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Here's mine, anyone guess where?
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Kayla, nice Flare - been thinking about one myself. I may have seen you riding past Silksworth Ski Slope a couple of weeks ago (another Sunderland rider).
Love my solaris 🙂
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Faz71. that looks like dropping down to Castle Cragg part of the Borrodale Bash
Kayla, nice Flare - been thinking about one myself. I may have seen you riding past Silksworth Ski Slope a couple of weeks ago (another Sunderland rider).
Not me, the only time we've been to Silksworth has been in the car for snowboarding lessons! We sometimes mooch up the line from Shotton to Ryhope though, putting the full 130mm of the Flare to work 😆
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Brennak nails it. Excellent ride, was a bit worried how l would manage on a 120mm hardtail when everyone else l saw seemed to have Enduro rigs and body armour but it was fine.
Kayla, does that mean their are 3 Cotic owners in the MTB paradise that is Sunderland?
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Here's my mostly new BFE at Beamish with a mates Pace.
Another mackem Cotic owner! 🙂
Times passes and my brain starts working.
@Faz71 - that may well have been me as I go through Silksworth park/ski slope on my may home from any destinations west. In fact it could have been on the day of that photo.
Do you live local to the ski slope? Open to local group rides with other like minded local Cotic and non Cotic owners.
@mikesbikes71 - sounds good - yes I live close by. I'm away for the next week but I'll message you when I get back and we'll sort something out.
Some photos from Friday:
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4274/34081791254_027cd597dc_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4274/34081791254_027cd597dc_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/TVG69A ]SolarisMAX at Loch Eanaich[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/77564901@N06/ ]Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4275/34792833751_83bc1d86d2_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4275/34792833751_83bc1d86d2_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/V1wniZ ]Tarp rigged (Rab Siltarp1)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/77564901@N06/ ]Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr
Here you go - my BFe 27.5 today. Does everything I ask of it and it's my only mountain bike so gets used for all sorts. 140mm X Fusion forks, recently treated it to some new Mavic XA Elite wheels, non-stealth Reverb, old fashioned 2x10 Shimano bits to make it stop and go... like it a lot. Some belters on here though - lovely looking lineup.
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Kayla, does that mean their are 3 Cotic owners in the MTB paradise that is Sunderland?
We live in the new town paradise that is sunny Peterlee.
Thanks for all the replies everyone!
Any more pics after a weekend of riding or bike building?
Possibly my favourite bike ever...
The full sus is more of a tool. The Solaris is a thing of joy, brilliant fun to ride down pretty much everything. The one bike I think I could never get rid of.
Photo is after a day sliding around the woods in Newcastle (County Down).
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Solaris MK2 after a wash...
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New to us Cotic BFE 26 classic, thanks to Johnnytheleyther off of this Parish
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My Soul 26 after being treated to some new forks
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Loved mine.
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That's a smashing pic!
Only just seen this as I got the heads up on the link after I finished up on Friday. Thanks SO much for posting all these lovely pictures. Properly filling up seeing all those bikes out there putting smiles on faces and adventures in memories. Thanks all. It's been emotional 😉
Missed this on Friday. Here's the Rocket in Torridon last June. Best ride I've ever done.[img] 
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Here's my Mk 3 Soul on top of Cross Fell in February. Brr.
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And here's my Mk 2 Soul on top of Snowdon. This one was in the Soul Brothers video thing they did yonks ago.
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Marvellous bikes. Cheers Cy! 😀
First ride on my freshly built flare on Sunday with a bunch from the local club, 30 hard miles and the bike felt perfect almost immediately. It does everything I'll ever need, never knew I was this fast 😉
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Love my soul and my custom stem cap
[img] http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/upbeat30/media/IMG_0799_zpsjujzbuqm.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af171/upbeat30/IMG_0799_zpsjujzbuqm.jp g" target="_blank">http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/upbeat30/media/IMG_0799_zpsjujzbuqm.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af171/upbeat30/IMG_0799_zpsjujzbuqm.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]
[img] http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/upbeat30/media/IMG_0582_zps68nlciam.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af171/upbeat30/IMG_0582_zps68nlciam.jp g" target="_blank">http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/upbeat30/media/IMG_0582_zps68nlciam.jpg.html ][IMG] http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af171/upbeat30/IMG_0582_zps68nlciam.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]
Two pages in and not a Hemlock in sight yet! No-one else still riding one? Just given this a good service as it felt a bit rattly on the way down from Snowdon a couple of weeks ago. Feeling good as new now, still love it.
