Welcome back to ‘Bike of the Week’ for 2014! I hope everyone enjoyed the winter, but it’s time to start thinking about bicycles. The inaugural bike for 2014 is a new model from Rocky Mountain Bikes, the Thunderbolt 770. Why is it cool?
It’s a 120mm travel trail bike that mixes some of the DNA from Rocky’s Altitude series of bikes with the DNA of an XC race bike. It sports 27.5″ wheels, a Rockshox dropper post, wide handlebars and some grippy Continental tires. Not to mention those sweet green anodized Race Face bits.
Race face cranks propel the XTR/XT 2×10 drivetrain. Shimano’s dual ring set-up works amazingly well, I understand the move to 1×11 or 1×10 drivetrains, but sometimes it’s nice to know you have a full range of gears for those long days in the saddle… or climbing Perry Hill.
Race face bars sporting Shimano XT shifter, brakes and the handlebar mounted Fox CTD controls.
Suspension is handled by Fox, with 120mm of travel front and rear, the rear shock’s CTD functions via a handlebar mounted remote, the front also features the CTD function along with a 15mm through axle and tapered steerer tube, both add some serious stiffness to the Thunderbolt’s front end.
The Thunderbolt sports a subdued paint job which is high lighted by the green anodized bits from Race Face.
In the motorcycle world, when a manufacturer takes a sports bike and removes the fairings they call it a ‘hooligan bike’, the Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt is the the pedal-powered equivalent. An XC bike that has been tuned for FUN.
