New Rocky Mountain Blizzard Powerplay Fat Bike (2024)

[Twisted Fork]

Copied this over to the Rocky Mountain section so it doesn’t get lost in the general forum section… was a little surprised at the apparent lack of interest there. Where are all the fat bike enthusiasts hiding?

Rocky Mountain quietly released a Powerplay version of their Blizzard fat bike a few weeks back. No big announcements… they just appeared on their website one day. I just happened to stumble across it on a hunch that they might be thinking about upgrading their existing non-motorized fat bike lineup.
Two spec models have been released. Both have shockingly low spec components for the steep price tag, but the bones look good. I’d be tempted to go for the cheapest model, strip it down and build it back up with a Manitou Mastadon Pro fork and XT components.
The Norco Bigfoot VLT 1 still looks to be a slightly better value at the moment, but I’d want to wait until they upgrade the EP8 motor to EP801 first. The EP8 rattle would drive me bonkers I think. The Moustache Samedi 26 Fat 4 with the Bosch Performance Line CX motor also looks intriguing, but that RockShox Bluto fork is pretty dated. Swapping the fork out would add to what is already a hefty price tag here in Canada.

Blizzard Powerplay

The all-new Blizzard Powerplay unlocks access to winter riding in a whole new way. By combining the power of our Dyname 4.0 drive system with the trail-ready geometry of the Blizzard, expect a powerful ride in all conditions with the Blizzard Powerplay.

ca.bikes.com

 

[Twisted Fork]

Wandered in to my LBS yesterday just to inquire if they were planning on getting any of the new Blizzard Powerplays in this year. Turns out they had just received an order of them in on Friday afternoon and had an A30 on the floor for me to drool over. Next thing I knew, I was pulling out the credit card in a joyous moment of pure childlike impulsiveness!
I also ordered a 120mm Manitou Mastodon Pro fork and a microspline freehub body to convert the existing Microshift 10 speed drivetrain to Shimano 12 speed. For now, I’ll fit it with a bunch of Deore and SLX drivetrain & brake components from my spare parts bin and maybe upgrade those over time. Also already had a spare OneUp dropper and Ergon GA3 grips in the bin. Last night I ordered a OneUp carbon bar (on sale right now btw) and some Kona Wah Wah II composite pedals to complete the build.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited for the winter weather to arrive!

 

[Jackware]

Copied this over to the Rocky Mountain section so it doesn’t get lost in the general forum section… was a little surprised at the apparent lack of interest there. Where are all the fat bike enthusiasts hiding?

Rocky Mountain quietly released a Powerplay version of their Blizzard fat bike a few weeks back. No big announcements… they just appeared on their website one day. I just happened to stumble across it on a hunch that they might be thinking about upgrading their existing non-motorized fat bike lineup.
Two spec models have been released. Both have shockingly low spec components for the steep price tag, but the bones look good. I’d be tempted to go for the cheapest model, strip it down and build it back up with a Manitou Mastadon Pro fork and XT components.
The Norco Bigfoot VLT 1 still looks to be a slightly better value at the moment, but I’d want to wait until they upgrade the EP8 motor to EP801 first. The EP8 rattle would drive me bonkers I think. The Moustache Samedi 26 Fat 4 with the Bosch Performance Line CX motor also looks intriguing, but that RockShox Bluto fork is pretty dated. Swapping the fork out would add to what is already a hefty price tag here in Canada.

Blizzard Powerplay

The all-new Blizzard Powerplay unlocks access to winter riding in a whole new way. By combining the power of our Dyname 4.0 drive system with the trail-ready geometry of the Blizzard, expect a powerful ride in all conditions with the Blizzard Powerplay.

ca.bikes.com

Just for info, the Moustache Fat4 is now showing as being fitted with the updated Mastodon (and Purion 200).

 

[Twisted Fork]

Just for info, the Moustache Fat4 is now showing as being fitted with the updated Mastodon (and Purion 200).

Doesn’t look like that has made it to the North American market quite yet, but it will definitely make it a strong contender once it does.

 

[Twisted Fork]

New Blizzard arrived yesterday, one day before the first snowfall of the season. Let the fun begin!

