Submitted by
Orion_3001
a Cross Country Rider
from Mexico
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2010
Strengths: Light Frame, Nice Components Featuring Shimano XT/XTR and Easton E70 Composite bars,post and stem. New QR 15mm Thru Axle with the Fox Fork
Weaknesses: Only 100mm of Rear Travel
Bottom Line:
Very Light Bike, climbs like a Mad Goat or a Monkey on Crack, it is Comfortable with a 100mm stem. This bike is Wicked Fast !! if you want to beat your friends to the top this is your bike for under 3 grand. It is a great racing bike, but still Versatil enough for AM use. It Descends confident and stout with 2.125 Hutchinson Toro Tires.
Submitted by
Quercus
a Cross Country Rider
from Netherlands
Date Reviewed: December 25, 2009
Strengths: fast, excellent handling and and the looks.
Weaknesses: Bottom bracket from Race Face are terrible.
Bottom Line:
I love this bike.
I compare it with a lot of other bikes as Trek fuel and Specialized Epic but this bike fit's me the most.
I will replace the bottem bracket for a Hope ore Chris King and maybe the brakes for the Formula R1.
Bike Setup: Model 2008 18 inch: Fox 32 RLC, rp23, Mavic 717 wheels, Cane Creek S8, saddle is Fizik Aliante XM Gamma, XTR rear derr. and rest is XT,
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Submitted by
co2max
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: April 7, 2009
Strengths: Great all round package. Great going up and coming down.
Weaknesses: Rocky Mountain customer suport is non existant. Their web page tells you to deal with the dealer as they do not deal with the public.
Bottom Line:
This review is for the Element 90. Bought this bike to ride the Absa Cape Epic (8 day stage race in South Africa)with and the bike was flawless. Didn't even have a flat (Thanks Stans). This is a tough race and the bike was ridden hard. All that was required was a daily wash and a lube of the chain. The suspension handled the rocky down hills with no problems. The brakes are fantastic. This bike climbs like a mountain goat. It is just an all round great XC/Marathon bike. The only change that I plan on making is to replace the handle bars as I find them too wide.
Bike Setup: Factory with the addition of bar ends.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Slowup
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver BC
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2009
Strengths: Fantastic handling, reasonably compliant in the rough, next-to-last of the BC built Elements.
Weaknesses: None really to speak of.
Bottom Line:
Fun, fantastic bike. I primarily use it as an xc race rig but it is also a solid all-around mountain bike which is probably the greatest praise you can give it.
Similar Products Used: '03 Norco Fireball, not in the same league as the Rocky.
Bike Setup: I purchased this bike as a late Christmas gift to myself in Feb. '07 after having the use of a demo for a month. I promptly changed out the XT Dual Control stuff for XO Grip Shift & XO rear derailleur. I also swapped the Fox F100 fork for a Marzocchi Corsa, changed out the carbon Easton seat post and Selle Italia saddle for an SDG I-Beam I-Fly & swapped out the carbon Easton handle bar for an Easton aluminum version (I like the much more solid feel of the Al one)
Last year I upgraded the stock wheelset to a custom Stan's Olympic w/ DT Swiss 190 hubs & XTR brakes and the new Raceface Next carbon cranks.The new wheelset in conjunction with some Geax Saguara tubeless tires really made the bike come alive and showed me how great handling the bike truly is.
I'm now into my third year with the Element and can't really think of anything to upgrade at this point as it's near perfect now.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
snwoboatin
a Racer
from Steamboat Springs, CO
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2009
Strengths: Solid design and geometry
Weaknesses: Broke the rear triangle twice
Bottom Line:
This is a solid bike that rides really smooth on all types of surfaces. Even though I did break the rear triangle 2 times (yes 2 times, in different spots), this bike held up very well under some fairly extreme riding conditions. Rocky Mountain was prompt about replacing the rear triangle, and hopefully the design aspects have been improved for better strength. All in all, a great bike.
