The Cotic CC is our way of getting Cotic owners to try aspects of this varied and amazing sport that they might not have had the opportunity or confidence to try before. Skateparks, Uplifts, Bike packing for example. It’s a growing community of like-minded riders and a space to get together for adventures far and wide.

If you own a Cotic then you’re already in the club, just sign up to the mailing list and keep an eye on our instagram (@coticbikes) to make sure you don’t miss out.

Cotic CC was a reasonably local affair, as our events were all about us all getting together to try new things on a bike, and be sociable. While the pandemic has kept us physically apart, and put a stop to in person events, we started thinking bigger... how could we offer a way for us all to get to know each other a bit better, and find out about the experiences our bikes help us to seek out, where ever we are in the world? The Cotic Global CC was born!

Ard Rock 2024, where to even start?! What an incredible weekend, the festival everyone needed and deserved.

We always have fun at the UK's biggest and best MTB event, but this year felt extra special. The weather had a huge part to play in that, as the sun shone on beautiful Swaledale all weekend, a stark contrast to last year. Thousands of solar powered smiling riders descended on the picture postcard valley for brilliant weekend.

We had a really busy time on the demos, big thanks to everyone who came and test rode a bike, it never gets old seeing demo riders roll back to the stand grinning and amazed at the confidence and speed our bikes bring.

For the first time in a few years, all of us strapped a number board to our bikes at various points across the weekend and got between the tapes. Mat was entered into to the Sprint race, stages 1 – 3 on the Saturday afternoon. I've not ridden a huge amount in the last few months, with life generally getting in the way, so I'd opted not to enter anything. However when my mate Sam popped by the stand on the Friday afternoon to say hi, he mentioned he had a spare Sprint entry going due to a niggling injury, and offered it to me. Deep down I knew in that instant that this meant I'd be doing that race, but it took me a couple of hours to come to terms with that fact, and feel like I'd actually made the decision myself!

I was so glad I did. Mat and I pledged to have a chilled ride and just enjoy it, which of course went out the window as soon as we'd dropped into the first stage! Stages 1 and 2 are the more technical of the whole route, with some steep corners high up and the now infamous 'Heckler's Woods' at the bottom of the first stage. I followed Mat down the first one, and as we tipped into the trees the wall of noise was awesome, fans lining the steep, rooty and rocky section cheering for every rider like it was a downhill world cup. Such a cool feeling.

We swapped over for stage 2, which has some really tight and steep hairpins early on, and Mat took an inside line which was clearly much quicker than my outside line, as he almost T-Boned me on the exit! Coming into the next one I thought “Mat's inside line was good on the last one, I'll go inside on this one”, so I anchored up and tipped in, straight down the fall line with about a bike's length of trail at the bottom in which to make a 90 degree left. Terrifying! Glad I didn't need to use the catch netting!

The rest of the stage was brilliant, my favourite of the three. The dry conditions meant there was tonnes of grip for getting nice high lines in to corners and letting the bike trying not to touch the brakes too much! Swift medicinal pint and a bag of peanuts in the pub before the slog up to stage 3, which is a stage of two halves. The first part is great fun swooping down a gully dodging the rocks which Mat was kicking up, we both had some exciting moments on that one! The stage then exits the gully on a fast but pedally double track, where you have to dig deep and sprint. Mat spied a sneaky line to the side on the grass, which looked good, but a huge compression neither of us expected sapped a bunch of speed. We still managed an overtake before the line though.

We bombed down the road back to the stand for beers, just in time to hold the fort while the owners ride was out. I wasn't sure how I'd get on, easily the biggest ride I've done for 6 months but my legs just about got me round, and I even managed 17th from 50 in category. Pretty damn stoked on that!

Over to Cy:

"What a great weekend. After we had a good time last year despite the wash out, the sunshine this year was an absolute treat. We had a great position with the stand, and after setup Paul and Mat went for a spin in the sunshine. I was still nursing some grazes from a Tuesday night ride spill, so I went and had a beer in the sunshine. Not a rubbish option!

All told, very nice. Same again next year, yes?”

Over to Darren:

"SUNSHINE! We finally had some good weather at And rock (verging on possibly too warm!) It was a great chance to meet new and old Cotic owners from across the country and catch up with familiar faces from the cycling industry.

Already looking forward to next year!

Paul's story from the weekend:

"Ardock 2024, what can I say? We all looked forward to it each year and this year it really delivered.

