The Rocky Mountain Altitude is a true enduro race bike that climbs better than you’d think [Review]

Rocky Mountain launched their new Altitude platform earlier this year to much fanfare. This is the first time the brand has used anything other than their four-bar Smoothlink suspension layout on the Altitude, making the move to what they’re calling “LC2R,” a low-center, counter-rotating design, very similar to Santa Cruz’s VPP layout (more on that below).

I’ve had this bike in my stable since April this year and I managed to log a decent amount of hours on it across a ton of different types of riding, from bike park and epic pedal-fests, to tech trails and flow trails. I’ll get right into the riding notes, but keep reading to get more details about the bike.

On the trail with the New Rocky Mountain Altitude

While I didn’t get a chance to ride the previous generation Altitude, it seems that the current version has settled on a decidedly more ‘enduro’ character than before. While it retains the same travel numbers and similar components spec, the frame itself is more burly, with significantly longer and slacker geometry, and a lower center of gravity.

Climbing

Enduro bikes are predominantly aimed at descending as fast as physically possible, but they still need to be relatively pedal-friendly. The new Altitude for sure descends better than it climbs, but that’s not to say that it’s a pig on the uphills. As with most enduro bikes, it doesn’t climb like a whippet, but it’s good for what it is.

The latest Rocky Mountain Altitude adds a little over a pound in weight to the previous version, with my carbon test bike weighing 35lb on the nose. It’s not light, but it’s not overly heavy, and on longer sustained climbs where a heavier bike can really make itself known, the Altitude feels pleasant enough. The Altitude pedals pretty damn well for a big bike, with very little pedal bob or squat, making it relatively easy to climb on road and singletrack alike. The steep seat angle makes the seated climbing position comfortable and fairly upright, as with most other modern enduro bikes, while making it easy to pilot around tight corners and such.

When it comes to technical climbing, the Altitude is quite adept. While it doesn’t squat unnecessarily into its travel under power, the suspension travel does translate into grip, easily hooking up on technical sections of trail. I ran the bike in the neutral geometry position for most of the test period, and found that there was plenty of ground clearance, with pedal strikes not being much of an issue. Despite a roughly 30% sag setting, the bike rides reasonably high in the travel, and its pedaling manners make it feel fairly sprightly on technical climbs and traverses, with little energy wasted.

Descending

Descending is where the Rocky Mountain Altitude is quite obviously designed to be at home, and the steeper the better. Going downhill, the Altitude feels plush and planted. The 160mm travel out back almost feels bottomless paired with the Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock. While descending, the Altitude seems to sit high-ish in the travel, with good mid-stroke support, though like any bigger bike, the travel on hand is evident, and while it’s not as playful as a trail bike, it’s also not a handful to pick up and put on a line. The extra travel does make itself known on jump trails, where the travel means the rider needs to work harder to boost the jump and make the landings. Dialing in a little extra compression damping can help, and bumping up air pressure for a full park day is a good idea too. To be clear, this recommendation his isn’t necessarily specific to this bike; it generally applies to big travel bikes in general.

Rolling on dual 29″ wheels, it doesn’t feel as fun and maneuverable as some mixed-wheel bikes might, but I find that this comes down to personal preference. I like the stability of the big wheels, but sometimes mixed can feel more fun, and it can be nice to have the extra bum clearance. All this said, the Rocky Mountain Altitude still corners well for a long-travel 29er, without feeling like it needs to be manhandled through turns.

The RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock pairs quite well with this bike. I’ve been a fan of the Hydraulic Bottom Out bumper since the shock came out, and on mountain bikes where you’re routinely reaching the end of the travel it provides a nicely progressive bumper that rarely, if ever, feels harsh at the end of the stroke. Coupled with the supportive yet plush overall feeling of the Altitude, it works really well.

The Altitude excels when the trail gets rough and chundery, carrying speed well. Though virtual pivot designs can be known for pedal kickback through the travel, the Rocky Mountain Altitude feels exceptionally smooth, absorbing chunder and chatter easily, with little feedback through the pedals. Despite the frame and fork being quite stiff, the Altitude doesn’t transmit much trail feedback to the rider, and is easy to hold onto on big descents.

