Rocky Mountain Instinct Review - 2024 eMTB Shootout

#mtb #loamwolf
Rocky Mountain’s Dyname 4.0 drive unit offers more power than any of the commonly available eMTB offerings. It’s something that we greatly appreciate and enjoy when it comes to attacking the steepest climbs out there, so we were excited to welcome their shorter travel Instinct Powerplay eBike into the fold for our 2024 eMTB Shootout to see how it stacked up.
2024 EMTB SHOOTOUT SERIES - The Rocky Mountain Instinct Powerplay C70 was one of 14 eBikes that our staff thoroughly tested with absolute objectivity in mind. From different types of riders to terrain, our goal is to present the best and most honest information possible to help you make your best decision. Of course, we’d love to thank Fox Racing and Schwalbe Tires for being invaluable partners to this series and making it happen and to Howler Bike Park for hosting us for our testing.
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[@conflictingalibi]

Bought this exact spec just over a month ago. For months I considered the Repeater PT, and Shuttle AM, but the 35% off from RM sealed the deal. Used that discount to convert it to an Altitude PP with Zeb Ultimate, and Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil, Maven Ultimate brakes, OneUp v3 Dropper, and NSB 155mm cranks, and still turned out cheaper than any other option. Squamish based and it's absolutely perfect for the terrain. Couldn't be more stoked on the purchase!

[@TheLoamWolf]

That’s awesome to hear!! Congrats and enjoy

[@rawmancemtb]

Isn't the 148.5mm spindle too short for RM? Or is the Instinct different from Altitude? Oh it's RM specific crankset different from the normal one. Not available though.

[@josephcapps7325]

Best bike in the shootout. Mine from 2019 still has all the original motor parts while I know people that have brand new bikes from other brands, that instantly have to get all new motors after only a few hundred miles. Also, it easily has the most torque. All of my friends who bought specialized or trek bikes wish they got the Rocky because it makes their bikes feel slow. I often find myself peddling away from the rest of the pack of ebikes.

[@LoamRoamer]

I see in your review that it states only with Raceface cinch cranksets. While this was true before, North Shore Billet released a powerplay-specific crankset, so we can now run them and get cranks shorter than 165mm, and they are awesome! You can also run SRAM transmission. We just finished a build with 155mm cranks and Transmission, both work perfect.

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thanks for the info!

[@jonlivingstone2122]

I’ve got the Altitude Powerplay and I love it. No issues with anything after 1 year of ownership. No overheating and no failures.

[@approots]

With the current 35% off, the value is compelling.

[@Jesse_James_]

Cool reviews, really like it!

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thank you Jesse!

[@user-uv7zq1jg8c]

I've had the bike since 2022. Before purchasing, I tested it on the steep trails of the Italian Dolomites. As mentioned in the review, it felt like the bike hugged the ground and was quite forgiving. I also tried the Turbo Levo,( which you tested in the 2022 shootout alongside the Altitude as I can recall it), on the same trails. However, I found it less lively compared to the Instinct, which led me to purchase the latter. Like others, I've encountered issues; I had to replace the motor shortly after buying it. Subsequently, I sometimes received error 199, which seems to be a software rather than a hardware issue. I concur with those who praise its riding experience; it's one of the fastest bikes I've ever used. Even in the Alps, where I often tackle over 2000 meters of elevation and around 75km per ride, I've never had overheating issues.

[@IronX77]

I've got two first gen Altitude powerplays. Replaced the torque sensor twice, motor once. Great bike, make sure you're in warranty.

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[@sjaan7370]

Race Face, please make cranks for all RM PP bikes in sizes from 150mm - 160mm! Thank you kindly 🙏

[@oettam20]

Great riding experience! Unfortunately, reliability is a letdown. In about 18 months of use, I've had the handlebar control replaced twice under warranty. Once the jumbotron, twice the clutch on the spider, and once the charger. As for overheating, it's not an isolated incident. If you climb for more than 10 minutes at full throttle, the motor overheats, and the jumbotron display shows a temperature above 75 degrees, and the power is reduced.

