RS Revs 150mm fixed. 2013 so Solo Air. Have the older dual air on my hardtail and think they’re the best value trail fork out there. Didn’t go for the tapered steerer on the ground that it was a couple of hundred quid which I could better spend on beer 😉

Bikes are all locked together in a bit secure shed. Next door Neighbour has a shotgun. It’ll probably be fine 😉 Sorry to hear about you having your bikes nicked tho. That’s a proper downer.

Nice bike, shame about the big ring, the rims and the seatpost. But I like the head angle 😀

Be carefull though, you have a stick in your frame 😉

Cotic Rocket by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

It’s been ridden. Took it for a Malvern loop early this morning. 200m climb followed by the slabby, rocky mess that is the Worcester Beacon descent. That certainly woke me up. Four more climbs, three off road, one on, four more descents, some slithery singletrack, few little jumps and drops, a set of cheeky steep zig zags and a final punt down the Wyche over my favourite rock step.

It’s hard to rate a bike on a 2 hour ride, especially with the ‘new bike, spent a lot on it, need to like it’ partisan glasses on, but here’s what I’ve learned:

– It’s very stiff. I know the hills well and there’s a few places where the rear wheel gets deflected. Just doesn’t happen on the rocket. Bolt thru fork is the least stiff thing on the whole bike!

– it’s (going to be) very fast. Chasing my mate on his 5 was fantastic, he get’s a bit of trail deadening experience (his words and he likes that), I got loads of feedback about what was going on under the tyres. It’s horses for courses but I much prefer that.

– It’s properly ‘poppy’. For a 150mm bike it just loves to jump off things. Even with this old duffer on top. Definitely a bike for hitting the fun lines not the fastest

– It has a weight to it. TBH 150mm travel bike at 30lbs is blooming amazing when you consider what we were riding even five years ago. 38/26 with a 36T cassette is going to be fine but I’m glad I went with the 36.

– The slack head angle/low slung frame/big fugging tyres give you loads of confidence. I might trade the 2.5 DHF down to ‘only’ a 2.35 but wow they have so much more grip and braking authority than my Advantages on the ST4

– XT brakes with ICE rotors are bonkers.

I loved it. I’ve done that loop on a few bikes. The rocket won’t be the fastest up hill but it’s the fastest down. I’m trying to think of some counterpoints to my FanBoi-ism, but other than it’d be lovely if it was 25lbs I can’t think of any right now. And if it was any lighter, it’d lose the stiffness than makes it so great.

When I’m back off hols it’ll be off to Wales and the Peaks. But I’m happy riding it in the Malverns as it’s such a laugh. Getting back onto the HT is going to be interesting 😉

@Alex: I’m very happy for you that you like your bike so much, read your blog too, keep writing mate 😉

Seems that this bike is not only beautiful but does what it says via the designer. Very nice.

Black looks amazing, any comment on your wheels? I’m glad that you went for the Arch EX after all of the talk. What do you think though? I didn’t realise that a 2.5 would fit, will try it out.

Cheers Rob. I’n not really the right man to be giving an unbiased review on many counts. But so far, so good and it should be a blast most of the places I ride. Might even give the FoD DH tracks another go.

The 2.5 fits and didn’t roll off. But I’ll probably go for a 2.35 as I said and save that for the alps trip. For which I have a set of flows on my HT so will take those. Converted rear 2.2 Ardent to Tubeless today no problem. Happy with the Arch Ex, less rotating weight always a good thing 🙂