Co-developing their own motor has freed Rocky Mountain from the usual geometry and frame architecture constraints, and allowed them to make the Altitude Powerplay the same shape as its non-powered sibling. This makes it unusual in the e-bike market.
The frame
The compact frame combines a carbon fibre front triangle with an aluminium four-bar rear end. It hides the battery in its down tube and the motor behind the cranks. While most e-bikes have long back ends, the shape of the motor has enabled Rocky Mountain to keep the chainstay length down to a tiny 426mm. Up front, the ‘RIDE-9’ chip in the lower shock mount lets you choose between nine possible geometries. The medium frame can be adjusted to provide 452mm to 464mm of reach and a head angle of between 65 and 66.1 degrees.
The kit
The motor is the highlight here, partly because it allows ‘normal’ geometry, but also because of how incredibly reactive it is to pedalling inputs.As you rotate the cranks, the chain is drawn over a springloaded idler pulley. This activates a sensor, which determines how much assistance is added. Power delivery is torquey and almost instant, unlike on some of its competitors. Rocky Mountain have also squeezed in a higher-capacity 632Wh battery, which has 20 per cent more power than most e-bike cells.
Elsewhere, there’s an e-specific Fox 36 fork, SRAM EX1 drivetrain and Guide RE brakes, plus quality finishing kit from the likes of Fox, Race Face and Maxxis. While we can’t comment on long-term reliability, the use of a standard crankset, chainring and BB means that when things do wear out they’ll be cheap and easy to replace. Dropping the motor and battery out only involves undoing a few bolts.
The ride
Simply put, the Powerplay rides like Rocky Mountain’s regular Altitude enduro bike, but better. Because the extra weight of the motor and battery is positioned low and central, it only improves the suspension feel – it’s smooth, supple and supportive. When combined with the wide 2.5in tyres, this gives acres of grip and stability, and therefore confidence, on a wide range of trails and surfaces. That tight back end keeps steering lively, and because the front end isn’t radically long, your body weight remains relatively central on the bike (were the front longer, we’d want a longer rear too).
The result is an e-MTB that genuinely rides like a regular MTB – you can sling it in and pop it out of berms, hump it over jumps and rail corners like you would on any other bike. Because the weight of the motor adds the same sort of stability that would be provided by longer geometry on a conventional bike, it doesn’t feel nervous at high speed either.
Although the drivetrain is noisy, its performance is impressive.With the assistance reacting neatly to pedalling inputs, technical climbs are seen away easily. On the flat, you can feel some pulsing through the drivetrain, but this is no big distraction on the trail. If we’re nitpicking, the controller feels cheap, and you can’t remove the battery for charging.
Proper-shaped e-MTB that rides like a conventional mountain bike
Frame ‘Smoothwall’ carbon front triangle, ‘FORM’ aluminium rear, 150mm (5.9in) travel
Fork Fox 36 Float EVOL GRIP Performance, 160mm (6.3in) travel
Shock Fox Float DPS EVOLPerformance Elite
Drivetrain Rocky Mountain Powerplay 48v motor w/ 632Wh battery, SRAM EX1 gearing w/ Race Face Turbine cranks (1x8)
Wheelset SUNringle Duroc 40 rims on Rocky Mountain (f) and DT Swiss 350 (r) hubs, Maxxis Minion DHF (f) and DHR (r)WT EXOTR 27.5x2.5in tyres
Brakes SRAM Guide RE, 200mm rotors
Bar/Stem Race Face Chester, 780mm/ Rocky Mountain 35 AM, 50mm
Seatpost/saddle Fox Transfer Performance Elite 150mm dropper/ WTB Silverado Race
Weight 23kg (50.7lb), medium w/o pedals
Price $10500