR V-6, SC super light | | Bike Setup: | z2 atom sport, Dt hugi 240 discs w/ 317's, magura louise, SRAM plasma shifters with xt deraillers, syncros post, monkey light bar, king hdst, ac cranks w/ xtr bb, flite sddl, sid rear shock/cane creek ad 10 | | Bottom Line: | This is a great trail bike. If you are obsessive you can get the weight down to a good xc race bike but all that crap breaks. I have done 3-4ft drops on this, it is durable. The traction the suspension creates on climbs is great. If you own this it will expose all those pedaling flaws you never knew you had on a hardtail. It taught me to pedal good cirlces and spin the right gear. I love this and I will try and keep it as long as I can. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick
a Racer
from Portland, Maine, USA
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | The River Run | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$900.00 | | Purchased At: | Allspeed Bike and Ski | | Strengths: | excellent frame, Light weight, durrable, I love the smaller top tube because it gives the bike a quick, snappy response | | Weaknesses: | after 3 months of beating it into the ground the busings have some severe play...but those can be fixed other than that the bike kicks ass | | Similar Products Used: | Element T.O, Element SC, Sugar 2 | | Bike Setup: | Marzocchi z3 QR20, XT, LX (going to do the big upgrade to XTR) Sun Rhyno Lite rims w/ xt disc hub and Hutchenson Alligators | | Bottom Line: | I had a Gary Fisher Hookoo E Koo for my last bike...and that geometry was cool and all..but it was steal and it broke and then the new guys at fisher wouldn't warrente it...so I was pissed...then I bought this frame and I love it and i'm still pissed at fisher,and i don't recomend dealing w/ them, they have an awsome product but they guys are mean...GO FRORIDERS!!! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Roric
a Cross Country Rider
from Switzerland
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Zeiher Homberg downhill | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | proven geometry
rear shock friendly design
allows two bottles (or one bottle and a lightning system with accumulator in bottle)
durable lightweight frame
| | Weaknesses: | poor bearings (although easy replacable)
rear derailleur can hit chainstay in highest gear | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR S-Works 94' with Z2 Bam '98, Giant Xtc, cycle craft csp | | Bike Setup: | Y2k z2 Atom, Fox Vanilla R 700lbs coil, Hope Pro front, HS33 rear, 8 gear XT/Gripshift with 20/32/44 toth chainrings | | Bottom Line: | I ride this frame with the y2k zokes after never being satisfied ridig it with the old z2 with only 2.5" of real travel (i can use 3.05" with the y2k z2). Now it is a blast for me. i have 0.4" sag on the rear shock. The rear is a bit slow compared to others. feels quite firm on fast multiple roots, but always safe. But it never feels bottomed out in the rear due to the small elastomer of the Fox Vanilla. IMHO the geometry needs quite an active cornering. Althogh it's design is a bit aged it still performes fine compared to some y2k frames. still a nice one for cc riders who do also a lot of alround touring. I use this bike everywere. 4 chillies due to the continuing problems with the bearings. have to replace some of the bearings every season. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from B.C.
Date Reviewed: March 31, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Excellent suspension design, light, and handles great. | | Weaknesses: | I found the length of the bike too short. I had put the seat as far bak as possible, and buy the longgest stem I could find.
Also, after 2 seasons of moderate to heavy use (not extreme use though) I had the frame crack near the weld on the top tube, steerer tube junction. Both the top tube and downtube are bent near where they meet the steerer tube. | | Bottom Line: | Excellent frame, with good handling and all around fun to ride. I am a little unsure about the durability. The bike should have been able to withstand more than what it got. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chuck
a Weekend Warrior
from Ohio
Date Reviewed: June 25, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
vultures knob | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Great climbing ability.
Tons of control on tight switchbacks.
Lightweight.
Soaks both small and large bumps. | | Weaknesses: |
Top tube is short. The stand-over height is just right for me, but the TT is short and I have tried getting longer stems, and moving the saddle all the way back, but still to short. A larger frame would mean no standover clearance at all. | | Similar Products Used: |
GT LTS 3000
C'dale F700
Dean Colonel Ti
Gary Fisher Big Sur
Klein Rascal | | Bike Setup: |
Manitou SX Ti
Fox Vanilla Float | | Bottom Line: | This frame is a sweet frame, but the length of the top tube really bothers me. Maybe it is just my riding style or the length of my torso or something. Either way, this frame kick butt, and I will not give it up for anything, I will just get use to the position. I usually ride a Hardtail, and thought I would get a FS for a change, and now I think my HT will probably sit in the closet getting dusty. Catch my drift???? | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter
a cross-country rider
from Richmond, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: January 1, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I purchased a 99 Element Race from my local dealer in December and have just completed my first 100 kilometers on my favorite trails. This bike has completely changed the charachter of these trails. All the nasty bumps have disapeared with the excellent suspension combination and it seems that it is much faster over rough streches than on my Kona aluminum hardtail. The steering control is much improved as well with the Marzocchi fork.
This is the first dual suspension bike and first Rocky Mountain I have owned and I must say that the Element Race has changed biking for me. It makes every ride seem like it is shorter and smoother.
This year Rocky Mountain is building smaller batches on its production runs of the various models. Apparently the Element will be available in both the blue/white combination and the lime green/black european colour scheme. I chose the green as it is a very different look and the paint is supposed to very hard and durable. The fork is a MarZocchi Z3 Light and the rear shock is a Fox Vanilla Float. Shifting is Shimano LX front and rear including excellent Rapid-Fire shifters. Avid 2.0 brakes are great but will require a pad upgrade but the grips a really good ergonomic design in conjunction with the shifters. The wheels are Sun CR18's with neat black anodized finish and include DT spokes with eyelets. They weigh very little and seem to stand up to test so far although its early on yet. The tires are Michelin Wild Gripper Lite S and are well suited to the whole package as they are super light and are great on loose dirt and hard pack. Ashphalt is definetly not the strong srea of these tires and they squirm and howl to let you know it.
Overall I am very pleased with this bike and look forward to many enjoyable, comfortable rides in the future. Hopefully I can update this review once I have some more distance on it and can further evaluate the reliabilty of the various components. | | Overall Rating: |
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