[Closed] Cotic Flare

I have a Flare Max in 29er guise. I live and ride mostly in the Lake District and on Cy's recommendation had 130 mm travel forks fitted. In my opinion it is, for me, the perfect bike. It weighs in at 31.6 lbs, somewhat heavy so I've had to adapt my climbing style. I have a XT build with 30 chainring and 46 tooth largest rear sprocket. At times I could do with a lower gear, but I'm well old and not as strong as I used to be.

It rides like a dream, sure footed and pin point accurate steering. It has absorbed everything that has been thrown at it, so much so that I can now ride like a hooligan downhill. I can't believe how well it manages tight turns! When you look at it it seems a big bike but somehow has the ability to turn on a sixpence ( I told you I was well old!)

I had a demonstration ride of the rocket max but thought that it was too much bike for my kind of riding. I don't do enduro but enjoy long days in the saddle over varied terrain. I have. as yet, never been in a situation where I thought longer travel would have been beneficial. I have included a recent picture for your perusal.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4566/27184183259_ebf89c452c_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4566/27184183259_ebf89c452c_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Hqb3AP ]IMG_20171210_131351[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/78699298@N02/ ]NeilH1954[/url], on Flickr

I had a demo ride on a flare in August 2016, and have lusted after one ever since, went up the hills (Long Mynd) far better than I expected, never felt heavy at all, and came back down really competently.

It's a lively ride I'd say, none of that big bike, wallowy, draggy feel, but quite responsive and 'poppy'. I like a hardtail, but not feeling beaten up, I think the Flare gives you enough comfort and capability without numbing the ride feel altogether, so gets it right for me.

The demo bike I tested had a 130mm X Fusion fork, and X Fusion shock, couldn't fault them.

Another flare max here with 130mm forks. As above, it's an incredible bike, it sucks you into going faster downhill without feeling at all concerned about the consequences. The 130mm forks make it slightly slacker which is noticeable on the climbs but you get used to it pretty quickly. I got mine with the singular purpose of a bike for big days in the mountains on natural terrain and it's pretty much perfect for that. Not sure I'd recommend one if trail centres are your main riding venue, it's definitely more suited to steep technical rocky terrain but still a good all-rounder.

I had one*, bought new ( 😯 ), and they're good, but they can't do anything a BFe or Soul can't do really. I sold it about 5 or six months after getting it and took a bit of a bath on it. I did the same thing with a Rocket a few months later (bought used and sold on for what I paid for it) as well, my thinking being there was too much crossover with the Flare and 26 Soul I had at the time so a Rocket would be different enough to be worth trying. Turns out there's nothing I ride that a BFe can't handle so punted the Rocket on as well. The small droplink frames have the bottle cage bosses under the downtube which was probably one of the reasons I sold it, the main one being I just prefer the simplicity and sketchiness of hardtails.

* 650B model but using 26+ at first then normal 26" wheels and 140mm forks.

I demoed a Rocket a few years ago, which was fantastic but found it just took away from the feel on the trail and I didn't feel our local riding really warranted something so big. Sam mentioned the Flare was on its way so I was pretty much decided and just waited.

I picked up my Flare in September for my 40th (like you, it was a present to myself). I moved from a Soul (10 years old) which had 100-140mm TALAS and decided I couldn't have less suspension, and so put 140mm Pikes on mine. I tend to ride on the Quantocks and Blackdown Hills locally, but we did venture up to Brecon and Afan soon after I had the bike built.

The welsh trip did involve a lot of faffing because I was still messing with setup, but it was pretty much spot on for everything we rode. At no point did I feel I was under biked when compared to the bigger bikes in the group (YT Capara, SC Bronson). It is a little heavy, but that soon gets forgotten and that is partly due to the build to be honest.
It reminded me of how my Soul rode in comparison to the 1997 Orange P7 it replaced. It is so capable, but also engaging and solid on the trail. It climbs well and it is definatly me holding it back now even though I Strava PB'd every decent on my first proper ride.

Photo here
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajohns/39419535272/in/dateposted-public/ ]Flickr Flare[/url]

Ramble end.

I'm thinking of buying one this year as a 40th birthday present to myself! Currently have a Stanton Switchback which is ace but missing the comfort of some rear suspension. The anticipated Stanton full suss looks like it'll be coming out at big money so is out as far as I'm concerned.

The Stanton FS is also going to be a big old bike, more akin to a Spesh E29 type bike and afair old thing to lug around Cannock.

Some of the smaller travel bikes are very, very capable these days - my Scout doesn't feel like it only has 125mm of travel on the rear. I'd imagine the Flare will be more than capable further afield.

Mate of mine loves his Flare Max. Its his one bike quiver killer used for everything from afternoon saunters on along a canal path with his kids, trail centres, local trail bashing (XC and DH orientated) and a few uplift DH days a year. I don't think he would be too offended if I said that it is unlikely that the bike is ever the weakest link. It does everything.

I took did a cotic test ride day last year and test rode both Flare Max and Rocket Max's back to back. Both great bikes, and would be more than adequate for me. Think i'll plump for the Rocket Max purely because I lack finesse and like the feel of having a bigger bike under me. In reality the Flare Max is probably the most appropriate bike for me given what I ride most often but I am still deluding myself in thinking that this is the year I'm going to go large and take things up a notch or two. Oh well, better to be overbiked than underbiked in my opinion.

I'll be the owner of one of these when I've finally managed to rid myself of this bout of winter plague and picked it up from the shop. I'll let you know what it's like then. It was a Flare or a 2018 Giant Anthem Advanced for me, but I liked the idea of a threaded bottom bracket and externanal cables, plus I knew I'd break the Giant's carbon wheels.

I'm thinking of getting a flare or rocket next year for the peak as well as a few endure races and hopefully lakes trips. how do people pick between the two?

I'm thinking of getting a flare or rocket next year for the peak as well as a few endure races and hopefully lakes trips. how do people pick between the two?

Depends how you trade off between climbing and descending. With what you describe I'd be thinking about Rocket Max.

My Flare is far more competent downhill than I will ever be, but I'm sure many people would prefer something optimised for 160 travel etc.

Some good responses there, thanks.
Going to have to try the Flare and the Max and decide 29" wheels or stick with 650b...then it's whether to just buy a frame if I go down the 650b route and frame swap with my Switchback. Then there's whether to go Large or Medium (I'm 5' 11" with a short torso).

I know going for a demo will answer most questions so that's the plan. Most owners sound happy with them. There's always the Bird Aeris too...arrrrgh.

In response to another point raised, the Switchback is awesome. It's very capable and surprises me all the time...it just hurts me so I want to try FS again to reduce the fatigue

Recently got myself a Rocket Max and really happy it. On paper (for the riding I do) a Flare Max should have been more suited, but on demoing them back to back the Rocket Max just felt better. Definitely recommend trying both. I'm 5' 10" and on a medium frame with 160 fork.

Rocket Max here. You could win XC races or Enduro races on it (rider dependent obviously). Brilliantly versatile bike. Not tried the Flare but i'm sure it's similarly excellent.

Mine's used for bimbling, general trail duties, DHey trails and a spot of jumping. It's really fast at all bar the DH stuff - it's a bit scary at that tbh 😆

I think from the sound of it is be getting a rocket max if I didnt have so full load of 650b kit.