New Cotic – the BFeMax

Very nice. Must not order. Must not order.

Phwoar!

Every time I think I’ve decided on a new bike, something like this crops up.

That looks ace!

The blue is equally stunning. Well priced too.

Hmm. I have 29er boost wheels. I have a front brake. I have a set of new 140mm 29er boost forks.

And I quite like the blue one. My only worry is that they launch two amazing new colours of the SolarisMax shortly and I end up with massive buyer’s regret.

and they make it in a proper big XL size. Ooh its lovely

Just mentioned this to the wife and she didn’t seem as happy as me on the idea! I’ve got a spare set of brakes didn’t win her over! My hardtail itch just won’t go away!

I’d love a Solaris Max I reckon but the current colours put me off, not that they’re bad just that cotic have done some flippin’ lovely ones (mercury/magenta soul etc…) and I’d be worried they release something lovelier as honourablegeorge says…

Will this mean they make the Solaris a bit more xc focused as they currently seem too similar. Love the colours but not a fan of the new head badge and logos.

I’ve got a spare set of brakes didn’t win her over!

Some people have no sense of vision.

Blue looks really nice, glad to see they’ve stopped trying to put the orange accent colours on every frame – that was getting old.

Have they inadvertently just killed the Solaris?

Given that the sales of the Soul slumped as everyone preferred the beefier cheaper hardtail, will the same thing happen to the Solaris?

Perfectly timed release as I’ve just sold my old hardcore hardtail.

I was thinking the same thing princejohn. Everybody I know that has owned a Bfe, including me, got one purely because it was cheaper than the Soul. Worked out well in my case as I kept crashing it in to trees! I now own a current gen Soul and it’s brilliant.

I also wonder if the Flare will be the next bike to be dropped. Looks like they’re phasing out the 27.5 wheeled bikes.

*puts fingers in ears*.  la la la la la la

20200405_104507

Clearly I don’t need one…

Have they inadvertently just killed the Solaris?

Given that the sales of the Soul slumped as everyone preferred the beefier cheaper hardtail, will the same thing happen to the Solaris?

Not in the slightest, the Solaris seems to be their most popular bike and I’d still choose it over this, if I wanted a HT again.

The Soul withered away because it had 27in wheels, and all the people who would have bought it were buying the Solaris instead.

[EDIT: other folks made the same point while I was typing. Great minds think alike, etc]

I think this is an interesting addition to Cotic’s range, especially having just retired the Soul.

Looking at the geometry charts, the BFe Max isn’t *so* very far off the Solaris Max. The seat angle is steeper on the BFe (1.5 degrees), and the BB drop 5mm greater, the reach a bit more (7mm or so) and the stack more (about 15mm). Head angles are the same, chainstays are the same (ref: size large with 120mm forks). They can both fit 29×2.6″ tires.

The Solaris Max is 4.9lb in large, while the BFe Max is 6.3lb in small (!).

I can’t quite make up my mind. It’s one of the following:

(a) the Solaris Max, which already looks plenty capable in 140mm fork mode, is basically all the (hardtail) bike you’d ever need. Yes the BFe geometry is probably a bit more rad, but you’re paying for that with quite a lot of weight. So the BFe Max is just madness; who’d buy it?

(b) the Solaris Max, which can run 120-140mm forks, has just had its lunch eaten by the BFe Max, which can run 120-160mm forks, has more progressive geometry, and all for a very modest weight penalty. So the BFe Max essentially makes the Solaris Max obsolete. Who’d buy a less capable hardtail?

(c) the Solaris Max now becomes akin to a new Soul, and can build up as a XC-ready whippet or a properly capable trail bike depending on what you want. Or if you want an even tougher build, or a super-long-forked madness machine, the BFe Max takes over where the Solaris leaves off (albeit with some overlap in the middle). Who’d be able to choose? Everyone will need one of each.

Anyway. It looks really nice, and I hope it ends up being (c) so I can see plenty of both models out on the trails 🙂

While this is only tangentially relevant, I thought it might be useful to share a review of the SolarisMAX which I wrote the other day.

Basically, I think the Solaris is already verging on too much bike for mellower trails, and can handle a lot when specced appropriately.

So most riders would be best served with one of those, rather than the BfeMAX, IMO.

Review: Cotic SolarisMAX Mk 2 – A hardtail for all occasions

Looks like a Ragley 😉

Lots to agree with in that blog post of yours chakaping.

Oh bloody hell, very tempted

@Kelvin

Any timescale on new SolarisMax colours? Or is there a revamp coming? Cotic seem to have a new bike release every fortnight lately.

