The Rocky Mountain Element – Earth, Air, Fire, Water
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Purpose-built to hit the precise sweet spot between lightweight cross country climbing prowess and technical precision, the Element is the best of both worlds and more. Roadie-levels of climbing efficiency guarantees that oh-so-sweet feeling of riding someone off your wheel. Added levels of stability on fast descents and a pseudo-aggressive seat tube angle provides surprising levels of confidence on tight single track and hairy descents. Light. Stiff. Fast. Smooth. Precise.
- Designed for: XC
- Front travel: 130 mm
- Rear travel: 120 mm
- Wheel size: XS: 2 7. 5”, SM – XL: 29”
- Frame: Carbon / Alloy
“ The Element gives me a lot of confidence when it comes to racing, giving me a huge advantage at an event. It’s incredibly light and efficient but somehow rides like a trail bike, a combination that eliminates any weak points and allows me to push it on every section of a racecourse. Outside of racing, I love the feeling of being way the hell out there and the Element is perfect for that. You can cover ground all day without holding anything back on the descents.”– Felix Burke,Rocky Mountain XC Athlete
THE EVOLUTION OF SIZE SPECIFIC TUNE
The 2021 Thunderbolt and Element platforms were positioned on the shorter end of Rocky Mountain bikes’ travel categories, with notable differences being wheel size, travel amount, and ride characteristics. The natural evolution of these platforms was to blend the Trail and Cross-country categories into one platform for efficient and precise riding.
Looking at the needs of shorter vs. taller riders, Rocky Mountain introduced a wheelsize split with their extra-small Element frame. The extra-small frame is offered with 27.5” wheel to help shorter riders with acceleration, and it also lowers the bike for a better fit and ride experience. The 2022 Element in extra-small has 33mm of increased standover against the 2021 Thunderbolt XS and 56mm vs 2021 Element size small.For riders that are tall enough to ride small, medium, large, or extra-large frames, the Element is available with 29” wheels.One of the goals with the new Element was to give more rider support across the range of travel but without giving up on rear wheel traction. The anti-squat was increased to offer quicker acceleration and reduced the end-stroke progression to make it easier to access the entire range of travel. This revised kinematic allows you to run less pressure and damping in your shock, leading to a smoother, calmer ride.
FRAME FEATURES
Rocky Mountain is always looking for ways to take their bikes to the next level, which leads their engineers to incorporate thoughtful ideas and features through flawless integration. Added benefits like the ability to control the balance between stability and playfulness, ease of maintenance, and frame durability are just the beginning for these bikes.
TECHNOLOGIES
• RIDE-4™ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM allows riders to quickly fine-tune their geometry with a pair of Allen keys. Four configurations are possible thanks to one rotating chip. This allows for subtle geometry changes with minimal effect on your shock tune.
• SMOOTHWALL™ Carbon uses one of the world’s most sophisticated carbon processes to deliver industry leading stiffness-to-weight, ride quality, and durability. Elimination of excess resin and fibers by using rigid internal molds instead of traditional air bladders. Then utilizing different types of carbon in specific frame areas to maximize stiffness and impact resistance while minimizing overall weight.
• FORM™ Alloy tubesets utilize premium materials to meet Rocky Mountain’s strict requirements. Each FORM tube created is engineered for its specific purpose within the frame, ensuring optimized strength, weight, and ride quality.
• SMOOTHLINK™ Suspension is efficient yet supple when you’re on the pedals and across a wide range of gears. It features a controlled end-stroke and a rate-curve that feels more capable than the travel would suggest. This four-bar suspension design philosophy is centred on ride characteristics; each bike platform developed balances variables like anti-squat, axle path, chain growth, rate curve, anti-rise, etc. to achieve the legendary Rocky Mountain ride feel.
• SIZE SPECIFIC Tune ensures that riders of all sizes get the right balance of small-bump compliance, mid-stroke support, and end-stroke progressiveness. Our design team does custom shock tunes based on real world field testing, and adjusts each tune for specific frame sizes.
