Submitted by
hjworton
a Cross Country Rider
from Folkestone, Kent, UK Date Reviewed: November 7, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Lanes around Hawkinge
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$2000.00
Purchased At:
Merlin Cycles Online
Strengths:
Being a steel hardtail, the bike is very strong but at the same time the ride is supple and the feedback from the frame is smooth.
Weaknesses:
No weaknesses.
Similar Products Used:
2005 Rocky Mountain 'Hammer', 2007 Cannondale F4
Bike Setup:
Reba SL fork, Mavic Hubs, SLX groupset top to bottom. Bonty finishing kit: Carbon mid-riser bars, SDG saddle.
Bottom Line:
I love Rocky Mountain MTBs and greatly regretted selling my lovely '05 "Hammer'. After a summer of schleping around on a alu-framed Cannondale, it was time to go back to steel. Bought the parts from Merlin Cycles online and got my local bike shop to build it up for me. Rides really well, have not quite got the riding position set up perfectly for me yet but it is just SO smooth. The forks work well, much better than I'd have thought for Reba SL - having come from a headshok cannondale I am impressed. The SLX works well but I wish i'd have gone SRAM. All in all I love the bike, and will never(I hope) sell it.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Gray
a Cross Country Rider
from Richmond VA Date Reviewed: April 27, 2008
Favorite Trail:
JRPS
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Purchased At:
Rowletts
Strengths:
Very forgiving ride, soaks up the bumps, paint is great looking and durable
Weaknesses:
Cracked frame
Similar Products Used:
Bianchi Denali, which cracked, too
Bike Setup:
LX and Deore mix.
Bottom Line:
I got this when I broke my Bianchi Denali steel frame as part of a warrentee deal (bianchi didn't make Denali's anymore). Rode great and I really liked the bike. It is Disc specific, which I didn't realize until I bought it and realized half my parts didn't fit. Oh well, upgrade city. After about a year and a half, the frame cracked on the top of the non-drive side chain stay. The Shop said it seemed to have cracked from pedal torque. I may be a strong rider but not that strong. Anyway, Rocky was great about sending a replacement frame right out and I rode it for the first time yesterday. Unfortunately, they stopped making the size I was riding, so I went down. I'll have to tweak the set up in the coming months. It's only marginally heavier than other HT and I think the ride quality makes it more than worth it. Good for those who ride to enjoy rather than to just go fast.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
jump 'mibike
a Weekend Warrior
from BC Date Reviewed: April 14, 2008
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
strength to weight. good geometry, excellent finish and quality.
Weaknesses:
2nd bottle mount on sml., no replaceable derailleur hanger.
Similar Products Used:
4 other ht's
Bike Setup:
constant component change. 06' sml frameset.
Bottom Line:
to test the maximum strength of this frame, i stuck on a u-turn pike and some 2.3 tires and pretty much ds-ed it wherever i went. i found the frame to exibhit a small amount of flex, but was most due to running a not so light 36h 20mm rim at full 140mm (much too slack head tube), when set to 120mm and a lighter tire used, this bike feels very similar to my old alu. bike. a rigid singletrack burner, then i turned it into a rigid and commuted on it for a while. now its on a diet and might see a non-competitive entry or two this year. it is almost perfect. the only things id reccomend to change are: a replaceable derailleur hanger. and bring back the brake posts. also, i couldn't use a top swing front because it mounts right where the s.t. bottle mounts are. also on my sml. frame the st. bottle mount is unusable without a side exit holder. and then u can only pull it out one side. so as i see the 08's are here, maybe 2010 could bring a small change. this bike is a terrific do-all everything bike. and if there was a removable/adjustable brake post mount, it could even do real loaded touring, should you wish to, id recommend it as the frame is strong enough. with just the rear disc, this is kinda hard because my rack is limited to 25kgs, and this isn't much when you begin adding up gear. i had it loaded and snapped one of the lower rack mounts (m10's) because it has to be used with a 1 " spacer to clear the caliper and this creates a perfect shear pin type of idea, but not so good because it is much weaker than if there was no spacer at all. if the bike had posts i could put on a good chromo rack for loaded touring and use my lightweight alu. one for commuting and all day xc rides. and dont forget to jettison the seat tube bottle mount on the sml. frame it just doesn't work. I'm going to get one of those seatpost dual bottle mounts so i can use the frame one for a survival kit. and replaceable derailleur hanger =]
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Emir
a Cross Country Rider
from Minneapolis, MN Date Reviewed: March 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Porcupine rim, Moab UT
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
freewheel Bike, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Strengths:
Fairly strong frame, nimble, light, responsive, comfortable for tall riders, good climber, with 80mm fork it's the XC weapon of choice
Weaknesses:
Weight, 28.6mm seat tube diameter (limits the number of seat posts), the geometry seems to be inclined toward shorter-travel forks (I might be wrong) but 100mm travel simply seems too much on this frame (this could be simply a matter of personal preference). Front end feels a bit to light on uphills, but this again is more due to my bike set up and riding style.
