2003 Rocky Mountain Blizzard

troje

Rocky Mountain Fan
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I own this frame already for a long time, I bought it from a friend some time ago, but never found the time to properly build it up. Until this autumn I decided I had to finish (or start) this project and have a proper bike available for my regular trails here in the western part of Holland. Rocky Mountain is for me really a cult brand, with beautiful bikes and frames they made ever since I can remember. The Blizzard is one of my favourites, they built it for such a long time and still you don't seen them very often out and about.

The build took me some time, because I wanted to do it all myself and I do not have so much spare time. Nevertheless, it's great to take my time to research which components I should buy, where I can source them and finally assembling everything together. This is the result:

Frame: Rocky Mountain Blizzard 2003, 19.5"
Fork: Rock Shox SID RLT 100mm.
Wheels: Bikeboosting Hope Pro II Silver, Stan Flow rims, DT Competition black
Quick releases: Hope quick releases steel silver
Front tyre: Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evolution 2.1
rear tire: Schwalbe Little Albert Light 2.1
Steer: RaceFace Deus XC
Stem: RaceFace Evolve XC
Headset: Chris King Nothreadset 1.1/8 Silver
Saddle: Selle Italia Max flite gel flow
Seatpost: RaceFace XY
Brakes: Hope Tech X2 Evo, 183 mm Hope floating disc front, 160 mm Hope floating disc rear
Front mech: Shimano XT M780 top swing
Rear mech: Shimano XT M780 10 speed silver
Chain: Shimano HG94
Shifters: Shimano XT M780
Cassette: Shimano XT M771 10 speed 11-36
Cranks: RaceFace Evolve XC
Pedals: Shimano XT M770
Cabling: Jagwire ripcord carbon

P1010287.JPG
 
That looks really nice, right mix of black & white to match the frame colours.

Not too sure about the seatpost & bottle cage mind
 
Nice RM Blizzard, nice build. I myself LOVE RF XY seatposts. Have one on my ETSX-70 of the same year! ;)
 
Really nice looking Blizzard you have there :cool:, except for the seatpost, bottle cage and saddle. But then those Raceface seatposts are a bit of a Marmite thing I suppose, and saddles - well they suit you or they don't.

That bottle cage looks too roadie-ish though.
 
The looks of the XY post are a matter of taste, but dynamically it surely can't be good. Troje's saddle is almost over the rear axle. How do you guys attack the trail from back there? Put a Syncros on it and immediately you're in a more dynamic position.
 
Thanks guys! Bottle cage holder... yes, agree fully, should be gone soon.

Saddle is one of those things where I prefer function over form, I really don't care about the looks as loong as it sits well... and this one does.

In the old days I was one of the few riding around with an ancient, gold plated Rolls! Sat perfect, but way too heavy, and everytime someone commenting on it. I really don't care, I was able to ride long days in a row while he had to suffer from his minimalist approach :)

Seatpost, good point. I'm looking for a Syncros but am not unhappy with the XY, I'll try which one suits best!
 
Anthony":15hdb4sc said:
The looks of the XY post are a matter of taste, but dynamically it surely can't be good. Troje's saddle is almost over the rear axle. How do you guys attack the trail from back there? Put a Syncros on it and immediately you're in a more dynamic position.

Not sure regarding Troje's geometry, but mine is not set nearly as far back as that.
 
I haven't got a catalogue picture of the 2003 Blizzard (I think it was only sold as a frame, so no built-up bike in the catalogue), however this little shot of the 2002 from Bikepedia shows how much more planted the whole bike looks with the saddle in the intended position, over the chainstays not the rear axle.

Dynamically, this is even more important if you raise the front end with a longer fork, as Troje has done. If the front end is high, the whole frame is canted back and you're sitting over the axle, you need to be a really powerful rider to overcome all that and get some work into the forks. I know there is a bias against an upright position, but for most of us it's the only way to go - the more travel in the fork, the more upright you need to be to make best use of it.
 

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