Since we released the Rocket video, we've had a few Hemlock customers intrigued by the fact that the Rocket geometry was largely developed on the Hemlock and asking the differences and how we did it.

The main change was using a K9 Industries Angled Reducer Cup -2deg headset. You need to get the correct one for the length of head tube on your frame, and it'll only work on 2009 onwards frames with the 1.5 head tube when combined with straight 1 1/8" steerer fork. You can also get the same effect from the Works Components as well. Email these guys with your head tube length. It's 110mm on the small, 120mm on the medium and 130mm on the large.

Once installed, this headset gives you a net 1.5 degree slackening of the head angle, drops the BB down and steepens the seat angle by 0.5deg. If you're running the shorter travel rockers, you won't end up with the same static head angle as the Rocket, it'll measure a bit slacker again. This is because the Rocket is based on the 150mm travel rockers on the Hemlock as the Rocket is a 150mm travel frame. However, the Hemlock was designed to run at the same dynamic geometry (i.e. with sag, rider on board) regardless of the travel setting so once you're riding you'll have the right numbers.

For the Rocket we've steepened the seat angle further to place the rider more in the middle of the bike, but in terms of head angle, BB height and chainstay length you'll have something very similar to the new bike. Obviously, with the droplink suspension on the Rocket and the stiffer attachments for the suspension it's not quite on a par with the new bike and the suspension feel is quite different due to the new progressive frame rate, but I guess you have to give us that. Things have moved on for the new frame ;-). What you will have is a fantastically fun and involving evolution of your Hemlock. At the end of the day, Cy and Paul had so much fun hooning around on their Hemlocks set up like this it become the basis for the Rocket, so it's worth a go if you're looking to freshen up your trusty charger.

For the second installment of the information on the Cotic Rocket, Cy's done a video explaining about the origins of the project, and what he sees as the key points on the bike. We hope you like it.

Here's the overall specification for the bike:

• 150mm rear travel, using Cotic Droplink suspension (more detail on this in the next newsletter).
• Slack, low geometry: 66.5 degree head angle/13.3" BB height with 150mm Fox Float installed.
• Designed for use with 140, 150 and 160mm forks.
• Front triangle constructed from Reynolds 853, swingarm 7005-T6 aluminium, seatstay/shock strut in cromoly, droplink is 1 piece CNC'd 7075-T6.
• 7.3lb frame weight including Fox RP23 shock.
• 44mm standard head tube, designed around zero stack top/external cup bottom for taper steerer compatibility.
• 31.6mm seatpost size for dropper seatpost compatibility, and hose clips for remotes under the top tube.
• ISCG05 mounts.
• Syntace X-12 142 x 12mm rear through axle.
• Loads of tyre clearance. Easily runs with Maxxis 2.5" DH tyres in the rear end.
• Regular 73mm threaded BB shell.
• 15mm pivot axles on both main pivot and Droplink pivots combine with massively stiff 35mm steel seat tube to lock the back end to the front triangle for maximum handling precision.
• Shock options will include Fox Float RL, Fox RP23 Kashima, and custom tuned BOS Vip'r.

There will be lots more detail on the various features of the frame in the next couple of letters. You can sign up to the newsletter to hear it all first here.

Carsten from Eaven Cycles - our German Distributor - has been on saying he's got a large and a medium Limited Edition Simple in stock. So, if you missed out on the UK allocation of the Limited Edition Simple frame then drop Carsten a line and he'll get one re-patriated for you.

We've just received a new batch of main pivot kits and mech hangers for Hemlocks to plug the gap in our spares stock. So, we now have spares for every single part on the frames and are committed to this being the case for years to come. Just because we have new and exciting things on the horizon, doesn't mean we leave our existing customers high and dry. If you need any spares for your frame just drop us an email or give us a call on 07970 853531 and we'll sort you out.

For the last 2 and a half years we have been working on a new full suspension frame. It's finally finished and going into production, so we wanted to announce that we're back in the game and they're due in mid-March 2012.

The frame is called the Cotic Rocket. It's a trail bike with 150mm rear travel for 140-160mm forks. We have so much to tell you about, but Cy's going to do that in detail over the next few weeks in (relatively) easily digested chunks via the mailing list.

It has been a long project, and we're incredibly proud of this bike.

Stay tuned!

Now that we have the latest >X< framesets in stock, we've also firmed up the new bike specifications for 2012. These are as follows:

X Sunday

• Shimano 105 (5700) Drivetrain
• KCNC Flyride 100mm stem, T4R 350mm seatpost
• Cotic Components Saddle and 44cm bar
• Shimano CX-50 36/46 CX Specific Chainset with 12-30 10spd cassette
• Shimano R550 Cantis or Tektro Lyra Discs
• Cane Creek Headset
• Alex R450 rims on Cartridge bearing CC disc hubs
• Continental Cyclocross Race 700x35c Tyres

X Weekday

• Shimano Deore Rear Mech/Sora Front with Sora STi's
• Cotic Components Finishing Kit, 100mm stem, 44cm bar
• Sora 34/50 Compact with 11-32 9spd cassette
• Tektro CR520 Cantis or Tektro Lyra Cable Discs
• Cane Creek Headset
• Alex R450 rims on Cartridge bearing CC disc hubs
• Continental Cyclocross Race 700x35c Tyres

The wider range cassettes on both bikes are in response to customers requesting a lower gear range for offroad riding, and the X Sunday now uses Shimano's CX specific chainset too.

Despite the specification changes the pricing remains the same, starting at £900 for the X Weekday Steel Fork and £1,200 for the X Sunday Steel Fork. Upcharge of £75 for Tektro Lyra cable discs and £100 for CC Carbon forks apply as before too. What are you waiting for?

Morning all! Today we're permanently dropping the price on the BFe to just £300. We've ended up a little overstocked on them and we need to fund our exciting new projects, most pressingly the Solaris 29er which will be here in early March 2012 and is going to production now.

