Rocky Mountain Slayer

teK--

Eats Squid
Bits in blue have been replaced from stock:

Frame
- 2019 Rocky Mountain Slayer - 165mm travel. Invisiframe.
Rear shock - Fox DHX2 Factory, Super Alloy Racing spring 375Lb, Fluid Focus bumpstop 45A.
Front shock/fork - Fox 38 Factory - GRIP2 damper w/ Shockcraft custom tune, Vorsprung Smashpot coil 175mm
Handlebars - Oneup Aluminium 35 rise
Stem - Spank Spoon 45mm
Headset - Hope
Grips - Ergon GE1
Saddle - Ergon SM Enduro Comp
Seatpost - Oneup 180mm drop, Wolftooth Light Action lever.
Front brake - Hope E4 - SRAM Centerline 200mm - Organic pads
Rear brake - Hope E4 - SRAM Centerline 200mm - Metallic pads
Cranks - Truvativ Descendant 7K - Alloy, 170mm. Eagle NX (steel) 34T
Chainguide - Rocky Mountain Spirit Guide, OneUp bash guard.
Chain - SRAM Eagle X01
Pedals - Hope Union Gravity
Rear derailleur - Shimano XT 12spd
Rear shifter - Shimano XT 12spd
Cassette - SRAM Eagle GX 10-50
Front hub - Hope Pro 4 boost
Rear hub - Hope Pro 4 boost
Front rim - DT Swiss EX511
Rear rim - DT Swiss EX511
Spokes - Sapim Race double butted
Nipples - Sapim Polyax brass + DT washers
Tyres - Assegai 2.5 Exo+ MaxxGrip / Minion DHR2 2.4 Exo MaxxTerra.
Tubes - Tubeless. Cushcore Pro in rear.
Total weight - 16.3Kg

This is what it is meant to look like out of the box, but I wouldn't know as I replaced heaps of bits before it even touched dirt for the first time:

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Being off the dirt for some 10 weeks with an injury gave me heaps of time to slowly build this beast up rather than the usual frantic unbox one day and getting it ready to ride the next day.

Also with not being able to ride gave me heaps of time to read and learn how to build wheels. Here I am building up my first set for my own bike, which makes sense that I should be the guinea pig of my novice workmanship. Thanks to Boom King and DuckMeister for the inspiration and tips:

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Picture perfect:

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Now I have a collection of bits ready to keep me busy for the following weeks:

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Then came the long awaited day to unbox (ok I lied I did have a peek the day it got delivered):

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The headset was seriously tight af to press in, even though I stuck the cups in the freezer overnight. Much stress, swearing and sweating at this point:

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Some decals from Slik Graphics. Top quality printing and quality of vinyl. I found they were slightly oversized compared to the stock ones so be careful with placement to avoid overlaps:

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Whoever designed this cable port thing is an arsehole as they made the slots too narrow to fit brake hoses through... Had to cut and replace the barbs off:

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Couldn't get the XD cassette off as the monkeys at the factory did it up way too tight, and the chainwhip I had wasn't long enough to wrap around the 50T without slipping. Ended up going to a shop before I destroyed the lockring.

For future I made this new improved tool which I will name the Enduro Whip (trademark pending):

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OK not really that long I ended up trimming it in the end but you can see how it works now:
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[fast forward through all the boring shit like shortening cables, putting on decals, frame protection and other stuff]

And tada, it is now finished:

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Some closer up pics:
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Next update will be about observations and tweaks after having gone for a few rides. Cheers!
 
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teK--

Eats Squid
The blue highlights are fantastic! Love it.







Even though RM charge too much haha!
Agree on both points! thanks mate :D


What size bike do you run? Saddle runs pretty far back on the rails.
Also, what's the little growth on the top tube?
I'm on a Medium, 5'8/172cm.

Due to the steeper seat tube angle compared to previous, I have had to slam it all the way to the back. Even then the saddle setback is 10mm less than my preferred. I (and my knees) are getting used to it though.

That growth is a mount for the computer. It's held on using Sugru.
 

The Reverend

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Solid looking bike there. And I live the exposed looking weave in certain pictures. Performance Elite matches beautifully too.

Well done and I hope you enjoy it!
 

teK--

Eats Squid
Mate there's your problem.. you've gotta put the frame in the oven too! Then the cups will just drop in!
Yeah byt our oven barely fits a family sized pizza, and I didn't want to be in posting in the fuckwits thread hah.

Solid looking bike there. And I live the exposed looking weave in certain pictures. Performance Elite matches beautifully too.

Well done and I hope you enjoy it!
If you're referring to the NDS chain and seat stays; that is 3M carbon-look vinyl! Those two areas seem to be the worst for heel rub. Other than that, the frame is half glossy metallic black, and half matte which looks pretty insane under certain lighting.
 

teK--

Eats Squid
Ride review:

Finally swinging a leg over was doubly exciting yet an equal serving of daunting. Doc had just cleared me for riding and it was gonna be on a brand new sled. Don't crash!

First impressions are the Fox 36 and X2 are super super plush and sensitive off the top. This is coming from a DVO Diamond and Cane Creek DBIL Coil. Found some pretty good resources on how to tune the GRIP2 damper which gives a mind boggling 4-way damper adjustment, plus your usual air pressure and tokens:

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/2019-fox-36-grip2-1081197.html

I ended up using the settings from the Yeti guide. So far feels great although I am riding like a pussy at the moment, so not really pushing the bike enough to play around much with the settings.

Didn't think I'd ever drink the Eagle Kool-aid, but combined with shorter 170mm cranks, steeper seat angle than the Reign and it is somehow enjoyable this bike uphill.

The only problem is with such a long chain, the slapping noise against the chainstay was fairly horrendous until I had a lightbulb moment inspired by the various ghetto solutions on the world cup circuit at the moment:

IMG_20181020_100209.jpg


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Just test fitting for now using some double sided tape. Will find a neater long term way to integrate it later once I'm happy with the positioning. It is still slapping on some areas which I am zero'ing in on, but most of the noise is gone.

Another observation after only ever owning Giant full suspension bikes, is with the Rocky Mountain design there is very little freehub noise when the suspension compresses. Hardly any crashing and banging and just peaceful sound of rubber and dirt when you're in the rough stuff.

It still has quite a high anti-squat (close to 100% at sag) so pedalling efficiency is good, although this does mean any pedalling in the rough stuff tends to stiffen up the rear suspension when you least want it.

So in the first few weeks I was just riding heaps and catching up on many lost hours :D

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Lovin it!
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
That is a very sweet machine @teK--. How long until your collar bone is good enough to get it up on the oven for a pic? More importantly...some shots of it in the air!!!

How nice is it to ride a suspension platform that isn't giant's maestro? Very nice in my experience.
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Nice bike and thank christ you didn't use SRAM brakes.

Check out the Vorsprung youtube video that discusses high and low speed compression and rebound. Their tip is to run high speed rebound at full and work on the low speed rebound first.

I find dialling up the rebound a bit on high anti-squat bikes helps to moderate the pedal kick.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
 
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