Press Release

Trail Focused and Ready to Rip - Rocky Mountain's New Instinct 8

Rocky Mountain dropped the Thunderbolt and instead, offers the new Instinct in two wheel sizes and a variety of build options.

BHowell

3/8/2021 9:27am

The Instinct has been designed for epic rides and wide-open singletrack. As our most versatile platform, the Instinct thrives on all types of trails, tackling features with the utmost efficiency and responsiveness.

The Instinct has been the go-to bike for riders looking for a bike that does it all, and our most recent design takes that philosophy to the next level. The desire to ride faster and harder than ever is universal amongst riders, and the changes we've made to our Instinct take that to heart while maintaining peak efficiency. Updated geometry and frame features mean that the Instinct is versatile and can adapted to meet any demands that you or the trail may have.

Rocky's Ride-9 means 9 different configurations with their interlocking flip-chips

A Simpler Lineup

The 2020 Thunderbolt and Instinct platforms both offered 140mm of rear travel but differed in their wheelsize and ride characteristics. The natural evolution of these platforms within the Trail category was to combine them into one platform designed for efficient riding for all-day adventures.

Modular upper shock mount to help "future-proof" your bike. On carbon models only.

Looking at the needs of shorter vs. taller riders, we’ve introduced a wheelsize split with our small Instinct frame. Our extra small frame is offered with 27.5-inch wheels while the small frame is available in either 27.5-inch or 29-inch wheels. For riders that are tall enough to ride medium, large, or extra-large frames, the Instinct is available with 29-inch wheels only. In order to accommodate the shorter riders, our size extra small and small frames have an adjusted frame silhouette to give riders a comfortable amount of standover height.

The Instinct is designed around efficient and versatile trail riding, which is why we’ve offered six frame sizes including size small available in two distinct frames to accommodate either 27.5-inch or 29-inch wheels.

Size Specific Tune

With a suspension curve that provides a supple beginning-stroke, supportive mid-stroke, and progressive end-stroke, our engineers designed these bikes for hard riding on technical trails. Our product team goes above and beyond by creating custom shock tunes for every frame size to ensure riders of all heights experience how we intended the Instinct to feel.

Size Does Matter

Our size extra-small and small frames have a visibly different frame silhouette than our medium through extra-large frames.

The two smallest sizes use a 190x45mm shock to achieve 140mm of travel which creates a lightweight kinematic, making it easier for small riders to properly set up their suspension and use all of the travel. The medium through extra-large frames use a 210x52.5mm shock to achieve 140mm of travel, so no matter what size of rider you are our bikes are designed to perform at their best.