Similar Products Used:
Gary fisher X-caliber (steel frame from the late 90s)
Bike Setup:
Fox 32 RCL 100mm, Mavic 717 disk wheels, Hutshinson Python tires, XT (hubs, front der., rear cassete, chain, bottom-bracket, shifters, brake levers and disk brakes), XTR (rear der.), Easton carbon handlebar, Thomson stem, Race Face carbon seat-post, Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow saddle
Bottom Line:
This is the sweetest hard-tail that I've ridden to date. Fairly light set up and plenty of suspension travel allow it to be a decent descender on some rocky downhills. Excellent climber. Period. Steel construction is VERY forgiving and the frame suffered a major dent and damage to the rear triangle on its first day but the beauty of steel is that it can be repaired(which it was). if it were an aluminum bike, it'd be trashed. Great climber, although I wish I set it up with 80mm travel fork, then it would be a really lean and mean XC machine, but riding it on some difficult downhill courses in Moab was fine with 100mm fork.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
icycle
a Racer
from central MA, USA Date Reviewed: October 4, 2007
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Strengths:
FAST, nimble, great climber, stable descender, forgiving.
Weaknesses:
Nothing comes to mind.
Similar Products Used:
have ridden various full susp. bikes recently. Haven't found anything that compares to the Blizzard's pure hardtail performance.
Bike Setup:
1998 Blizzard w/Marzocchi Bomber Z3 (80mm), Race Face cranks, Blackspire rings, SRAM chain, XT derailleurs, Time ATAC pedals, riser bar, original grips!
Bottom Line:
This bike really does it all and does it well. I've been shopping around lately to see if there might be something faster through the rough stuff. It's hard to find! Looking at Santa Cruz Blur XC, Titus Racer X, Rocky Mountain Element, etc. I think the steel really has made this hardtail bearable for all these years. Highly recommend for anyone left out there who appreciates a bike like this.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Vancouver, BC Date Reviewed: May 16, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
WestPointCycles.com
Strengths:
High quality paint & finish, lively frame, fender eyelets, great trail-oriented geometry, light, great cable routing and guides, lifetime warranty
Weaknesses:
Available only as a frame
Similar Products Used:
Rocky Mountain Equipe ('97), Norco Torrent ('98)
Bike Setup:
2006 Blizzard frame (19.5"), 2007 Reba Race air fork (100mm), Thomson 100mm x 0 stem, Easton EA70 mid-rise bars, Raceface XY post, Mavic 717 rims, ChrisKing ISO rear hub/XT front hub, Avid Juicy 7 brakes, SRAM X9/XTR drivetrain, SDG BelAir Ti saddle, CaneCreek S-3 headset.
Bottom Line:
Like Sam, I've tried a few hardtails, and this ride is way more lively and fun to ride. Very responsive and definitely more forgiving than aluminum rear end. Don't flex too much under my 175lbs. Great geometry for all around trail use when matched up with 100m fork. Builds up nice (don't forget about 73mm bb shell), and there's lots of little "extras": seat clamp slot is facing towards stem and away from mud, fender eyelets for lots of versitility, 3rd hydraulic line guide on the top tube keeps the line from wandering, headset and bb shell were faced at the factory, cables are top mounted so don't dig into shoulder on hike-a-bike sections, clearcoat over the decals. Just oozes quality all around. I don't know many bike models that can claim they've been around since '84 and this updated edition of the classic stays true to its roots. Highly recommended.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
sam
a Weekend Warrior
from Melbourne, Australia Date Reviewed: February 26, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$450.00
Strengths:
Build quality second to none ie welds, paint, graphics, geometry, materials. It's steel. And I got a ripper deal on what is possibly the best hartail money can buy. Pretty light at 2kg...oh, and lifetime warranty.
