I saw that before I replied. I've always prioritized in this order, fit/comfort/preferred tires, efficiency, durability, bling, weight

 

will say numbers-wise the Orange that's filtered into this thread looks pretty comfortable, I don't really hammer on my MTB so like the high stack height, sit up and cruise ...

But of course better to be adults and let the new RM Element have its thread ....

 

If people on this thread wanted a Orange they would have bought one already.
I like the new Element and hope that they can build enough.

 

FWIW, in 30 years, I have cracked at least 5 aluminum frames. I have never damaged a carbon frame, ever. YMMV.

 

This will be my first carbon bike, so that's good to hear.

I'm not worried about weight either, I just have a habit of feeding trolls. It's the political science major in me.

 

Oh, boy

 

Did you happen to weigh either of the wheels? Or even the wheel with stock Rekon tires and sealant? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to upgrade wheels or rims to lighter ones but I cannot find any weight info online for the "WTB ST Light i27 TCS 2.0 Tubeless" rims on WTB's website. Thanks in advance!

 

Lol at the Orange aluminum bike dude, at 5 pounds for this frame, there is absolutely no doubt this frame would build up lighter with his same parts.
Doofus.

 

Lol at the Orange aluminum bike dude, at 5 pounds for this frame, there is absolutely no doubt this frame would build up lighter with his same parts.
Doofus.

"But the Epic Evo is almost a pound lighter than that so it's a pig"

 

 

Looks great! Can list your build spec and final weight?

 

Rideit I would be happy with that weight.
I have 2 XC race hardtails both in size large and from 2 different manufactures. One weighs 3lb 1oz and one weighs 3lb.
A dually at 5 lb is a light frame. I know its a medium but I am still surprised.
I do not know where people get their scales from but there must be a hot supplier other than park.

 

So, couple of impressions from the build. This frame won’t ‘quite’ fit my 175mm transfer post (the seatube is about 4mm too short). Will probably have to go to a 150. They saved weight all over the place, one place I don’t like is that there is no mount for a spirit guide, and no iscg tabs.
Love the two water bottle mounts, makes choosing between a water bottle or bear spray a thing of the past. But the upper wb mounts are positioned strangely, I wish they were closer to the lower ones, so I could fit a small front frame bag as well.
The Tube in Tubes are the easiest ever, no silliness for the dropper post cable. Everything is very well thought out. The tubes are really sleek!
More after a 2500 climb/descent tomorrow with some ride impressions. I’ll be curious if the 140 feels overforked.

 

So, couple of impressions from the build. This frame won’t ‘quite’ fit my 175mm transfer post (the sea tube is about 4mm too short). Will probably have to go to a 150. They saved weight all over the place, one place I don’t like is that there is no mount for a spirit guide, and no iscg tabs.
Love the two water bottle mounts, makes choosing between a water bottle or bear spray a thing of the past. But the upper wb mounts are positioned strangely, I wish they were closer to the lower ones, so I could fit a small front frame bag as well.
The Tube in Tubes are the easiest ever, no silliness for the dropper post cable. Everything is very well thought out. The tubes are really sleek!
More after a 2500 climb/descent tomorrow with some ride impressions. I’ll be curious if the 140 feels overforked.

The bike looks sweet built up, definitely looks more on the lines of lightweight trail duty, but I bet it'll be great climbing and descending.

I'm interested about how it handles more aggressive terrain, I'm torn on what tires to even consider for mine, if I should have a set of Minions or maybe stick to Rekons or a mix. I know they come with 2piston 160mm brakes, and I at least want 180mm rotors on it, but I'm not sure if I will want/need 4 piston brakes either.
If it comes alive on rough terrain, I might want to consider building mine up a little stronger.

 

Another tip: you need to unbolt the chainstay part of the swingarm in order to run hose and cable, but it is one very easy to access bolt, so super simple. Very clean hose routing!

 

Thanks, this is great news! Big props to the engineers. These bikes just get better and better.
The new ride-4 chip is an elegant solution with the threaded chip end. Sometimes it’s the little things. Would you happen to know anti-squat figures, by any chance?

