2022 Ebike Shootout - Rocky Mountain Powerplay Carbon 70 Review

Rocky Mountain’s Altitude Powerplay is designed to excel as an aggressive enduro eMTB crusher, with dual 29” wheels and 160mm of mid-high pivot rear wheel travel. Since the Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay eBike has already been reviewed at length before arriving at our 4th Annual eMTB Shootout, we’re going to keep this write up a bit shorter and more focused on the ride impressions and who we think the ideal buyer of this bike might be. If you want to see our Tech Check video or read the longer, full-length written review of the Altitude Powerplay, hit the link here, and be sure to watch our full length eBike Shootout video to see what the best eMTBs on the market for 2022 are and how this compares.

THE DIRT
One of the standout features of the Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay is their unique Dyname 4.0 motor system, which is integrated very nicely into the bike. Rocky addressed some notable issues we experienced with the previous generation motor when producing their latest 4.0 generation. The result is a motor system that absolutely hangs with the best of them, and then some. The natural feeling assistance delivers a class leading 108Nm of peak torque to the rear wheel, letting the Altitude Powerplay C70 claw its way up some seriously impressive climbs. That said, the system won’t be for everyone, as it requires more input than most to achieve the maximum “go”.

An early preproduction motor failure made us aware of the potential vulnerability of a customer with the Rocky Mountain system, as sourcing a replacement when on a riding trip in a slightly remote area could be more challenging when compared to the much more prevalent Shimano and Bosch systems and their dealer network. We were assured that our issue was limited to pre-production test bikes and protocols in the assembly line would have caught our issue and spit the motor out for evaluation and repair. Nevertheless, we felt it worth mentioning as we regularly find ourselves driving cross country and riding in remote destinations.

Rocky Mountain employs a mid-high pivot suspension system on the Altitude Powerplay, which produces a notably composed ride through chunky rock and root infested trails. The Altitude Powerplay edges out the majority of the competition when the going gets rough, without producing the negative traits that a true high pivot can. Without a doubt, that composure and confidence earned this bike a high rating overall and allowed our testers to push this bike into situations we were timid about putting other eBikes.

One downside to the Rocky Mountain Powerplay is that it tips the scales at the higher end of the enduro eBike category. While the geometry is pretty dialed for most of our riders, the perceived weight affects the bike’s ability to change direction easily and requires more input to pull for natural gaps. Once airborne however, the Altitude Powerplay inspires confidence, with great stability in the air and an impressive ability to take the big-hits without fuss. When we hit bigger jump lines, the Altitude Powerplay felt totally natural and was a blast, it just took a bit more effort on smaller side hits and while trying to flick it around. Also perhaps a trait of the incredible ground-hugging suspension platform.

[ This is just a short snippet of our written review. For the full write-up with amazing photos, visit the site. ]

Weight as Tested: 54 lbs
Review: https://theloamwolf.com/2022/05/26/rocky-mountain-altitude-powerplay-c70-2022-emtb-shootout/
Visit Rocky Mountain's Website to get yours: https://bit.ly/3yNHTVY
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