Rocky Mountain Instinct

EVEN IF I STILL LIVED A THOUSAND miles away from the legendary McKenzie River Trail, there’d be a good chance I’d have it on my mind when devising the perfect bike build.

- Ryan Palmer

With its mix of uber-techy lines over lava, dark duff in old growth forest and screaming fast hardpack descents, McKenzie is a singletrack dream come true. Add to that insane views of crystal clear lakes, commanding waterfalls and massive conifers—it exemplifies the very reason I love mountain biking—even complete with a trailside natural hot spring. Now that the start of this gem is just a 30-minute drive from my doorstep, there’s no way it wouldn’t influence this year’s dream build.

29-inch wheels were the obvious starting point because of their ability to simultaneously provide maximum roll-over on technical trails and stability at mind-numbing speeds. Plus, I already knew that I wanted Mavic’s XA Pro Carbon wheels—the best riding and best looking carbon wheels on the market. From there, I zeroed in on the right amount of travel for my needs. I figured that something in the mid-travel range would be ideal. Something short enough to be light and agile, but with enough balls to take on road trips to British Columbia.

The Evil Following MB would be an excellent choice—and I should know, I have one—it’s one of the best bikes I’ve ridden. But then I got a look at the clean, unobstructed lines of the new Rocky Mountain Instinct. Its form was simple in comparison to the Evil, and it had almost the same color orange I’d grown to love on my Following MB, but with the addition of a beautiful olive color. Best of all, it had 140 millimeters of travel front and rear—the same as the discontinued Trek Remedy 29, which I loved.