# Rocky Mountain Sherpa 27.5+ Bikepacking Adventure Bike



## dustyduke22 (Aug 22, 2006)

Anyone else on this forum see this?

Ever since I got my B+ tires, I thought it would make a good bikepacking rig. Guess Rocky Mountain thought so too 

Rocky Mountain's New Adventure Bike - Sea Otter 2015 - Pinkbike


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Different video from RM. Nice plug for Porcelain Rocket gear. :thumbsup:

Full article here.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

Looks like a fun bike but it seems to be a niche in a niche. 

I wouldn't grab a dual suspension bike for touring, and I also don't feel like I need a specialized platform for trips I would take my ds.

I got a chuckle out of them saying you could find 142 hub in Kazakhstan though.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Agreed. I'm not going to ever have one in my garage either, but I think it's great mountain bike touring is getting some love. :thumbsup:

The reality is bikepacking is always going to be niche. The idea appeals to all mountain bikers the reality won't. There is too much Type II fun for most rider's to enjoy it plus the extra planning and gear complexity over going for day rides.

I'm personally not interested in another wheel size tire platform simply because I can't afford not to have more cross compatibility between my expensive bike parts like wheels.

I really dig 29+ for bikepacking, but my next wheelset for my bikepacking bike will be a non-IGH 35mm carbon rim 29er wheelset with Hope hubs. That way I can use the wheels on my bikepacking bike and on a 29er MTB and if I end up wrecking the rims the hubs will fit most of my fleet since they mostly roll on Hopes.


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## dirtdawg21892 (Jul 20, 2009)

I think it would be a good trailbike. Not sure why they are pushing it so hard as a bike packing rig.


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## Mike123456 (May 14, 2013)

It looks awesome!


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## seedub (Nov 16, 2005)

So Vik, the reason you're moving away from the IGH is for more interchangeability? Asking 'cuz based on your love of IGH and other respected riders - my wish set up for pure bikepacking has been an IGH with Gates belt.
Change is not imminent for me yet, a dyno hub has priority, but wondering what tipped the balance for you.
Thanks,
Cam.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

seedub said:


> So Vik, the reason you're moving away from the IGH is for more interchangeability? Asking 'cuz based on your love of IGH and other respected riders - my wish set up for pure bikepacking has been an IGH with Gates belt.
> Change is not imminent for me yet, a dyno hub has priority, but wondering what tipped the balance for you.
> Thanks,
> Cam.


Hi Cam,

I'm not selling my 29+ IGH wheel set and frankly at this point a new carbon wheel set is a ways off so I'm 100% on IGH for bikepacking for the foreseeable future.

When I do build new wheels I'm going to use lightweight bits and a dérailleur setup so I can share the wheels with other bikes in my fleet and also for those trips where performance trumps robustness and low maintenance.

A Rohloff is pretty much a for life purchase for normal folks so I expect to have my IGH as long as I can keep pedalling. If I was going a on tough trip with lots of bushwhacking, sand or mud you can bet I'd take the IGH wheels every time.

If I could only afford one wheel set I'd stick with an IGH, but if I'm going to drop a large amount of money on a 2nd wheel set it has to be compatible with more than just my bikepacking rig.

Personally I'd skip the gates belt and just use a chain driven IGH.


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## tehllama (Jul 18, 2013)

dirtdawg21892 said:


> I think it would be a good trailbike. Not sure why they are pushing it so hard as a bike packing rig.


That's now how they're expecting to see them used, but how they're expecting to sell the most marketing them as. Same reason Jeep still makes really impressive off-road vehicles, and 80% of people buy they and never leave pavement.

I'm actually interested in picking one up just to make it a really light adventure specced XC 29er (and keep the scrapers for what little snow season we have). This has a slacker HTA than the Element 29 it's based on, and I could run a pretty fat 29x2.35" front tire without changing anything.


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## falconpunch79 (May 30, 2012)

I was curious to know what makes the Sherpa special in that they're marketing it as a bikepacking/adventure rig? I was under the impression that most people stayed away from full suspension for those applications. Is it the weight? The travel of the suspension? Geometry? I have camped with a bike (does that count as bikepacking?) and would like to do it more often, but a cyclocross bike with panniers (could I pick a less stable platform?) isn't ideal. I would like to use my hardtail MTB, but I'm planning on switching over to full suspension and was wondering if that would work, thus I'm curious about the Sherpa and if any other FS bikes might be able to fit the bill as well.


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## TobyGadd (Sep 9, 2009)

falconpunch79 said:


> I was curious to know what makes the Sherpa special in that they're marketing it as a bikepacking/adventure rig? I was under the impression that most people stayed away from full suspension for those applications. Is it the weight? The travel of the suspension? Geometry? I have camped with a bike (does that count as bikepacking?) and would like to do it more often, but a cyclocross bike with panniers (could I pick a less stable platform?) isn't ideal. I would like to use my hardtail MTB, but I'm planning on switching over to full suspension and was wondering if that would work, thus I'm curious about the Sherpa and if any other FS bikes might be able to fit the bill as well.


Lots of folks out there bikepack with full-suspension bikes. For long and rough rides, like the Colorado Trail, I wouldn't take anything else. For something like the Tour Divide, I think that full-suspension is overkill.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

Bike choice depends on trip type. I wouldn't be scared to ride a bike with suspension on trips shorter then a week, that have bail outs, or if the terrain demands it. But the added mechanical complication of suspension makes it less the ideal for long trips where you need to be self reliant.

IMO a hard tail MTB is one of the best platforms for bikepacking because it is capable of doing so many things well.


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## falconpunch79 (May 30, 2012)

Ok thanks, I was under the impression that people stayed away from full suspension for bikepacking. I wouldn't do anything longer than a weekend trip anyway. The bike would also be my main MTB and since I was looking at FS I was just curious.


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## Dr.Zoidberg (Sep 9, 2007)

tehllama said:


> This has a slacker HTA than the Element 29 it's based on, and I could run a pretty fat 29x2.35" front tire without changing anything.


This is actually what I am liking about the Sherpa: you can run a regular 29" wheelset for normal xc or whatever riding but then switch to a 27.5+ wheelset for more adventurous riding/touring.

What Rocky was intending with the Sherpa is to make bikepacking almost as fun as a normal trail ride. Sure you can load up a rigid fatty or a normal hardtail but it wont be as fun all other things being equal.

For sure other FS bikes can also fit the bill for fun bikepacking but the 27.5+ on the Sherpa gives it a larger footprint and the benefits that come with it. So its pretty unique in that regard right now.


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