 

[CubeHead]

New Blizzard arrived yesterday, one day before the first snowfall of the season. Let the fun begin!
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Congrats on the new bike! I'm interested in the same bike as well, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it is performing. I'd also like to know if you are experiencing any issues.Thanks in advance. Cheers, Richard

 

[Twisted Fork]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it is performing. I'd also like to know if you are experiencing any issues.Thanks in advance. Cheers, Richard

I’ve only clocked a couple of hundred km on it so far due to the unusually late arrival of proper winter conditions around here. Really enjoying it though. The stock tires are absolutely terrible for anything other than packed trails, but swapping those out for some 45NRTH Wrathchilds absolutely transformed the whole ride experience. Also the cranks are quite long and there are very limited options for shorter cranks available on Rocky Mountain’s motor system (see multiple threads on that topic in the RM Forum). Not so big an issue with pedal strikes on a hardtail and softer terrain, so I’m ok with them for the time being.

I’m finding (or maybe just imagining) that the slack head angle makes the steering a bit sloppy on tight slow turns, particularly on uphill switchbacks. With the 120mm Mastodon fork, the head angle ends up somewhere around 65 degrees… great for the steeps, but the majority of winter riding tends to be on somewhat mellower terrain. I may consider trying a 1 or 1.5 degree adjustable headset at some point in the future to steepen up the fork angle. Or maybe I just need to learn how to weight the front end more effectively in the slow corners. It could also be that my effective stack height is a bit too tall, so I’m experimenting with lowering the bars progressively and moving the saddle forward to get more weight on the front.

For the first month I rode it, I did have an issue where the motor didn’t seem to be giving me the amount of support that I was expecting from it. I was finding myself using the 45 tooth gear and 75% of the available power setting on inclines I would normally be comfortable climbing in Eco mode/39 tooth on my other bikes. Wasn’t sure if this was just due to the big, squishy tires on a soft substrate or not, as this is my first proper fat bike.

I wrote to Rocky Mountain tech support to inquire if I could put a smaller chainring than the stock 34T on without having the altered chainline angle on the torque sensor mess up the motor response. They claimed that a 30 or 32 tooth would be fine and motor performance wouldn’t be affected. After I pressed them further on my concerns that a 30T might not put enough chain tension on the torque sensor, they replied that I was probably correct, but confirmed that a 32T would work fine as long as the recalibration procedure was done afterwards. Dang, I had already ordered a gorgeous 30T chainring from North Shore Billet by that point. $110 wasted there.

So I bought a 32T, installed that, and went for a ride. NOPE! The 32T resulted in about a 40% further reduction in power, even after trying various ways to spoof the calibration settings to be more responsive. I almost blew out a lung on the one brutal ride I tried with that setup. I’m a little miffed about the poor advice RM gave… you’d think they would know their systems better. So I swapped back to the 34T and then replaced the torque sensor to see if that was the issue. Success! More power available now than I could ever need. Actually, way more than is reasonably useful in snow to keep from spinning out. Now I use between 35% and 50% assist on most rides, and it’s plenty. With that little glitch solved, now I can say I’m pretty satisfied with the bike. Now that real winter has arrived, I’ll be able to get more miles on it before deciding just how much I love it.

 

[CubeHead]

I’ve only clocked a couple of hundred km on it so far due to the unusually late arrival of proper winter conditions around here. Really enjoying it though. The stock tires are absolutely terrible for anything other than packed trails, but swapping those out for some 45NRTH Wrathchilds absolutely transformed the whole ride experience. Also the cranks are quite long and there are very limited options for shorter cranks available on Rocky Mountain’s motor system (see multiple threads on that topic in the RM Forum). Not so big an issue with pedal strikes on a hardtail and softer terrain, so I’m ok with them for the time being.

I’m finding (or maybe just imagining) that the slack head angle makes the steering a bit sloppy on tight slow turns, particularly on uphill switchbacks. With the 120mm Mastodon fork, the head angle ends up somewhere around 65 degrees… great for the steeps, but the majority of winter riding tends to be on somewhat mellower terrain. I may consider trying a 1 or 1.5 degree adjustable headset at some point in the future to steepen up the fork angle. Or maybe I just need to learn how to weight the front end more effectively in the slow corners. It could also be that my effective stack height is a bit too tall, so I’m experimenting with lowering the bars progressively and moving the saddle forward to get more weight on the front.

For the first month I rode it, I did have an issue where the motor didn’t seem to be giving me the amount of support that I was expecting from it. I was finding myself using the 45 tooth gear and 75% of the available power setting on inclines I would normally be comfortable climbing in Eco mode/39 tooth on my other bikes. Wasn’t sure if this was just due to the big, squishy tires on a soft substrate or not, as this is my first proper fat bike.

