The opportunity to ride Rocky Mountain came from me working at Endless Biking and becoming an ambassador. The Maiden is Rocky Mountain’s DH bike, with the first models coming out in 2016. The 2017 version was almost exactly the same, just with some hardware upgrades and some color changes.
I got the middle spec build, which came with performance Fox suspension and Shimano Zee drivetrain. Eventually I upgraded everything to Saint and Fox Factory suspension. The Fork it came with was coil and the spring was much too soft for me. I could bottom it out just by pushing on it not even needing to be on the bike. Fortunately again I was able to convert it to air before the spring did too much damage and my brother put it on his bike because the black stansions matched his bike. The Coil shock was also a performance series which only had two adjustments compared to four that came on the factory model. I went with an air shock in the rear because the spring on the shock was also too soft and I liked the adjustment that the air shock gave me. Eventually I ended up going back to a coil shock for the added sensitivity.
The Maiden has a shorter rear end than the Norco I was used to, but it was surprisingly easy to get used to and ride for the first time. I was able to get up to speed very quickly after building it up and dialings everything in. The bike is fun to ride and is quite poppy because of the short end. This is a downside on some faster rougher sections, but it’s nice to be able to be light and playful on a big DH bike.
I don’t really have any complaints on anything finicky with the bike or the components. The way the suspension works and the short rear end sometimes will make square edge hit feel harder than on other bikes, which can break wheels more often, but that can be adjusted by riding different lines. Other than normal wear and tear of the wheels, brakes, and drivetrain, this bike has served me well and the internal cable routing, while a little more annoying to have to swap cables out, is pretty easy compared to other internally routed bikes.
