How Much Travel Is Too Much Travel? (Rocky Mountain Slayer Review)

Rocky Mountain sent over their Slayer 29 for testing and we have been putting the bike through its paces the last few months. With 180mm of travel, Rocky Mountain is claiming this is a freeride bike however our time testing has us wondering how much travel is too much travel and can the Slayer be a 1 bike quiver bike? Let's find out!
Check out the Rocky Mountain Slayer here: bikes.com/collections/slayer
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#rockymountain #slayer #freeride

[@BikesAndBrewing]

2020 Slayer here, love that bike, it's so forgiving and stable, trails and park, it rocks!

[@moandhannahtravel]

Such a good bike!

[@rockymountainbicycles]

Thanks for the review Mo!

[@JimCockerham]

Great review, thanks for sharing!

[@moandhannahtravel]

Thanks for watching!

[@KestrelYI]

Excellent review!

[@ssjj9584]

Haven’t seen you have this much fun in awhile. I always say: all bikes are playful, just at different speeds. Fast is fun 🤘

[@moandhannahtravel]

hahaha so true!

[@danpelletier6727]

Nice job Mo. Reviews are a good angle for you and your channel.

[@moandhannahtravel]

I appreciate that!!!!

[@ezekielcarsella]

the evil laugh at 6:03 was the best part hahaha

[@moandhannahtravel]

😂😂😂

[@mrvwbug4423]

If the wheels are the same as what came on my 2023 Altitude, the hub is a DT Swiss 370 with 18pt engagement. It is easily upgraded to the 54t star ratchet as it already has the star ratchet upgrade for the 370 hub. I put the 54t ratchet on mine and it made a huge difference.

[@moandhannahtravel]

Good to know!!!!

[@travelthenarrowtrail8660]

Agree with you Mo, ditch cush core and get some I-9's. Great review again...

[@moandhannahtravel]

I9’s are awesome!!

[@mrvwbug4423]

If it has the hub I think it does, you can upgrade the engagement for cheap. My 2023 Altitude came with the same wheels and the hub is a DT Swiss 370 with the star ratchet upgrade, so I just dropped in the 54t star ratchet upgrade, much cheaper than a new hub.

[@sjaan7370]

The Altitude and Slayer are amazing machines 😎

[@moandhannahtravel]

So true!!!

[@mrvwbug4423]

Yup, I have a 2023 Altitude and absolutely love it. Supremely confident and insanely fast.

[@octodadmtbmartyrichards2862]

Love these medium term bike reviews ❤❤❤

[@moandhannahtravel]

Glad you like them!!!

[@bikeninja956]

nice review man. 180mm all around is a beast. I have yet to find a place where 170mm is not enough. At times, long travel FR bikes can be a little overkill, the big travel and HTA's can be a little finicky on the climbs but it's all made up once you point it down. If you build them up light enough, the pro's definitely outweigh the cons. My2cents.

[@moandhannahtravel]

So true!!!

[@onetime242]

You can never have too much travel. 180 is my minimum amount of travel. My Amish bike is 180/180 and my ebike is 190/200. 200/200 would be perfect.

[@moandhannahtravel]

That's crazy! haha

[@onetime242]

I also ride them on the same trails in OC. 🤘🏻😎

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

My Norco aurum has 200mm of travel, when I spent a day on it and I'm back on my 180/145 trailbike I have the impression of riding a lightweight xc racer 😂

[@moandhannahtravel]

hahahah!

[@tomassanesson902]

So awesome bike🤟🤟🤟

[@moandhannahtravel]

It really is!!!

[@johncarrington8612]

It looked like it might have a bit of pedal bob when locked out on the up hills. Was that the case?

[@moandhannahtravel]

Very slight but expected with a coil shock and 180mm of travel

[@MikeesTexas]

Curious how the slayer compares to the la sal?

[@moandhannahtravel]

The La Sal was more pedal friendly and slightly less aggressive but both are great down hill. The La Sal was a better climber the Slayer does better with big hits!

[@mikefleissner4415]

Rocky mt.❤

[@moandhannahtravel]

Such a fun bike!

[@nealtown1270]

What fork does it come with?

[@moandhannahtravel]

180 fox 38!

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@moandhannahtravel This might be one of the few bikes where I would legit run a 190mm Zeb :)

[@eduardoguillen6385]

130 140 should be enough for any trails .

[@moandhannahtravel]

That’s a good travel!

[@bikeninja956]

been there, done that. It's not enough when you start hucking and jumping IMO. I'd up that to 160/150.

[@flow2tech]

​@@bikeninja956i don't know, look at slopestyle bikes .. Many are only 100mm travel... I'm on an allied bc40 with a 130 fox 34 ..Honestly feels like a trail bike to me with it's geo.. Hucks pretty damned sweet for an agressive xc/downcountry rig.

[@mrvwbug4423]

There's a difference between enough to ride it vs enough to ride it like an absolute hooligan haha. And with as good as enduro bikes pedal these days, you might as well just go up to 160/170, you're not going to gain much pedal efficiency on a 150/160 bike but you're going to gain a lot of downhill speed and confidence at 160/170 as the compromises of an AM/trail bike go away.

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@bikeninja956 Even then, there's not much difference in pedal efficiency between a 150/160 bike and a 160/170 bike. I went from an Ibis Ripmo to a RM Altitude last year, and basically sacrificed a tiny bit of pedal efficiency for a metric fuckton of downhill performance. the Altitude is dramatically more confident through tech and even jumps better. And it's not much longer than the Ripmo so still does trail bike duty just fine.