I somehow managed to hornswaggle Sully’s new bike out of him for a day of adventure on Canada’s North Shore. He made me promise to ride the bike like I meant it, and to allow others in our group to check it out as well. Let me tell you, that’s what we did, and it was really fun!

For those of you who don’t know it already, Rotec is a Pacific Northwest company owned by John ‘Sully’ Sullivan. Sully also owns Gravity Racing Components, or GRC, makers of fine aftermarket brake levers and burly chainrings for Freeride and DH use. The RL9 is the All New bike from Rotec, and a complete departure from previous models, utilizing a Lawwill design rear suspension with a concentric main pivot, which means that the rear end pivots on a large bearing which literally surrounds the bottom bracket of the bike. Before the advent of stable platform shocks, previous Rotec’s built around long single pivot swingarm designs suffered from terrible pedal bob and other handling idiosyncrasies like brake jack which hampered the popularity of the design. With new shock technology, however, and the refined Lawwill design Sully chose for the new bike, this Rotec should be able to distinguish itself from it’s older brethren quite nicely.

The Day After……..

Well, having rode the RL9 yesterday on a beautiful day at MT. Seymour, I must say I was very impressed with the bike. Trail conditions were a bit wet in places with all the usual gnarly rocks and roots you expect from the North Shore, as well as plenty of wet, slippery wooden ladders and the like. Wetness notwithstanding, and despite the fact that the RL9 came to me with 60a Durometer Maxxis Highrollers, the bike hooked up amazingly through it all, riding rock faces, skinnies, and jumping and dropping with authority. Three laps on Seymour included rides on Corkscrew, Ned’s, Team Pangor, Empress, and Boogie Man, so I guess we gave the bike a thorough test!

The biggest thing I noticed about the bike was the ride characteristics, one word- smooth. Between the 888 up front with the Go Ride flat crowns, and the 5th element managing the Lawwill rear end, the RL9 seemed to be maybe the most responsive DH rig I have ever ridden. I’ve had good, good rides in the past aboard Demo 9′s and Giant DH Teams, and have rode many other DH bikes which impressed me much less, this bike outperformed them all.

Since the bike is actually a pre production model, and is set up nominally for Sully himself right now, it’s a Large frame, and the rear spring on the 5th element was a 400lb. weight. I usually ride a 325 on my Bullit. Now perhaps with a long travel rear like this, and the different suspension design, I might need a 350, but despite the spring supposedly being too heavy for me, the rear never felt harsh or unresponsive at all. The Brake Therapy floating rear brake also performed well, helping to further minimize any untoward behavior on the bike’s part. It would still be interesting to have a bike like this dialed in completely for me and my riding style, and see how well it really can perform when everything is in place. I’m also a bit short for the bike, but had no problems at all picking up the front end for drops or to get it over obstacles, it wheelied much more willingly than the V10′s and the old Rotec’s I have rode in the past. The wheelbase, while over an inch longer than the other bikes in our group, was actually still just fine for riding the tight trails on Mt. Seymour. I was able to ride any skinnies I was willing to try, and I could’nt blame the Rotec for not making it over any of them, that was all pilot.

I surrendered the bike on the second run of the day to the newb in our group, Dave from California. Dave slayed the trail on his first Freeride Odyssey, and had a blast aboard the RL9. He expressed how smooth the bike was compared to his Heckler and my Bullit, which was his loaner for the day, and seemed to pick up momentum and learn as the day progressed very quickly. He defenitely enjoyed the bike and how could he not? Crapiss also got a few minutes of saddle time but since he had rode the bike previously, but briefly, he gave it back to me so I would stop crying like a schoolgirl. (Use this trick yourselves to get what you want, it works good!)

All in all, I really enjoyed this unique chance to ride a special and very good performing bike. I honestly think it has got to be the fastest thing I have rode to date, and I can say unequivocally that I now understand how much different a full on DH bike really is from something like my trusty Bullit. Love her though I do, even the Bullit has to give a nod of respect to this very capable racer. This is a fun, fast rig that I think will be a contender in the DH race scene under anyone lucky enough to get their grubby mitts on one. If this is a prototype, I can’t wait to try out a finished, full Production version of this slick package. Mert Lawwill should be proud of what Rotec has accomplished with the new RL9.

On a side note, we had lunch at the famous Bean Around The World, where Rory and the staff took great care of us, and I was able to hook up on some trail maps of the three main mountains, Seymour, Cypress, and Fromme- I’ll be looking these over all winter as I plan my next assault on Canadia. Their hot sandwiches, by the way, are just what the doctor ordered for a brisk day of exertions on the trail. After the ride a couple of celebratory brews and snacks were partaken of at Seymour’s, another freeride friendly local establishment who welcomed us all like friends. All together, an epic day, and one we could not have planned better if we tried, made even better by the presence of a unique new player on the scene, the Rotec RL9.

I know I know, no pics- sorry! we were riding too hard to stop for them!

Check the RL9 and Sully’s other Premium stuff at:

http://www.roteccycles.com/

By the way, I had a long discussion with Sully last night regarding the bike, and it turns out that my understanding of the Lawwill suspension was flawed at least in part. The design apparently is pretty sound from a pedalability standpoint. This means that, while Rotec specs the 5th element shock on the RL9 right now, it should ride well with any number of shocks, it makes me wonder what an Avy would feel like back there……

Now, previous Rotec Models like the Moto DH9 and FR8 did have some undesirable traits such as a tire clearance issue, (you couldn’t fit anything bigger than a modest 2.35 in back if you wanted to run the 26″ wheel) and some pedal bob, due to the concentric pivot. Riders also spoke sometimes of the bike feeling too long in the wheelbase and the cockpit areas. The new design addresses all these concerns, with different wheelbases for all three sizes, a shorter cockpit with lower standover clearance across the board, ample tire clearance, (The bike had 2.5′s front and rear, with room to spare!) and with the 5th element working well with the Lawwill design rear end, the bike feels plush and progressive. I also neglected to comment up top there about my impressions on the integrated Hopey steering damper, whic I found to be amazing. I never realized how well something like that could work until I had spent over an hour on the Rotec, and then took the second run of the day on board the Bullit, which of course has no Hopey. WOW. That thing works. You feel much more stable, the bike drives through rough and rutted terrain like it’s mad at it, and your arms are less tired by far after a long run. This is a serious racer’s upgrade, and would make absoloutely any bike perform better in terms of straight line stability and arm fatigue prevention. As far as I know, Rotec is the only company around spec’ing the bikes with integrated mounts for the Hopey, and it’s one dope product. You do not notice the damper at all while riding, it never interferes with the ride, but it does it’s job, really.

The RL9 is a whole new animal from Rotec, one which breaks free of all previous stereotypes about both the Lawwill suspension design and older Rotec’s characteristics.

I look forward to riding this bike in it’s production trim, Sully promises the frame will be lighter by a couple lbs. which should make this machine even more amazing, as it is a normal 44 or so lbs. right now, with a totally solid parts spec.

Steve Cominski AKA Crunch