Looks great. Nice progressive numbers for reach too:

438mm / 461mm / 485mm / 510mm (S/M/L/XL).

So most riders would be best served with one of those, rather than the BfeMAX, IMO.

Cheaper though and for a lot of folk that’s a big part of it. Lovely looking bike and it would definitely be on my list if I was in the market.

I also wonder if the Flare will be the next bike to be dropped. Looks like they’re phasing out the 27.5 wheeled bikes.

Think they’ve just released the latest rocket in the 27.5 size.

Ooh… that’s good to see. I was worried they were abandoning the wheel size. The new Rocket does look lovely too, although I’m not totally sold on the new headbadge or decals. Probably just because they are new though 😀

I’m not sure about the decal – I do like the headbadge, the price hike is what I’m struggling with.

I am desperate to get one on the cycle to work scheme, but I don’t want to commit to a big ticket purchase at the moment as I have no idea what’s going to happen work wise with the global pandemic thing.

Looks like a lovely bike, not a fan of the new head tube badge though. Looks a bit clip art.

Some of you are over thinking it surely?

They were selling loads of Solaris (hence Soul getting binned) so have made a cheaper version that’s different enough to prick interest in current owners?

If you put an angleset in to a SolarisMAX you would get very close to the BfeMAX geometry and is alot lighter. As others have said your going to be getting pretty rowdt to ‘need’ more than a 140mm SolarisMAX

I cant help thinking that if Cotic did a version of this with a cheaper build kit like Sram SX and cheaper forks etc to bring it under the £1350-1500 mark they would compete with and more than likely outsell the likes of Ragley and Vitus etc.

It does look lovely but it’s way more capable than I need from a hardtail. Still got my mind set on a Solaris Max with 130mm forks and a lightish build, the 140mm forked one I demo’d was a right hooligan but overforked for what I would use it for. If I want to get rowdy I’ll take my Rocket thanks!

I cant help thinking that if Cotic did a version of this with a cheaper build kit like Sram SX and cheaper forks etc to bring it under the £1350-1500 mark they would compete with and more than likely outsell the likes of Ragley and Vitus etc.

It’s all about brand value

I suspect this will be an absolute monster truck. The 27.5 is a stupidly capable bike and by all accounts so is the Solaris. I do wonder if some lighter faster builds will appear on the Solaris now with this the ‘enduro’ hardtail.

Some of you are over thinking it surely?

They were selling loads of Solaris (hence Soul getting binned) so have made a cheaper version that’s different enough to prick interest in current owners?

Different thought process as opposed to over thinking I reckon. Some folk want a nice bike, but don’t have a lot of money and can only afford one. The Bfe, in most cases that I know of, which is only a small sample of six over lots of years, was purchased as an alternative to the Soul. Not as a second bike as an only bike that was considerably cheaper than the other model.

If I was in the market for a 29 HT then the Bfe would be on the cards now whereas the Solaris wouldn’t due to price. Other folk will be in a similar position. I can’t imagine many folk owning a Solaris and the new Bfe.

I rode my SolarisMax LS (the new one) at various bike parks; blues, reds and a couple blacks.
I had it setup with a 130mm Pike and I honestly can’t see how 140+ travel would make a huge amount of difference. The back-end was the limiting factor as it has to follow whatever mess the front end is riding through with zero compliance. The bike was stiff enough that the back would get pretty brutal on fast lose/rutted trails. I was running 2.35 & 2.6 tyres with low-ish PSI too.
I don’t get it to be honest..

I do wish cotic would drop the MAX bit on all of them. Especially if there’s no MIN option…

New BFE is lovely though.

Will we see the solaris get toned down a bit? There was a certain something about my original that seems to have been lost on the the MAX.

But there is also a vocal community that sees anything that isn’t slacker and longer than the previous version of the model as being “not very progressive”

ayjaydoubleyou

But there is also a vocal community that sees anything that isn’t slacker and longer than the previous version of the model as being “not very progressive”

I don’t think Cotic made geometry changes just for the sake of it. Cy has done a load of blogs/emails about the process and refining the geo, he very much believes in it

Very nice indeed.

I think they’ll change the Solaris name to Soul now, makes sense, Soul has far more kudos, and Solaris is a bit of a nothing name really.

Wish they would sort out the fugly cable routing.

New extended type logo is way cooler though.

As a Solaris Max ex-owner I can see them bringing out a new slightly more XC specific Solaris. I hope they do. It wasn’t the best bike for general duties, in my opinion. Crazy fast pointing down though.