Bike Setup: Stock, except for Avid Juicy Ulitmate brakes and DT Swiss wheels with Chris King hubs
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
lesvan
a Weekend Warrior
from Valemount
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2008
Strengths: This is actually their Element 90. It is stock as RM supplies it and it is just a solid x/c racing bike. Great handling and climbs like a goat. It is point and shoot on downhils and the Formula brakes are supperb!!
Weaknesses: I had some trouble with squeeaky cranks and the mavic crossmax sl rims have had a problem with the bearings in the rear loosening off.
Bottom Line:
Rode this bike on the TransRockies and put lots of training in and this bike is just soo solid - Tubeless tires rock - no flats!!! The bike sets up well and durability is not an isse. I love the wheels thwey are light stiff and for me, durable. I bomb the downhills and slug the climbs... This is the bike to buy for all round riding or racing.
Bike Setup: Standard set-up with Sram shifters XO rear derailer, shimano front, formula disk brakes, crossmax tubless set-up, python tires, race face cranks and rings.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
utahsteve
a Weekend Warrior
from ogden, utah
Date Reviewed: July 7, 2008
Strengths: very comfortable to ride. smooth through rough/rocky terrain. braking.
Weaknesses: nothing so far.
Bottom Line:
though i have only owned 2 other mountain bikes in 20 years this seems to me to be a great bike for the novice rider (me). climbs easily. smooth downhill. great braking. top mounted cables not an issue yet. very responsive to evasive maneuvers. solid and easy to steer on both firm and loose (powder) soils. haven't had it in mud yet. shifts up/down easily even under tension. factory had bike in stock. shipped quickly. shipped/assembled/ready to ride in just over a week.
bike purchased through rocky mountain's ambassador program so price paid has been left blank intentionally.
Favorite Trail: snowbasin trail system (needles #1)
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Purchased At: snowbasin ski resort
Similar Products Used: 12 year old dbr v1.2 used occasionally stolen and needed replacement.
Bike Setup: factory with the exception of eggbeaters replaced with mallet 3's.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Orange County, CA
Date Reviewed: May 15, 2008
Strengths: Light, with fork lockout and propedal it climbs amazingly well, it's very responsive and goes where I want it to go, comes equipped with a great selection of components, the carbon fiber seatstay looks great!
Weaknesses: The cables running above the top tube are definitely annoying. Other than that I don't have anything bad to say about the bike.
Bottom Line:
This is an amazing bike! I demoed this bike during the Rocky Demo Tour's stop in Orange County was hooked immediately. Thanks to Thane for setting me up with a great ride and letting me know about Adrenaline Bikes. And thanks to Neil and Jesse at Adrenaline for a quick order and a great build. The bike feels very efficient especially during climbs. It also handles technical climbs very well. I've done climbs in deep loose dirt and over sandy rocks and haven't had any problems keeping traction. Singletrack descents are amazing on the element. It corners very well and stops on a dime. It'll hop around a little when you're speeding down a bumpy descent but what do you expect from a 26-27 pound XC bike? Overall I think this is one of the best XC bikes out there and I really enjoy riding it! I definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for an XC ride.
Similar Products Used: GT I-Drive, Chumba XCL, Marin East Peak
Bike Setup: Fox F100RLC, Fox Float RP23, Full XT, Syncros cockpit, Mavic XC717 wheels, Hutchinson XC tires
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Erik
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Cruz
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2008
Strengths: Super stiff, light, and responsive. This bike climbs like a sherpa on speed! And it corners on a dime. The Propedal and fork lockout are amazingly easy to use and dial in. The Hutchinson Python tires add to the speed and efficiency on packed trails. 26 lbs!
Weaknesses: Rocky Mountain customer service is poor and unreliable. The XT shifters catch on thumb and finger release. Loose cable wires on top tube scratch paint. BB clearance seems low.
