Sea Otter 2014: Rocky Mountain Sherpa

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This prototype Rocky Mountain Prototype Sherpa adventure bike sort of invented itself while the team were researching Rocky’s new Blizzard fat bike. Like the Blizzard, the Sherpa is an old Rocky Mountain bike name that’s been re invented. In this case, as a ’27in+’ adventure bike. It’s what Andreas Hestler described as an ‘overlander bike’ or a fat-biker’s summer wheels.

Is that a Burmese Snow Tiger? Or a Nepalese Snow Dragon. Help!

 

The Sherpa is based on a 95mm travel Rocky Mountain Element frame, with a regular 142mm wheel spacing, so it can run a triple if needed. Rocky is keen to point out that it’s a concept bike at the moment, but it was causing a big stir on its stand. The bike also features a dynamo hub and inbuilt USB charging port for your GPS and Instagrammatron machine, so you can document your wilderness adventure (as long as you only adventure in 3G service…). The Sherpa, fact fans, was Rocky Mountain’s first named bike back in the ’80s.

Carbon front end and a one-by. That’s soooo enduro, er, dude.
A regular back end means you can still run ‘normal’ 27in wheels in there.
WTB 27.5in+ Scraper rims and 2.8in 27er tyres.
Porcelain Rocket frame and bar bags
USB charging port for gadgets
Go on then. What are you waiting for?

 

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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