[Closed] New Cotic FlareMax

Just seen the email from Cotic announcing this 🙂

Edit: my bank balance doesn't want me to see this

Maybe I could sell my current RocketMax frame to help fund this? (stealth ad)

Well that's just made my decision a whole lot harder 🙂

Yep, I thought I had a decision made pending test ride but this ...complicates things.  On the one hand I’m very conscious that my house is starting to resemble a now-nonexistent Cotic dealership but on the other that is a very pretty steel bike.

hubba hubba

Just put a deposit down on a Transition Smuggler frameset, my head is wondering if that was the best decision right now! It is very long though and I would be worried that the XL might look a little gate like, its unfair that smaller frame always looks so much better.

Given how long the recent Cotics are getting which i prefer and, whilst very tempted by the new Flare Max, im kind of hoping the Rocket gets an update

Looks lovely; longer lower arms race in action.  Seat tubes are now so short on an XL i’m concerned as to how this works for the 6foot 3 + rider when pedalling at full saddle height- that’s a lot of seat post. Makes the test ride critical.

I reckon one of them would fit me nicely. I don’t need two kidneys do i? (Stealth ad)

ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh

Wow they've gone long! I'd probably be a large at 6ft2 and I demoed a rocketmax last year in XL and thought it was too small!

Liking the lower bb and slack HA as well, not so much the seat angle. Should look less of a gatepost as well with the lower seat tubes.

This has really got me hoping something similar will be happening to the rocketmax soon!

That's gorgeous. Love the Gulfesque colours.

Are the cage bosses on the small frames still under the downtube?

Same height and same thoughts as you enigmas. I've had a couple of demo's on a Rocketmax XL but having tried other LT 29ers with reach figures around the 470-490mm mark I decided against it. Hoping to have something ordered by the end of this month.

Are the cage bosses on the small frames still under the downtube?

Yup, no room inside the front triangle for a bottle on the Small (which is a new size for FlareMAX by the way) so the bottle bosses are under the downtube.

Cy isn't around by the way, he's unfortunately off sick, but I'll try and answer any of your less technical question here if I can…

Loving the geometry except for the seat angle as enigmas said. Seat tube length would be fine for me with 36" inseam and a 170 reverb. Getting close to ideal if only the SA was a couple of degrees steeper!

Mind you, nearly £2k with a CCIL, Hope headset and BB isn't exactly cheap

XL photo for those with fear of gates…
[img] [/img]

Price wise… look at the XFusion shock if you want to avoid upsetting whoever controls your joint account… the CC IL offers great tunability, but isn't essential, the O2 does a great "fit and forget" job, as it's custom tuned for this frame already. Hope BB and headset not essential either… they are the price they are… choose cheaper ones if you want.

How do the 27.5 fat tyres compare with standard 27.5, an 29 ers for that matter, much difference?

Can… of… worms!

Everyone has an opinion on all three wheel/tyre sizes… I'd recommend getting on some demo bikes. As for the FlareMAX, Sam the demo man is quite used to people wanting to try the MAX bikes with both 29 and 275Plus wheels to compare them. Book a demo and suck it and see…

www.cotic.co.uk/demo

“Seat tubes are now so short on an XL i’m concerned as to how this works for the 6foot 3 + rider when pedalling at full saddle height”

i believe Cy is around 6’3” so I imagine it works well enough...

sidenote, I see quotes aren’t working properly yet...

Feel free to buy the shock from cheaper sources if you want… you can buy the frame from Cotic without a shock. Needs to be 190mm length with 45mm stroke though (that's shorter than the previous gen FlareMAX by the way). Shock mount fitting sizes are in the COMPONENT SIZES tab on the product page.

What size shock do they take Kelvin? Just out of curiosity.

http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/flareMAX#compatibility

[b]Shock:[/b] 190 x 45 Metric

[b]Shock Fittings:[/b] 15.75 x M8 Down Tube End, 24.0 x M8 Seatstay End

kelvin

Feel free to buy the shock from cheaper sources if you want… you can buy the frame from Cotic without a shock. Needs to be 190mm length with 45mm stroke though (that’s shorter than the previous gen FlareMAX by the way). Shock mount fitting sizes are in the COMPONENT SIZES tab on the product page.

