After 30 plus years of riding the roads in the Surrey Hills I have finally worked out a Cyclocross bike has its limitations, so am going to get a rigid 29er. I’ve narrowed it down to the Cotic Singular and Brother frames all of which I’m sure are excellent but are they all pretty similar and any downsides to any of them? Any opinions or advice greatly appreciated
Ta
Rick

Waits to see who recommends a totally different bike.

Edit – three posts! It only took three posts!

I’d choose the Singular if going rigid. Gets great feedback, designed around a rigid fork and has a classic look.

Have you considered a Karate Monkey (runs and hides)

El Mar. If you can find one.

Isn’t the Swift 1? steerers only? Could be a bit limiting if you decide you want front suspension in due course…

Edit: You’re welcome 😛

Ive not tried a Brother frame but have owned a Solaris and a Swift.

The Solaris is a nice stiff frame but iMHO is best suited with a suspension fork.

Given what your coming from and what you want ie rigid It would be hard not to take the Swift.

My only reticence would be the slight weight penalty of the EBB that you might not use compared with the Brother that uses a sliding dropout that’s in theory lighter.

The Singular forks look nicer though 😳

Got a swift & a solaris. rigid, the swift wins everytime, so comfy for all day riding. If you’re gonna stick a suspension fork on it the solaris handles great at 120mm

I love my Solaris fitted with a 120mm fork, carbon bar and 1×11.

No experience of the other bikes listed.

For reference, I’m a serial Cotic owner (Souls in two wheel sizes and their old CX bike) and currently run a Kinesis Crosslight 5Tdisc for CX’y duties. The Solaris is a hoot, but it’s a very long way from being a stiff Aluminium or carbon CX replacement bike. It *is* an amazing all-day 29er HT MTB though.

No mention of Stooge yet? Oh well.

Having owned an El Mar or two, they are too low to make a good rigid bike I find. The Swift is designed around a rigid fork, as is the Stooge, so will ride comfier than the racy El Mar.

A Swift was also on my shortlist until I got another Stooge as a singlespeed.

I also own a Solaris and original Swift, agree with rocketdog’s comment above on the swift, my go to bike for long XC days out in rigid form in the chilterns. If adding bounce up front and riding the rougher stuff then Solaris is boss, frame is just better at it IMHO

I have a Swift and a Stooge. Both are great but the Swift is what you’re after, I reckon. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for all the replies, all valid points.
Swift would seem to be the winner over the Solaris (can’t see myself going front sus..just yet)
The Brother is a bit new I guess for comparisons
Cheers again
Rick

Had a Swift in the past and wish I’d never sold it, great bike for mooching round surrey hills. Fwiw Head for the Hills in Dorking used to sell them although not sure that is still the case since Sam moved to European distribution. Anyway, worth asking if you need a headset pressing in and some rustoil (or whatever it is called) spraying in the frame.

Going slightly off tangent. I have a first gen Swift married up to a pair of On One carbon forks. So far I have clocked up approaching 10,000 miles on it. It is still my ‘go to’ mtb despite being very much a ‘budget’ build.

Most of my rides are a bit of a mashup – road/gravel/singletrack and usually I’ll be riding upwards of 30 miles a ride, often 50+ and sometimes nearer the 100 miles.

The Swift is as tatty as hell now but still sort of does the business for me. Meanwhile I have a nearly unused Highball, XT spec, Fox Forks etc which is just sitting in the shed seldom used.

I think it is testament to the design of the Swift that the SC hardly ever gets a look in. Would I recommend one to anyone? Absolutely. I have no idea what the current gen of the Swift is like. I know there are differences in clearance etc but if it is anything like the first ones, you won’t go far wrong.

Thanks again
Did a demo on a Swift 4 years ago when they were at Head for the Hills and it was a hoot
Looks like not many ever regretted buying one!
Brother may a little camping orientated for me i.e. Heavy on the braze ons!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/PG7qxy]image[/url] by mark denton, on Flickr

I think I really need(want) a Swift.
Simplicity personified!

OP what exactly do you wish to ride ? I ask as rode my Coric hardtail around most stuff in the Surrey Hills. Just curious as to why you want a rigid vs some fromt suspension ?

Out of the three……Singular.
Sam has designed some excellent frames but the Swift is a classic. MarkD’s one up ^^^ is bloomin lovely.

But, in time honoured fashion, get a Niner SIR.9
Simply brilliant. Ride is sublime.

Definitely the Swift out of that lot. I tried a suspension fork on mine but all it did was add weight, and I considered that the Swift fork soaked up the vibration just as well.