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thanks for sharing, we’re curious… How many miles and what sort of conditions do you ride in?

[@oettam20]

@@TheLoamWolf thank you. I ride on the Alps in Switzerland an Italy, mostly on steep rocky trails and all the problems happened in the first 1000 miles. I use the eMTB just on weekends epic ride. The rest of the week I use other acustic bikes.

[@TheLoamWolf]

OK thank you and awesome to hear your conditions and riding terrain/style. Have a good weekend.

[@ryannewland6290]

Just bought an A50 for 55% off, $3150 off of $7000, great deals on these bikes.

[@JoshuaDomoslai]

where did you buy it?

[@ryannewland6290]

@@JoshuaDomoslai Jenson USA

[@SwimmingBird846]

Reliability seems like the #1 concern for me on all these things, atm. Looking into getting one, and I'm horrified by how anti-consumer most of these motor and battery systems are. I have a Mottera SL on order because I loved the idea of the bike, but looking into what it would take to get a replacement battery from Taiwan, or to crack the motor open to replace anything makes me want to stay on my acoustic. Are there any repair friendly brands?

[@TheLoamWolf]

It’s a concern for sure, so robust warranty support is important. Anecdotally the Bosch system seems to have the least issues. But we still know some people who have needed replacements.

[@carterschichtel9678]

From what i can gather, these are a Rocky Mountain motor and they are rebuildable

[@FWCaptain-kv6sm]

dont buy a levo they dont carry replacement motors after 4 years your bike is a brick

[@Mark-gq5vl]

I had an altitude pp last year. Great bike but the motor did overheat twice, also noticed that it wouldn’t get the same elevation as a levo. Battery is poor for 700hh imo. Also you really need to put in high effort to get the high power, which isn’t a bad thing..

[@kyleslater5245]

I wondered if that eagerness to go would cause overheating… good to know… I’ve not really had any issues yet. For me the pedal strikes were not an issue as my other bike is a transition patrol… and it’s lower… and the bike before that was also bloody low so not really a change for me. I do have an altitude though not an instinct. I did of course switch travel to 166mm in the back immediately… no good reason to stay 160mm with a coil…

[@TheKissarmygeneral]

Great bike . I've tried both and I don't see any point in getting the Instinct over the Altitude if it has a motor on it .

[@TheLoamWolf]

We somewhat agree. The instinct is a little more lively, but not by much.

[@approots]

No reason except the current 35% off.

[@duanethompson2879]

Overheat alert doesn't change anything, power stays in play, you just clear the alert on the fly with a thumb button push. Seems the more you ride it and do the updates, it goes away after a while. A real shame of the hard $10k limit here, because the much better equipped suspension/components and bit more travel of the Altitude(c90) only adds like $1500 and it is definitely worth the few extra bucks. For sure you need 165 or even 160 cranks, along with low profile Spank Oozy type pedals and you quickly get used to the slackiness. Yes, I own a 2022 Altitude c90 Rally Edition I've ridden for a year.........and also a year into my newest love 2023 Crestline RS 75/50 EEB, which is in a whole nother category of bike!.....but still think the Altitude is a great bike and the undisputed climbing king!

[@NH-il6uc]

Smoking prices on the Rocky Mountain site now

[@ZippidyMTB]

At least Northshore Billet makes 155mm cranks for these to negate some pedal strike.

[@CABEZAS50]

Hey guys when you get a chance test the 2024 Olympia hammer fresh from Italy with polini motor 120NM in my opinion in Europe They are two steps ahead than here in USA

[@TheLoamWolf]

Sounds interesting! We always love trying new stuff.