We have all sizes and colours in stock (although we're down to single figures in large blue), and unlike our previous promotion this price will be available through our dealers as well as it's a permanent price change.

Finally, to pre-empt the question we got last time we did a BFe promotion, there are no plans to drop the price on the Soul. Soul stock is good, and we have another drop of those coming in December to top up the orange colour option as this is getting a little low right now.

Cycling Plus have got one of our >X< Sunday bikes on test at the moment, and also received one of the only TRP Parabox hydraulic disc brake convertor systems in the country. As the >X< is one of the only disc compatible 'cross bike available right now, they use it as a test bed for fitting the new components. Check out the video. Once the UK importers of TRP get stock, we'll be offering the Parabox as an upgrade option on all the >X< bikes.

Another thing we've been busy with is getting the latest batch of X's in. We have all sizes and colours in stock, and there are some subtle revisions to the latest batch, notably 160mm rear rotor compatibility and the half bridge mudguard mounting from the RoadRat. This means all rear cable discs will fit and mudguard mounting is now super easy. We have a small number of black 54cm and 58cm of the old versions on our Moving Specials page, right at the bottom.

Sorry it's been so quiet on here this month. Been very, very busy. One of the things we've been busy doing is settling into our new warehouse. As a result of the move we've pulled together all the frames we have which aren't completely perfect, a couple of ex-demos, that kind of thing. We've list them on our new Moving Specials. There are a few Souls, and Roadrat and a couple of BFes, plus the run out on the previous version >X< frames. Go and take a look, and pick up a bargain.

Our German Importer Carsten from Eaven Cycles is doing a cyclocross stage race starting tomorrow called Critical Dirt. It looks like an ace event, and the weather is being very good to them apparently:

Hi Cy, We are ready now. Tomorrow Arne and I drive by car to Gšttingen. On Friday in the morning Arne an me are then starting to the 4 stages tour through the east of Germany. The weather is perfect, it's sunny up to 24degrees here in Germany. Although it will be with 500km and many hight meters (we're crossing the Harz Mountains!) for sure very challenging for us, we're looking forward to this small but nice event. The tour is organised by a group of bike freaks and well known in Germany. For sure there will be many steel and titanium bikes on the start line together with us on our X bikes. Here is a link to their web page and a nice film they prepared last year: Critical Dirt Mit freundlichem Gru§, Carsten

Here's Carsten's rather lovely >X< all prepped for the event, and the films he mentioned. Really lovely.

Mark Cavendish and Team GB: LEGENDS

That is all. Carry on.

We like the odd bivvy ride here at Cotic, and Alpkit have been the supplier of choice for a lot of our kit. They have now put up a great resource section about getting started in The Way of The Bivvy (or bikepacking as they would have it) on their website. Read all about it and get inspired.

Seems Robbie made it into this issue of Wideopen too. Check out their Scottish World Cup Road Trip along with our BFe Long Term write up (page 98).

Darren got in touch with us last week. Not only is he one of the lucky people to have picked up a limited edition Simple (2 medium frames left if you want to pick up the last of the run), Darren's also the first person we know of to have put a sweet Alfine 11 set up on the bike. Following our experience with Factory Alfine RoadRats we added an extra cable clip run for the Alfine gear set up on the new track end equipped frames to give people this option, but doesn't it look great? Extra points to Darren though for the obligatory Middleburn UNO cranks in all black, and colour matching the chain to the Kashima coating on the Floats. The singlespeed version of the upcoming 29er will be equipped with the same Alfine compatibility.

This just in from Darren this morning:

Covered nearly 50 miles on it now and its great. Excellent climbing - I thought the fork might be too long at 140 to climb well but its great. Down at 110 its quite lively handling but I'm used to that :-) Planning on taking it from Fort William up over the Corrieyairack pass and Mount Keen to Montorse in a couple weekend time then Relentless 24 after that!

Adventure biking. Love it.

Not far mind, just down the yard to a bigger unit so we have the space to continue on our path to world domination ;-) It's got it's own loo and a sink, don't ya know? First class all the way for us.

We'll be moving things about tomorrow, with the aim of getting our orders out on Thursday as per usual. However, you all know moving is littered with the best intentions and the most broken of deadlines, so we apologise if some orders don't get done until Friday. Should be all sorted by then.

Obviously as we'll be up or our eyeballs in frame boxes and stock shelves tomorrow, so we won't be on email. We'll have the phones, but again, if ours hands are full we won't be able to pick up and I bet you all the pens will be wherever we are not. If you're looking to get your Cotic this week, get on the blower and get it all sorted today and we can look after you as soon as we're in the new place.

We've ended up a little bit over-stocked on our Alfine 8spd kit, so for the rest of September we're offering an Alfine 8spd Wheelset Kit Bundle for just £299 delivered. The kit comprises:

Alfine 8spd Hub and Cotic Components Front on Alex R450 700c rims

Alfine 8spd Shifter

Nexus 16t Sprocket

Alfine Fitting Kit

This is the exact kit we spec on our RoadRat Factory Alfine bikes, and it's great. Drop us an email at order@cotic.co.uk to order yours today. Remember, the offer only lasts until the end of September.

This week we finally signed off the Solaris 29er frame design following Cy's successful testing of the final geometry prototype last weekend. We expect frames to be delivered Feb/Mar 2012. There will be a geared option as above, available in blue or orange, or a singlespeed version with Simple style track ends with cable clips for Alfine hub gearing which will be blue only.

It's designed around being able to use 80mm sus forks/470mm long rigid forks as a minimum, but strong enough for up to 120mm sus forks. Cy did most of the testing on 100mm sus forks and loved it as an all round trail bike.

