Test: 29ers with around 130mm of travel are an increasingly popular category for all-mountain riders. With the Root Miller, we tested an offshoot from this category from ROSE and the bike shows once again why so many riders choose one
Unlike the previous model, the Root Miller's frame design has completely changed. The tubes are now more curved and the damper has moved more centrally into the frame triangle. All in all a very successful innovation. The frame is mainly black anodized and additionally painted with small silver details. The frame comes with 130 mm of travel at the rear and with all the usual standards that you would expect in this area. The Root Miller comes with a thru-axle, ISCG mount and a short, tapered head tube. In addition to the silver Spank parts and the silver XT group, the bike offers a noble and harmonious look.
The standard version of the Root Miller 2 29″ comes with a 2x XT drive from Shimano. 'Standard equipment' because it is definitely one of the specialties of the Bocholt direct mailer ROSE that each bike can be individually adapted to personal wishes and preferences using the online configurator. The standard variant of our test bike also offers a Rock Shox chassis with Revelation RLT and Monarch RT 3. The all-mountain long-running favorite Revelation at the front offers 130mm of travel like the rear triangle and can be completely locked using the handlebar remote control. The Monrach RT3 damper in the rear offers a three-stage adjustment of the compression level using a thumb lever. In this way, any rocking can be minimized and the characteristics of the rear triangle can be adjusted in no time at all, depending on the riding style and surface.
The Rose is tamed with a very snappy Formula CR1 brake. Their pressure point is hard and crisp, as usual from the brakes from the Italian manufacturer, and the braking power is very good. The hard pressure point and the resulting more digital braking feel require a bit of practice in terms of dosing at the beginning - but once you get used to it, the optically successful and elegantly processed brakes will bring you to a safe stop at any time. The stem, handlebars and wheels come from Spank and round off the equipment package, which is very solid in this price range. The Oozy 29″ wheels weigh almost 1800g and are therefore not particularly lightweight, but despite only having 28 spokes they offer a high level of rigidity and can take a beating if the worst comes to the worst. We missed a retractable seat post in the equipment, which clearly limits the riding comfort of a bike like the ROSE Root Miller 2. If you decide in favor of a dropper post in the ROSE online configurator, you will have to pay an additional €240 for a Reverb Stealth from Rock Shox, for example – an extremely worthwhile investment from our point of view.
field test
The Rose does very well on the climbs, which is due to the relatively steep steering angle of 74,5 degrees. Even on demanding ascents on sometimes steep ramps, the front wheel hardly rises. When it comes to downhill riding, the Root Miller feels particularly at home on flowy trails. The reason for this is the perceived tighter kinematics of the 29er.
The ground gives a lot of feedback at all times, but the Root Miller is always controllable, even though it's definitely not an enduro racer. Due to the short stem and the short head tube, the Root Miller is a playful bike and is easy to maneuver around berms and over jumps. The bike also makes a good impression in blocked passages, but does not have quite as many reserves due to the stiffer setup of the rear end. The only thing that bothered me about the Rose was the clearly audible rattling of the internally routed cables.
Conclusion
The Root Miller 2 29″ from Rose is a very solid bike with great features for a very good price. The bike can be used in a variety of ways, as it is perfect for after-work rides, longer tours or the flow trail in the bike park.
Web
www.rosebikes.de