As the escalating motor-wars in eMTB rage on, Rocky Mountain continues to go its own way. The Altitude Powerplay 3 is the first of Rocky’s next generation of eMTBs. It features the Dyname S4 Pro drive system, still unique to Rocky Mountain, with increased power over the prior generation. That is built into the platform of the Canadian brand’s Red Bull Rampage-winning endure/freeride Altitude platform for one burly beast of an electric bike.
Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay 3
It’s been a few years since Rocky Mountain updated its Altitude Powerplay. In that time, the brand did release its first “light” eMTB, the Instinct Powerplay SL. But the main line of full-powered eMTBs been relatively unchanged, except for an update to unlock more power in the Dyname 4.0 drive system.
The Altitude, sans motor, has changed drastically in that time, though. Rocky Mountain moved its 160mm/170mm enduro rig to a revived, LC2R suspension design in a complete overhaul. I really enjoyed that bike for its ability to make hectic moments calm and make high speeds feel casual. It is exceptionally composed in an understated way without being boring. Composed enough to win Red Bull Rampage, in modified form, under Hayden Zablotney.
Now, that LC2R (Low Centre Counter Rotating) platform comes to the Powerplay platform, backed up by Rocky Mountain’s new Dyname S4 Pro drive system. The layout looks slightly different, to accommodate the drive system, but it’s the same idea as the standard version.
The Altitude Powerplay, like the standard Altitude, also still features Rocky’s Ride-4 chip for geometry and suspension adjustment. The reach adjust headset (+/- 5mm) also remains for th electric version. The Powerplay has 160mm/170mm travel like the unmotorized option.
Size small bikes run on 27.5″ wheels while M-XL bikes are 29″ front and rear with the option to switch to at 27.5″ rear for a MX setup.
Dyname S4 Pro
While most bike brands are building their eMTBs around other brand’s drive units, Rocky Mountain continues to develop its own Dyname system in house. The Dyname S4 Pro motor adds more power to that system to put Rocky somewhere between Bosch and the upstart Avinox system. The S4 Pro has 108 Nm torque, but the peak power pushes Rocky into the four-figure range, with 1,000 Watts (non-continuous) output. Depending where you live, that could be limited to 750W, but it looks like Canada is getting the full-powered, 1,000W punch.
The system weighs…
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