Sizing available will be Medium, Large, and Extra Large based on the current Cotic sizing bands. That puts medium frames for people around 5ft 9in - 6ft, large 6ft-6ft 3in, and the new XL size for people around 6ft 3in - 6ft 6in. So, if you're a medium Soul/RoadRat/Hemlock owner, despite the geom numbers looking a little different you'll need a medium Solaris but with a 10mm shorter stem than usual. For example, Cy uses an 80mm stem with 50mm risers on his large Soul, but used a 70mm stem and flat bars to get the same position on the Solaris.

We haven't done a small yet because during testing a key issue was getting the bars low enough to make it possible to weight the front end properly and really ride the bike, and that was for Cy who's 6ft 3in. The head tube height relative to the BB is so high compared to a 26" bike on a 29er that having looked at Paul's Soul set up (he's 5ft 8in and runs a small) we just didn't think we could get the frame packaging to a point where it would handle. However, there's clearly a demand for 29ers from people who would fit into our smallest sizing category, so we'll be prototyping a small size with the first batch and Paul and Kate will be running them. If we can make it work to our satisfaction, we'll introduce it later next year. If we can't, we won't.

As you'd expect from a Cotic it can take nice big tyres, with 2.4" Maxxis Ardents fitting with ease, and 2.2" Maxxis IKONs used for most of the testing.

After last weeks' debate on front mechs, we're sticking with clamp on conventional mechs. The clearance on production frames will be better than the photos in the story below as the seat angle on production frames is 1 deg steeper than the blue prototype in the pictures. This means unmodified mechs will fit with around 8mm clearance to big tyres, but this can be made much better by chopping off the bottom pull arm should you so wish. We'll be putting a How To video on this on the website for when the frames arrive and we'll probably keep a couple of modified XT mechs on the shelf for people who'd like to buy one.

We'll open ordering officially in the New Year when we'll have firm pricing and definite delivery dates. However, if you'd like to register your interest in getting a frame or just have a specific question to ask, drop us a line on twentynine@cotic.co.uk

We have just 4 medium sized frames left of our Limited Edition Simple production run, and here's Robbie showing just what's possible with one gear and rigid forks

Robbie also tried out a 2 speed set up on his Simple (dubbed the "Dimplespeed"), giving him a trialsy gear and a taller trail riding option. Check out his blogs on how to build a Dimplespeed for some inspiration for your build.

We've just delivered a 54cm X to Xavier in the Burgundy region of France and he's done a sweet 1 x 10 build on it. Check out all his pics on Flickr. Xavier says:

"The brakes are Avid Shorty Ultimate with Ultegra levers. I just love the bike, the rear 130mm hub is a bit too small but it fits, I'll build disc wheels later but for now it's just the perfect bike for light trails and road."

Due to Cy being on holiday and Paul not knowing where to look, we mistakenly put Sodas out of stock the other week. We're not, we have 4 mediums left in the UK. We've also had our German distributor in touch letting us know he has large and small frames, so we can get hold of the other sizes as well if you want them. No problem.

Sorry if you thought we were out. Just a bit of confusion due to stock being all over the place before our move to a bigger unit in a few weeks. If you're after some shiny goodness, get in touch.

Thanks for all your feedback about the mech thing on Friday and over the weekend. As most of your sided with us on the use of a standard clamp mech, and having thought about it some more over the weekend, that's what we're sticking with. Clearance on production frames will be better than the photos below by 3mm or so as the seat angle will be 1 deg steeper than the blue prototype. So, you can use a regular clamp mech and get OK clearance, or you can chop the bottom pull arm off and get good clearance. WINNER!

Which brings me to the second 29er development note - Paul and Cy went for a very big long ride in the Lakes this weekend, the first ride of 29er Prototype2.

We tried out a slacker seat angle than usual on prototype 1 (the blue bike), and Cy also got his sums wrong on the top tube and it ended up 5mm shorter than a Soul instead of 10mm longer, plus it was a struggle to get the bars low enough for our liking even with flat bars. It rode well, but wasn't really long enough and on steep climbs the front end popped up much too easily, plus stiffness wasn't ideal (high head tubes on 29ers seem to need more top tube stiffness compared to 26" bikes). So, prototype 2 was commissioned with fixes: Top tube sums done right so 10mm longer than equivalent Soul (so you can run a 10mm shorter stem for the same reach for quick handling and to keep the front centre nice and long), 10mm shorter head tube, 1 deg steeper seat angle than prototype 1, next size up top tube. Result? AMAZING! We were really quite surprised by how immediately right the bike felt. Sometimes it's hard to spot changes to frame layout, but the combination of the above turned the 29er into a brilliant bike. So, we've found our final frame spec, and drawings and factory orders are being placed this week. We'll confirm more details soon. We're excited.

So we're in need of some valued input again. Getting to grips with final 29er layout, basically for short back end I want, the front mech gets in the way. There are some solutions to this, and I want to know what you think:

The current solution: Nice, light, stiff seat tube welded directly the bottom bracket in the conventional way. Conventional high band front mech BUT with the redundant bottom pull lever arm cut off to give the requisite tyre clearance. Frame is light, stiff, easy to make. Requires existing front mech to be modified. Very easy to do, and we would offer to do it for people who didn't feel confident to do it themselves. A couple of photos below showing the current design.

New solution Option 1: Keep existing light, stiff, easy to make frame layout, but go to direct mount front mech with offset mounting. This gives less clearance than the hacksawed mech of the existing prototype set up as the lack of a clamp band allows the offending bottom pull arm to be moved 3mm closer to the seat tube (about half the clearance you gain from the current chopped clamp band front mech). Does however require the purchase of a new direct mount front mech as almost none of you will have one to put on, which effectively adds £30 (for an XT) onto the cost of the frame.

New solution Option 1a: Go for direct mount AND chop the bottom pull lever arm off as per the existing solution. The allows the front mech to be moved completely out of the way of the tyre. Does mean taking your brand new front mech and cutting it up.

New solution Option 2: Offset or curved seat tube. Both are heavier, less stiff, harder to make and can do odd things with the bike fit and rider position when the seatpost is pulled out a long way. Would also require another prototype delaying the project another 3-4 months. Not my preferred solution.

