Issue #030, Review - November 10, 2017

Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 Review

The Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 is a real dream bike! It is beautifully finished, a lot of fun to ride, and has a great component spec. There is one unfortunate problem with the bike, however: it’s slow! Why is that?

For an overview of the test fleet head to the main article: Let’s go Racing! – The 10 fastest enduro bikes in test

The Altitude has a long-standing tradition at Rocky Mountain. At the start of the year, the Canadians presented us with a completely revised version. The new Altitude still features the well-known RIDE-9 system, which allows both the geometry and the kinematics of the rear linkage to be adapted. Of course, for our test we opted for the slackest setting – it was all downhill, after all! In addition to the RIDE-9 system, the hidden bearings, which underline the clean, high-quality look of the bike, are a standout feature. The specially developed chain guide is also a nice addition, although it did drop the chain once in our tests. Typical for Rocky Mountain, the Altitude features a Race Face cockpit with a 780 mm-wide Next R handlebar. The rest of the components are spot on too, which you would expect at a price tag of € 7,900.

At 12.6 kg, the Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 is one of the lighter bikes in this comparison, and you can feel it right away. The bike gets up to speed quickly and efficiently converts the rider’s pedal strokes into propulsion. Uphill, therefore, is no problem with the Altitude. On the descents, however, the problems begin to crop up! The Altitude requires an engaged and honed riding style, especially on very fast and rough sections.

Like a rabbit on cocaine, the bike shoots from left to right and requires conscious effort to be kept on course. It’s not unstable, though – just very direct. The short chainstays give the Altitude huge amounts of agility, so anyone looking to have fun will love this bike! Approaching drops, the front lifts up with ease, and manuals are child’s play. The fork and the rear suspension work very well together and give a lot of feedback. However, the bike is not as composed on the trail as the others in this comparison, which ultimately costs a lot of time.

The Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 in Detail

Fork Fox 36 Float Factory 160 mm
Rear shock Fox Float DPX2 Factory 150 mm
Brakes SRAM Guide RSC
Drivetrain SRAM X01 Eagle
Seat post Fox Transfer Factory
Stem Rocky Mountain 35
Handlebar Race Face Next R
Tires Maxxis Minion DHF WT / Maxxis Minion DHR II WT
Rims Stans Flow MK3
Hubs DT Swiss 350
Price

€ 7,900

Size	XS	S	M	L	XL
Seat tube	368 mm	394 mm	432 mm	470 mm	508
Top tube	548 mm – 545 mmm	578 mm – 575 mm	603 mm – 600 mm	628 mm – 625 mm	658 mm – 655 mm
Steuerrohr	100 mm	110 mm	120 mm	130 mm	145 mm
Head angle	65° – 66.1°	65° – 66.1°	65° – 66.1°	65° – 66.1°	65° – 66.1°
Seat angle	74° – 75.1°	74° – 75.1°	74° – 75.1°	74° – 75.1°	74° – 75.1°
Chainstay	425mm	425 mm	425 mm	425 mm	425 mm
Tretlagerabsenkung	13 mm – (-1) mm	13 mm – (-1) mm	13 mm – (-1) mm	13 mm – (-1) mm	13 mm – (-1) mm
Wheelbase	1122 mm – 1119 mm	1153 mm – 1150 mm	1180 mm – 1177 mm	1206 mm – 1204 mm	1239 mm – 1236 mm
Reach	380 mm – 391 mm	407 mm – 419 mm	430 mm – 441 mm	452 mm – 464 mm	479 mm – 490 mm
Stack	589 mm – 578 mm	595 mm – 587 mm	604 mm – 596 mm	613 mm – 605 mm	628 mm – 619 mm

Beautifully finished!
The prize for the nicest carbon frame clearly goes to the Rocky Mountain Altitude!

Too short
If you like manualing and railing turns, you will love the ultra-short chainstays of the Altitude. If you race against the clock, however, you’ll want more stability (and therefore longer chainstays).

RIDE-9
There are nine settings to choose from with the RIDE-9 system. We opted for the slackest setting to give the bike the maximum amount of stability.

Dropped
Despite a specially developed chain guide, the Rocky Mountain Altitude dropped its chain. This is probably just an unfortunate coincidence, but it could potentially cost valuable seconds.

The geometry of the Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90

Size XS S M L XL

Seat tube 368 mm 394 mm 432 mm 470 mm 508

Top tube 548 mm – 545 mmm 578 mm – 575 mm 603 mm – 600 mm 628 mm – 625 mm 658 mm – 655 mm

Steuerrohr 100 mm 110 mm 120 mm 130 mm 145 mm

Head angle 65° – 66.1° 65° – 66.1° 65° – 66.1° 65° – 66.1° 65° – 66.1°

Seat angle 74° – 75.1° 74° – 75.1° 74° – 75.1° 74° – 75.1° 74° – 75.1°

Chainstay 425mm 425 mm 425 mm 425 mm 425 mm

Tretlagerabsenkung 13 mm – (-1) mm 13 mm – (-1) mm 13 mm – (-1) mm 13 mm – (-1) mm 13 mm – (-1) mm

Wheelbase 1122 mm – 1119 mm 1153 mm – 1150 mm 1180 mm – 1177 mm 1206 mm – 1204 mm 1239 mm – 1236 mm

Reach 380 mm – 391 mm 407 mm – 419 mm 430 mm – 441 mm 452 mm – 464 mm 479 mm – 490 mm

Stack 589 mm – 578 mm 595 mm – 587 mm 604 mm – 596 mm 613 mm – 605 mm 628 mm – 619 mm

The Rocky Mountain changes direction quicker than a rabbit on cocaine – but at speed it reaches its limits prematurely!

Conclusion

The Rocky Mountain Altitude is a great bike – but, unfortunately, not for racing. Its super-agile handling and the defined suspension feel is loads of fun, but it will cost you valuable seconds at high speeds. If you want to be fast on this bike, you will have to put in a few more hours at the gym!

Strengths

– super-agile and direct
– incredibly beautiful frame
– high-quality components

Weaknesses

– nervous at speed
– chain dropped despite the chain guide
– too slow to race

For more information head to bikes.com

The test fleet

For an overview of the test fleet head to the main article: Let’s go Racing! – The 10 fastest enduro bikes in test

All bikes in test: Canyon Canyon Strive CF 9.0 Team | Giant Reign Advanced 0 | Lapierre Spicy Team Ultimate | Nukeproof Mega 275 RS | Pole EVOLINK 140 29 | Santa Cruz Hightower LT | SCOTT Genius 900 Tuned 2018 | Specialized S-Works Enduro 29 | YT JEFFSY 27 CF Pro Race

Back to ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine

Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 Review

The Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90 in Detail

The geometry of the Rocky Mountain Altitude Carbon 90

Conclusion

Strengths

Weaknesses

The test fleet

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