Rocky Mountain Instinct (Archived)

Rocky Mountain Instinct Description

This bike is no longer available and has been archived. To see the current model, visit our 2021 Rocky Mountain Instinct bike page.

The Rocky Mountain Instinct 29er has been a mainstay in the OTE, Hurricane rental fleet. Rocky Mountain calls it their, “most versatile trail bike,” and we agree. With balanced geometry, smooth-rolling 29-inch wheels and 140mm of travel in the front and rear, it pedals great and descends even better. There’s almost no terrain where the Instinct isn’t confident, comfortable and fun; and it’s one of our best bikes for big, all-day mesa rides.

Because it’s such a comfortable and trusted bike, the Rocky Mountain Instinct Alloy is the foundation of our mountain bike rental fleet. The Instinct is also available in carbon with premium suspension and lighter components. However, we run the aluminum alloy Instinct sans dropper post because it allows us to offer a proven 29er trail bike for less than $50 a day. It’s a hell of a ride for the money.

We’ve been a Rocky Mountain Bicycles dealer since we opened, in 2007. You can infer a lot about how a bike will ride from the place it comes from. Rocky Mountain bikes are designed in Vancouver, British Columbia, a city surrounded by big mountains and steep, technical trails. That terrain inspires bikes that climb well and descend even better. At first glance, Vancouver’s wet rainforest climate seems very different from Southern Utah. However, Vancouver-designed bikes work really well on Hurricane’s technical slickrock terrain. The Rocky Mountain Instinct is especially adept, with very balanced geometry, the exceptional rollover ability of 29-inch wheels and 140mm of bump-absorbing suspension. The Instinct reminds us of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears – it’s juussst right.

What makes the Rocky Mountain Instinct so versatile and balanced? It starts with geometry. If you compare the Instinct’s measurements and angles to other 29er trail bikes, you’ll find that, for the most part, it falls right in the middle. The wheelbase isn’t too long or too short and the same goes for the cockpit reach. You’ll find other 140mm-travel 29ers on both ends of the Instinct’s measurements. Shorter bikes will be less stable and longer bikes will be a bit sluggish unless they’re on really steep, fast trails. Don’t let that trick you into thinking the Instinct is a boring middle-of-the-road bike, though – far from it. Short chainstays make it snappier and more maneuverable than the wheelbase might suggest. And a fairly slack 66.5° head angle make the Instinct confident on steep tech so you won’t think twice when you roll up on that big slickrock chute on Gooseberry Mesa. And if that geometry isn’t quite to your liking, Rocky Mountain’s RIDE-9 adjustment system lets you fine-tune the geometry to your own taste.

Complementing the Instinct’s geometry are 29-inch wheels and 140mm of front and rear suspension. The 29er wheels give the bike exceptional traction and smooth out rocks, ruts and steps in the trail. They give the Instinct a smoother, safer ride than a comparable trail bike with 27.5-inch wheels – perfect for beginners and riders who need a little boost in confidence. Rocky Mountain’s four-bar Smoothlink suspension system works really well. It stays active all the time so it absorbs bumps and improves traction whether or not you’re pedaling. It’s essentially transparent – meaning you don’t really notice. That’s a good thing because it allows you to just focus on and enjoy the ride. The 140mm of travel is a sweet spot for Hurricane mesa slickrock riding. Lighter bikes with less travel require a little more care and effort when the trail gets tricky. Bigger, longer-travel bikes can feel sluggish and sloppy if you aren’t in really gnarly terrain. The Instinct’s 140mm of suspension is pretty much perfect for most of what Hurricane has to offer. Whether you’re ripping laps on JEM Trail’s hard-packed flow or navigating chunky slickrock moves on Guacamole, the Rocky Mountain Instinct 29er’s smooth ride will encourage you to push a little harder. In their Rocky Mountain Instinct review, Bike Magazine called it a, “jack-of-all-trades;” and it’s pretty amazing how at home the Instinct feels on most any kind of trail.

As mentioned earlier, to make a really nice rental mountain bike available for people on a budget, our Rocky Mountain Instinct 29er rental bikes are aluminum alloy models. However, if you ride the bike and decide you want to own one, we’ll happily build you a carbon Instinct with all the dreamy high-end bits. If you’re on a tighter budget, we’ll give you a great deal on one of our alloy demo bikes. All of our demo bikes are for sale with prices adjusted for the number of days they’ve been used. Our professional service department makes sure they’re in tip-top shape so you can confidently invest in one of our used demo bikes. If you rent a bike from us, you can also apply up to $200 of your rental fees towards the purchase of any new or used bike.

If the Instinct sounds good to you buy you’d rather try a bike with smaller, 27.5 wheels, check out the Rocky Mountain Altitude. If you’d prefer a lighter, shorter travel 29er, take a look at the Ibis Ripley.

*Price and specs subject to change.

Rocky Mountain Instinct Specs

The specs below are for the Rocky Mountain Instinct Alloy 30 bikes that we carry in our rental fleet. If you’d like to buy a bike, we’ll build it any way you want. The sky’s the limit!

*Prices and specs subject to change.

Rocky Mountain Instinct Geometry

Rocky Mountain Instinct Pricing

The prices and specs below are for Rocky Mountain’s standard Instinct build kits. We can build a custom Rocky Mountain Instinct for you with pretty much any components you want. We love building custom bikes! If you have any questions or want to talk about building your very own Rocky Mountain Instinct mountain bike, give us a call: (435) 635-5455

*Prices and specs subject to change.