Bottom Line:
Well if you don't mind being blown off by Rocky Mountain's team of misfits for 4 months while you wait for this bike, you'll be happily rewarded. I hope the reason it took so long to get this bike wasn't due to incompetence and unprofessionalism, but that RM is just a small company of riders that hand builds their bikes and they weren't prepared for the demand. However, after getting XC of 2007 they should have stepped up their service. There's no excuse for any company to tell a customer paying a months salary in advance that the bike will be done in Oct. '07 only to have it arrive in late Jan. '08 after endless delays and phone calls not returned. So that's my long needed complaint, but the sweet performance of the Element is helping me forget about the bad stuff. This bike is so fast and responsive, I felt like I was riding a young gymnast w/wings! This bike zips through single track corners, soaks up hits, and w/ the Propedal and lockout on it climbs the steepest loosest inclines I've ever attempted. Clearance has been a problem. I've bottomed out on some not so big log sections I thought I would clear. Overall the Element was worth the wait. You might be hard pressed to find a such a performer for this price, but you might have to start looking at the 2009's!
Bike Setup: All stock at the moment: Mostly XT, w/ XTR Derailleur, Race Face cranks, Easton cock pit. Shifters will need to be upgraded. Tires are sweet, but not for muddy conditions.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
philip
a Cross Country Rider
from Belgium, Vl. Brabant
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2008
Strengths: Well, this is my 3rd element frame in 7 years. Just bought a 2008 model. Previously owned a 2006 and 2001 model. Rocky added a little bit of weight to the frame again but in return you get a rock solid, beefy rear triangle with bearings that are a lot bigger than the 2006 bearings. After 7 years, I still love the ride. I absolutely love the stiffness of the rear triangle and have never ridden on another full suspension frame that stiff. In addition with the 2008 model Rocky has succeeded in eliminating all pedal kickback! The 2006 frame still had a very tiny little bit of kickback.
Weaknesses: The only really negative issues about this frame is that the gear/brake cables run on top of the top tube causing scratches from the cables rubbing on the frame (especially from the brake cable). Rocky should really consider running the cables below the top tube.
Bottom Line:
Well, probably still one of the very best XC full suspension frames out there.
Bike Setup: Full XTR, Chris King, MaxM components, Fox RLC, XTR wheels.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Owen Wall
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia PA
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2007
Strengths: Stiff, solid climber, rolls fast, comfortable for the distance, feels very efficent.
Weaknesses: Had some Customer service issues, they came through in a big way in the end. Had to deal with a lot of poor communication though. Like I said it was well made up for. Not in love wit h the IRC marathon tires that come stock. I feel like the Bottom Bracket is really low. Constantly banging my pedals on stuff.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line I love this bike. I have been really impressed with it thus far and I just have a few issues. I personally would have liked to see tubeless rims, So i'll be switching to Stans z355s eventually, and I hate XT disc brakes. No modulation what so ever, noisey when wet, I just hate them. Carbon on rear triangle scratches easy. Only frame complaint would be that I feel like my ground clearance sucks. I dont know if its a low BB or long cranks, the cranks don't feel long but I constantly bang my pedals into stuff I feel like I should clear easily. Otherwise High speed low drag.
This bike feels really stiff and comes with a great suspension package that can be tuned to however you like to ride. great balance, great cornering bike works for me not against me. Its pretty light, I havent weighed it but I don't think its as light as I expected. I think with a new wheel set I'll be content. The paint is absolutely beautiful, Great looking bike..Really for the price the bike is well worth the money, I'll probably dump a little more into brakes and wheels/hubs by the end of the summer but thats just me being picky. I'm a small guy, 125lbs but I ride this thing very hard, I'm very impressed when hitting multiple small drops consecutively then rising up a steep rooty, rocky up hills over and over all day for hours on end with no issues. I'm happy with the drive train too... about 70 miles of early spring riding before I needed at tune up... I switched to XTR rapid fires and I bang through gears constantly with no drive train faults whatsoever. 4 chilis on value because I had a few months of delay without CS contacting me about the delays. Had to find out by calling them about a week after my bike should have been to me both times.. not cool for a custom order 3500 dollar bike. 200 dollars worth of riding gear was an acceptable apology though. 4 on overall because I personally think XC bikes at this level should come tubeless and I really hate those brakes, I'm seeing a lot of XC bikes with a bend in the top tube to allow them to bring up the BB for better ground clearance, maybe I know why now.