Component performance and reliability

The C70 Shimano build kit on the Altitude I tested doesn’t leave much to be desired. A RockShox Zeb Select+ and Super Deluxe Ultimate suspension package takes care of the rough stuff admirably, and I can only imagine how a Zeb Ultimate would improve things. The Shimano XT drivetrain proved to be workhorse-tough with excellent shifting, and did not disappoint. The same can be said for the XT brakes equipped on the bike, delivering plenty of power and a great bite point.

One of the best things about the new Altitude is that the product manager chose to spec XC CushCore tire inserts, along with sensible tires — a Maxxis Minion DHR II with Double Down protection in the rear, and a Maxxis Assegai with EXO+ up front. However, the Race Face AR 30 rims are quite soft, as I’ve discovered in the past, and the beefy rubber and inserts didn’t stop me flat-spotting the rear rim quite early on, leading to me chasing loose spokes for the duration of the test (though thankfully it stayed air tight). The Race Face Turbine seatpost was also somewhat troublesome, making a rattling sound that’s amplified by the frame. I wound up swapping the post for the Tranz-X EDP01 I reviewed last year, which is quieter with less play.

I had a couple issues with frame hardware, the first being the PenaltyBox door coming loose and dropping off while attached to my vehicle and driving on a bumpy road. This only happened to me once, but the latch is a little sloppy, and I would take the door off the bike when transporting it in the future. I understand there’s an updated version, but I never got around to grabbing and installing it.

Finally, the lower main pivot came loose while riding once. It didn’t end my ride, and when I got home I pulled it out and discovered the bolt had no thread locker on it. Apparently this should be fixed in the factory now, and any good bike shop should know this and catch it when assembling the bikes. Rocky Mountain supplies the tool for the main pivot with the bike, and it’s an easy process. Once reassembled with thread locker, it never came loose again.

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Rocky Mountain Altitude key specs

• 170/160mm travel
• Low Centre Counter Rotating (LC2R) suspension layout
• Geometry highlights: 63.5º HTA, 77.5º STA
• Wheel size: 29/MX compatible
• Frame features: Ride-4 flip chip and reach-adjust headset cups, in-frame storage
• Alloy and carbon frame options
• Sizes S to XL
• Weight: 35lb as tested (C70 build)
• Price (USD): Alloy builds from $3,999 and carbon builds from $6,199. Carbon frameset priced at $4,099.
• Buy from JensonUSA

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This time around, Rocky Mountain made key updates to the suspension and frame features, and they’re also offering a fresh set of build kits for the Altitude.

Suspension

Let’s start by talking about the most striking difference to the new Altitude — the suspension. The frame is visually very different compared to the old bike, and that’s mostly down to the fact that instead of Rocky Mountain’s signature hanging link suspension platform, it now uses LC2R. In this case, LC2R is something of a misnomer, since their previous usage of the acronym described a single-pivot layout, used on previous generations of the Slayer, and the Flatline. LC2R now describes a virtual pivot arrangement, very similar to Santa Cruz’s VPP, the patent on which expired in 2015.

Counter-rotating virtual pivot designs have a pretty extensive track record. Short links make for a stiff frame that can tolerate abuse, and usually means hardware and shocks last a while. In this case, the low placement in the frame also makes for a low center of gravity, which should have a positive impact on handling.

Rocky Mountain claims this iteration of LC2R gives good small bump compliance, with a low leverage ratio at the start of the stroke, moving into a linear curve for a predictable and supple mid-stroke, with a ramp up at the end for bottom out support, with 36% total progression. Virtual pivot designs tend to pedal pretty well, and Rocky Mountain says the Altitude has been designed for low pedal kickback and efficient pedaling. Size-specific suspension tunes ensure that riders should get a similar ride quality across the size range.

Frame features

The new Altitude is jam-packed with features. There’s a choice of two standard colors for most builds, matte black, and the two-tone seen here, plus a bonus black/purple in the top spec Carbon 99 build only. Frames are available in sizes S through XL and in carbon or aluminum, and both come with several standard features, including a reach adjust headset, RIDE-4 geometry adjust, and MX/29 flip chip at the lower link. The bike ships in the neutral headset position, and comes with separate cups that can be installed for a 5mm longer or shorter reach. The RIDE-4 flip chip at the front shock mount adjusts the head angle, among other things, from 63º to 63.8º and changes the leverage rate.

