Bike: 2004 Rocky Mountain Flow

Distributor: Advance Traders

RRP: $2700

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When Ben from Advance Traders called to let me know he had a bike for farkin to test I was stoked! We'd been waiting to hook up a test of some new Rocky Mountain gear for a while, so I fired up my van and headed out to the Advance Traders warehouse to pick it up.

On arrival I was greeted by a fresh out of the box 2004 Rocky Mountain Flow, RM's flagship dirt jumping and freeride hardtail. The joy of receiving free schwag was tempered somewhat by the fact that the frame was a gigantic (to my 175cm frame at least) 18", way to big to inspire confidence on dirt jumps for me.

Closer inspections however revealed that this do it all hardtail came equipped with dual front rings, fat Maxxis rubber, 8" Hayes Hydraulic disc brakes, a long 23.5" top-tube and a super-comfy Titec Berserkr seat. Not a dirt jumping machine for my short-ass, but certainly a bike that would be at home on some technical cross country loops and trail rides.

The Frame

"Handbuilt" is a term batted around a lot by the Rocky Mountain marketing department and to reinforce this the bike I was given came with a tag hand-signed each of the frame-builders throughout the bikes construction process. Classy. The frame itself is built from Easton RAD Aluminium tubing, with both the top and down tubes square at the head-tube and round at the seat tube.

The welds on the frame were of a uniformly high quality, as one would expect from a company so willing to tout the superiority of their hand-building process. The frame itself is also pretty damn light, tipping the scales at a mere 2.04kgs or 4.5lbs

The steep head-angle gave the Flow frame nibmle steering on forest trails and in the skatepark though this was offset somewhat by the long 16.5" chainstays and 42.5" wheelbase. Whether it was the extra heavy 2004 Marzocchi Dirt Jumpers or the long chainstay / top-tube combination the Flow frame was particularly hard to manual, with a number of people throughout the test complaining of this.

The Bits

The Flow was finished with an assortment of top drawer bits. A Shimano Deore/LX drivetrain handled the shifting duties with the sort of smooth, hassle-free performance I've come to expect from new Shimano products.

Stopping duties were handled admirably by 8" Hayes HFX-9 hydraulic discs. The brakes provided masses of control and power though they suffered from a wooden feel at the lever and were hard to adjust properly for my reach, with several bolts on the lever requiring a tiny Torx driver that I doubt many home mechanics own.

The Race Face Evolve FR bottom bracket and DH cranks felt stiff and strong and were hassle-free throughout the test. The oversize, 31.8mm Titec El Norte stem and handlebars were exceptionally stiff and positively confidence inspiring, though in stock trim the bars were far too wide for my liking. A front end this burly is always a good thing to see when you look down and overly wide bars are easily tamed with a hacksaw.

The Alex DX32 rims laced to Shimano disc hubs came dead straight on the bike and stayed that way throughout the test. As expected a few spokes loosened up during the test, but they were checked after every ride and re-tensioned. The wheels wrapped in their heavy downhill rubber were quite weighty, but gave me no hassles throughout the test.

Marzocchi's 2004 Dirt Jumper III features 32mm cro-moly stanchions, making them considerably tougher than their predecessors, but god-damn are these babies heavy! The forks were very torisionally stiff and otherwise felt identical to the 2003 model Dirt Jumpers, with reasonable performance when trail riding and excellent dampening for popping off lips and taking big hits.

Contact points are a big and very comfortable Titec Berserk saddle, some Rocky Mountain brand grips and Rocky Mountain's in-house 'Big Flat' pedals. I particularly liked the seat (but I have a Berserkr on my personal ride too) and the Big Flats offered plenty of traction for flat soled shoes.

The Ride

My first few rides on the Flow were retricted to easy rides on the street and a few moderately technical cross country loops in the Gap Creek reserve in Brisbane. My early misgivings about the bike's size quickly gave way on the cross country rides as a combination of big rubber, twin rings and a bike that actually allowed full-leg extension made climbs that I usually struggle on a breeze to ride.

Pointed downhill, the bike tracked predictably and precisely down steep, technical sections but suffered in really tight situations from the super-wide Titec handlebars. Trimming a few inches from the end of the bars would probably be the first thing I'd do to the bike if it was my own. The long-wheelbase made the Flow extremely stable at high speed and loved nothing better than being ridden wide-open down fireroads.

As my confidence on the Flow grew I decided to venutre down to my local skatepark. With the seat dropped all the way I was able to get adequate standover clearance and I ended spending quite a few hours playing and getting used to the bike. I found the Flow surprisingly easy to jump and ride fakie on, though hard to move around in the air. I even managed to hit a few small lip-tricks, with nose-stalls being particularly easy with the superlatively powerful front brake.

Something about the geometry of the Flow made it easy and forgiving to ride in tight situations despite the frame being far to big for me by all rights, I would have loved the chance to try a smaller frame out at some dirt jumps or a skatepark.

Dom took the Flow out on a night-street ride and hit up some stair-gaps and general erbon tomfoolery. Half-way through the ride he damned near killed a man who was walking his bike back up a stair-gap and ended up with a pinch-flatted rear tyre and a rear brake that had mysteriously lost all it's fluid. Apparently the bike hucked stairs well though, so good news there.

The Verdict

As I mentioned earlier, the size of the Flow originally made me worry that I'd have a hard time riding it for it's intended uses. As it turned out, my worries were baseless as the combination of a light frame and spot on geometry made a bike that should have been tough for me to ride actually quite fun.

The front-end of the bike was too heavy and hard to pop into the air for me, but it's strong as well and there have to be sacrifices made somewhere.

I really enjoyed the Flow the most when I rode it as a trail-bike. The reasonable weight, big rubber and low gearing made climbing the bike a breeze and the big brakes coupled with the big Maxxis tyres to make the bike a predictabe and nimble descender. When flat-out on open fire trails the bike was an absolute blast to ride, extremely stable and confidence inspiring through sweeping corners.

All in all I probably would have enjoyed a smaller frame more, especially to see whether it was the long set-up of the 18" frame or the weight of the front end that was making popping the front up such a chore.

The one thing that really jumps out at me when looking at the Rocky Mountain Flow is the price. For $2700 you get a bike that is only equal in spec to a Norco Sasquatch which at $1500 offers a similar frame and virtually identical forks, brakes and wheels. The only significant difference I can see between the bikes are the frames, the Flow is handbuilt in Canada from Easton RAD tubing while the Norco is built (most likely by hand) in Vietnam from no-brand tubing.

This begs the question, is it really worth $1200 of your money for a Canadian built frame and name-brand tubing.

Overall, the Flow was an enjoyable bike to ride and came built with tough, sensible parts that ought to last even abusive riders a long time. The frame was well built from the highest quality tubing, though this comes at a high price when compared with bike's of similar spec.

If originality's your deal and you want an overbuilt hardtail for everything from downhill runs to dirt jumps, the Flow may well be the bike you're looking for. One thing's for sure, at this price you're pretty likely to be the only one around with one.