 

Well, gents, this bike shreds. Took it to my favorite local loop (Phillips Ridge to Phillips Canyon). 2500 climb and descent. I didn’t quite have enough air pressure in the shock, so my impressions are skewed by being only in the trail and climb modes. Got a few PR’s without really trying. Rear shock is a bit ‘primitive’ after years of running shocks with 4 or 5 adjustments, I will definitely be getting the FloatX.
Seatpost insertion is actually fine with the 175 Transfer (inseam of ~32”).
This is one of the chunkier descents locally, and there wasn’t a hint of chain tomfoolery, so I will try it without the guide for now.
I still have some fine tuning to do, but I will be very happy with this bike!
It is what I always hoped my SB100 would be, but wasn’t…

 

It was just the frame. Completes are probably next year. One more observation, I was wrong on water bottle placement. With a few cage modifications, two liters of water fits no problem. This is awesome for big backcountry rides! I also have a storage 'water bottle' that a jacket and some tools fit into.
I doubt this all would work with a piggyback shock. Maybe with a 22-24 oz water bottle up top with the caged moved up? I'm willing to give it a try!

 

Yeah, fingers crossed January the first completes will roll out the door. For some it's mid summer.
Depends on where you are and when you ordered it.

How did you get your frame so quickly?

 

Luck of the gods.

 

Anyone know if it is possible to add an angleset to the 22' Element? Increasing the HTA by 1 degree with an angleset and swapping the 130mm Fox 34 for a 120mm SID ultimate might make for a pretty sweet XC race rig.

 

Anyone know if it is possible to add an angleset to the 22' Element? Increasing the HTA by 1 degree with an angleset and swapping the 130mm Fox 34 for a 120mm SID ultimate might make for a pretty sweet XC race rig.

It’s pressed cups, so I’m sure it’s possible to put an angleset in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The 120 will already steepen the HTA angle by a half of a degree or so, don’t forget that.
That being said, mine performs vastly better with a 140.

(Granted, what I am looking to have this bike do is very different from your vision!)

 

The 120 will already steepen the HTA angle by a half of a degree or so, don’t forget that.
That being said, mine performs vastly better with a 140.

I definitely appreciate 140mm+ front suspension, just not on my xc race bike. I crunched the geometry numbers with one of those calculators and if all my input data was correct, the end geometry result looks pretty reasonable.

 

Good news on multiple fronts:

1. We are all good on multiple fronts regarding the flooding, as luckily no of our immediate staff is directly affected. We feel for our friends in the valley and beyond, but North Van was largely spared, including the trails.

2. I rode my Element for several months this summer with a 34 Step Cast. The fork behaves quite differently than a 34, riding higher in it's travel and feels more progressive, so even at 120mm I didn't have any noticeable geometry issues. That being said, I haven't ridden the bike with a SID.

Bad news

1. The floods are definitely kicking us when we are down with regards to shipping and receiving. We are doing what we can to re-route and figure out how to move goods.

 

Good news on multiple fronts:

1. We are all good on multiple fronts regarding the flooding, as luckily no of our immediate staff is directly affected. We feel for our friends in the valley and beyond, but North Van was largely spared, including the trails.

2. I rode my Element for several months this summer with a 34 Step Cast. The fork behaves quite differently than a 34, riding higher in it's travel and feels more progressive, so even at 120mm I didn't have any noticeable geometry issues. That being said, I haven't ridden the bike with a SID.

Bad news

1. The floods are definitely kicking us when we are down with regards to shipping and receiving. We are doing what we can to re-route and figure out how to move goods.

I've got one on order and am thinking of running it as intended with the 130mm 34. I have a 2020 element with a 34 step cast and transfer sl. Kitted out that bike is sub 23.5lbs. Leaning towards maybe keeping the 2020 element and then having this 2023 element as the downcountry rig. Does it make more sense to get the new 2023 element with the 34 step cast in the 120mm stroke and dump the 2020 element? Seems like there will be overlap and the new redesign might make the 2020 bike a bit redundant???

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This is what the geometry looks like with a 120mm SID and a +1 angleset. Appears to actually raise the BB height by a little over 1mm. HTA looks reasonable and only steepens the STA by 0.1 degree.

 

^ is that compared to a 130 mm Fox 34?
and is the extra stack due to the lower race of the headset being exterior to the frame instead of inset into the frame?

 

Yes, that is compared to the 130mm Fox 34. I just plugged in the upper and lower stack height #'s for the Angleset. I'm assuming that is what makes the difference.

 

can the new Element really not run a 28 tooth chain ring (reported minimum is 30)
I have a fancy hub that will only accept HG cassettes, and would prefer to not use a bigger/lower cog than 46 or use some janky aftermarket mod
and no, I am beyond the age of getting much stronger

 

why does the new Element have a minimum chain ring size of 30?

I don't see that stat anywhere, but it could come down to the crank that comes stock on the bike?
Maybe it's just too small and might affect the suspension or other dynamics of the bike?

Also there's the argument that 30x51t is plenty low enough for anything you'd ride a short travel bike on. I use to ride with a 34x36t 10 speed drivetrain, and I've never gone below 30t on any non-fatbike, so I'm not sure why it would be a limiting factor.

 

Anyone seen reported weights for the carbon models? I'm waiting for PinkBike to drop their review for the DC field test, which should include weight - any day now. So far they've mentioned this bike in passing reference to the other bikes and it seems to be favourable.

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/field-test-2022-rocky-mountain-element.html

 

As I thought, fastest climber and descender in the test. Wow, good job Rocky, looks like the Element is going to be a great, fast trail bike.

 

My excitement is increasing and my patience is being tested now.

 

Should get my C-50 next week, can't wait. Thinking about getting the shop to swap the front calliper for a 4-pot SLX one but keep the rear as is. Also plan to go oval chainring in a 34t. The tires are the other question mark - I've tried a Rekon WT on a 25mm ID rim and it was crap - profile was too rounded and trying to get side lugs to catch required too much lean. Maxxis say 30mm is min rim width for WT so running these on 27mm rims is questionable. I've got XR4 and Ardent race combo on my current bike but would consider keeping the Rekon on the rear and moving the XR4 to front.

 

What size are you getting? Would you mind sharing the stock weight if they build it up before switching stuff out?

 

Just picked it up - c50 medium in orange. Weight with tubes is 12.7 kg. Will convert to tubeless on the weekend. That is stock. Edit: tubes are 350g.

 

Just picked it up - c50 medium in orange. Weight with tubes is 12.7 kg. Will convert to tubeless on the weekend. That is stock. Edit: tubes are 350g.

That color looks great! I really can't wait for mine to show up. It's going to be the same exact bke; size, color, spec, so it's cool to see how it'll be proportioned.

Should get my C-50 next week, can't wait. Thinking about getting the shop to swap the front calliper for a 4-pot SLX one but keep the rear as is. Also plan to go oval chainring in a 34t. The tires are the other question mark - I've tried a Rekon WT on a 25mm ID rim and it was crap - profile was too rounded and trying to get side lugs to catch required too much lean. Maxxis say 30mm is min rim width for WT so running these on 27mm rims is questionable. I've got XR4 and Ardent race combo on my current bike but would consider keeping the Rekon on the rear and moving the XR4 to front.

After the PB review I might follow suit and add a 4 piston front caliper, but I want to see which trails I gravitate towards on the bike before pre-emptively making that decision. I did want this bike to be more of my lightweight "XC-ish" bike after all. If you're riding a lot of tech, a 4 piston front brake is probably a good idea.

I'm also thinking about swapping out the wheels for 30mm internal width rims, it's just something I'm used to and more comfortable riding wider tires on. I am planning on putting an Ikon/Ardent race combo on the stock wheels, and then have a Rekon/DHF (or Dissector), and then the race tires as options depending on what trails I want to ride.