2021 Rocky Mountain Instinct BC Powerplay A50

[knut7]

We’ve previously ridden Rocky Mountain Powerplay bikes, both the Instinct and the Altitude. Before riding the Instinct we were wondering, was it a less burly and more versatile bike, or a more aggressive bike? It turned out it could be both, thanks to the adjustable geometry. Scroll to the end if you prefer a video review.

Geometry



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The bike on test is called B.C, short for British Columbia. The B.C. name means the bike is optimized for descending. There is no adjustable frame geometry here, the bike seems to be fixed in the lowest and slackest setting. The Instinct...

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[nasamorpheus]

Solid tyres? They are practically best u can buy.

 

[thbo]

The Dyname 3.0 is a different and interesting motor. It is only active as long there is pressure on the pedals. If we stop pedaling for just a fraction of a second, the motor cuts the power immediately. Some motors will keep the power on for a short while, this evens out the power to the rear wheel. The Dyname 3.0 doesn’t do that. This is a powerful motor that is easily controlled on rough trails, but it can take a bit of getting used to.

I think it only "takes a bit of getting used to" if you're coming from one of the other emtb motors, which all have integrated cranks, "keeps the motor on" and default to rotational input as well as pedal pressure. If you are new to emtb and coming from traditional mtb I think it would be much easier to get up to speed in technical terrain and feel more natural with a RM Powerplay (this actually also goes for the geometry as of 2021). I came from Brose S Mag and the Dyname feels more like I'm Lance Armstrong on cocktails than getting a motor push (as with the Brose and Bosch CX gen 4).