driftermike

Hi all !!
Wondering if anyone owns or has any advice on the sherpa 30 ?
I'm new to touring and trying to decide on a bike. Curious about Rocky Mountain bikes since they're a canadian company. Thanks.

Bekologist

We have Sherpas on the sales floor at the bike shop I work at.

VERY WELL DESIGNED touring frame. all the good Bells and Whistles, very upright cockpit. When's the last time ANYONE has seen a production bike with a generator tab? Add a 12V bottle generator for the occasional time you need night lighting or to recharge your electronic equipment, anyone?

Seems like its going to give Surly LHT and the Trek 520 a run for the money in touring bikes in 2007.

FlowerBlossom

I can't tell from the specs what the max tire width can be on the sherpa. They come standard with 28's, but, from the photos it looks like they might tolerate something wider.

I'm looking for a new bike to do everything, commute, tour (cobble and the Great Divide Route), etc. The Sherpa is a welcome addition to my list, but, I would want to be able to put on at least 32's with fenders. I'm also considering the Soma Double Cross.

driftermike

Thanks guys,
I have yet to see any pics from anyone who owns one.
Planning on a long tour with a Bob trailer ( must be the backpacker in me ) in 2008.
I'm also considering the LHT.

Bekologist

It'd probably take 29'er tires but definetly a 700x38.

Miles2go

I ordered a 06 Sherpa for my wife's birthday and it should be coming into my friend's bike shop either today or tomorrow. As far as I can tell the frames are the same. What I've been told is the bike will easily take 35s with fenders. I think the bike is a great deal even at full retail but you might be able to score a 06 at a reduced price while bike shops are trying to make room for 07s. This is what I did, getting the Sherpa for $400 off retail, from a bike shop and with the full lifetime warranty. The only thing I'm not crazy about on these bikes is the road triple. That's easy enough to fix inexpensively and I happen to have something already to replace the 52-42-30. I wonder if RM could be persuaded to hook the 08s up with a 4x-3x-2x crankset. Someone was able to make Cannondale come around on their T Series tourers.

I looked very closely at the Soma Double Cross when I was shopping for a commuter. Great frames but at their largest sizes the chainstays are only 42.5cm. The Sherpa gives you nice 44.5cm stays and the lifetime frame warranty opposed to 3 years. Not that I've ever needed to use warranty for a frame issue.

Cheers,

driftermike

Hey Miles,
Great idea on getting the '06 model; have yet to go to the LBS here and check them out. Maybe you could post pics when you get yours???

TruckerMike

Ah, that's what that tab is for ! I'd seen those on rockies for a while now but couldn't figure it out. Thanks Beck!

eos30d

I did alot of shopping around, I looked at the Trek520, the Canodel T800, and some CycleCross. the Sherpa came up a winner spec-to-spec, and I really like the bike.

Yes there is plenty of room for larger tires, I have the Conte-travel contacts, which are either 35mm or 38mm. the Mavic A319 rims that come with the bike take 28mm-50mm tires. and the wheels are holding up good so far.

Miles2go

Here are the goods:



Sorry about the image quality of some of these. I was rushed to get them snapped and hide the bike from my wife before she got home. Again, this is her birthday present from me.

I'm holding myself back a little here in saying that this bike is AWESOME. Summed up I can't put it any lighter than that. Let's proceed...

First let me say that these photos show the bike completely stock except for the saddle, which I changed out to one that Nancy's used in the past. Before long, it'll have a Brooks B17 or Champion Flyer like the rest of our tourers. Let's proceed....

Since I'd never seen one of these in person, there were some surprises in store for me.
https://www.pbase.com/image/71595044.jpg
Wow, a chain hanger. Every touring bike should have one. Well, it wouldn't hurt anyway.

https://www.pbase.com/image/71595052.jpg
Yep, there's that disc brake mount. Great paint job!

https://www.pbase.com/image/71595131.jpg
No mounting problems for a rack that I could imagine though.


If I'm guessing right, the cable hanger for the rear brake has the added bonus of being a brake runout adjuster. Hmmm.

https://www.pbase.com/image/71595165.jpg
Oh hey, would you look at that! And it even came with the spokes for crying out loud.

https://www.pbase.com/image/71595221.jpg
All kinds of room for wide tires and fenders here.

https://www.pbase.com/image/71595330.jpg
Same goes for at the brake bridge. Oh and those are Shimano pedals that Nancy will actually be able to use for touring.

https://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/image/71595297.jpg
More tire and fender clearance.


Other side with the bottle generator tab.

Last nice touch I can share with you photographically until a while later when the bike is actually toured on is this: https://www.pbase.com/image/71595153.jpg If your nice hand built wheels go all wacky on you right away then you know who blame it on. The builder autographs their work.

So I had a question about the frame and called Rocky Mountain Bicycles to find out for certain what these were: https://www.pbase.com/image/71595409.jpg They're disc brake cable routing posts as Rob told me. After I got that info I spoke to Rob for another ten minutes so he could get beat over the head about how nice I think this bike is and also why they should drop the road triple. When the 08s come out we'll have to see, otherwise a good number buyers can change the crankset out themselves. Nice folks by-the-way.

I'm not sure why it took this long for the Sherpa to make the forum press. I wouldn't dream of buying a Trek 520 over one of these. This hand-built piece of work seems like it was dreamed up by a bunch of experienced tourers for themselves. Now I have to find an excuse to buy one for myself.

