The Slayer is back to destroy all trails. Don’t worry conservationists, the Slayer isn’t really meant to ruin the trails, rather to conquer them in a pedalable, long travel package. Like many things in mountain biking, bikes in this travel category seems to be cyclical, and along with bikes like the new Pivot Firebird, big single crown bikes seem to be back. Thanks to a number of other modern component though, this new crop of bikes seems to be far more pedal friendly, likely with even better suspension to tame those trails…
Since the Slayer was last in the Rocky Mountain line up, quite a bit of mountain biking and mountain bike design has changed. Geometry has gotten longer, lower, and slacker, 1x drivetrains have all but taken over, and suspension components have drastically improved. The new Slayer highlights all of that and more with a full carbon frame based around 27.5″ wheels. Built with clearance for 27.5 x 2.5″ Wide Trail tires, Rocky throws in a little nugget that this frame is also compatible with 26+ ( 26 x 3.0″ tires). We haven’t seen much from the 26+ crowd yet, but it does exist.
Travel numbers are pegged at 170mm up front and 165mm out back with their Smoothlink suspension system and Ride4 geometry adjustment chip. The anti-squat for the suspension curve is said to be increased for better pedal efficiency but the shock should still be nice and smooth thanks to shock mount bearings.
While a 1x only design keeps things simple, there are still quite a few frame features to talk about. The frame is fully Di2 compatible while running a dropper post with a battery box inside the downtube, and internal routing with tube-in-tube simplicity for the shifters, brakes, and dropper. The Slayer frame moves to Boost spacing with 148 x 12mm dropouts, but to save weight there is a new bolt on axle system. The end cap threads into the derailleur hanger to sandwich the carbon, and the axle then threads into the end cap for a simpler, lighter system.
Built with Rocky’s Smoothwall carbon construction, the suspension pivots use Enduro Max cartridge bearings with simplified hardware and a Pipelock expanding collet system for the front triangle pivot points. Slayers use a Metric 230x65mm shock with a PF92 bottom bracket with ISCG 05 tabs, ZS44/56 headset, and a post mount 180 rear brake with a max chainring size of 36t. There’s also room for one water bottle inside the front triangle on all four sizes.
While the geometry has followed the modern trend of longer front center, shorter rear center, and slacker head tube, steeper seat tube, the Ride4 four position chip system allows the head and seat tube to be changed by a little more than one degree and the bottom bracket goes up and down by 7.5mm
Available in four MSL builds, the 790, 770, 750, and 730 (from top left, clockwise) completes will join the 790 MSL the only frame option. Other than the SRAM NX equipped 730 MSL, all the rest of the completes use Shimano 1x drivetrains with the 11-46t cassette and RaceFace cranks and narrow wide rings. Each level will also be available in the red or yellow color schemes. Available this December.
US/Canadian/Euro pricing:
- Slayer 790 MSL — $6999 USD / $8799 CAD / € 8,000
- Slayer 770 MSL — $5799 USD / $6999 CAD / €6,800
- Slayer 750 MSL — $4999 USD / $6199 CAD / €5,400
- Slayer 730 MSL — $4199 USD / $5199 CAD / €4,600
