During Day 1 at Outdoor demo, we noticed lots of ebikes buzzing up and down the roads. Although folks looked like they were having fun, we remained true to the human power on a few very fun bikes.
2016 Rocky Mountain Instinct 990 MSL – 29″, 140 front , 130 rear
This is a bike that continues to be one of my favorites with some nice component changes this year with the fantastic new Shimano XT. I also love the Ride 9 adjustable geometry! This bike pedals extremely well and descends with great confidence. This was my favorite bike of the day.
The new Shimano XT is super sweet and I believe felt more precise than the XO1 and XX1 drivetrain’s.
New Santa Cruz 5010 – 27.5″, 140 front, 130 rear
I really liked this bike as well. The new 5010 has the awesome new Fox Evol rear shock, and great geometry tweaks – mainly shorter seat stays, slacker head tube angle and a longer top tube. I wish there was a 29″ wheeled version of this bike, but this one sure is fun!
Transition Smuggler – 29″, 130 front, 115 rear
This bike really felt like it had more than 115mm of rear travel. The short chain stays and Fox’s stealer new 34 help make this bike a great all around than loves to play on a wide range of terrain. The bike pealed extremely well while remaining very active in the rough. Wished there was a carbon version of this!
Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt – 27.5″ 130 front, 120 rear
Although the component spec wasn’t nearly as nice on this bike as the Santa Cruz 5010, I still felt that the Thunderbolt rode very similar pedaling really well yet having enough active travel to inspire confidence when things got rough.