Strengths: Suspension that doesn't bob when you climb hills, component selection
Weaknesses: weight, could be a little lighter, the 2007 is 3 pounds lighter.
Bottom Line:
sweet bike for the price you pay. Rocky is a great brand and has excellent support if you need it. great climbing bike, altough it could be a bit lighter, it still climbs great and descends really well. i highly recommend this bike.
Submitted by
Dustin
a Racer
from Pemberton, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2006
Strengths: Nice fork set up, wheels are bomb proof, no pedal bob
Weaknesses: A little too heavy, but check out next years element, they made it 4 pounds lighter!!!
Bottom Line:
Nice bike, climbs like a dream, can handle the toughest downhill trails that you can throw at it. Rocky does a really good job at designing their bikes and getting rider input. No problems what so ever with the bike. Wicked bike!!
Bike Setup: Stock, except with Maxxis Crossmark tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jeff
a Cross Country Rider
from ontario, canada
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2006
Strengths: rides like butter and handles heavy/hard stuff much more than i ever thought an xc racer could. nice and light as well. haven't really noticed much bob either.
Weaknesses: tires could be a bit nicer.
Bottom Line:
i got a steal of a deal on it and have been grateful ever since. i couldn't have asked for a nicer soft tail for the price. warranty servicing has been perfect and respectable. no complaints here.
Bike Setup: mine's a 2004...stock, except for a marzocchi marathon sl fork, xtr front der, deore rear, alex vectra rims & hubs
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jesse
a Cross Country Rider
from Selinsgrove, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2006
Strengths: Rides like a dream, pedal bob is very minimal with the FOX RP3. Comes stock with a FOX F100X Terralogic fork, a pretty badass peice of equipemnt. Handmade with great care, great paint job, inhouse handbuilt wheels.
Weaknesses: Haven't had any with the bike itself. The XT disc brakes rub when wet.
Bottom Line:
For the price paid the Element 70 offers some primo componentry for the dollar amount. For Pennsylvania cross country this bike is great. Handles decents with ease and rock gardens are a breeze. It also climbs like a dream. I didn't really notice the differance over my hardtail. Granted I could have sold my soul to Satan to afford to build a better bike, but I couln't be happier with the Element 70. 5 Chilis for value, 4 Chilis for overall because I feel like the disc brakes could function a little better (but lets be serious I think all brands of discs could) and I'm still not sure about the Shimano Dual Control. Rocky should offer a model with all non-Shimano components. My Bottom Line is if you are looking for a full suspension cross-country ride at check this bike out. Take the time to review the company to learn about the great care they take in building bikes and the history behind them. www.bikes.com
Favorite Trail: Blue Marsh Lake, PA & Roaring Creek, PA
Duration Product Used: 6 months
Similar Products Used: Have riden: Cannondale Rush, Prophet, and Scaplel. Titus Racer-X. Titus makes a great bike, but best bang for the buck has to be the Rocky.
Bike Setup: Full XT, with disc. Race Face Dues, Fox F100X, Easton EA70 bar stem and seatpost. Fully stock except for tires, usually run Conti Explorer pros, IRC Mythos, Panaracer Smoke
:D Wow! I work a bike shop and we have an Element 70 in our demo fleet so I took it out tonight. I thought it would be a bit big as it is an 18 inch and it has a seemingly long ste Read More »
Just bought the frame and it will be here on Tuesday. Rocky site makes reference to a number 42 FSA headset but that's not enough information. Can anyone recommend a headset? I don Read More »
Hi there,
Considering a new bike, and being puzzled by all the numbers:
Could you tell me what the reach and stack numbers are for the 2007 Element 70 frame in 20.5", running a Read More »
I've seen that the new 2012 Elements are in some shops now. I have a 2011 Element that has exceeded expectations, and I'm looking for a new bike for my wife and am fairly certain Read More »
