25.51 lbs. That’s with pedals, cages, heavy-ish tires and 4-6 oz of sealant in each wheel. It was a bit under 25lbs for leadville with lighter tires, smaller chainring, and less sealant (but with a rear tire insert and wireless blips added to my bars).
Just closing the loop here. I ended buying a second bike. Rocky Mountain Element C70 SRAM build on sale. The more time I’ve spent on the epic7 on local trails, the more I appreciate how fast it is on normal green/blue trails you’d find in XC races.
However, the Element alows me to ride really technical trails in UCSC that I definitely couldn’t on the epic, while not being a full on Enduro bulldozer. Pedals like an XC bike, not unlike epic 8 to be honest, but so much more capable. I demoed an SB140 and hightower, and while a bit faster on the downhill both felt like a lot of bike, whereas the element I could ride the same trails, but It felt more efficient and something I could race at more technical race if I wanted to.
Element is a solid bike for sure. Did you really think that it descended that differently? I’ve only demoed an epic on greens, but I didn’t think that the geometry changed too much, just noticeably more rear suspension and I thought the element rear felt better.
That being said, I compared large element to XL epic, and my element has a 120 34SC, so it is more similar than a stock element.
Regardless, I think it will be a great bike. I’ve been using it for XC for two years, and I don’t regret it at all, and I don’t have wandering eyes yet. The epic 8 getting quite close to the element has me feeling pretty good actually.
Oops, misread post ![]()
It’s an amazing bike…it’s an absolute nightmare maintenance wise. The bearings are laughably small. I had to use blind pullers to get several out and one set destroyed my seat stay (which Rocky did replace no questions asked).
It felt like I was chasing a new creak every 3 or 4 rides. That said it was probably my favorite bike I’ve ever owned when it wasn’t causing me a headache. Wildly capable, light as a feather and beautiful.
I own an s-works Epic 7, 100mm with the brain, and the Element is a completely different bike than that.
I did demo an epic 8 pro, and the step from epic 7 to 8 is about the same as epic 8 to the element in regards to descending, maybe even greater. The length, 130mm pike, and HTA really bring it into another league on really technical trails, think black/ or double black. On green/Blue the epic 8 is a bit better. I rode a few trails like THIS last weekend, which I would not take the epic 7 on, and epic 8 was pretty sketchy. Element was a blast, although I had to dial back pace a just bit compared to Hightower/sb140, I honestly wouldn’t want to go much faster without a fullface.
Yea, so I heard… a new one is due out in a couple weeks with new swingarm. I don’t really have a local dealer nearby, so I don’t know what I’ll do. It was hard to pass up almost 2k off retail. The epic is still my primary bike, so I’ll just suck it up. It would be great if the new swingarm works with 22+ frames.
I love the way the new Elements look from an aesthetic point of view. I thought that was going to be the bike for me but I’ve heard some not great things about their reliability, and they’ve always seemed a bit overpriced, even before the COVID bike boom nonsense. Good on you for getting one at a good deal.
Echo these sentiments exactly. Was a beautiful light fast bike. I destroyed 3 sets of linkage bearings in 6 months and sold the bike. Disaster. But a beautiful one.
What am I looking at?
Upper right it says “Blur 5”
This was in the Mike’s bike video of the Vala, notice the curve for the “Blur 5 TR” which currently doesn’t exist
Had a minor crash a couple weeks ago. Mostly pride and some gravel rash (but, at least I got a KOM I wanted right before it!) but in the process I managed to damage the anti-spin spacers that are part of the headset on my oiz. New parts on the way, but it means pulling all the cables out and re-running them.
So this turned into a - “While I’m in there” and I have the Flight Attendant Fork and Shock ordered and on the way. Guess I’m joining that club a little sooner than anticipated…
Sucks about the crash, but please post an update once you get Flight Attendant on your OIZ. Curious about your thoughts of it on the OIZ vs needing to use the squidlock.
That’s a bummer, no more gold fork/shock combo? If only there was a way to fit FA onto Fox stuff too! ![]()
I know - one of my only regrets, I love the current color scheme. I’ll just have to go with a black OneUp or AXS Wireless for the Dropper to go with the fork and shock though…
I am sure Fox is going to have its fully wireless Live Valve out to the XC bikes soon - I cant speak on price though as the first reviews are talking madness for just the rear shock.
I am a big fox person (this translated from motorsports) and would love to run their product. I actually just put Fox mechanical on my bike but I feel as though they are going to outprice themselves in the market - especially if they cant figure out a damper only upgrade for the front fork.
I think it’ll take a while before Fox is competitive here - they need to get something out for XC, and tested / reviewed. Maybe a release at Sea Otter, but who knows?
I personally already have a Quarq PM and SRAM Transmission too, so in the grand scheme of things Flight Attendant makes sense.
Agreed on this statement and customers like you it makes perfect sense! Someone like me who runs Race Face cranks, Favero Pedals and Shimano brakes, Mechanical shifting etc - the fox idealism makes more sense.
That being said if it comes out and its $2500 to purchase the Fox package - IMO they are blowing it out of the water and I would just look at making the whole bike SRAM powered…
I keep seeing this mentioned. For the system that Fox has released - the intent is to not mess with the fork. I don’t think its that they “cant figure it out” but more that for a trail/enduro rig they chose not to add the system to the fork.
If they do elect to build a 34SC or similar with the new Neo Live Valve, I think a drop in damper is likely.
I’d also add, the pricing is very closely aligned with SRAM. A full FA package is ~2500 currently and it seems like the Livevalve Neo shocks are ~$999 vs the $850 for a Sidluxe FA so not too far off
