Rocky Mountain Slayer Carbon C70 29 2021 – Blue

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SLAYER CARBON 70 29 (2021) – BLUE/BLACK

The Slayer is a bike that is the dark horse of Rocky Mountain’s range. Most (if not all) customers see the coil and the words “Freeride” and automatically reckon it’s a bike that won’t climb and needs maximum vertical and gravity to get the most out of it.

We’re here to tell you otherwise.

It’s the dark-horse because the Altitude and Instinct get all the attention, but in reality, Rocky did such a great job with the Slayer that it’s the bike you should also be considering if you’re thinking’ about a Giant Reign, Specialized Enduro, Orbea Rallon or similar.

WHO IS THE SLAYER FOR?

Enduro. Shuttle days. Rider’s who want a long-travel bike that is fun and responsive.

Suspension kinematics give the Slayer a different “feel” to the Altitude.

We compare the Slayer to the Altitude because they overlap somewhat and there’s only 10mm in travel between them; Slayer 180/170mm and Altitude 170/160mm.

Straight off the floor, the Slayer has more mid-travel support than the Altitude and especially the Giant Reign.

With the Altitude you can build that in with a mix volume spacers, rebound and/or high-speed compression but the Slayer is bang on.

This is a key trait that gives the Slayer its “lighter-than-it-actually-weighs” feel. It easily changes direction on tight trails and holds momentum, and launches into the air with ease.

It doesn’t wallow or sink into its 170mm travel unnecessarily. You can push into corners, pump it into compressions and it rewards you with free speed.

Which is kinda surprising because, the Slayer with its coil shock shouldn’t be able to do that.

But it does.

It climbs almost as efficiently as most 150mm travel bikes. Nor does it feel like too-much-bike, especially if your trails are Red Hill, the You Yangs or Silvan.

FRAME DETAILS

Rocky’s Smoothwall carbon is one of the best.

No wrinkles, voids, excess resin or frayed strands are present on the inside of the Slayer’s frame.

Stuff like this affects durability, ride “feel” and handling.

The Slayer’s frame is a brilliant balance of stiffness and flex.

The triangulated front section, with the help of the cross-bar significantly stiffens the front triangle. There’s no unwanted flex; allowing the Slayer to carve its way around corners and through heavily littered rock and tree-root sections with ease.

Tube-in-tube internal cable routing makes replacing hydraulic hoses, dropper and gear cables super easy. Push the cable in the frame and watch it come out the other end. No swearing and cursing required.

It’s a simple suspension layout from a maintenance perspective. And no special bearing sizes that are only available from Rocky Mountain. In Canada. At a certain time of the century and moon phase.

There are 12 bearings in the frame across 4 sizes: 6001, 6800, 698, 6900. All are available from Enduro Bearings.

The Slayer has an aluminium seat into which the bearing sits, minimising damage to the carbon frame.

Also, 4 bearings support the blind chainstay pivot; increasing durability and frame stiffness.

RIDE 4

The Slayer is a 4 trick pony too. The Slayer’s rider gets to select from 4 geometry positions; 1 to 4.

Position 1 is the most aggressive (or slackest) and P4 the most efficient (or steepest).

A few things change when the Slayer’s chip position changes.

This includes the Head Tube Angle:

Seat tube angle:

Bottom bracket height:

Reach:

And lastly, Stack:

THE SLAYER C70 BUILD

The Carbon 70 (or C70 for short) represents a build designed for experienced riders or those who want 2nd-tier performance. It’s not Factory race-spec like the C90 but it’s pretty damn close.

Starting at the front, Fox’s 38 Performance Elite with GRIP2 damper puts out 180mm travel. It features High and Low Speed Compression, plus High and Low Speed Rebound to really fine tune the front end for varying trail conditions.

Shimano XT 4-piston brakes are paired to 203mm Shimano RT66 rotors.

XT is also used for the drive train:

And lastly, some images of the Slayer Carbon 70’s other components: