Today in 2012, we did the press rides for the new Cotic Rocket; our second full suspension bike, but the first to feature droplink suspension, and steel construction. 10 years ago!

I remember being so nervous. There was a lot riding on this bike. We were still only me and Paul full time and Kelvin part time at that point. Tiny compared to today, and we had spent over 2 years and a lot of time, effort and money developing this bike. And it was steel. There were very good reasons for that, and actually the material used was the least interesting thing about the Rocket in my opinion. But, it was always going to be a tough sell.

We had 3 bikes available, and we booked in MBUK, MBR and BikeMagic in the morning. The guys came along and were friendly enough, but we did get quite a grilling about why we had made certain decisions about the bike. We went on a big ride in glorious weather. Paul chucked himself down a gravel byway and that was the end of his day. Ouch! We had a pub lunch and Jenn and Matt from Singletrack arrived. It was a slightly more chilled afternoon and we had the nicest ride out, and clearly they liked the bike. It was such a great day, but I was spent at the end of it! Their write up is still up on the website.

It was the start of something really big for us. It was pretty radical for 2012, with a head angle in the 65s and (for the time) pretty decent length. It was marked the time when we started becoming the modern Cotic. We spent a lot of the development time not only engineering the bike, but figuring out what Cotic was, what it meant to us and other people, and what a Cotic product should be. The Rocket was the first embodiment of this and - although refined over the years - that mantra has guided us ever since.

droplink suspension has been developed and refined through two other wheel sizes, single ring drivetrains, wider axle spacing, a huge leap forward in geometry, and some incredible shock development. However, the fundamentals are still there from that very first bike: The lively, poppy feel from a very progressive frame rate, simple and robust pivot designs, clean lines through the bike. If you rode a Rocket26 and a current RocketMAX back to back, they would be wildly different in a lot of ways, but I think you would also feel a distinctive and very obvious kinship in the way they rode too. The sweet feel across cambers, the life and pop in the suspension. It would all be there.

And if you're still rocking your Rocket, we've also got your back, because the pivot designs have remained broadly similar throughout as well. Not only does that mean we know we have a reliable product, but it also means that we have pivot spares for every droplink frame we have made. I spotted the Rocket26 main pivots this morning when I was at the workshop as it happens.

So here's to 10 years of fun, fast, steel droplink bikes. For everyone who's bought one over that time, thank you so much. You are a big part of Cotic's success, and we all massively appreciate you choosing one of our bikes in a world of carbon this and aluminium that. I hope they brought you as much joy as they have us.

And of course, no discussion of the Rocket could pass by without also celebrating 10 years of this guy....

Cheers, Cy