ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTINCT A70

RATINGS

IN THE STAND 7/10

ON THE TRAIL 8/10

OVERALL 7.5/10

Canadian brand Rocky Mountain is synonymous with free-riding MTB, thanks both to its home base, right next door to the trails of Vancouver’s famous North Shore, and its sponsored athletes, namely a certain Wade Simmons and, more recently Tomas Vanderham. This has seen all Rocky Mountain bikes spiced with vary varying amounts of that North Shore DNA in their geometry and spec over the brand’s 30-plus years.

This past two years has seen Rocky Mountain release a flood of heavily revised (read: pretty much all-new) updates across its model range, including the Element, Altitude and – after a few years out of the model lineup – an all-new Slayer. The latest Rocky rig to receive this treatment is its popular trail-focused 29er, the Instinct. The Instinct first hit showrooms back in 2013 in alloy form, followed by carbon models in 2014. With the bike industry’s obsession with all things long, slack and low these past couple