The basic top and bottom of it is that front mechs as currently designed to do everything for everyone are a complete packaging nightmare on 29ers (and FS frames come to that, but we'll leave that rant for another time). With the current chopped front mech, you can get 2.4Ó Maxxis Ardents in there with about 8mm clearance at the tightest point, which is actually pretty good as 29ers go. The problem being that you (or us as we'd offer a 'chopping' service) would have to modify a front mech to make it work. So, thoughts, ideas, votes on any of the above options? Would you rather buy a new front mech with less good clearance or at no cost chop a redundant part off your existing mech? Cy really, really, really doesn't want to do an offset seat tube.

We've posted this note over on our Facebook page where you can leave your thoughts and comments. We really would value your input on this. If you're not on Facebook, then drop Cy an email at cy@cotic.co.uk.

Today our latest shipment arrived with the Limited Edition Simple frames, along with Souls and BFes in all sizes and colours. Simples are going out this week, but there are a few mediums left unallocated if you want a sweet SS ride. Medium orange Souls and blue BFes are back too, so we'll be clearing back orders on them as well.

Anne Dickens has written about her winning ride at 24/12. Sit down with a cuppa and have a read.

The team dun good! The Cotic AQR Holidays Race Team were out in force at Bontrager TwentyFourTwelve last weekend, and on board their trusty Cotic bikes they completely demolished the competition taking 3 first places for Mixed 12hr Pair (with our illustrious leader Ian Potter, AQR main man and Katie), Womens 12hr Pair (Ruth and Kirsty), 24hr Mixed Pair (Anne and Simon in his first 24hr race!!), a 2nd place for Rachel in 12hr Womens Solo. What a result!!

Huge WELL DONE TEAM from us here at Cotic HQ. There will be stories of adventure and derring do on the Cotic AQR Race Team Blog very soon.

Robbie's posted a blog about his latest 4X adventures at the National Champs. Very, very damp, quite sandy, lots of wetness and crashing. All good fun I s'pose!

We did a photoshoot at Stannage a couple of years ago in March 2009 and although we used some of the shots, since all the frames changed design and colour in late 2009 I've not really looked at them since. Thought to look for a pic of a grey BFe today from the Cotic Facebook thread on colour suggestions for frames and I'd just forgotten what a great sets of pictures we got. Niall Flinn was the photographer, and he totally captures how great the British countryside can be, even on one our more moist days. Here's the full set of pics for you to enjoy.

We wanted to give you a delivery update now that we have a firm ship docking date, as a lot of you are waiting for the Limited Edition Simple and also quite a few on the back order list for medium orange Souls.

Unfortunately things have slipped a couple of weeks from the promised July delivery date, but we have the documentation now which confirms the ship will dock in the UK on 2nd August. Give it a week for Customs and delivery to us we'll be looking at delivering your Simples and Souls week commencing 15th August. We will be in touch with all people on the order lists individually nearer the time to confirm details with you.

We still have a small number of the Limited Edition Simple looking for a home. The small size is all gone, but as of today 5 medium and 3 large are still unallocated. Don't miss out: Order yours now.

Gary from Cyclist No1 got his trusty X back after it's starring role in our Late For Work video, and he's missed it. Once back in Bristol he's set about testing the versatility of the bike with some road tyres and big miles, along with some bling from FSA to see about gearing options. If you're considering an X, give this a read as Gary's really understood what this bike is all about.

Nuff said. Thanks to Trevor for the pic and the inspiration.

We were gently reminded this morning that we'd not updated the news page for a couple of weeks. Apologies for the slackness. Last thing we posted about was the demo. That seems like a lifetime ago, although we've drunk beer and been to bed since then. It was a very successful demo, with plenty of people turning out. We even sold a couple of RoadRats on the day due to having one of our new RoadRat Geared on display. An entirely unexpected but happy surprise, given it was a mountain bike demo!

We've also ordered some sample wide, flat handlebars ahead of the 29er production (penciled in for Spring 2012). Cy has the Sunline 762's (cut down to 720) on his, but the big sweep isn't really working for him. Paul's tried some wide Salsa's on his Soul, but again the big sweep that people seem to be putting on these bars wasn't to his liking. We've looked around for some nice wide bars (the 29er definitely needs flats in our opinion), but they all seem to sprout an odd sweep (8 degrees or more) once they get wide. What's wrong with 5 degrees or so? Nothing, as far as our wrists are concerned, but we couldn't find much out there to satisfy our requirements. So, we're looking at some carbon and some titanium flat bars to try out and see if they do the job. We'll see....

Although it was a short trip of just two days in Taiwan, our agents still insisted on taking Cy out for dinner one night. Not only was the meal amazing (Kobe beef teppanyaki), but Chris our QC guy got a bit too beered at the restaurant and came out with some legendary stuff, the winner being, "Why you English like titanium? I think you used to be horse rider gentlemen. Now you think like you are gentlemen on nice shiny bike!". Genius. Cy posted this and a couple of other things about the trip on our Facebook page.

Finally, something for you to read. Anne Dickins from the Cotic AQR Holidays Race Team lost her riding mojo after an epic 24hrs of Exposure back in May. Here's her blog on how she found it again.

On Saturday 25th June, 9.30am-5.30pm (otherwise known as tomorrow) we are doing a demo in conjunction with our friends at 18 Bikes who are just down the road in Hope, smack bang in the middle of the Peak District's best riding.

Not only will we have our demo fleet, this will be augmented with 18's own demo bikes as well. Here's what we will have for your delectation:

• 1 Cotic Soul, Small
• 2 Cotic Soul, Medium
• 1 Cotic Soul, Large
• 1 Cotic Soda, Medium
• 1 Cotic BFe, Small

Cy will be on hand with the 18 Bikes boys to put people on the right bikes, and we'll bring along an X and a RoadRat for people to look at too.