Weaknesses:
nup
Similar Products Used:
Cove Handjob, DMR Switchback, Kona Kula, Scott Scale
Bike Setup:
2006 Blizzard 19.5" frame, 2007 R7 Super TPC fork, silver Chris King headset, silver Thomson stem & seatpost, white WTB Ti saddle, 07 Avid Juicy 7, Stylo cranks, X9 shifters and rear mech, xt front mech, xt cassette, xtr chain, pro taper carbon bars, FSA XC-300 wheels
Bottom Line:
This is my 3rd steel hardtail, and craps on the other two I used to own. The geometry is spot on (the Cove angles are too slack, and the DMR was just plain ordinary), the attention to detail will impress the fussiest punter, and the ride is superb. In comparison to anything else I have ever ridden, the Blizzard is so quiet and smooth. It literally feels like it floats over the trail with litte or no effort. It's actually quite stiff for a steel rig too, and consequently accelerates like a snappy hardtail racer. So it's compliant and stiff. The perfect combo! The paint job is the best I have ever seen on frame. Hand-masked maple leaves, super thick powder coat and a nice durable clear coat that protects the stickers making them part of the frame.
My build is pretty sensible I think, strong durable stuff and pretty light. My Blizzard is 11.8kg (26lbs). I've spoken to some people about what fork to run, 100mm or 80mm, and it pretty much comes down to personal opinion - how quick you like your bike to steer. 100mm feels great for me, still steers well on the steepest climbs and gives you that extra cush on the decents. The new R7 from Manitou is a fantastically stiff and lighweight fork too.
So that's my wrap. I think its obvious how much I enjoy riding and owning my new Blizzard. It is seriously good value too, when you consider that it has a lifetime warranty and that steel lasts a very long time.
Will make a great project bike too! Highly recommended.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
westly
a Weekend Warrior
from canada Date Reviewed: October 12, 2005
Favorite Trail:
thames vally london
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$500.00
Purchased At:
RACER SPORTIF LONDON
Strengths:
stiff like a rock handles like it knows where you need to be and goes there
Weaknesses:
should be red and white truly canuck
Similar Products Used:
diamond back tange ultimate ultralite
Bike Setup:
sram xo marzocchi fork king head set wtb hubs mavic 517's
Bottom Line:
wickedly fast from the take-off beat I can take a honda del-sol off the line through the light very sweet handling bike and with sram xo she hits every gear bang bang bang and the honda is behind me I think courtney was driving the del-SOL The people who make these bikes make bikes for GOD AND HE DEMANDS QUALITY
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Johno
a Cross Country Rider
from Canberra Australia Date Reviewed: March 28, 2005
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$900.00
Purchased At:
Mal Adjusted
Strengths:
Reynolds 853 Steel, quality workmanship to put this package together (welding, paintwork, geometry).
20th anniverary Blizzard frame. Fox TALAS set @ 110mm, Race Face Turbine Lite cranks, Egg Breaters, Easton Carbon lo-rise bar & seat post. WTB Laser V Ti Saddle. XTR Shifters & rear der. Xt front der & cluster. XT/Sun wheelset. Magura Louise Discs. Nudging 26 lbs.
Bottom Line:
I read an online review somewhere that said the Blizzard is the best bike made. I'm not a world beater, but I've ridden & spent enough to agree. This thing is a technical single track wizzard - a climbing freak and extremly stable on fast descents. In the fast rough stuff it's not pinging all over the place like a alu. h/t, in fact it has the characteristics of a f/s. The only thing I can't compare it with is "stable platform" suspension, but with the Blizzard, do I really need to?
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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