Rocky Mountai Bikes ..... Tell me more :-)

[letmetalktomark]

I have always like the RM steel hardtails .... something about their simplicity - no bells & whistles etc.

Were all the steel framed bikes made in Canada?

When the decals say build in Canada I am guessing that this isn't by hand but rather machine :?

Can anyone help with their history?

Cheers,

M

 

[Anthony]

I'm afraid the Built in Canada sticker can legally in Canada mean that the frame was built in Taiwan then shipped to the ProCycle factory in Quebec to be painted and assembled into a bike, and never go anywhere the original Rocky factory in Vancouver. I think the steel frames have been built that way from around 2003. i.e., this is legal, but a bit misleading.

Prior to that the Blizzard (and earlier the Altitude and Equipe) frames really were built in Canada. The Hammer and lower level frames were switched to Taiwan from an earlier date, I don't know when.

The other thing about the Built in Canada concept is that my 2003 Element TSc proudly displays its Master Welder Easton badge with the initials KV signed by the welder who built it. Mine says KV, and I discovered via MTBR - RM forum that this was a Taiwanese welder called Kam. I haven't found his surname yet. The point being though that after a certain time, the only way that they could find welders of the required experience and quality was to hire them from Taiwan. That's where most of the good bike frame welders are, so that's where you need to go to hire them. So yes my frame was Built in Canada. In Vancouver indeed. By Kam V, and a very good welder he is/was too.

 

[letmetalktomark]

Anthony,

Thank you for that - very interesting.

So in terms of quality a Taiwanese RM frame should be no more or less well made than any other Taiwanese frame :? edit this really does read rather badly! :x

Its funny the artistic license granted re the "built" bit. Built to be means assembled whereas it seems that finished be more apt.

 

[Anthony]

I think Taiwanese build quality is very high. Obviously that's a generalisation, but to change the subject slightly, are Far Eastern cars less well built than US-built cars? I would say they're better. And the worst problems I have heard of in retro frames are with Fat Chance seat tubes and de Kerf stays. And maybe Crack'n'fails.

The big Taiwanese factories are efficient and well organised, and it's in the nature of things that they will use their very best welders to work on the best quality tubesets - welding a 7-4-7 tube to a head tube requires a greater degree of precision, delicacy and consistency than welding a 1.2mm plain gauge tube.

If we're going to say that the very best welders in a high-standards, well-organised Taiwanese factory are inferior to a US or Canadian welder, what are we actually saying? Are we racists? Where is our evidence?

I respect those Canadians who feel very strongly about this based on their patriotism, but we are not Canadians.

Having said all that, I have just bought an RM Equipe built in Vancouver, and my previous buy was a 1996 VooDoo Wanga, built in Chico CA - and that is the straightest frame with the best 15 year old paint I have yet seen.

 

[w98seeng]

I just bought a 2001 Rocky Mountain Vertex and the frame is beautiful. The paint is awesome, smooth and clear. The welds are also very nice. Hand welded or welded by machine, it does not matter to me. If the bike rides nice and does not crumble beneath my big butt, I'm happy.

Ian

 

[Anthony]

I just bought a 2001 Rocky Mountain Vertex and the frame is beautiful. The paint is awesome, smooth and clear. The welds are also very nice. Hand welded or welded by machine, it does not matter to me. If the bike rides nice and does not crumble beneath my big butt, I'm happy.
Ian

No bike frame is robotically welded except some really crude low-end models. All others are hand welded, it's just a matter of where and by whom. Your Vertex was welded in Vancouver.

 

[REKIBorter]

I love my Rocky, even if it is modern. The paint job is a work of art.

This is the one I really wanted

 

[w98seeng]

I love my Rocky, even if it is modern. The paint job is a work of art.

This is the one I really wanted

Love the decals.

Mine has that holographic paint that sparkles in the sun.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Second rule of Rocky Mountain club is never talk them up.
That keeps the second hand prices down for them that know :xmas-wink:

 

[REKIBorter]

I love my Rocky, even if it is modern. The paint job is a work of art.

This is the one I really wanted

Love the decals.

Mine has that holographic paint that sparkles in the sun.

They are not decals, the white is powder coat and the rest is hand painted afterwards.