We'll put together a mapped route for you which lasts about an hour, and you just need to swing by with your riding gear on and pedals ready and we'll talk things over and fit you up on a bike. Don't be shy, come up and ask for a ride! Generally this will be a fairly relaxed affair, but if you can only manage a particular time, drop us an email today and we'll book you in.

See you there!

The RoadRat has been updated with a new road based drivetrain sweet looking compact road cranks and a wide ratio cassette out back. This gives a gear range similar to the 2011 3x9 drivetrain, but much lighter and slicker looking. The wide range cassette also read across to the X Weekday bike as well.

The new build specification is as follows:

• Cotic Roadrat frame/fork - X Carbon fork optional for £100 upcharge
• Shimano SLR-440 Flat bar shifters and front mech
• Shimano Tiagra 34/50 Compact Double Chainset, Tiagra GS rear mech
• 11-32 9spd cassette and chain
• Cotic Components Finishing Kit, 120mm stem, 580mm wide flat bar
• Cotic Components Cartridge Bearing Disc Hubs on Alex R450 rims
• Cane Creek S1 Cartridge Bearing Headset
• 700x28c tyres

Price remains at £825 for the base V-brake/steel fork model. The bike shown is fairly obviously the orange colour option, and it has the X Carbon fork upgrade which is £100 extra. Disc brake options carry on from the previous bike, with Tektro cable discs for an extra £75 or Magura hydraulics for an extra £150.

Robbie's written up his week long 4X adventures which culminated in competing in his first World Cup. Make a brew and have a read of his latest blog.

We've just heard today that unfortunately the demo we were going to at Cycleworld in Aberdeen has had to be cancelled due to Forestry Commission rubbishness. However, seeing as we have a pile of demo bikes built up now, it'd be shame not to use them.

On Saturday 25th June, 9.30am-5.30pm we will be doing a demo in conjunction with our friends at 18 Bikes who are just down the road in Hope, smack bang in the middle of the Peak District's best riding.

Not only will we have our demo fleet, this will be augmented with 18's own demo bikes as well. Here's what we will have for your delectation:

• 1 Cotic Soul, Small
• 2 Cotic Soul, Medium
• 1 Cotic Soul, Large
• 1 Cotic Soda, Medium
• 2 Cotic BFe, Small

Cy will be on hand with the 18 Bikes boys to put people on the right bikes, and we'll bring along an X and a RoadRat for people to look at too.

We'll put together a mapped route for you which lasts about an hour, and you just need to swing by with your riding gear on and pedals ready and we'll talk things over and fit you up on a bike. First come, first served, but as you can see we'll have plenty to go around so don't be shy, come up and ask for a ride! Generally this will be a fairly relaxed affair.

See you there!

James from Cotic AQR Holidays Race Team has just popped his pics from the weekend up on Flickr. Check us out on the podium!

That's 9 podiums for the season and counting. Not bad at all.....

The Cotic AQR Holidays Race Team was representing up and down the country this weekend. We had 3 podiums at the Bristol Bikefest, Ruth &Kirsty 2nd 6hr pair, Rachel 2nd 3hr solo and James &Matt 3rd 6hr mens pair! We also had Robbie Rickman flying the flag by qualifying and then competing in his first ever World Cup 4X at Fort William. What a fantastic weekend. GO TEAM!

Thanks to Andy from Yetifan.com for the picture of Robbie flying the doubles at The Fort.

Robbie's racing his first World Cup this weekend at Fort William. GO ON LAD!! Here's what he'll be facing...

Have a good weekend, whatever you're doing.

The Cotic X - Late for work from Joe Bowman on Vimeo.

Shot by Thisisheffield

Where will your Cotic X take you?

I know lots of you are interested in the Solaris frame, so here's an update. It took some doing to get comfortable on the bike as I like low-ish bars, but the Sunline 762's I got from One Industries Europe have been spot on, especially since I chopped them down to my usual 710mm width. Even though the Solaris has short head tubes as 29ers go, the 29er layout does make it hard to get bars low if you like that, so we'll be recommending flat bars mostly and sizing you guys up carefully to make sure it's spot on for you. It's also hardened my resolve not to do a small size. If I'm 6ft 3in and I found the bike felt too high with anything other than flat bars on it, then there's no way small size people are going to get anything out of a 29er in my opinion, or certainly nothing apart from something that rolls quick but has your 'bars higher than your ears so you can't it throw around, and where's the fun in that? A bike you can't chuck around certainly is not a very Cotic bike, that's for sure. We'll be doing medium for people down to around 5ft 9in, and there will be an XL size inserted above our usual large for guys up to around 6ft 7in ish.

I've been really pleased with how the bike handles and I've been doing a lot of direct back-to-back loops with the Soul to get a really firm idea where we're at with this bike. Climbing is pretty similar between the two, with the Soul making easier weight shifts and trialsy moves vs the Solaris running over larger bumps easier. Contouring and on swooping singletrack the Solaris just flies. It carries speed so nicely. Really impressive. On bumpy downhills, (Devil's Elbow/Piper Lane in Blacka Moor for the Sheffield locals), the most marked difference was observed. It's a fast downhill with fist to babyhead sized rocks, and a lot of possibilities for straight lining bumpy sections as the DH boys have carved in their own lines. The Soul is just a massive amount of fun down here, boosting off rocks, over sections, whipping between lines. The Solaris, on this particular size of bumps is COMPLETELY BALLISTIC. Proper FS bike speed. Not as easy to pop or move line, but I didn't need to, it was so insanely fast. I was laughing like an idiot at the bottom of the hill! Just to see how far I could push it I took it up to somewhere seriously bumpy where 150mm travel bikes usually fly. Definitely found the limit of the 29er bump smoothing! Rode fast, but was really quite scared and took a while for the vision blur to stop at the bottom ;-) Really interesting defining the differences between the bikes though. I can't see us ever replacing 26" wheel hardtails with 29" wheel, but they both have their pros and cons, so both have their place in the range. For smooth speed the 29er is incredibly fast.

