there's been a lot of debate over the past few years whether the Blizzard is indeed still made in Canada, or farmed out to Taiwan. don't think there's been any definitive evidence one way or the other, and i'm not gonna believe some second hand opinion from this guy who knows this guy, who heard it from his bike shop etc. etc.

this past year, RM included a decal on many of their frames that said, "hand crafted". "HAND CRAFTED - Not built by robotic drones. Completely designed, assembled, and welded by highly skilled craftsmen to our unmatched standards." I took this to infer that the frames bearing these stickers were made by hand in their Canadian factory. the Blizzard didn't get one. and the Blizzard's rear triangle is made from generic cro-moly too.

and if you look at a picture of the RM Blizzard frame, and the Nashbar frame, they're pretty much identical. although RM didn't have mounting posts for V-brakes on this year's frame, the design of the disc brake frame support, disc mount, rear dropouts, the extreme sloping top tube, the head tube, the way the rear stays are welded to the seat tube in the same place, and above the toptube weld point, and so on, the two frames are practically identical. My Blizzard even has the same three holes in the chainstay bridge.

and compare how the built-up RM Hammer(same frame design as the Blizzard, just made with 725) and the built-up Nashbar look.

in my opinion, the RM Blizzard and the Nashbar frame are one and the same. course, I could be wrong, but it's gonna take some real proof, and not just someone saying that RM Blizzard frames are hand made in Canada. cause I don't think that's true anymore. and seing this generic Taiwanese Nashbar frame that looks identical to the Blizzard just confirms those suspicions.

and check out the measurements. Rocky Mountain:


Size 14.5" 16.0" 17.5" 18.5" 19.5" 21.0"
Head Angle 70.0° 71.0° 70.5° 70.5° 70.5° 70.5°
Seat Angle 74.0° 73.5° 73.0° 73.0° 72.5° 72.0°
Horiz. Toptube Length 525 540 565 580 595 610
Headtube Length 90 100 110 125 140 175
Chainstay Length 425 425 425 425 425 425
BB Drop 30 30 30 30 30 30
Wheelbase 1022 1027 1048 1063 1073 1084
Front-Centre 599 604 624 640 650 661
Standover Height 721 737 752 768 783 815




Nashbar:

_________NASHBAR 853 SIGNATURE MOUNTAIN FRAME SPECIFICATIONS_________
_SIZE_ _15.5"_ _17.5"_ _19.5"_ _21.5"_
Top Tube (horizontal): 541.4mm 566.2mm 596.0mm 610.7mm
Head Tube: 100.0mm 110.0mm 140.0mm 175.0mm
Wheelbase: 1027.5mm 1047.7mm 1073.4mm 1083.8mm
Front-Center: 604.3mm 624.5mm 650.2mm 660.5mm
Standover Height*: 737.0mm 752.0mm 783.0mm 815.0mm
Chainstays: 425.0mm 425.0mm 425.0mm 425.0mm
Bottom Bracket Drop: 30.0mm 30.0mm 30.0mm 30.0mm
Head Angle*: 70.5deg 70.5deg 70.5deg 70.5deg
Seat Angle*: 73.5deg 73.0deg 72.5deg 72.0deg
*Measured with an 80mm travel fork (uncompressed)

sorry, can't make a decent table.