Did notice the odd size..... has me wondering if a 190x50 with the smaller plus wheels might give a notch of extra travel.

Had someone asking that via email this morning… the answer I gave was no… but we can check with Cy when he is back.

Hi kelvin - while you're in a chatty mood can you confirm or deny if there's a Longshot-ed version of the RM on the cards?

“Seat tubes are now so short on an XL i’m concerned as to how this works for the 6foot 3 + rider when pedalling at full saddle height”

170 or 185mm dropper and you'd be fine at 6'6". You need VERY long legs for the big droppers to not add enough height.

Although the effective seat angles aren't quite as steep as I'd like, the actual seat angles are steeper than a lot of 29ers, so at full pedalling height they may be steeper than ones that claim steeper effective angles.

BB height looks great too, low enough for the 140mm forks to work well without being stupid low on the 120s.

Looks great! Am curious what the next Rocket will be like...

…can you confirm or deny if there’s a Longshot-ed version of the RM on the cards?

RocketMAX has been restocked recently, so no immediate change on the way. Cy is always working on the next evolution of every bike in the range though.

How long is too long? There must come a point when it becomes almost impossible to lift the front over things or to keep it up off drops etc. I guess you just monster truck over everything 🙂

Shorter stems and "the rest" of the geom key to keeping the bike exciting to ride. It's not just about increasing the reach… doing that in isolation might have some of the negative effects you mention. Test ride "the size you expect" and one smaller as well, to get the length of the bike as you like it. Note: different sizes have had different geom changes made to them, and there is also a new small size slotted in at the smaller end. It should be easier to get the correct length for you compared to the previous version of the bike.

"there must a new Escapade due soon too?"

Originally due last November , then delayed until Christmas. Still no news on a revised availability.

Cy told me supply of the forks was the issue.

Straight tubes on a bike still look best to my eye. Great job with this one!

Thanks for comments on size and seat tube.  Long dropper and test ride is the answer for us lanky folk.

Not a fan of those colurs

Anybody want to buy a NS Rag, a left eye and one of two small children so I can get one?

Really like these, fingers crossed the Rockef will get stretched too! ( although might be a while off from the sound of things!)

Oh no, just when I thought my current FlareMAX was a keeper eh?! I think I’ll have to avoid demoing one😊

Please be the normal Flare next, please be the normal Flare next, please be the normal Flare next!!!!

And if I'm being really picky, in a nice stealthy colour 😁

I know they're not quite the same sort of animal but thinking back to the pinner thread the other day, I would really struggle to justify buying the BTR over a flare max or rocket now...

I am intrigued, might have to get a demo. Assume the mercury is a painted finish and not polished steel?

Correct

Ah, shame

Just as I had made my mind up getting the old Flare Max frame and swap parts over from current bike they have to go change it 🙂

Really nice but leaves me in a bit of sizing pinch though. As others have noted above it *really* is long and low. I'm a hair under 6.2 (long legs and arms) and I had decided on an old XL but now thinking that a new L will be long enough. Problem is that that would require a new seat post as well. The 460 mm seat tube won't let me get my current Reverb up to pedalling height.

Hmm, closeout old XL + angleset + cash to spare or new L + 150 (or more) dropper post 🙂

Of course it would be best to demo for sizing but I'm not in UK so unfortunately that's not an option.

/Johan

It's not as if the 'old' Flare Max suddenly becomes a bad bike.

But the new bike is designed to be long. It seems a bit strange to say "I like the new bike,but it's too long, so I'll size down". Cy clearly thinks that somebody your size should be on a bike that long.

I understand what you are saying though. At 6' I look at it and thing "nice, but maybe I should go for a medium". But then I think that sort of defeats the point of the new bike.