Rocky Mountain launches the "Pipeline" trail rocket

After the "Sherpa" overland bike, Rocky Mountain presents its second mountain bike with plus-size tires. This time, however, the Canadians are riding on a sportier track and are launching the "Pipeline" with 130 and 150 millimetres of suspension travel on the front and rear wheels. The Pipeline has a crisp trail geometry, is optimized for wider tires and currently comes in two equipment variants.

Rocky Mountain recognized the benefits of plus-size tires a year ago and has now added another bike with the medium-thickness tires to its lineup. In contrast to the Sherpa, which was presented a year ago, the Pipeline is a sporty trail bike with the appropriate geometry. The "Instinct" model served as the basis for this. The Pipeline also has 130 millimetres of rear wheel travel, but with a little extra travel from the plus-size tires. At the front, Rocky Mountain even goes for 150 millimetres of travel. The Ride-9™- system also offers a wide range of adjustment options for the geometry and suspension characteristics. The neutral bottom bracket height and fork offset optimized for wide tires are designed to give the bike intuitive handling with excellent steering characteristics.

The Smoothwall carbon frame comes with an aluminum rear triangle that can accommodate tires up to 3.25 inches wide. It is specially designed for 1x cranks, has internally routed cables and grease nipples on the BC2™ bearings, which make maintenance child's play. Furthermore, the bolt-on axles are used, which save 50 grams compared to the clamping axles. Unlike the Sherpa, on which the rear axle is still 142 millimetres, the Pipeline uses Boost axles. These are 148 millimetres on the rear wheel and 110 millimetres on the front wheel. Thanks to the additional width, rims can be better supported via the spokes, which is noticeable in the lateral stiffness of the wheel.

There are currently two versions of the Pipeline: the 770 MSL and the 750 MSL. The former comes with Shimano's XT drivetrain and brakes. The cassette also comes from the XT range, while the cranks and chainring are from Raceface's Turbine line, as are the 760 millimeter wide handlebars. Rocky Mountain relies on the strong products from Fox for the suspension elements. A Float DPS Factory suspension strut on the rear wheel and a 34-Float Factory fork on the front wheel handle the bumps. In addition to the color, the 750 MSL also differs in the brakes. The M506 stoppers from Shimano are used there. The cranks are also specified slightly lower and the suspension comes with a Monarch RT Debonair suspension strut and Yari fork from Rock Shox. The wheels and tires are the same on both models. They are fitted with Maxxis "Rekon EXO 27.5 x 2.8" tires on XM35 rims from Alex Rims.

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