My trusty Rocky Mountain Element 90

[NickyR]

Hi,
As a teenager in the 90's, some brands made me dreaming (Cannondale, GT, Klein, Yeti, proflex ...) and Rocky Mountain was one of them. It was quite a mythic brand here in Belgium, Europe, and hard to find (and buy) , a kind of "holy grail". I remember falling in love of their gold and red Vertex (Easton tubing, syncros components, Judy Sl fork...) at the Houffalize XC world cup in 1994... So when I had the opportunity of a good deal on a new Element 90 XCO, I haven't hesitated for long.
I have ridden this bike since August 2019 and it has put a big smile on my face on every ride since then.
I previously rode a Scott Spark RC pro (2017-2019) and a Cannondale Scalpel carbon 2 (2015-2017), both were heavily upgraded and great bikes but the Rocky is something else. It's not "faster" than the 2 others (well maybe it is when descending ) but it is more fun, confortable but still very efficient, versatile and reliable. It has a "soul".
I changed the wheels for some good carbon ones (Duke Lucky Jack 6ters SLS2 rims, DT240 exp hubs, CX ray spokes), garbaruk cassette 10-52, saddle for my prefered one (Prologo Dimension NDR), stem and bar (thompson 80mm 10°, Reverse tracer XC 760mm), and since last week a brand new FOX 34 stepcast Float factory. The bike is also supposed to be equiped with a FOX transfer SL dropper but it is under warranty since last september...
The weight of the bike is 10,28kg as pictured below with Vittoria tyres, pedals and bottle cage :

With the dropper post, the weight varies between 10,46 and 10,57 kg :

Not too bad for a chunky 2,5kg frame

[js]

That's a great looking ride. I appreciate the work that's gone into a build like this - please tell me you're putting the orange grips back on for summer!

As an aside, but one you might appreciate - I was out for a ride on some new-to-me trails this summer and the land-owner came to welcome us when we were getting things out of the vehicle and ready to ride. He rode up on a stunning Rocky Element that immediately had my attention, and then I saw the name decal on it. He had purchased one of Andreas Hestler's old bikes. So many dreams from my youth in one bike... and the trails were great too!

[protocol_droid]

Sick! Ive had my 13 upgraded with a custom 21 fox rear and 21 sid ultimate front fork. Extralite/berd wheelset and had it down to 18.75 lbs. I also have a 19 spark nino edition. Youre right the element has a different soul.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[NickyR]

That's a great looking ride. I appreciate the work that's gone into a build like this - please tell me you're putting the orange grips back on for summer!

Yes sir !