2012 Flatline World Cup...

[Different Bikes]

New to North Vancouver:

2012 Rocky Mountain Bikes: Flatline World Cup

Loaded @ ~$6250

-Fox RC-4 -Kashima- Rear Shock
-Fox 40 RC2 -Kashima- Fork
-SRAM X0 DH Groupo
-DT Swiss 350 Wheelset

[Different Bikes]

We forgot:

-Easton Havoc Carbon Bar
-Maxxis Minion 3C DH Tires
-Avid/SRAM Elixir XO Brakes

Just a quick question, as a long time RM rider (since the 90's) and former DH'er, I'm planning on getting back into the Whistler DH scene this year - on this bike!

I'm reading varied reports of where these bikes are ACTUALLY MADE. So, where are these bikes made?? BC or China??

Thanks!

Overseas no Rocky has been made here in years!

dont do it bro the warranty is awful and they're now built by CCM my flatline was flawed hairline break they wouldnt replace it for free after 6mths even charged for shipping plus 5hun for a triangle from last yr and it took 7wks, used to ride kona they warranteed 2 frames upgraded to current models free no shipping charge or nothing and fast got em in like 10 days. the rocky mt warranty rep told me to go back to kona then and I did...operator way betterthan poser rky mountan just like switching from dodge ram to gm way better service....

[Different Bikes]

Originally Posted by mundano

Just a quick question, as a long time RM rider (since the 90's) and former DH'er, I'm planning on getting back into the Whistler DH scene this year - on this bike!

I'm reading varied reports of where these bikes are ACTUALLY MADE. So, where are these bikes made?? BC or China??

Thanks!

The first run of the new Flatline frames (WC and Pro - 2010) were made in Rocky Mountain's prototype facility in Canada.

The current, production, Flatline frames are made in Taiwan.

...

Rocky Mountain still welds all their prototype and test frames here in Vancouver.

This allows them to test -ideas- in the real world (North Shore) before production begins.

-dbNV

[Different Bikes]

Originally Posted by salmonmaster

dont do it bro the warranty is awful and they're now built by CCM my flatline was flawed hairline break they wouldnt replace it for free after 6mths even charged for shipping plus 5hun for a triangle from last yr and it took 7wks, used to ride kona they warranteed 2 frames upgraded to current models free no shipping charge or nothing and fast got em in like 10 days. the rocky mt warranty rep told me to go back to kona then and I did...operator way betterthan poser rky mountan just like switching from dodge ram to gm way better service....

Are you certain they understood your warranty request?

-Drew@NV

[DirtySanchez]

Originally Posted by Different Bikes

Are you certain they understood your warranty request?

-Drew@NV

You strike me as someone with an inside track with RM... So what's their deal - are they good frames/good quality or has production taken a turn for the worse? I can't imagine RM went from the top-drawer panache of the past to a cheapo-bleepo made in taiwan 'experience'.

Care to share??

[Different Bikes]

Originally Posted by DirtySanchez

You strike me as someone with an inside track with RM... So what's their deal - are they good frames/good quality or has production taken a turn for the worse? I can't imagine RM went from the top-drawer panache of the past to a cheapo-bleepo made in taiwan 'experience'.

Care to share??

Hi DS,

We can only speak for our experience in the North Vancouver store. We have sold a large number of current generation Slayers and carbon Element MSLs, and a handful of Flatlines over the last couple of seasons.

Our obvious bias as a dealer aside, we have had great success - measured in customer satisfaction - with these platforms.

Quality - Reliability - Design - Function: All great

-dbNV

[DirtySanchez]

Originally Posted by Different Bikes

Hi DS,

We can only speak for our experience in the North Vancouver store. We have sold a large number of current generation Slayers and carbon Element MSLs, and a handful of Flatlines over the last couple of seasons.

Our obvious bias as a dealer aside, we have had great success - measured in customer satisfaction - with these platforms.

Quality - Reliability - Design - Function: All great

-dbNV

Thanks so much for this info. All things considered, I have an 'in' with RM and this is why I've been on them so much for the last 20 years. Only thing that surprised this time around was to learn that some large-conglomerate style factory (CCM I believe) was pumping them out on Taiwan soil. I know Asian manufacturing can be a plus, but it can - as it historically often has - lead to degradation in quality and care. I also know the same is true when trying to keep manufacturing on home soil - due to profit margins and the like, the same thing can happen - where cutting corners means glitches in the product.