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My controversial SMALL Solaris on the #Jennride last year... I love this bike - it's the first bike I've owned that I've held onto for more than a year. I built it at the end of 2013 and I've just bought another MK2 frame 2nd hand to build up - I may just keep one as spare as I gather Cy doesn't want to do a small Solaris again :(, or maybe have one as a SS. This bike is my winter hack, my bikepacking / long-distance mile-muncher and is responsible for my increase in fitness and enjoyment of riding mountain bikes :). It's been down Walna Scar and various other 'testing' natural trails that I would usually want a full-susser for, but it just takes them in its stride... bloody ace bike 🙂
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Photo credit needs to go to Steve Holcroft Photography - he was the wedding photographer 🙂
No pics at the moment but memories:
Mk2 Black Soul - Rode everywhere on that thing. It ended up being called Anneke, after Anneke van Giersbergen because I just eneded up singing to myself when riding it. 2 main rides stand out:
Grenserittet XC race in Norway. Lots of carbon obsessed Norwegians alarmed at the use of a steel bike.
24 Solo champs at Newcastleton. Buggered my v expensive FS bike the day before the start. Rode 24 hours on the Soul which was a standby bike. Not a hint of back pain throughout. Never stopped smiling. The bike died after about 7000 miles and is much missed. It never once spat me off.
Currently got an Escapade (Deirdre): Heavy. Comfy. Goes everywhere. Done 2 x 100 mile rides this year on it, the last one a bunch of us did hungover, the day after a friend's funeral. Very attached to it as a result.
There's something about those Cotic bikes that gets inside you. They ride like memory of your favourite bike you had as a kid. All skids, jumps and laughter.
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[url= https://flic.kr/p/V4pk7S ]Spot the cotic[/url]
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Made it out on Friday in the glorious weather and found a new trail through woods that seemed to go on and on. Great feel flicking round berms choosing any number of lines through the trees. Perfect with the Soul
Oh, go on then - not long after mine was built up via an eBay frame and collective box of bits from the garage.
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I'll admit... it's taken a bit of fettling and getting used to., But after finally getting a dropper-post fitted and dropping the fork PSI at the weekend, it's completely transformed from a twitchy, nervous ass-smasher into the fun, flickable toy I was hoping for.
Needs a back tyre with a decent braking edge (i.e. not an Ardent) and converting to Tubeless and I've got a really ace wee bike on my hands.
No. 1
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No. 2
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No. 3
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No. 4
On it's way if I can persuade Mrs Daz of the merits of buying one of those discounted BFe frames.
Loving my Solaris with the 2.8 tyres on it. Rides so nicely
@Mowgli how on earth did you find the trig point/cairn so empty. When I was last there in October it was so busy I couldn't even get up there on foot
The first Cotic I rode was the Orange Mk3 Soul demo bike from the Soul Brothers video back in 2012. Enjoyed it but it felt a bit small so bought & built a large black one, here pictured in 2014:
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So, in 2013 I was after a full suss so demo'ed the 26" Rocket pictured below. Really liked the frame and ordered one, however it never materialised due to the attempted move to UK manufacturing 🙁
On the bright side, was good to still see the old frame still going strong on the Cotic social recently 🙂
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Fast forward to 2015 and I was '29er curious'. Having ridden a few but not feeling totally at home on one, I got an e-mail from Cy about an upcoming demo day. Tried a Solaris and loved it, so sold my Soul frame to a member of this parish (was hoping to see it in this thread) to build this:
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I must say it's the most versatile bike I've ever ridden, especially in 650b+ flavour, I've used it for everything from all day epics in the lakes to a 60 mile gravel race in the states to our usual Wednesday night blast. It is definitely a keeper this one 🙂
Finally, after the whole 650b thing happened and falling out with my other full suss, after demoing a Flare and Rocket275, I've recently got round to building this:
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Already posted one photo on Saturday but here's one I took on Sunday of my bfe next to a feature at some fine Northumberland woodland.
It's actually making me a better rider.
daughter duties
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Taking the Soul to it's homeland.
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I just remembered actually I bought the frame from the STW Classifieds years ago, from a guy who lived near Cannock, Hednesford I think. He said it was sent as a replacement for an in warranty broken soda. Can't remember his name or forum handle.
I Love this bike and I will never sell it.
Fantastic photo bigrich 🙂
@Mowgli how on earth did you find the trig point/cairn so empty. When I was last there in October it was so busy I couldn't even get up there on foot
5pm on a Friday evening 😀
Missed this thread as I've been away since Friday riding my BFe in North Wales!
Had it since 2011, and since then it's more or less been my only MTB. Covered thousands of miles (Strava alone says 5000+), ridden coast to coast, visited Vancouver island and the North Shore, trips to the alps, uplift days, 60+ mile days in the peak, commuted, raced 12 hour endurance, DH and Enduro and is still going strong. Love this thing to bits (literally), if the Swiss Army ever needed a bike, this is the one. I just wish it had a bigger head tube to open up some fork options.
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Mt. Tzouhalem, Van Island, last summer
OH, and I also have an Escapade! #fanboi
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Please still keep them coming. So pleased I started this thread.
So much so I've just treated my Solaris to a little bit more Hope kit in the shape of some F20 pedals!
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My ancient (third hand to me) roadrat touring last summer
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My 'now getting quite high mileage' Solaris
