New test bike day: Cotic Solaris Contemporary Twist On A Classic XC/Trail Mountain Bike

It’s always good to drop in and see Cy and Sam at the new Cotic HQ in Chesterfield. This time I was also a picking up a test bike that a lot of folk have been pestering me to get on for ages the Cotic Solaris. So here’s a quick chat through from Cy on his contemporary take on the classic XC / Trail hardtail before I jump aboard it myself.

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I’m guy Ken and this is very good news for everyone who’s been wanting me to test the cotic salaris because I’m here at cotk HQ where I believe there is a still AR tail with my name on it all right Sam all right s how are we how you doing mate can I do this can I can I actually Shake on camera look at that right that’s enough of that that’s enough uh anti ey coordination nonsense you both well anyway very good marvelous right I’m good right enough this is really awkward doing this I’m going to turn the camera right so S Turner of cotic Cycles what exactly am I getting myself into with the Solaris well what are you getting into knowing knowing what you did with the flare last flare match sent to you’re getting into a bit of you that’s what I won’t I won’t take it that silly on the tires and well who knows I might do but um so it’s the cotic Solaris which is our like ultimate Trail sort of XC hard tail um designed around 12 Fork um just a long very great great great grandchild of the Original Soul it’s the best hard tail we make um check built 853 custom tube set um so that’s a big change from the previous one it’s now made in made in the EU not made in Taiwan yeah um and but still still Reynolds 853 still over form top tube all of that all of that good stuff overal form top tube Reynolds 853 CTIC long shot geometry um for this one it’s gone to from compared to what was the Solaris Max although broadly the same model um slightly shorter Fork uh capability 130 instead of 140 which has allowed us to lower the weight it’s got a lower bottom bracket it’s got C sizing so it’s got same as your drop link suspension bik bikes so that’s more proportional sizing um slightly lower stand over on all of the various sizes um but yeah it’s everything that made and has made the Solaris great all the way through just B better but with more it looks like it’s got more mounts as well on the down tube and under the down tube so it’s got that bike packing ability as well yeah sort of um it’s not a full bike packing bike but we’ve lent into that a little bit because obviously the the bike packing side of things is quite a fluid sort of area of the market so um so yeah so it’s got It’s got the same dropouts as our Cascade uh bike packing bike so so it’s got rack mounts on the dropouts and you can get a little collar the seat post on it um we’ve got want to interrupt that lovely little Wishbone on there no no that’s what cuz that that’s been a Hallmark for a long old time yeah yeah it it’s the the wishbone seat stay on arotic hard tail is the is about the only frivolous thing I’ve ever done on these bikes but I’ve I’ve always got a bit of an eye on the look and the lines and all of that kind of thing but from a performance point of view there’s nothing to choose between an a stay and a wishbone State it’s just that ever since I saw a CH Roberts dogs bollocks back in 1991 as an impressionable teenager that I want one of them if I’m going to do a bike it’s having yeah and it’s still is it’s proper Timeless is that isn’t it yeah so um yeah the only unfortunate thing is that not every not every Solaris actually gets one because the really Diddy ones we run out space right okay so again so that again some people have said oh have you got rid of the Bush bone not no that it’s just it’s we have it where we can and some some you know on the smaller sizes we have to make sure that uh you know we can fit things like Wheels in stuff like and it’s 29 isn’t it yeah it’s full 29 is that on all sizes yep right cool and tie too got decent tie clearance is it 2.6 no these are these are these will get a 2.5 in it yeah um the older ones were a little bit bigger but again we just with with the change to the slightly more kind of Trail so this is Solaris whereas the other one was Solaris Max is that correct but then Max was kind of what he used for all the 29ers wasn’t it yeah so so so people have seen a very kind of different product we we’ve seen it as the same kind of thing as like a long evolutionary line all the way through the max thing kind of came in when we still had 275 wheels and 29 in wheels and all plus wheels and Max was got you could do either or you know could do plus I mean there was some great advant ages to things like all the different wheel sizes and plus tires and stuff but I don’t miss it no just from just from an admin point of view well the the thing about PL particular on a particularly on a hard tail plus Wheels were mint they were they were fast and grippy until you punctured until you’re punctured or or or or until you just like pressed a bit too hard on them like that so just one of those but a modern 29er tie gives most of the advantages anyway in terms of rollover yeah and the these yeah this is we’re just about we’re just in the process of moving over to offering the Max’s Tires um cuz the these this forecast a Recon combo is just it’s just so good it’s not that heavy rolls real fast but grips you know loads of confidence you know in the you know particularly the front end of the bike even when it’s been you know when when the weather’s been very British and it has been Bri because it’s still got it’s still you know it’s