If this is slack, then I like it (Warning: Rocket content)

Well took a Rocket for a demo today. Decided to do the ‘usual’ route, i.e. up the Firmounth and down the Fungle as I’d done it twice recently and it was still fresh in the mind.

First up I was pretty impressed with the climbing ability. The first hour and a half really are all up… so it was quite pleaseant to discover that its climbs well despite the, oh what, 67 degree with a 140 fork head angle? Okay it did get wandery in places but then again it was pretty much at the limit of my fitness. Bike felt planted though, pretty much kept its line. I found it climbed better in the middle ring. I didn’t really use pro-pedal for the the whole of the Firmounth but did try it later on, definitely helps.

On the flats it handled pretty well I thought and as it started to turn downwards the slack started to come to the fore. Now I’m not really a 150mm trail bike kinda guy, I’m a bit too long in the tooth, I hurt all too easily and therefore a bit of a mincer. But I did like how the rocket descended. The faster you went the more stable it felt and later on in the techier stuff the front wheel felt almost damped as when it got a dunt it tended to right itself automatically.

I also never thought to myself that I somehow needed less travel than I had, it didn’t feel wallowy and I now get what was said about it.

All in all I liked it. Definitely liked the slack!

Admittedly I’ve not really ridden that much else trail bike wise although I’m hoping to get a demo on a similarly slack bike soon-ish (for comparisons sake), see how it bike feels…

Some pictures from today:

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Rocket – pre-ride car park shot 2[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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Thats Lochnagar in the background…[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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Top of the big climb[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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Top of the Firmounth[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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Rocket @Fungle[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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The white stuff is hail[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

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What it says on the tin…[/url] by Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr

That’s been photoshopped, there is some blue sky in that second pic. Not been any of that for weeks.

What is a “dunt”?

Andrewh: hehe, it certainly feels that way. I think we are paying for that glorious March.

RD: a dunt is a good old Scottish word which in this context means a relatively minor perturbation applied from a different direction from that travelling, i.e. From hitting a rock or something.

Thinking about this a bit more it was an old school moont ridden on a very new school mount.

Hi Metalheart, said hello in the shop yesterday 8)

Good write up, bikes are still ace even for us slightly older gentlemen.

I was very sceptical of a steel FS, thinking it would be just too heavy – but it does look very good indeed. Any ideas on the build weight?

Maybe I need to get a demo on one, especially now we’re moving up to ‘rockier’ country and a FS would seem a better idea than my Ti HT.

Messiah: yeah, us, er, older gentleman need our coveniences. Good to bump into you again after all these years!

B r: the shop claimed it weighed ~29 lbs sans pedals. And that’s with relatively bog standard kit: mostly XT, some slx, bonty stem and bars, fox floats, hope hoops with flows. All in all pretty decent for a 150mm bike! It didn’t ‘feel’ heavy and I did most of the first climb in the middle ring too, okay a 36 rear certainly helps!

For me the biggest disappointment was the state of the single track finish (onwards from the third last photo) as it was like riding down a stream most of the way. Apart from the muddy bits… I was really looking forward to this bit as last time I rode it it was pretty much bone dry and sooooo much fun. Not the bikes fault though.

Oh I did get a bit of pedal strike but hardly surprising really as its pretty low bb and I think I probably had a bit too much sag in the rear shock.

Whoops, that reminds me forgot to thank Cycle World Stonehaven (especially Joe) for making this happen. And also to Cotic, obviously. 😳

metalheart
B r: the shop claimed it weighed ~29 lbs sans pedals.

Sounds a bit optimistic.

Jimjam: agreed. Not having scales myself to verify, but I’d personally add a couple of pounds to that from the two handed lift test… Should have put quotes around the claimed. You know how excitable the boys in bike shops get

Hi
I had a demo last weekend at The Dales Centre and got to do a 2 hour ride around Reeth.
Really liked it and would buy one if I were in the market for such a frame.
The large I was on was 30lb without pedals-that was on a digital scale so should be reasonably accurate.
Cheers
Steve

Glad you liked the bike. Looks like a good demo loop.

The weight is about right BTW. That’s one of our medium demo bikes and we weighed the other medium with TALAS (the black one there has Float FIT) forks and slightly heavier seatpost at 29.7lbs sans pedals. The black one’s gone tubeless on the back wheel too since then so a little over 29 without pedals would chime with what we’re seeing.