There are some things not quite right though, the main one being seat angle as I went a little slacker on the Solaris because I reasoned that the longer back end would mean the weight distribution didn't end up getting mucked up, and the taller gentlemen has longer legs which suit slacker seat angles. It unfortunately hasn't worked and the front end is a little too wandery on climbs for my liking, which has been confirmed by feedback from some other guys who've ridden the bike. I also planned on making the front end longer than the equivalent 26" bike to compensate for the shorter front centre brought on by steepening the head angle relative to the Soul. This would allow a 10mm shorter stem as well to keep steering sharp. I managed to mis-calcuate this due to the increased height of the head tube compared to the Soul and the prototype bike has ended up effectively a couple of mm shorter than a Soul size-for-size. As the bar height has been an issue I'm also going to look into 44mm zero stack head tubes as well to bring the bars down further without shortening the already short head tube. So, another prototype required, as I need to bring the seat angle back to Soul equivalence, and I need to do my sums right on the top tube length!! It's got be right......

Duncan Philpott from Thisisheffield provides some excellent race coverage again from NPS 4X Round 2 last weekend. There are some great shots on the story over on their website, and a video which features Cotic's Robbie Rickman at 2min 10sec. Check it out...

Schwalbe British 4x Round 2 - PORC from Duncan Philpott on Vimeo.

Robbie says "Its now only 2 weeks until round 3 up at Afan if anyone is watching this and wants to give it a go. We managed to get two converts from the Swansea DH team after they gave 4X a try for the first time last weekend. Their summary was super fun, chilled out and inexpensive when compared to DH racing, proper mates racing. I cant agree more!". Why not grab your BFe and have a crack, or head down for a ride on the trails and go and give Robbie a cheer?

The pictures are beginning to come in from the weekend. Man it looked HARD! Kate and Anne are both working on blogs of the race, and it sounds as epic as it looks from the 1st drafts we've seen and from talking to them. Keep an eye on Kate's blog and Anne's blog.

There are more pictures on the AQR Team Flick Group and the A Quick Release Holidays Facebook page.

Robbie was racing down at PORC in Kent last weekend in the latest round of the NPS 4X. However, there was obviously plenty of time for mucking about on the jumps too, as you can see. Read all about Robbie's weekend on his latest blog.

The Cotic A Quick Release Holidays Race Team were at the 24hrs of Exposure this weekend and KATE POTTER WON! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!! Anne Dickens was 2nd in Vets and Ant Jordon came 15th senior men. Excellent, excellent results all round. We're so proud of you all, and hats off to all who competed as the conditions looked truly attrocious! I'm sure Kate and Anne will have thoughts on their races on their blogs later in the week, but for now, rest up, eat lots, have a beer on us.

What a strange week for our bikes. Just when you thought you had everything in a neat pigeon hole, the Thisisheffield boys go and session the pump track with an X, then our resident hoonmeister Robbie goes all soft on us, as his latest blog post seems to alude to. He's been cycle touring on his RoadRat! Looks like it was lovely though, so have a read about spinning along empty roads in the sunshine. Robbie promises normal service will be resumed soon with flying BFes and general hooning.

As mentioned last week, Thisisheffield have an X in for a bit of work they're doing for us, but once they got hold of the bike, they couldn't resist a quick spin to see what all this drop-bars-offroad business was all about. Then they got a bit carried away....

Cotic X from Joe Bowman on Vimeo.

Not exactly what we had in mind when it was designed, but Joe B says it's pretty sweet on the pump track!

Just heard from our mate Wayne who was our old importer in France. He's now back in the UK, but has had a pretty rubbish weekend. People in South Wales and anywhere really, keep an eye out for dodgy sales on the following:

STOLEN - Red Intense M9 - Cotic Soul Black- Trek Session 88 - Santa Cruz Nomad White - Santa Cruz Chamelon Blue - Cove G-Spot Blue, stolen in Chepstow South Wales. Pics to follow shortly. If you are offered these bikes or hear anything about them Please contact police.

As Wayne says, don't approach anyone, just call the Police if you see any of the above being sold for £50 in a pub. Thanks.

The local lads at Thisisheffield have had a BFe for a couple of months now and have some first impressions. We've also just handed over an X for a bit of fun we're working on, but more of that in a couple of weeks....

Our mates over at Wideopen Magazine have just finished putting together another ace issue of their free web mag. Well worth a look for some great race reporting, features, some lovely photography and......a BFe! They've had it on long term test and this issue has their first major write up.

This has been up for a couple of weeks, but I forgot to post it up here. Some lovely shots of flying about the Welsh countryside, as well as thoughts on his recovery from a broken leg. I hope it helps brighten your Wednesday lunch time.

Video Blog: Back on two Legs (Tweaked audio levels) from Rob Rickman on Vimeo.

Rob's going to be doing much more of the video thing this year, and we're looking forward to seeing the next installment.

Robbie was also racing his first National 4X race last weekend, and his write up is on his blog as well as Southern Downhill as Robbie's writing for them as well this season.

The Cyclist No1 guys have had an X on long term for a while, and they've just published their first thoughts after a couple of months with the bike. They seem to like it a lot, and are really mining the all round potential of the design.

The bike was initially going to be a frameset upwards build. However, due to some difficulties getting hold of kit, what they've basicaly ended up with is an X Sunday with some finishing kit upgrades for FSA. This is great for us as it's a very representative test of the specificiations of bike we sell, but also gives it a nice real world finish too, rather than uber bling.

Here's an amazing Soda build that our German Distributor Carsten at Eaven Cycles has put together for a www.light-bikes.de test.

According to Carsten, the build includes, "AX Lightness Carbon wheels with tube tyres, a Tune prototype crank, Schmolke handlebar etc. Without pedals we got a total weight of around 8,5kg". That's 18.72lbs imperial measure fans. Wowzers!

