Altitude powerplay questions for potential purchaser

[mrhaboobi]

Hi

Looking at an altitude powerplay. 181cm tall. 48 years old, 110kg. Riding trek slash 2021 currently

Hoping to get some help with questions as getting into a bike in my country is hard , demos are near impossible.

1) is the bike “playful” or a big warship? Looking for something that has a bit of fun in it. Are they super heavy ( alloy, can’t afford carbon but does that make much difference)

2) mullet. I can’t afford the carbon version so can’t use mx mount. Has the bike been mullet config with success?

3) 165mm crank on large. Has this made much difference to pedal strike? I’ve had a carpark ride on a bike and found that it did feel lower when I took sharp turns, like the pedals would rub.

4). Any issues in general with dyname eng? I’ve ridden a specialized levo and that my only comparison. That felt good. .

5) size. Any suggestions/ exp with med/large? I find u need a high stack and shorter reach to avoid lower back, neck and hand issues. I had neck pain in the specialized. On my slash i have 30mm of spacers and a duet copperhead and oneup 35mm rise bars. Specialized had very limited spacer space. Wondering about Rocky and the ability to get a higher more relaxed stack.

Assuming there are no new models coming.

Cheers

 

[Robstyle]

Hi I think I can chime in here.

I am 178cm I had a L A70. It was 26kg ready to ride for me. Dh tyres cushcore xc +pro. I lean towards it being a battleship to be fair. But you get away with pretty rowdy descents. Other bikes are more poppy.

You could look into shocks with extended eyes to make mullet and run in pos 4. Dvo I know make one, I haven't looked into other brands.
To be honest it's worth getting a carbon I reckon, just for the mx link.

Yep stock 170 cranks strike like hell.

The dyname engine will smoke all the others up climbs but requires you to work for it, they need high cadence to deliver the goods. They often fall out of calibration cos the torque sensor is very sensitive, but it's very easy to do. I had a screen replaced under warranty but sold the bike with less than 1000km so I can't comment longterm.

Never had a problem with stack on the L. I think personally I would've enjoyed the M more though.

 

[A06]

5'10" 175lb rider here with a A30 heavily modified/upgraded. I actually wanted the aluminum over carbon but that's a personal preference.

1) Weight of an emtb is not a huge selling point for me. They are heavy and I just deal with it. With a moto background it still feels light by comparison. Only time I really get put off by the weight is at the bike park so the solution for me was have a dedicated park bike. Just sold my Slayer and currently looking to get a full DH bike for the park. With the two flip chips you can make it very playful or go full slack for Downduro. I added even more weight by running coil forks so again I really dont mind or really notice weight other than when I'm putting it on the rack.

2) Carbon version mullet capable the Aluminum ones your stuck with 29 but its so slack already I think running mullet will make climbing a bit tricky as my front floats on the steep climbs now.

3) A30 and I believe all of the A series have 170 cranks and you will spend more $ just to run 165's which still are too long. Really the raceface cinch interface on the spider is the biggest negative as it limits your crank options to only Raceface and they dont sell shorter cranks with the correct spindle length.

4) Motor is the appeal of this bike its just fantastic BUT feels very different from the others as the drive is not integral and assist is determined by cadence and torque. Despite all the emtb hate you will get your cardio in on a RM but your muscles wont be as sore as a non emtb.

5) I found the stock stack to be fine out the box so I kept it the same when I replaced the fork.

I previously had two other emtb's and the RM is by far my favorite but I still may end up getting a Kenevo one day or possibly a Voima. I am not one to fear experimenting so I did overstroke the travel by 5mm and had zero issues thus far.

 

[cabbynate]

I have the A30 coil and I really like it alot. I came off a 2019 Focus jam2 plus pro. The Focus was a trail bike and was a bit more playful for me. I don't get rowdy but I still like to hit small jumps and drops.

The Rocky Mountain motor is great. Most people don't change the ride profile so they are a little put off by the high cadence needed to get the motor humming. You have to set a custom profile to get the power with a lower cadence. I recommend setting Boost at +2 and eco at 30%, trail 1 at 50% and trail 2 at 70%. Ludacris mode is full power and you can use it most everywhere. It has little to no overrun so it can be slow peddled up some crazy steep technical trails. Also the more you put in the more you will get out of the motor but with +2 Boost you get alot at a 50-60 rpm cadence and a ton of power at 70+rpm.

I am about 87kg with kit and all and 5'9". Mine is a medium and fits me fine. It has 165mm crank arms and I put a 180mm fork on and in setting 4 I still get the occasional peddle strike.

If I could go back I would probably get an Instinct as it would probably be a bit more playful. YMMV...

 

[mrhaboobi]

Wonderig the recent colour change models ( green etc ) have any changeds or improvements over the green/yellow versions?

 

[cabbynate]

Wonderig the recent colour change models ( green etc ) have any changeds or improvements over the green/yellow versions?

Nope, just a color change.