Spot Rocker Initial Impressions
I recently purchased a Spot Rocker hardtail mountain bike, and I am going to give my initial impressions of this bike. I am 42 years old and I ride my local green and blue trails here in Central Texas, which is perfect for the Rocker. So far I’ve ridden my Rocker for a total of about 100 miles, so I’m still getting used to this bike.
I first heard of the Spot Rocker by seeing the review on Hardtail Party’s YouTube channel. After watching the glowing review Hardtail Party had for this bike, I was definitely impressed. I was in the market for a new hardtail mountain bike, so I reached out to Steve from Hardtail Party via his bike consultation service to help me select a new bike. Based on the questionnaire that I had filled out, which included the area I rode, skill level, style of riding, and my budget he recommended the Spot Rocker. Other bikes I was considering were the Santa Cruz Chameleon and Kona Honzo DL. On a side note, if you’re in the market for a hardtail I’d highly recommend Hardtail Party’s consultation service, it’s only $20 which I think is great value for the service you’re getting in return.
One of the first things that stuck out to me about the Rocker over my previous Kona hardtail is the compliance on the back of the bike. I live in a pretty rocky area, and I would often feel pretty beat up after a ride on my Kona. In contrast, the Rocker does a great job of muting some of the trail chatter with a much more compliant frame. As a result I don’t feel nearly as beat up. In addition, the ride position is very comfortable. For the record, I’m 5’11’’ so I ride a size large and it fits me fine. (Update: I noticed I was getting a little lower back pain while riding, so I switched the 60mm stem out for a 40mm, which made a huge difference. My ride position is now more upright, and the back pain is gone.)
One of my local trails that is the type of trail the Rocker seems to excel on.
The Rocker is very light, which doesn’t come as a surprise since it is a carbon fiber frame. It also just feels really fast when you put the power down. The first time I rode my Rocker it almost felt too light and twitchy, so there was an adjustment. The second time I rode it I PR’d on a local trail that is a loop. I rode the loop four times, which resulted in four PR’s, which is pretty insane considering I wasn’t necessarily trying to PR. I will say that at times it still feels almost a little too light. This is especially true for the back end of the bike. When I encounter a rock garden it sometimes feels like my rear tire is just skipping over the rocks and not riding over them. It’s not the end of the world, but you do feel it from time to time. On that note, I did change out the tires for some more grip and to feel a little more grounded, and that definitely helped. At the recommendation of Hardtail Party I put a Specialized Eliminator on the front and a Specialized Ground Control on the rear. That tire combo seems to work well with this bike, at least for me.
Another area the Rocker definitely excels at is climbing. I’ve been able to zip up some steep hills and features like never before. Obviously, being a lightweight hardtail you’d expect it to climb well. Although, I have to admit that it almost catches you off guard how well it climbs, especially on those short, steep, techy features.
Lastly, the customer service experience with Spot has been great. I believe customer service is particularly important when buying a bike from an online retailer. You don’t have the same support network with an online retailer as you would with brands sold in a local bike shop where the mechanics are very familiar with the bikes they carry. Spot kept me posted on the status of my bike while it was being built, and responded to all my inquiries. They’ve also been great at responding to a couple of questions I had for them. I did have to get a new chainstay guard since the one that came on the bike was coming off a little bit. Spot got one in the mail to me right away, so I had it a few days later. Other than that I’ve had zero issues with the bike so far, which is what one would expect for a hardtail mountain bike at this price point.
Overall, my initial impression of the Spot Rocker is it has so far been a great bike. It’s light and fast which is perfect for the XC trails that I ride. It also has a great ride feel that doesn’t beat me up. My hope is that this is the last hardtail purchase I make for quite a few years. I hope this initial impressions is helpful for anyone interested in the Spot Rocker. If you want a more in depth review on this bike from someone with a lot of mountain biking experience I’d recommend checking out the Hardtail Party YouTube channel’s review.
Thanks for reading.