Here's another lovely detail shot....

As usual, there's a discussion on it going on over on our Facebook page if you want to join in.

Late entry for the week's news, and definitely not an April Fool, here's the first build on Cy's Solaris 29er frame. Only a quick spin so far, so hard to draw conclusions yet, but it sure does look pretty ;-)

29er bits are Reba Maxles dropped to 100mm, Maxxis IKON 2.2" tyres. Currently got some low rise KCNC SC Bone bars on there, but initial feeling is that this is still a little higher than the equivalent Soul with risers, so got some Sunline 762 Flat Bars coming next week to drop that down to a similar height. Lots to test. Lots to think about....

There's quite a discussion on it going on over on our Facebook page if you want to join in over the weekend.

With a degree of sadness, this week we bid goodbye to Cotic's first ever full suspension frame, the Hemlock. We have now sold out and this is now being taken out of production. It was a pretty momentus bike for a little company like ours, as there's not many brands our size who'd take on designing a full susser from scratch as we did, and we're very proud of it. It was a pretty unique product with it's potential for different travel front and rear, different travel rocker links, and as it evolved it became one of the first frames to embrace the new oversized steerer standards.

We are holding parts in stock for the future to support our customers, so if you a Hemlock owner, you'll be well looked after as you should expect from Cotic.

However, whilst all the brand new box fresh frames are gone, we have a small number of ex-demo frames in full and final 2011 frame specification but with 2009 (but still ace) RP23 Fox Shocks. Stock is as follows:

Medium white

Med black (same as product pic above)

Large white

Small black

Large black

All frames are offered at £800 including delivery. We have 2 sets of the long 150mm travel links which can be bought first come, first served for an additional £75. To reserve yours, email info@cotic.co.uk

The fellas over at Thisisheffield have also been busy over the weekend ragging their long term test XS sized Gritstone BFe over the hips and jumps at the bottom of the local DH track. Check out these great pics....

All photos were taken by Duncan Philpott. Doesn't that look ace?!!

So there's this guy called Bob, and he bought a lovely shiney Soda from Streetlife in Norwich a few weeks ago. He emailed us today with some lovely pics, and a frankly obsessive build list and weighed weight. We like obsessive's ;-), and we're sure you're going to like Bob's Blingtastic build.

Here's the full list from the man himself....

I've gone a little crazy on the specification, but actually brought very few new items for this build. Most parts transferred over from the Hummer. I'd be really pleased if you used the photos of my bike for a news story. I'll try and get some ones of it out and about and forward them to you.

The build is as follows:

Frame: 2011 Cotic Soda Medium

Forks: 2010 Fox F120 RLC qr

Wheels: 2011 DT 240s 6 bolt qr, stans alpine, super comp

Shifters: Sram XX

Cranks: Sram XX

Brakes: Sram XX

Rear Mech: Sram XX

Front Mech: Sram XX

Casette: Sram XX

Chain: Sram 1090R

Seat clamp: Thomson

Tyres: Schwalbe NN 2.1 Tubeless ready

Seatpost: Thomson 31.6x410mm (Ti bolts)

Stem: Thomson 90x0 (Ti bolts)

Bars: Easton EC90 low rise 630mm

Grips: Race Face good n Evil

Pedals: Look Keo Carbon

Saddle: Fizik Tundra k:ium

Skewers: Controltech Race Skewers

Headset: Chris King Sotto Voce

Spacers: Chris King 20mm

Cables: Nokon

I've weighed it on two different sets of scales and it comes in between 21.6 and 21.76lb.

Bob

Good work Bob.

Guy Martin, it seems, is everywhere at the moment. The Lincolnshire based motorcyle racer is on the TV at the moment; we love his BBC1 show The Boat That Guy built, and he's also made a second appearance in the latest EVO Magazine (Cy's a subscriber). A little know fact about Guy is that he's also a discerning cyclist, as he got a Soul from us a couple of years ago. As a thank you, he sent us a self commentated video of his (at the time) record breaking Isle of Mann TT lap. Have a look here: Guy's Isle of Mann Lap. It's completely mesmerising.

He's in a film released soon about the 2010 TT, called TT3D: Closer To The Edge, which we shall definitely be going to see.

Just picked up this gorgeously produced video of the Nant G DH from last last weekend shot by our mates over at Wideopen Mag. Take five and enjoy.

Wideopenmag.co.uk: 2011 Halo BDS Rd1 Nant Gwrtheyrn from Wideopen Mag on Vimeo.

You should have a read of their lovely downloadable mag too. They'll have some views on their BFe long termer next issue too.

We've opened another couple of dealers over the last few weeks so whilst we're in the process of sorting out the Dealer page we thought we'd give them a mention so you good people know where to go if you need the shop experience.

First up is a new dealer in Scotland:

Sprocket Cycles

Peace &Plenty

Ayr Road

Kilmarnock

KA1 5LF

Tel 01563 526800

sprocketscycles@live.co.uk

Second of all is our very latest dealer, signed up just this week, and they're down in Berkshire:

Trailjunkies Cycles

10 High Street

Goring

Reading

RG89AT

Tel 01491 871721

info@trailjunkies.com

www.trailjunkies.com

These guys will have stock for you to go and ogle, so if they're near you, why not drop in and have a look?

As we announced the other week, the X is now available at a lower price with our steel fork. It's £350 for the frameset, £900 for the X Weekday and £1,200 for the X Sunday with the steel fork spec. Cy popped the forks off his his RoadRat onto his X Sunday and took some sunny pics up the Peak today so you can see how it'll look. Pretty neat we think.

We were off to Greno Woods at the weekend supporting our local Steel City Series race. What an ace event. Cy called it The Biggest Little Race In The Country. 2min mini DH, with categories right down to 10 year olds, and yet World Champions and pro riders flying around too. Really cool atmosphere, and raised loads of money for the fund to buy Greno Woods for the local community. Peaty even got Rob Warner and Freecaster there. Keep an eye on Freecaster for the full show.