It’s a great demo loop. A bit of everything really and long enough to get the measure of a bike. Oh and nice and local to me too.

Any time you fancy trying it Cy, give me a shout 😉

What is a “dunt”?

Scots word meaning. Knock, blow etc.

Are we needing subtitles for the southerners?

Are we needing subtitles for the southerners?

Only if you’d need them to tell the difference between a twitten and a trug 😉

A steel full sus, I wonder why that hasn’t been done before…

skywalker – Member

A steel full sus, I wonder why that hasn’t been done before…

A – It has been numerous times.
B – The topic has been done to death for this particular bike.

A – There have been a few, all flops for good reason.

B – I don’t give a shit.

B – I don’t give a shit.

and that’s why you bothered to post in the first place?

*yawns*

I pinched the orange medium a week or so back – with my M647 pedals and my (none too light) tyres on, it came out at crack on 31lb.

For comparison my Bfe is 30.25lb and my other half’s quite blingy Hemlock with light wheels and tyres is 29lb dead. (both on the same scales)

There have been a few, all flops for good reason

you’re right, this thing was hopeless.

Yeah really took off they did, sold how many?

And obviously the sales numbers of a product which goes against the grain is an excellent way of determining how good it is because all consumers are so open-minded, like skywalker… You never hear anyone make prejudiced decisions saying things like “all 29er bikes are xxxx” or “steel feels like xxxx” etc etc.

Measuring the success of a product by volume sold, how stupid of me to think thats logical.

Can anyone explain the benefits of a steel am full susser? I actually like the look of them, I just don’t see the point (other than trying to be niche)

how stupid of me to think thats logical

now you’re getting it. 😉

Yes, Cy can:

http://www.cotic.co.uk/geek/steel-full-suspension

Many great products have failed to sell well – that makes them financial failures but it doesn’t mean that the same product could be financially successful with different marketing etc etc. You may have heard of the Rover V8 – which was a comparative failure in the USA as the Buick V8 because it was made of the ‘wrong’ metal (aluminium alloy rather than cast iron). In the UK it was used for over 40 years in numerous iconic cars.

The Rocket is of comparable weight to al alloy full sussers designed for similar use, whilst being stronger and stiffer where it counts. Explained at length elsewhere on here…

Read it. Fixes stiffness and strength whilst not sacrificing weight too much. So basically it fixes nothing? Or are alu bikes now flexy and weak?

It isn’t about the material, it’s what you do with it. Therefore some al alloy bikes are strong, some are weak, some are stiff, some are flexy, some are heavy, some are light. The best for your needs has the right balance of strength, stiffness and weight (and geometry). Who cares what it’s made of if it rides like you want (and isn’t an aesthetic failure)?

The Rocket is of comparable weight to al alloy full sussers designed for similar use, whilst being stronger and stiffer where it counts. Explained at length elsewhere on here…

How much does it weigh?

Jeez, you go away for a couple of hours and look what happens… 🙄

First, this thread was about slack, you know that’s what the thread title was for.

Second, the fact that its a steel front triangle was not really particularly apparent during the demo (other than how it looks). To me it rides well, just like my (other) Cotic’s. But I’d like to try a similar bike for comparison (hopefully getting a Labyrinth Agile to demo). Thats aluminium, I hope that’ll be sufficiently balanced?

It’s a pretty reasonable weight for a 150mm trail bike so being steel hasn’t hampered it.

If that bothers you, well, it doesn’t bother me. Hey ho…

Cotic only shift approx 1,000 frames/annum total. I guess they will measure success by their own parameters. Profit, not turnover.

How much does it weigh?

Well perhaps if you actually read some of the posts above you might just be able to work that out for yourself.

Time to go back under the bridge methinks….

The Rocket is of comparable weight to al alloy full sussers designed for similar use, whilst being stronger and stiffer where it counts. Explained at length elsewhere on here…

Weight – 7.6lbs for the 16″, who you kidding? That’s a pound heavier than a 16″ Five and I doubt its much stronger either.

So like someone else said, a pointless niche.

That’s a pound heavier than a 16″ Five and I doubt its much stronger either.

Better looking, superior suspension design and less common though 😉

I doubt its much stronger

Can I suggest you come back when you know for sure?

You’ll at least be arguing from a position of knowledge rather than ignorance and assumption then.

Can I suggest you come back when you know for sure?

No.

Well, if you’re comfortable looking like a plank I guess you should carry on regardless, then.