Good luck in finding your bike.

Erick L

My Peugeot is Procycle made like the Sherpa. It came stock with MTB gearing, bar-end shifters and 40-spoke rear wheel. All that for 1100$ CAD but I paid 700$ beause it sat in the shop for 2 years. (CAD dollar was under 70¢ US then). With the news going so fast on the net, they'd have a killer if they built one like that now.

driftermike

Miles!
Thank-you for the awesome pics. Now I really have to make time to go have a look. Great colour too.

FlowerBlossom

I already own a touring bike, but, would like to get a bike with s&s couplers for travel touring, for commuting and errands, and of course, lighter rides w/o panniers. Which is why I gravitated to the Double Cross.

This is giving me something to think about. And, nice color.

ScituateJohn

can one get just the frame?

Loooty

I'm glad this thread popped up.

I want a Sherpa 06 or 07 but local shops only carry mountain bikes by this manufacturer.

Bek, does your shop ship, and if not, is there a place to buy these online? There was one on ebay a while back but it was too small.

I need either a 56 or 58, not sure which in this bike.

Thanks

Bekologist

there are likely noncompetition agreements that prevent us on good faith from shipping it to your area if there is a Rocky dealer nearby. We COULD ship it to you if you bought it in the store, however.

Miles2go

There aren't a lot of places advertising these online, probably due in part to what Bekologist is talking about.

If you want to keep the bike's warranty then be sure you buy from an authorized dealer. If you have one in your location then they should be able to get the bike in for you at no additional charge.

Here are two sites that list the 06 but I'm not advocating either of them. I have not dealt with these folks in any way. Interesting to look at if you're interested in the bike though.

Sherpa Words at Brauns

It's important to note that you should look at the geometry listed on the Rocky Mountain site for the Sherpa. The bike I bought my wife is designated a 52cm Sherpa but the effective top tube measurement is 55cm. The designated frame sizes are based on the seat tube, but I for one ignore such numbers and focus on the effective top tube length. The next site I'm linking to shows a simplified breakdown of the sizes with their ETTs. In short RM offers sizes that have ETTs of 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57cm.

Cycles BiKyle

BTW, both of those sites listed the crankset as having a 20T small ring.

Here's the official site with the full geometry chart.
2007 Rocky Mountain Sherpa

Cheers,

Bekologist

SPECC'D out with a 20T as OEM?

Holy moses. I hadn't looked at the chainrings. (I work the parts counter, not bike sales)

Destined to go down as one of the best specc'd out production touring bikes of the modern era.

If I didn't already have a LHT and a 520....

Miles2go

To quote The Lone Ranger.... Whoa Kemosabe!

I didn't make it clear in my last post that the third party listings of a 20t small ring is in error. Again, the only thing I find wrong with this bike is that I'm going to need an additional $80 for a proper touring crankset to replace the 52-42-30 that it comes with. No biggy. And BTW, the Trek 520 has the same gearing up front.


Here's a shot taken outside. A overcast rainy day, but outside never-the-less.




Cheers,

GJD

This is a beautiful bike, but beware, the '06 is very different than the '07. Many of the components were demoted from LX to plain Deore. If you can still find an '06, jump on it...

Loooty

Doh!

I doubt I'll have the cash before the 06 is replaced by the 07 and becomes hard to find.



Someone lend me 1,300 USD please.

Plus I like the red...

Miles2go

Very different???

Here are the facts: Component: 2006 - 2007

Frame: Reynolds 853 Cromoly - Same woderful Reynolds 853 Air hardened tubing Read For Yourself
Fork: CRO-MO Trekking - SAME
Headset: Orbit C Carbon - SAME
Stem: RMB – Easton EA 30; BETTER?
Bar: 3T THE XL – Easton EA 30; A WASH?
Brakes: Tektro Oryx – SAME
Brake Levers: Shimano 105 - SAME
Shifters: Shimano 105 - SAME
Derailleurs fr/rr: Shimano 105 / Shimano LX – Shimano LX / Tiagra; Hmmm. Looks fine to me
Crankset: FSA Gossamer - SAME
Bottom Bracket: Powerpro – FSA ISIS; A WASH? I've had great luck with FSA
Pedals: Shimano M505 – Shimano M520; BETTER
Hubs: Shimano Deore - SAME
Cogset: Shimano Deore - SAME
Chain: Shimano 105 - SAME
Spokes: DT Champion - SAME
Rims: Mavic A-319 - SAME
Tires: Nokian Rollspeed – Kenda Koncept K-Shield; A WASH? Will work until your Schwalbes arrive.
Seatpost: RMB – SAME
Saddle: Velo Touring – San Marco Ponka Z; A WASH?

Certainly not what I'd consider as very different and with this frame the bike is a bargain at its price.

Cheers,

Robert_in_ca

Does anyone have pics of a Sherpa 30 with disc brakes? Also a pic of the forks disc brake mount?

What would be a good hub/brake combo to go with?

GJD

I stand corrected, and point well taken. Upgrading the drive parts is certainly easier than the frame. I think I may reconsider this bike and upgrade some parts to LX, and maybe the cogset to SRAM 970.

Thanks.

driftermike

I'm 6'3", wondering if the 58 frame would be tall enough.??