Lot's of cool plans afoot with the blossoming Sheffield scene, chatting to the local council guys, the Ride Sheffield people and our new friends at ThisIsSheffield. Joe from Thisisheffield dropped by Cotic HQ today to grab the XS Gritstone BFe demo bike we had up at the race. He's going to give it a rip for a couple of weeks, and there should be some sweet video coming soon. We'll keep you posted.

We've just (FINALLY!) received our shipment of ROADRATs. So, all sizes, all colours back in stock. We've now got the Alfine kits in, Geared kits, SS, disc, and extra X Carbon forks (£100 upcharge). The whole shooting match!

We're having an epic building week next week to catch up on back orders. If you have one on order, please drop us a line or give us a call on 07970 853531 to confirm. If you'd like a ROADRAT then order one now and we'll do our best to get it out with the others next week.

We've just sent the guys at BikeMagic an X Weekday Disc for mucking about on for a few weeks. They've written their first impressions today, so why not head over and have a read? They'll have a full test in a few weeks.

UPDATED

As Cy commented on the BikeMagic story, all X's are available now with the RoadRat steel fork for £100 saving over the X carbon fork option. So, X frameset with steel fork - £350, X Weekday Steel - £900, X Sunday Steel - £1,200. Price lists will be updated next week, but order now and request the steel option and we can do that for you.

The guys over at Southern Downhill have interviewed Robbie about his current predicament, along with the hopes for the rest of the season. Some nice insights into our very own gravity rider.

Ben from Southern DH also has a BFe on long term test and he's got the bike up and running now. He posted the latest build pics and is having a chat about it on their Forum.

Remember, for the whole of February you can get yourself a BFe just like Robbie and Ben's for just £300.

BUILD IT, AND SPRING WILL COME.

Back in summer 2010 What Mountain Bike magazine had a BFe on a 6 bike steel frame shootout which was published in issue No113. You can now read that test on BikeRadar.

It was awarded Most Versatile Bike on the test, with the test guys doing a great job (in our opinion) of highlighting not just the chaos capability of the frame, but also what a great trail bike it makes too. It was always the intention when re-designing the BFe that the lower price point compared to the Soul would allow it to bring Cotic handling, finish and feel to more people, and this test proves it not just us who thinks so.

And remember, for the whole month of February you can get our fantastic BFe frame for just £300.

BUILD IT, AND SPRING WILL COME.

Issue 5 of the quite lovely Ride Journal is now available from it's very fine publishers. The usual great words and artwork, so grab a copy and settle down to find out about some bits of cycling you've never heard of, and some great views about bits of cycling you already love.

The days are getting a little longer and you'll be starting to think about something nice to ride in the Spring. Something to push your riding enjoyment up a peg.

Now is the time to get that new bike built, and can we humbly suggest that you can't go far wrong by putting our tough super tough BFe frame at it's heart.

Built to take - and ride brilliantly with - anything from a 100mm to a 160mm travel fork, it's happy zipping between the trees, railing the 4X, nailing the jumps, or flattening rocks and blitzing trail centres.

So, to the point: To help you avoid rush building up your new bike later in the year when you should be enjoying the spring trails and brighter days, we're having a one month promotion in February on the BFe frame.

The price?

£300, including UK mainland delivery, only direct from Cotic.

That's 20% off; saving £75 on our usual price.

All sizes, all colours, in stock, ready to go.

February direct sales only. Act now...

Call to order now on 07970 853531, or learn more about the frame on the BFe product page.

BUILD IT, AND SPRING WILL COME.

We're always looking at ways of improving our service here at Cotic. Outstanding customer service is one of things we always try to deliver and we hope sets us apart from other brands. Further to this, from next week we're going to switch our dispatch day to Thursday. It's been Friday since the company started, but that was mainly due to it being the only day of the week that Cy could nick off an hour early from work and get to the Post Office to send out frames.

Now we have flexibility on the day, and with TNT offering us guaranteed next day delivery, moving dispatch to Thursday means orders will turn up on Fridays. This gives you all weekend to build your new bike, or in the case of people buying through our dealers, you'll be able to pick up your new Cotic on a Saturday. It cuts out quite a few days from our current schedule as we don't lose the weekend to the courier delivery and miss out the most convenient time for most people to pick up their new bike.

The final big win is that it frees up Fridays for us to nick off on a long weekend if we want to without leaving the others in the lurch or potentially limiting how many bikes and frames we can send out when we're a man down. Basically the service will be more consistent as well as more timely. Hopefully you agree!

The change happens as of next week, so this Friday, 14th January, is our last Friday dispatch. Next week, the first Thursday dispatch will be 20th January. As usual, ideally get your orders in the day before we dispatch, which would be every Wednesday from now on.

Obviously if this doesn't work out as well as we think, we'll try something else or switch back to a Friday, but let's give this a spin. We think it'll be better for everyone, so that's got to be good.

Snow came down quickly this morning in the Peak and both Paul and Cy got stuck attempting to get to the warehouse, so they've turned back and will be dispatching this weeks' orders on Monday. Anyone with product on order will receive it on Tuesday. Of course this also means we're open for taking orders today to send out on Monday. Give us a call on 07970 853531 or email info@cotic.co.uk and we'll talk you through things. If you know what you want, you can always go and play with the Framebuilder.

You give your team rider an XS sized BFe to play with, and he wanders off muttering about jump spots and 360's. Well, this is the result of Robbie and his mates 'seeing' if they can pull a 360. Clearly a bit more practice needed. And a new back wheel. Bloody hooligans.

Anyone make wheels and want to sponsor us? Anyone? Anyone? Hello?

Back on it today. We've had a great Christmas break and we're raring to go again. We've got loads of kit in stock, and are dispatching this Friday as usual. Get in touch on email or phone and let's have a chat about what we can do for you.