Sam and Kelvin from Cotic pitched up with a van full of lovely bikes in a very wet FoD today. Pics first
Going to be a wet one! [url=https://flic.kr/p/KobxWc]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
Big chubby tyres work well on wet roots [url=https://flic.kr/p/KnVKey]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
Go Long! Steve does just that [url=https://flic.kr/p/LjQqWx]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
It wasn’t a day to trust autofocus 😉 [url=https://flic.kr/p/Ld36ek]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
Throw some shapes [url=https://flic.kr/p/KTwDGJ]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
I am full of want [url=https://flic.kr/p/Ld4kbX]Cotic Demo Day – FoD – MTB[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
I tested a Flare Max (27.5 chubby) in a M and a L. I loved the M but not the L (I’m 5ft 11 and in a perfect world Cotic would make an 18.5). – angles sorted, super comfy, insane grip even with pretty wet conditions, super stable in the corners and the little air I get. Super poppy bike. Reminds me of the 26 inch rocket demo I had but it’s a bit longer in the TT which works for gibbon-dwarf here.
Steve loved the non chubby one and was going pretty large. Another mate was sold on the large chubby. I know Cy of old and he’s a) a great rider but more importantly b) a bloody good bike designer.
I think the non chubby flare is faster. But I’m not that bothered about that. I’n going to have a flare max in whatever colour that blue is.
I think it’s pretty cool that Cotic (Sam is the demo man) will just pitch up at a location, sort you out a bike, be brilliantly helpful on setup, etc all with no cost or commitment. Yeah I’m a cotic Fanboy but even so…. if you get the chance to demo a Cotic, I’d definitely recommend it.
Sam’ll sort you out. For me the RocketMax is just too much bike for the Forest. If you’re going mental on the cheeky trails, fair enough but for me the Flare is a better bike. My Rocket 26 was fantastic but I never got close to finding its limits.
It’s good. Not as good as the non chubby version but not far behind. What it is is very comfy. There’s a bit of a magic carpet ride over roots when you’re climbing. For some reason the large felt really letharegic compared to the M but maybe that was because I’d already decided I preferred the M 😉
Ta. If the weather had worked in my favour, I’d have tried to get to the Long Mynd demo day on Sunday. They’d have had to bring some small bikes along for the shortarse market though.
@NW-Alps: There was at least one L 29er as Kelvin was riding it! There was also an XL.
@jm – I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m 5ft 11 but with short legs/long torso so bike fit is always a bit of a challenge. I had a M soul and solaris. For me the trade off is the bike might look a bit small but is better than the larger on 90% of the time.
At 5.11 and a half, I am currently in the middle of building up a Large BFe,
Your post has me terrified it’s gonna be too big! Although Cy said M would have been all seat post and stem.
One thing I forgot. I’m used to low BB’s and it’s a bit of a pain in the forest clattering roots etc. The Cotic has not BB drop but I still found it pretty low. I’ll definitely be going 170mm cranks and some thinner pedals than the fat nano’s I was using for the demo.
I’m trying a the rocketmax and flaremax in big wheel variety at Hopton tomorrow. Can’t quite decide how much travel I’d want.
I got the RocketMax29er. The X-fusion rear shock is really good – not just for the usual suspension stuff but the blue lever thing does a great job of firming up the travel. Feels like a short travel bike on firm and a long travel one on soft (with two further options in between). I’ve had shocks with this kind of adjustment before – but i could hardly tell the difference in either setting. Cotic did a great job on the custom tune for this bike. Also, forks are internally adjustable from 120-140. I know this as they accidentally shipped my in 120 setting.
In short – get the 29er – it’s potentially more versatile
I was on the large Flare Max set up chubby, loved the magic carpet ride and so much grip, conditions were wet but it didn’t matter we were all having so much fun. Tried the medium Alex was using but at 6’1″ the large was the better fit for me, that said the medium felt quicker….
Sam the man from Cotic did a great job of making sure the bikes were properly set up for each of us, for me the Flare Max one of the best bikes I’ve ridden … Very very impressed with the frame quality and the attention to detail.
Oh my, the rocketmax is awesome. I thought I’d go for the flaremax and as one bike it’d be grand but I think the extra travel would be what I was after.
It was a bit hard to compare the two as the forks on the flaremax were very basic and on the rocketmax top spec. Made it hard to tell if it would be possible to tune something to suit or whether it was just too short travel. That and hopton doesn’t really push either of the two bikes fully.
Hey mrhoppy. Must have been you me and my pal met.
I’ve just posted in the other thread but saw this one.
Yeah, I rode the medium Rocket. Sam was great, really taking time to set the bikes up to our tastes.
All set up, we blasted off down the first descent. I have to say that within about 150yards I was loving the bike. It felt so playful, lively and poppypoppy. I couldn’t help but boost off everything going and slam it into the berms. That back end is solid!
Such fun.
I’ve currently got a 2012 Mega, and…..I don’t think I’ll have it much longer.
LOVED that bike. 😀
I had a go on Longmynd today, really interested in the Flare, only a medium available, I’m 6ft so should really be on a large.
But the medium didn’t feel cramped or silly to me, despite Sam and others saying I looked better on the Large Rocket. I don’t think I’d use all the travel of the rocket, I’m just not that gnar……..
The flare felt great, really fast, fun, poppy, spritely, confidence inspiring. I need to try a large now, just to make sure the large gives the same feeling.
My soul, 26″, is a large, it’s got nearly a kilo of front tyre, so I don’t know if that’s contributing most, but it doesn’t feel half as playful, it’s not easy to lift the front, bars are reasonably high, 70mm stem.
Thank you kindly, but i only bought it – it’s Cotic who deserve the praise 😀
I did a little review of it on a separate thread (with more pics) – didn’t want to hog this one. Might be worth a read if you’re toying with getting something bouncy from the big C.
@core – I’m the same. It tried both as I said ^^ and the Large is a better ‘fit’ but I prefer the M. Iw as riding the Flare Max. Talking to Cy, he told me when he was riding in the FoD testing, he went down a size (from XL to L) and preferred it on the tight,twisty trails we have here. He also said he didn’t design for a 170mm dropper as no such thing existed when he started the work on the new drop link bikes!
My view on the M v L is for 90% of the riding I’ll do, the M will be a better bike if not a better fit. So I’m going with that. The issue with being a SLC (Stumpy Leg Chimp (c) Kelvin) is there’s always going to be a compromise on bike sizing. The Flare being a bit longer than my old 26 rocket is the deal clincher for me.
Also – if you come back to the FoD, drop me a line, I’ll show you all the non trail centre goodies…
Well the order is going in, just having some conversations around dropper posts and which extra bits I need. My plan to kind of build it through re-jigging the current bikes has been modified after my better half said ‘oh just buy the bits you like’. Not going to look that gift horse in the mouth!
I’m dithering. But I think I’ll go with the x-fusion. It’s kind of simple and so am I. The Cane Creek DB Air CS I have on my Aeris just does my nut in. I know there’s a good setting somewhere but I can’t seem to make it work the way I want too.
Sam@Cotic tells me the CC App is very good for setting the shock up but if I’m honest I’m not good enough to feel £250 worth of difference!
Alex
The Cane Creek DB Air CS I have on my Aeris just does my nut in
It’s really not difficult to set up, you just need some basic testing and a degree of rigour in your twiddling. Randomly twiddling in the hope of getting it right isn’t going to work.
Put aside 10 min on your fav trail section, to session that section and bracket through the settings. After just 5 runs you should be pretty close. Then you can refine with a click here and there slowly after you have ridden more and got a longer term picture of the shocks reaction to other trails etc