At least knowing you've sold a lot of Taiwanese RMs out of your shop, with - I'm assuming little to no issues - means we're doing well. It's not always like that - but in this particular case, not just for selfish concerns but also because I have brand loyalty, I'm glad to see things are solid.

[DrewM]

Originally Posted by DirtySanchez

Only thing that surprised this time around was to learn that some large-conglomerate style factory (CCM I believe) was pumping them out on Taiwan soil.

Did you internalize the Salmon's rantings or have you heard that elsewhere?

CCM is not a "large-conglomerate style factory," actually, CCM is not a factory at all.

It is just a brand (of bikes manufactured in Asia) that ProCycle (Rocky Mountain's parent company, located in Quebec - Canada) owns the rights to for bicycles (I'm sure there are some other details like "owns the rights to for bicycles in Canada but you get the point).

...


Production Flatlines (and Slayers, and Elements) are manufactured in Taiwan where, regardless of your (or, actually, my) personal opinion of the potential quality of North American Made bicycles, many of the highest quality, most "state of the art" aluminum and carbon bicycles are manufactured in factories like Giant, Hodaka, Merida, Pacific , A-Pro and I'm sure others.

They are manufactured to Rocky Mountain's Engineers' design spec (designed on Annacis Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada, right near BlackSpire and as I recall not far from Dekerf), and required level of quality control (tested in-house in Vancouver using machines RMB has designed and constructed).

Whether that level of quality, and the designs Rocky has engineered, meets your standards and requirements is totally up to you. I have a lot of friends, and customers, who are very happy with theirs but bikes are a pretty personal choice.

Cheers,

-Drew@NV

[DirtySanchez]

Originally Posted by DrewM

Did you internalize the Salmon's rantings or have you heard that elsewhere?

CCM is not a "large-conglomerate style factory," actually, CCM is not a factory at all.

It is just a brand (of bikes manufactured in Asia) that ProCycle (Rocky Mountain's parent company, located in Quebec - Canada) owns the rights to for bicycles (I'm sure there are some other details like "owns the rights to for bicycles in Canada but you get the point).

...


Production Flatlines (and Slayers, and Elements) are manufactured in Taiwan where, regardless of your (or, actually, my) personal opinion of the potential quality of North American Made bicycles, many of the highest quality, most "state of the art" aluminum and carbon bicycles are manufactured in factories like Giant, Hodaka, Merida, Pacific , A-Pro and I'm sure others.

They are manufactured to Rocky Mountain's Engineers' design spec (designed on Annacis Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada, right near BlackSpire and as I recall not far from Dekerf), and required level of quality control (tested in-house in Vancouver using machines RMB has designed and constructed).

Whether that level of quality, and the designs Rocky has engineered, meets your standards and requirements is totally up to you. I have a lot of friends, and customers, who are very happy with theirs but bikes are a pretty personal choice.

Cheers,

-Drew@NV

Again, I wasn't flingin' manure m'man. I am HAPPY to know that these rides are all that and a bag of chips!! I was around on one of the 1st Element Race frames around (pre??) 1990, doing XC and whatever few comps were happening at that time on Vancouver Island. I was one of the first to get an RM6 - remember those - with their THE front fenders LOL!?!? And that was an in-house deal. I then raced the RM7 and a modded RM9 thereafter - again - factory direct. And all this while, I was only ever looking at/with RM... Sure, I had a deal on 'em, but I just kept my alliance and loyalty to the brand. Stepping back for several years and coming back out now, it took me by surprise they were no longer handbuilt on Canadian turf. I'm not competing as I once was - I'm 10+ years older than I was when I blundered and broke myself up. So ya, I am 100% super stoked to know that 'my' brand is still mackin' it with steez and qualiteez. Makes me happy.

I just wanted to get the scoop - the real deal - the down low - and no, I'm not in a position to get that info as readily as I once did. I'm not the type to bite the hand that feeds. Hence my poking around asking about this ride all incognito and stuff. Just making sure, ya know?

Thanks,
Sanchez