Serious quality issues
They seem to have deleted my previous review so I’m back with an update after year 2 of ownership (Goes to show how meaningless reading reviews on a product’s website is when they can just delete whatever they want). I’ll preface this by saying my element is by far the best riding bike I have ever ridden, suits my terrain and riding style nearly perfectly, and would easily be my favourite bike ever if it weren’t for the numerous problems I’ve had.
For reference I am 150lbs and ride mostly aggressive xc trails. I generally ride 15-20 hours per week these days and I like to push the limits of the bike and myself frequently. However, I am also meticulous about maintenance, stripping the bike completely down to the frame for inspection, lubrication, and replacement of any parts at least once per month.
In the first 3 months of ownership I went through 2 of the stock rear raceface turbine hubs, 1 Rocky Mountain front hub, 1 Rocky Mountain toonie dropper, and 1 xt derailleur. All were due to some sort of defect and were replaced by warranty (for the record I know the rear hubs and derailleur are not manufactured by Rocky but the fact they openly admit to stocking a hub with known issues on a $6k+ bike seems preposterous). I have since replaced the wheels with something more reliable I purchased separately and have had no issues.
Apart from component issues, this frame seems to absolutely eat linkage bearings. After the first 4 months (roughly 600km as I wasn’t riding as much…
