When XC gets rowdy, the agile & playful Thunderbolt shines. Standing on 120mm of travel & equipped with 27.5” wheels, the Thunderbolt delivers a great mix of intuitive XC capabilities & pure playful trail fun. Rocky Mountain's entire development team unanimously agreed on the need for a fun XC bike that stands on the shoulders of dedicated XC race bikes. By understanding attributes of a race bike, we tested & perfected the numbers to arrive at geometry that lends a more playful feeling to riding cross-country. We were able to design a short 426mm rear end on the Thunderbolt, tucking the 27.5” wheel in close to the rider for lots of manoeuvrability & agility. At the same time, the top tube has been lengthened from traditional Rocky Mountain designs to accommodate for today's shorter stems & wider bars. Our Engineers & test-riders like Thomas Vanderham experimented tirelessly to arrive at the bike's 68.5° headtube angle, balancing the unique handling properties of both XC & trail riding styles.