2023 Cotic

RocketMAX Trail / Platinum XTR eeWing

Cotic is probably best known for its hardcore steel hardtails, originally the Soul and more recently the BFe. And what started out in the Peak District over 20 years ago as a relatively small direct sales operation to scratch owner/founder, Cy Turner’s itch, Cotic has grown in size but has always remained true to its roots. As the brand has evolved, so has the range of bikes it offers, the latest and most accomplished being the Gen 4 RocketMax, a full-suspension enduro bike that blends a custom 853 Reynolds tubeset with alloy chainstays. Need to know: Mechanics will love the external cable routing on the front triangle, but pretty it isn’t All UK make Cotic frames come with Datatag fitted at the factory Choose your shock and corresponding frame travel at checkout: 150mm, 155mm or 160mm Steel triangle for feel, alloy chainstay for power delivery. It’s a great combination. Frame The steel tubing for the front triangle is designed in Sheffield and immaculately welded in Scotland by Five Land Bikes. The top tube is ovalised and tapers neatly to merge seamlessly with the seat tube. Being a steel front triangle, there’s no shortage of reinforcing gussets around the head tube, while a small tube straddles the downtube and seat tube to shore up the bottom bracket area. As a result, the Cotic definitely looks more industrial, especially some of the pivot hardware, when sat next to the Hope or Orange. Bringing the manufacturing of the front triangle home, has enabled Cotic to increase the number of sizes it offers to five, C1 to C5, which equates to S to XXL. The length on the Gen 4 RocketMax has also increased, our size C3 test bike sporting a generous 488mm reach, making it the longest frame in test. An added bonus of the fifth size being that the jumps between each size are now tighter, so you’re much less likely to be stuck on either side of the sizing recommendations. Cotic’s Longshot geometry means the bike has been designed to handle optimally with a 35mm stem. And the increased reach isn’t simply about keeping up with the Joneses. Cotic also steepened the seat tube angles on the three biggest frame sizes, and it didn’t want to eat into the top tube lengths, so the reach had to increase. In terms of manufacturing the RocketMax is very much a bike of two halves. Not that you could tell by looking at it. The chunky alloy swingarm and slender steel seat stays are both produced in Asia. The two-piece seam welded alloy yoke that connects the main pivot to the chain stays provides the stiffness needed to ensure good pedalling efficiency and optimal tyre clearance. And given Cotic’s use of predominantly old world materials, the RocketMax is remarkably light: only 0.5kg heavier than the full carbon Hope HB916 and lighter than the aluminium Orange. Suspension Cotic’s DropLink suspension design is a single-pivot, where the shock is driven directly by an extension of the …Continue reading »

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Delicate, hesitant and relaxed – all words that aren’t in the Cotic RocketMAX’s vocabulary. You only have to look at its low-slung silhouette and slammed angles to know the RocketMAX is a hard-charging beast, but does it have a refined side?

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