To start off our recurring feature on staff bikes, here's Sam's RocketMAX he uses for the demo tour. Find out why he chose this bike and what changes he's made to make it his own...

Despite being our longest travel and most capable descender, I ride a RocketMAX for everything; from demos at trail centres to downhill tracks, night rides from the house and big days in the Lakes. My RocketMAX is the best fitting and most capable bike I've ever ridden. For those occasional demos where I'm following a local down a steep, technical trail I've never ridden before, I can completely trust the bike to look after me. That being said, I can still pop and skip my round a trail centre, or charge down rocky Peak District gnar all on the same bike.

When the longshot RocketMAX came out, my first go on one was in the infamous Tweed Valley. On an exclusive demo day with a local club, we were riding Cresta Run, a classic downhill track at Innerleithen. I remember thinking to myself, mid corner, how I hadn't ridden those trails for several years and the last time I did, I was on a 10 inch travel DH bike on an uplift day. The RocketMAX was guiding me down the hill with tonnes more confidence and control, and I'd pedalled it to the top, and it wasn't even my bike!

I had to have one, and this is it, Violet. Metal-on-metal with a generous helping of purple parts, size small. Cane Creek takes care of the bits that go up and down, I spend a lot of time setting people's suspension up and making tweaks to improve their demo rides, so I've become quite picky with my own set up, and learnt a lot. I love the amount of adjustment the Helm fork has, and the grip from the rear shock is brilliant without sacrificing pop and playfulness.

My favourite part on the whole bike has to be my uber bling Rust Titanium handlebars. The perfect shape, not too much backsweep, and a dreamy compliant feel. I'm ultra fussy with bar set up, my brake levers have to be just so, and anything not in the right place throws my head! The silver Hope stem and matching Burgtec spacers complete the look. Diva and proud.

I'm a big fan of the Shimano Zee brakes. All the crisp lever feel of twin-pot Shimano brakes, but with just that bit extra modulation which lets you trail-brake on steep, loose surfaces without locking the wheel. For the small weight penalty I'd much rather have brakes that feel great, and have monster stopping power when you need it.

Burgtec take care of pedal duties, as you can see they've seen some miles, but are still on their first set of bearings and are faultless. I wouldn't run anything else. They look great on the black Hope crank with purple chainring too. I've recently switched to a 170mm crank from a 175mm, and it seems to suit me really well.

Super fast engagement on the Hunt hubs is the dream, once you've had hubs that kick in this fast, you can't go back. The TrailWide wheelset keeps some weight off the bike where it matters most, and give the WTB tyres a great shape. I've just fitted a Verdict 2.5 for winter duties, and I'm super impressed. The Judge 2.4 out back rolls better than a tyre that chunky has a right too.

It's taken years to find the right saddle, but I've got there with the Fabric Scoop. Just as comfy on the last demo lap on a Sunday as it is on the Friday afternoon, and looks sleek with the stealth graphics. Ti rails for added bling too, it sits on top of a OneUP 150mm dropper post. This being so short overall means despite me running a small frame I can still get the saddle right out of the way for those critical steep moments.

Reckon it needs more purple bits? Ti bolts might be an idea...