First look: Rocky Mountain Altitude Rally Edition, spec’d for enduro

By Adam Newman

Few trends have steamrolled the mountain bike industry as quickly as enduro racing. Well, maybe 27.5 wheels, but the two seem to go hand in hand.

The also go together with the 2014 Rocky Mountain Altitude Rally Edition. Offered in both 770 MSL and 750 spec, it features the same adjustable suspension as the standard Altitude, but comes decked out in a parts kit that is ready for the enduro starting line straight out of the box.

Similar to how Rocky has equipped its Element and Instinct 29er models with BC Editions featuring more burly parts spec, the 27.5-inch Instinct Rally Edition who want to use their bike in a very specific way.

It starts out front, where the Fox 34 Float CTD gets stretched from 150mm to 160mm. The rear shock is the enduro-minded Fox Float X introduced recently. The Race Face stems get shorter and the bars get wider. The brakes get bumped up to the four-piston SRAM X9 trail models, and the double crankiest gets dropped for a single-ring Race Face unit with an EThirteen TRS+ chainguide. The Rockshox Reverb Stealth remains, however, as an essential tool for endure racing (or really almost all riding, in our opinion).

 

There is also a 750 MSL Rally Edition. While the standard 750 Altitude sports a carbon front triangle, the Rally Edition makes do with—still very advanced—aluminum frame. It also sports a 34mm fork, but on this model it’s an X-Fusion Sweep RL2 air. Rear suspension is handled by an X-Fusion 02 RL.
It too uses a 1×10 drivetrain and includes a dropper post, in this case an X-Fusion HiLo.

While the longer forks alter the geometry slightly over the standard model, they still use the same 150mm travel Ride-9 suspension adjustment and sport ISCG-05 tabs, press fit bottom brackets and 142×12 thru axles.

2014 Altitude Rally Edition 770 MSL

2014 Altitude Rally Edition 750 MSL

In action

What better way to introduce a bike than letting Andreas Hestler and Wade Simmons rip some BC trail? Check out the gallery from Margus Riga:

Read more

We also got a peek at the 2014 Instinct MSL last week. Check it out here.