I wrote to Rocky Mountain tech support to inquire if I could put a smaller chainring than the stock 34T on without having the altered chainline angle on the torque sensor mess up the motor response. They claimed that a 30 or 32 tooth would be fine and motor performance wouldn’t be affected. After I pressed them further on my concerns that a 30T might not put enough chain tension on the torque sensor, they replied that I was probably correct, but confirmed that a 32T would work fine as long as the recalibration procedure was done afterwards. Dang, I had already ordered a gorgeous 30T chainring from North Shore Billet by that point. $110 wasted there.

So I bought a 32T, installed that, and went for a ride. NOPE! The 32T resulted in about a 40% further reduction in power, even after trying various ways to spoof the calibration settings to be more responsive. I almost blew out a lung on the one brutal ride I tried with that setup. I’m a little miffed about the poor advice RM gave… you’d think they would know their systems better. So I swapped back to the 34T and then replaced the torque sensor to see if that was the issue. Success! More power available now than I could ever need. Actually, way more than is reasonably useful in snow to keep from spinning out. Now I use between 35% and 50% assist on most rides, and it’s plenty. With that little glitch solved, now I can say I’m pretty satisfied with the bike. Now that real winter has arrived, I’ll be able to get more miles on it before deciding just how much I love it.

Thanks so much for the update on your experience, although it sounds like things are not fully sorted in the EMTB world as yet. I had a 2018 Cube Nutrail hybrid that I absolutely loved, when it was working properly – which was rarely. The final blow was when I snapped a crank arm and had to wait for six weeks to get a replacement as the only company that makes them shuts down completely in August. Now I'm back to acoustic bikes, but I still like keep an eye on what's going on in the world of electric fat bikes. Maybe at some point I'll feel confident enough to get another one.

With that in mind, I look forward to your next update on your experience with your Blizzard. I really hope you get it sorted to the point that it works perfectly for you!

Cheers, Richard

 

[Pedec]

New Blizzard arrived yesterday, one day before the first snowfall of the season. Let the fun begin!
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How you liking your Blizzard and it holding up.. I am thinking about buying one since they have a crazy 50% off right now. Thinking a50. How is it in snow. I also have regular e-bike with studs but with deeper snow it's a struggle. Still fun but tough. Also use it to break trail on local club trails.

 

[Twisted Fork]

How you liking your Blizzard and it holding up.

Winter conditions are late arriving here again, so I’ve only been out for about a half dozen decent snow rides so far this year. I had decided that the head angle was just too slack for most snow riding conditions. Great on the downhills, but had too much understeer on uphill switchbacks, especially in soft or untracked conditions.

I put a 1.5 degree angle adjusting headset on this season to steepen up the head angle and shorten the front centre. This lengthened the already long reach even more and increased the stack height, so I put on a 35mm stem and 20mm rise OneUp bars to get the cockpit geometry back to close to the stock setup while transferring more of my weight over the front wheel.

So far this feels much better and it climbs through the corners much better.
I haven’t had any issues after I had the torque sensor replaced last year. The Dyname 4 motor prefers a higher cadence to work most efficiently, but snowy conditions and big bouncy tires typically need a slower, steady cadence to slowly torque up climbs without spinning out or getting bounced around. The motor still has way more than enough power to do this, but it feels like it’s lagging when I drop below 60 rpm. Using any more than 50% assist is impractical most of the time, because it just spins out and getting started again on a climb is super tough. So the ample power of the motor is sort of wasted on this bike.

The 720Wh battery is more than adequate for 4+ hour trail rides with 1600+ metres of elevation gain using the 50% assist setting (and realistically, I don’t have much desire to do longer rides than that in sub-freezing temperatures). It’s pretty tough work, especially if you’re breaking trail.

The two biggest drawbacks of the Rocky I’ve found are the difficulty of finding compatible cranks any shorter than 165mm and being stuck with a 34 tooth chainring, which is just way too big for steep climbs in snow on huge squishy tires. I’ve heard of ways to spoof the torque sensor to work with a 32 tooth ring, but I feel this bike really needs a 30 tooth to perform best.

If I were still looking for an e-fat, I’d strongly consider the new Giant Yukon. The Yamaha motor performs exceptionally well at low cadences, the head angle is steeper and it is compatible with multiple cranks and chainrings. Probably won’t find many good sales on those yet though. The Norco Bigfoot is still a strong contender too.