Rocky Mountain passed on the Sea Otter Classic this year, but that doesn’t meant they haven’t been working on something…like an all-new Rocky Mountain Altitude. Positioned as an aggressive trail/all mountain rig, the Altitude offers 150/160mm of travel but with a number of features that hint towards the future of the mountain bike.
For now we’ll have to deal with the blurred out images of the rear shock, but we’ve got a little inside intel to fill in the blanks…
Available in both Smoothwall Carbon or FORM Alloy framesets, the Altitude continues with their Ride9 geometry and suspension adjustment system, though it has been updated to make it lighter and sleeker. The suspension curve itself has been tweaked to touch all the bases – better small bump absorption, increased progressivity, and higher anti-squat for better pedaling.
Add to that a more modern geometry with a longer reach, slacker head tube angle at 65.6º in the neutral setting, lower BB, and short chainstays, and you should end up with a super fun bike no matter the terrain. The frame also includes a number of new features including an integrated “Spirit Guide” chain guide, a minimized ISCG05 mounting system that only uses the two lower bolt tabs, Boost spacing, tooled axles, internal routing, metric shock compatibility, and… Fox Live compatibility.
So, what’s Fox Live? Fox isn’t official saying, but they did hint at it while we visited them for the AX gravel suspension fork launch. The system is an electronic brain that automatically adjusts rear shock compression damping based on both terrain and rider input on the system. Using sensors on the frame, the fork’s arch and near the rear axle, it knows what’s going on and adjusts quicker than we can perceive. Or at least that’s the goal…it’s still in testing and development, and it’s likely to be much later in the year before they’re ready to talk details and show it off.
Both frames offer 150mm of travel coupled with 160mm of travel out of the fork, running 27.5″ ‘Wide Trail’ wheels and tires. Additional details include Di2 integration, and a PF92 bottom bracket. The carbon version uses a new naming structure where the 790 MSL is now the Altitude Carbon 90. It’s also available in the Carbon 70 and 50, as well as a frameset.
The alloy version follows a similar naming convention with the Alloy 70, 50, and 30. Framesets are only available in the carbon option which includes the “to be announced” rear shock.
Features, as told by Rocky Mountain:
- Increased anti-squat for better pedaling efficiency
- 27.5” Wide Trail (aka 2.5″ tires) and 26+ compatible
- Bearings at all pivots, including at lower shock mount (compatible with aftermarket shocks as well)
- Blind pivots maximize heel clearance
- Lighter, tooled rear axle
- Improved cable management: large headtube ports, full shift housing, large downtube access port, and internal shift and brake housing within the front triangle
- Future-proofed to be compatible with Di2, Fox Live, and a dropper post simultaneously
- Seat-tube lengths have been adjusted to accommodate longer dropper posts at maximum insertion.
- Chainstay and downtube protectors.
- * Due to production delays, the initial shipment of 2018 Altitudes will not ship with downtube protectors. They will be delivered to the shop where you purchased your Altitude as soon as they’re available.
- Integrated “Spirit Guide” chainguide, with 2-bolt ISCG05
- 1x only
- Lower standover height
- Significantly stiffer thanks to one-piece seatstay, new envelope, and updated layup (25% more lateral stiffness)
- Modern parts compatibility (boost spacing, metric shock lengths, post-mount 180mm brakes, etc.)
- All sizes fit a water bottle in front triangle, even with a reservoir shock
- Sizes: XS-XL
- Weight:
- Frame & shock: 5.45lb (2470g), size Medium
- Protectors, chainguide, & axle: 0.57lb (260g)
- Altitude Carbon 90 & Carbon 70 complete: 28.4lb (12.88kg), size Medium
- Select models and sizes available from May 15th. Regional availability may vary.
Pricing:
- Altitude Carbon 90: $6999 USD, $8699 CAD
- Altitude Carbon Frameset: $2749 USD, $3499 CAD
- Altitude Carbon 70: $5299 USD, $6499 CAD
- Altitude Carbon 50: $4099 USD, $4999 CAD
- Altitude Alloy 70: $3999 USD, $4999 CAD
- Altitude Alloy 50: $3199 USD, $3999 CAD
- Altitude Alloy 30: $2899 USD, $3699 CAD