The LC2R suspension platform keeps things relatively simple, with short stiff links, and minimal hardware. The pivots use one large bolt per bearing that is easily accessible, with the lower main pivot bolt being concentric around the BB. This requires a special tool to remove which is supplied with the bike and simply uses an 8mm hex tool. The BB itself is a BSA threaded affair, keeping things simple. ISCG 05 mounts, post-mount brakes, a standard eyelet 230x60mm metric shock and UDH keep things sensible.

Carbon frames get Rocky’s voluminous Penalty Box 2.0 in-frame storage compartment with a machined aluminum latch mechanism, a light and easy to use action, and hidden AirTag holder. It comes with tidy fabric pouches for storing a spare tube, tools etc. There is an additional mount under the top tube for a tool pouch, leaving little excuse for leaving spares at home. The carbon frame also has fully-guided internal cable routing, with easy to fit plastic covers at the head tube. Moto brake users rejoice — the rear brake hose can be routed to either the left or right of the head tube via a split accessed through the Penalty Box compartment.

The attractive two-tone sparkle paint job is protected on the downtube by a sizable rubber protector, with an additional piece provided as shuttle armor if needed. At the back, the rear triangle is fully protected inside the chainstays and seatstays with rubber armoring that should hopefully make for a quiet ride without detracting from the aesthetics of the frame. Protecting the rear shock and bearings, there are two plastic spray guards to keep crud from the rear tire away from the expensive bits.

2024 Rocky Mountain Altitude geometry

The new Altitude’s Geometry has an almost bewildering array of options, and though most riders will likely find their preferred settings and stick to them, it’s no bad thing having them there. In the interest of fairness, I’ll compare apples to apples. The bike on test here is a size large 29″ bike, set up in the neutral position. The new Altitude drops a massive 1.5º off the head angle from the old bike to 63.5º in neutral, dropping a further 0.5º in slack mode. The seat tube angle comes in a 77.5º – 1.5º steeper than the old bike, and the reach stays the same at 480mm, with the ability to go +/- 5mm with the spare headset cups.

The Altitude comes with size-specific chainstays, with three different sizes total, from 427mm in size S, for 27.5″ wheels only, to 440mm in M, and 450mm in size L – 2mm longer than the previous bike. The BB actually raises a little from 27mm to 31mm, presumably to help keep things nimble as everything else gets longer and slacker.

Build spec

The new Altitude comes in eight different spec levels, plus a frame-only option. Starting at the Alloy 30 build, each bike gets either a Rockshox Zeb or Fox 38 with various damper levels, a Fox Float X, X2 or Super Deluxe air shock, with an option for DHX2 coil shock on certain models. Every bike comes with a 12-speed drivetrain from Shimano and four-piston brakes, plus the A70 and every carbon bike comes fitted with CushCore XC tire inserts front and rear.

Rocky Mountain acknowledges that not everybody wants carbon, and while the A30 model combines the price-point of aluminum with a lower-specced build kit, the A70 coil build features a top-notch Fox Factory/Shimano XT build. At the other end of the spectrum, the $11,999 Carbon 99 SRAM build features the Rockshox Flight Attendant suspension package, an X0 Eagle Transmission drivetrain and Race Face Era carbon wheels.

Pros and cons of Rocky Mountain Altitude

Pros

• Efficient climber for a big bike
• Solid parts package
• Slack geometry makes for a stable ride
• Supple yet supportive suspension feel, and the Super Deluxe Ultimate shock is a standout
• Budget-friendly aluminum builds for those who can’t afford carbon

Cons

• Soft Race Face rims and noisy dropper post
• A couple of early-adopter issues with frame hardware
• Not the most playful bike out there

Bottom line

Overall, the Altitude feels extremely planted, stable, and capable. Some longer-travel enduro bikes can feel like long-legged trail bikes, but the Altitude feels like an enduro bike through and through. It tracks well on rough and gnarly lines especially, and feels relatively efficient on the gas.

The Altitude would make an excellent race bike, or do-it-all rig for the type of person who only rides gnarly double-black trails and often finds themselves pedaling to the top. While mine had a couple of quirks, it’s not out of the ordinary for the first bikes in a new production run to have a handful of minor issues. Personally, I’d like to see a different rim brand, but I have a poor track record with aluminum rims. That aside, the Altitude is an excellent option for someone looking for a new enduro sled, with sorted geometry and kinematics, for a reasonable price, particularly the aluminum models. Check out the A70 coil spec for a properly affordable race spec bike.