still Progressive long shot geometry on there is it still 35 mil stem this C3 uh is 483 reach yeah I mean that’s a large on most bikes yes yes that be two sizes above that yeah and you still got a chain guard match on it as well so if people are if people are pushing it hard enough to unship their chain they can get a full Mountain there yeah I mean you can you can put a chain guide Mount on it actually the the the reason why that’s still there is because of because of where we are and all of the rocky gritstone disgusting technical climbs that we like doing it’s actually more likely to get a bash guard put on ah okay yeah proper old school yeah like you’ll get one of those little that you’re more likely well certainly for one of our bikes you’re more likely to see one of the taco things on the bottom and nothing on the top than you are other way around which is peculiarly local to us but um but yeah that’s why it’s still there interesting um so yeah that’s that um XT spec on this one correct which sounds like a perfect fit for this kind of bike I mean you know it’s your classic distance durability choice is a is a steel art tail yeah it’s all the XT all the way through two pot brakes 180 rotors front and rear um yeah it just XT is just it’s just that brilliant thing people seem seem to get a bit sort of weird about the fact that it’s been out a while and oh it’s this and that it’s just bloody brilliant yeah it’s good um so yeah two brakes because it’s a XC hard tail basically well XC such a weird it’s a cross country hard but not in an XC sense isn’t it it’s like which is now Trail yeah then Trail now implies Induro almost and it’s it’s um yeah you B you can ride all day quite yeah quickly all day yes and you and because of the geometry you can ride it in so many more places than you might think because because the geometry is still so poised and you’ve got the short stem you got the wheel and you’ve got short Fork on it so it isn’t going to absolutely bury its nose into stuff it’s not going to go proper wonky no we’ve got ultimates which are 120 mil the race day not the SL version they’re just fabulous for the weight they’re just incredible they’re stiff and they they work real well and yeah they just complement this bike they’re sort of the the thought this bike was waiting for really yeah yeah um so yeah you could ride I mean Matt Matt had the um Matt had the demo bike at the golfie and uh rode down rode down Wardell way in absolute chucking it down rain um basically similar spec to this forecasters said and he just said absolutely yeah absolutely me actually the thing with it is like when you’re riding steep Tech stuff like that the geometry is the key thing yeah absolutely it’s where you are on the bike and being able to the front wheel yeah you’re not going that quickly and and it’s gusset it’s double gusseted at the front anyway yes so it’s nice and uh nice and stout there um yeah we’ve always done that just to yeah external cable roing for easy servicing yes and also just Perforating thin wall steel tubes is not necessar the most sensible thing especially at the bottom especially at the ends yes where they’re getting a lot of stress yeah yeah so that’s um yeah so there is that but you know it’s nice and it’s all all nice and together and we’ve got we’ve got the bosses at um most of the bosses are at uh uh bottle boss spacing so you can you know you can stick a bottle right down here you can stick one up there or you can put a luggage pack on it or or a tool wrap or yeah you know we’ve got a couple under here as well for anyone wants to you know put a you know like a tul EG or something on there so so that’s again that’s sort of leaning into the sort of more versatility yeah kind of side of it yeah cuz I think you know there’s a lot of people with a capable gravel bike and now thinking actually I think what I really need is a mountain bike yes and and and this is you know as capable as the Cascade is which is our sort of bike packing sort of bar mountain bike the reason why that fits in the range is because this is so incredibly capable Offroad we felt there was something yeah that we could put in like underneath this yeah where that used to be essentially that used to be yeah yeah so it’s um so yeah that’s that’s it really it’s well thanks very much son yeah super thanks very much for building me one up to try I know a load of people have been pestering me to get one on test so uh Happy Days for them and US yes indeed so I’m really excited to get on it yeah enjoy uh other frame colors not there not there’s nothing wrong with that one sounded like it this is Forest um and Ember is the other frame color which is kind of like a matte sort of light orange craen excellent right well I take the little detail shots so we can do fancy fades in and out on those as we’re chatting about them yeah and uh then you can say something like uh well I you know what you should say is tell people to if they want to try them on themselves you’ve got demo dates coming up all over the country or they can come down to your HQ HQ here in Chesterfield yes handy for major trunk roads in the north of England and some cracking local riding as well yes there is yeah yeah so I’ll do I’ll say all that just just in a minute JP to CL yeah yeah just no well no you can say the bit about yeah thanks to my thanks to guy sponsors his patreon subscribers and click and notify then we can swap roll says me says my breath no that’s Grand side thank you very much indeed cheers and uh yeah obviously live R review of this coming up very shortly well yeah depends how I don’t want to do it too quick cuz then he wants it back