Rocky Mountain Instinct Powerplay Alloy 70
A refined amplification for singletrack
When Rocky Mountain claims i ts Powerplay li ne is designed for mountain bikers, the company means its machines are more than non-assisted bikes with motors on. Rocky has put years into designing its Dyname drive system specifically for use on trails, and the effort shows. The motor does what it’s supposed to when climbing fire roads and doubletrack. Creating an emtb that climbs roads well isn’t hard, though. The Instinct Powerplay stands out, and really comes alive, on the trails.
Rocky Mountain’s Dyname drive delivers smooth, nearly instantaneous support, even when you’re in tight singletrack. This feature makes adjusting to your timing on trails a non-issue, especially in the lowest assist setting. The Powerplay feels like it’s amplifying your power, not adding an external boost. Rocky’s i n-house drive system also centres the weight around the bottom bracket, where extra weight has the least effect on the bike’s trail feel.
Knowing different riding styles and different trails will require different support, Rocky has made the assist levels customizable through an app. As with the Ride-9 geometry adjustment, which carries over from Rocky’s analog Instinct to the Powerplay, the app lets you tune your bike for your trails. On tighter trails, a little assist was enough. For faster trails, it
was fun to really open up the power. The drive unit is controlled by the iwoc Trio remote power l ever. The remote has been updated with intuitive, colour-coded indicators for assist level and battery charge level. It vibrates when you change support levels. The 140-mm-travel frame borrows geometry from its analog sibling with a couple minor adjustments. Chainstays grow by 7 mm, making the emtb more stable, and lending it more traction while climbing.
Currently, the Instinct Powerplay only comes in an alloy frame. While this material choice makes the bike more affordable than the carbon-fibre Altitude Powerplay, the Instinct is not particularly light, which does change how the bike rides. You’re not going to be nose-pivoting around any corners. Beyond feeling like a bike that weighs a little more than 22 kg, the Instinct Powerplay handles well on the trail.
The downside of Rocky Mountain’s decision to integrate the battery into the frame is that there’s no option to change out batteries; you can’t carry an extra one to extend your ride.
Rocky Mountain has built an emtb that the company wants you to ride on real mountain bike trails. The spec matches that intent. The 200-mm-diameter sram Guide RE brakes and sram Eagle GX 1-E ebikespecific drivetrain make sure the parts are up to the task, wherever you take the Instinct Powerplay. The only miss, depending on where you’re riding, is the 2.6" Maxxis Rekon tires. The fast tread gets more miles out of the battery, but if you want to push the bike’s trail capabilities, put on some better tread, and then head out.