ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALTITUDE C50 (Archived)

Rocky Mountain Altitude Description

Archived bike. For the current, 2021 Rocky Mountain Altitude, click here.

The Rocky Mountain Altitude celebrates its 10th birthday, this year. The Altitude was the first mountain bike designed to be a comfortable climber as well as an aggressive all-mountain descender – a predecessor to the trail and enduro bikes we all ride now. It began as a 140mm XC/marathon bike with 26-inch wheels and a radical, for the time, 76° seat tube angle. It’s come a long way since 2009. The current Rocky Mountain Altitude is a 150mm 27.5 bike that stakes out its territory between a full enduro race rig and an all-mountain trail bike. It feels like a trail bike but when you need more, the Altitude is ready and able. It’s one of our most versatile and popular bikes and it’s available in alloy as well as carbon for riders who want the Altitude’s proven all-mountain performance at an affordable price point.

The Rocky Mountain Altitude has Slayer-inspired geometry and suspension. Not the band Slayer, although that would be rad. The Altitude’s geometry and suspension performance trickled down from the previous generation Rocky Mountain Slayer, a 165mm super-enduro bike park destroyer. Surprisingly, the Altitude is nearly as slack (1/4-degree difference) as the 2019 Slayer in its most raked-out configuration. That makes it stable at speed and on steep, gnarly descents. It’s not really a Slayer Lite, though. It’s as an all-rounder that the Rocky Mountain Altitude excels. Lighter, shorter and more nimble than its larger, freeride-focused sibling, the Altitude is at its best on big trail rides. We love it for Gooseberry Mesa and Guacamole where a quicker-handling bike is more fun. That’s not to say we wouldn’t take it to Brian Head or Grafton Mesa. Spec’d with a beefy 160mm RockShox Lyric fork, when the going gets rough, the Altitude can take it.

Along with steep seat tube angles, adjustable geometry is another feature that’s become common for trail and enduro bikes. But Rocky takes it to another level. The Rocky Mountain RIDE-9 system uses two eccentric chips on the shock mount for nine different geometry and suspension curve options. Our Rocky Mountain Altitude rental bikes are set up in the neutral positon for a 65.5° head angle and progressive suspension curve that’s equally balanced for pedaling and bump absorption. By changing the position of the chips you can adjust the head angle by a full degree, move the bottom bracket almost 15mm and make the suspension curve much softer or stiffer at the start of the stroke. In other words, you can fine-tune the Altitude for your personal riding style and the terrain you’re on. If you’re riding Gooseberry Mesa, you can put the RIDE-9 in the Steep position for quicker handling, more clearance and a stiffer, more responsive suspension. If you’re heading to Brian Head to ride the lifts, you can put the bike in the Slack position for a 65° head angle, lower bb and plusher suspension to smooth out the rocks and rough landings.

The Rocky Mountain Altitude is one of the most neutral and balanced bikes we’ve ridden. Rocky’s Smoothlink suspension system is a big part of that intuitive feel. It’s a true four-bar Host-link design so it’s active all the time and separates braking forces from suspension motion. One of the main characteristics of Smoothlink and other Horst link systems is they stay active when you’re pedaling. That allows the wheels to track the ground so you have better traction on rocky and loose climbs. When you’re on the bike, the Smoothlink suspension is transparent – you probably won’t notice it at all. When you’re pedaling up a steep loose trail, the rear wheel will stay on the ground and you’ll keep moving. On the descents, the bike will be smooth and supple, absorbing impacts while you look ahead and enjoy the flow.

If you want one 27.5 bike to do it all, you can’t go wrong with the Rocky Mountain Altitude. It pedals great, it’s nimble enough for slickrock tech and it’s a Mini-Slayer on the DH. If you want to look at an alternative, it compares well to the Pivot Mach 5.5, a 140mm 27.5 trail bike. All of our Rocky Mountain Altitude rental bikes have carbon frames with alloy rear triangles. For 2020, they come spec’d with Shimano XT/SLX 1×12-speed drivetrains, Shimano SLX disc brakes and RockShox suspension. If you love your Altitude rental, we’ll be happy to send it home with you. You’ll be credited for the days you rented and the bike price will be adjusted for the number of days it’s been used. We can also get you a new Rocky Mountain Altitude at any spec level, in carbon or alloy. Complete alloy Altitudes start at just $2999. Pinkbike loved the alloy Altitude. Check out the Pinkbike alloy Altitude review to see what they had to say. Last but not least, if you’re the kind of mountain biker that wants to hand-select every part that goes on your bike, we’ve got you. We can get nearly anything you want and our bike techs love to do custom builds. Give us your dream bike spec and we’ll build you a work of art.

*Price and specs subject to change.

Rocky Mountain Altitude Specs

The specs below are for our standard Rocky Mountain Altitude rental bikes. If you’d like to buy a new bike, we can build it out with almost any components you want. Dream big!

*Prices and specs subject to change.

Rocky Mountain Altitude Geometry

Rocky Mountain Altitude Pricing

The prices and specs below are the standard spec levels from Rocky Mountain. If you want something else, feel free to mix and match as you please. We can build a custom Rocky Mountain Altitude for you with almost any components you want. We love building custom bikes! If you have any questions or want to talk about ordering and building your very own Rocky Mountain Altitude mountain bike, give us a call: (435) 635-5455

*Prices and specs subject to change.