[@SHREDD-ED]

Too many glitches on my altitude powerplay. You also forgot to mention the low bb and pedal strikes. But it can be helped with a bump on fork travel

[@allenleclerc7878]

I love my 2022 power-play, but here in the Kootenays all the Rocky riders get overheating prompts all the time. It’s a shame because these bikes are great otherwise. My 2019 never overheated, but I had to replace the motor twice. Huge price to pay for the extra torque. In my opinion, don’t design a bike they can’t be ridden at 100%. Literally the only the emtb on the market that has this overheat issue. Brutal.

[@SCGraniteStater]

I'm finding the same thing (2 week old Altitude Rally Edition owner) --- there's no way you can ride this bike to it's on-paper spec limit due to the overheating issues. I think if anyone ever did a 5K vert head to head climb w/ RM vs. other bikes it would be absolutley embarrising to RM. Actually I think 3K (900meter) vert test would show it's limitations vs. all other motor systems...

[@allenleclerc7878]

@@SCGraniteStater absolutely. It occurs mainly on sustained climbs. It’s faster and has noticeably better power that the competitors but the fact they designed it with this limitation is such a drag.

[@bfranco1519]

Drew loves chocolate bananas! He eats them and rides them. Haha! Drew, you might want to rethink that .

[@SCGraniteStater]

So i just bought the altitude powerplay last week (same motor) and while I agree it's far more powerful than other bikes I've ridden, I'm running into significant overheating issues that are worrisome to me. I know your test this year only had 4-500 vert but I'm noticing than this motor can't handle riding 5K vert on boost 0 / 100% power without tripping motor over-heat. If that's true (meaning my motor isn't somehow defective) I think buyers would want to know that detail b/c I know, for a fact (b/c I rode with them today) that Shimano, Bosch and Brose motors can all handle this ride with out needing to "power down" from turbo to not overheat. Loam Wolf is "all turbo all the time", as am I, so imagine my dismay when I buy a new top shelf EMTB only to learn it can't do what my 3 year old turbo levo can do easily (on the up)....

[@SCGraniteStater]

and I'm being super diligent about riding at 80 RPMs or higher- which is harder but one of the reasons I bought the bike b/c I wanted a bit more fitness vs. the Levo.......as well as the much better descending capabilities.

[@AdventureAwaits4u]

Love riding my rocky mountain Instinct and murdering all other Ebikes on the climbs. Also worth noting I have 450 miles on the bike with almost all of those miles in ludicrous mode. It has never overheated and I average about 2k to 3k of climbing per ride. That being said, the system is a little more complex, so I expect extra maintenance costs over the bike's life.

[@dukeandace2010]

Giant reign E? Please please. 🙏

[@topchoice1621]

I really really like Rocky Mountain bikes but they dropped the ball with this one for 9k+ it should of been blinged out with foxs new gold suspension would of looked better

[@iyot1020]

Got the a50 for 3 grand

[@AC-ww6nf]

9K and no kashima, come on man.

[@sheadleeful]

35% off at Rocky mountain

[@NaZ-rs1dd]

Why does the primary commentator on this channel frequently provide justifications for manufacturers' shortcomings, who genuinely need to improve their performance with these pricey eMTBs? This colour is off and the bike doesn't feel all that grate to some of its competitors

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thanks for sharing, all of our staff are entitled to their own opinions, and Drew genuinely loves this color. He doesn't love the bike, he admits it is good, but certainly not a favorite of his. However that doesn't mean he can't disagree on certain aspects of performance or looks from anyone else and possibly talk more about reasons why brands do things, not making excuses or saying it's ok, but just speaking from his experience in the industry for so long. Hope that helps clarify?

[@fudganuld]

How Ugly is that..Yet another ''way too expensive horrid E-Bike''..The only people who buy these have way more money than sense...Ha!!

[@DB-sd3cw]

Holy hell when will this garbage series end?

[@Cassienope]

Oh no! There is something on the internet I don't like. I need an adult to help me!

[@DB-sd3cw]

@@Cassienope lol calm down little buddy, it'll be okay