Home > Feature Stories

Rocky Mountain floats in on new Pipeline full suspension Plus bike

7 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-11

Almost exactly two years ago, we were getting a first look at Rocky Mountain’s thoughts on plus size. At that point plus size bikes were just starting to gain momentum and yet here was Rocky with an ambitious full suspension plus size bike packing concept. While shown as just a prototype in 2014, a year later the Sherpa Overland bike was here in production form.

But the bike packing angle only tells part of the plus size story – now we’re starting to see bikes with much more aggressive intentions take on bigger rubber. Offering better traction, increased stability, and enhanced confidence for the rider, it’s looking like plus size will be more than just a niche in the not too distant future. Especially with bikes like the all new Rocky Mountain Pipeline riding in on the big wave…

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-9
All photos c. Rocky Mountain / Margus Riga

From Rocky:

Dumbing Down the Shore is a problem that affects us all, and it’s about time a rider of Wade Simmons’ calibre spoke out.

But seriously, we had a ton of fun making this piece. Filmmaker Dan Barham crushed it, and cameos by Brett Tippie, Geoff Gulevich, Eric Lawrenuk, Andreas Hestler, and Todd “Digger” Fiander are always a good time.

With apologies to Keyser Söze.

If you follow the plot from Dumbing Down the Shore, it seems for Wade Simmons the trails in the North Shore are getting easier. Only it’s not the trails that are responsible – it’s the bike. We’re pretty sure Simmons could ride any trail on any bike, but the point is still there. Plus tires have a way of making trails easier, yes, but also more fun. They seem to have a way to make beginner riders more comfortable and advanced riders even faster.

For the time being, “normal” mountain bikes aren’t going anywhere but for those who are looking for a little more cushion, plus bikes are popping up left and right.

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-14 Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-7

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-6 Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-5

Starting with their popular Instinct platform, Rocky Mountain is adding an aggressive trail charger of a plus bike with their new Pipeline. Built around 27+ tires the bike offers 130mm of rear suspension along with their Ride-9 suspension adjustment chip system. Up front, you’ll find a plus specific offset fork with 150mm of travel. The initial launch will include the Pipeline 770 MSL and the 750 MSL, both of which use a Smoothwall carbon C13 front triangle and a FORM 7005 series aluminum rear triangle with Rocky’s Smoothlink suspension and BC2 bushing pivots with grease ports.

Fitting up to 27×3.25″ tires, the frame utilizes Boost 148 rear spacing, Boost 110 front, and is 1x specific with a PF BB92 bottom bracket, tapered head tube, and internal cable routing with Stealth dropper capability.

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-10

Details:

  • Smoothwall carbon front triangle, FORM alloy rear triangle
  • Fits up to 27.5 x 3.25 tires
  • 1x specific
  • Lightweight bolt-on axles save 50g per bike compared to a Maxle • BC2TM pivots feature grease ports for easy maintenance
  • Stealth dropper post equipped
  • Internal cable routing
  • PressFit BB92 bottom bracket, IS42/IS52 headset, Boost axle spacing
  • Sizing: S/M/L/XL

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+

Screen Shot 2016-04-10 at 3.48.24 PM

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-2

Screen Shot 2016-04-10 at 3.48.59 PM

Rocky Mountain Pipeline Plus size mountain bike full suspension mtb 27+-18

Pricing and availability TBA.

bikes.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

7 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
motarded
motarded
7 years ago

chain stay lengths?

JH Aberschmidt
JH Aberschmidt
7 years ago

Travel?

Andy
7 years ago

Travel is listed in the article. It is 130 rear 150 front

OneLegDuck
OneLegDuck
7 years ago

What is the rim width? The rim spec has XM35. A 35mm would be a bummer for lower pressure and plus tire. On my plus bike, the 50mm barley handles it. Wish there were wider rims out there for plus.

Darryl Duck
7 years ago

The main reason we all moved away from wide rims years ago was because of rock damage to rims, skinny rims let the rubber do the talking.
I’m waiting for this to rear it’s ugly head again with this fetish for super wide rims.

And for those stupid tree grabbing handlebars to come back to reality.

OneLegDuck
OneLegDuck
7 years ago

Darryl Duck – I hear ya on trends coming and going. However with 3.0 tires, the wide rim turns out to be the same ratio as a standard rim/tire. I’m running 50mm rim and do not bang my rims any more then traditional rim/tire widths. However riding aggressively at lower pressure gets brings out a crazy amount of tire squirm making steering very weird at times. I end up putting in an extra 2~3psi which solves the squirm but then causes poor traction on off camber trail. Wide rims would be better to control the sidewalls better… but youre correct in that you run the risk of wacking the rims more. I’m personally fine w/ rims scraping rocks once in a while. It’s weird how 1~2 psi makes such a huge difference w/ plus tires.

eric
eric
7 years ago

Kudos to RM and to Wade. Terrific vid–loved it!

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.