It's a great event and everyone needs to have a go at it at least once. What ever Cotic MTB you have it'll be great."

Between us we rode a pretty comprehensive variety of Cotics and all had a thoroughly good time both on and off the bikes. If you haven't made it to Ard Rock yet, even just for a look around, I can't recommend it enough. The vibe is great, the trails awesome and the people excellent.

We already can't wait for next year, see you there.

Sam.

A couple of weeks back we held one of our favourite Cotic CC rides, the annual Beat the Winter Blues Ride.

Now a firm fixture in our calendar, and one of the best attended owner's rides of the year, the 2024 edition was a great day out on the bikes.

It was also one of the warmest yet. We normally have to fight through snow at least once on this ride, but this year the jackets were taken off pretty much as soon as we left the car park. Assembling at the Traveller's Rest pub just outside Hope in the Peak District, Cy almost had a tear in his eye seeing so many eager Cotic owners chomping to ride.

There was a great mix of bikes from Souls to RocketMAXs, with plenty of familiar faces and some new friends too. We span up the quiet lanes and disused railways to the Ladybower Dam, before beginning the long and technical climb up to Whinstonlee Tor. It starts with a punch; loose and steep, but fairly soon the gradient eases with lots of fun line choice if you want it. Big views are over the reservoirs are well earned, and we had lots of height to loose.

The descent we rode from this point is usually done the other way round as a climb, as it has quite a few gates. With a squad of us Cotic staff on hand though, we dropped in ahead of the group to hold the gates open. It makes for a screaming descent; deep ruts and surprise drop offs in the first section, flat out with tonnes of lines in the middle before techy bedrock sections and a scary flagstones finish. It was awesome!

Next up we cruised round the water's edge and climbed up a steady fire road to a classic Peaks descent, Hagg Berms. Paul and I hadn't clocked that Cy had already dropped in to get the gate part way down, so we dropped in with the intension of doing some gate duty, but got a surprise full run down! It's a trail of two halves as you can rail the corners up top with minimal braking, but the lower section gets seriously loose and scary with the speed you carry in. Despite a loud clang from my rear wheel, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one, we all got down without damage and grinning like idiots.

We then climbed up a fairly steep and sometimes technical bridleway through gorgeous woodland, up to the Hope Cross. At this point the group split, with some riders razzing down the Roman Road back to Hope, and others opting for a lap of The Beast, one of the best descents in the Peak District. It's a classic trail which is great at this time of year as it is mostly on big lumps of grippy gritstone bedrock. It's fast and rough with some great line options. However this did mean we had to climb up again to get home!

Right at the bottom of the climb, local lad Chris's Jeht picked up a huge stick and smashed his mech hanger off. I hung back to assist, with the added benefit of a good rest before the appropriately named Sh*t B*stard climb! A fresh Syntace bolt in there and it was all fixed. With heart rates lowered, we cruised up for the final descent.

Right at the bottom of the climb, local lad Chris's Jeht picked up a huge stick and smashed his mech hanger off. I hung back to assist, with the added benefit of a good rest before the appropriately named Sh*t B*stard climb! A fresh Syntace bolt in there and it was all fixed. With heart rates lowered, we cruised up for the final descent.

It was a bit of a breezy run down the Aston bridleway, but the last section once you're off the open hillside is scary fast, especially with some more well placed Cotic staff to hold those gates open!

Pints and chatter in the pub after a winter ride is always nice, and this year we had the added bonus of not needing to thaw out quite as much.

We're keen to do more Cotic CC things this year, and would love your suggestions for where to host some rides. Pretty much anywhere in the UK is on the cards once spring and summer get going, so please get in touch. Uplift days, short rides, long rides, gravel rides, MTB rides; we're up for it all.

Big thanks to everyone who joined us on the Beat the Blues ride this year, if you like the sound of a day out with us and bunch of other like minded Cotic owners, get in touch to discuss your new Cotic.

Remember, if you own a Cotic, you're in the club.

Our latest piece of work, directed by the inimitable Liam Higgins / @dsplaced and our Cotic Women of Steel heroine Kelly-Jayne Collinge is in the can.

Buy your ticket now - click here

Kelly Jayne-Collinge has been riding off road since 2015, and in that time, has been nothing but a positive force for fun, inclusion, equity and opportunities. It was for this reason we have been supporting her since 2017. She embodies everything we want the brand to be. She's the first person to say yes and more importantly, the first person to say “no, that isn't right”. The adventures she undertakes have left everyone breathless and more than a little envious, but those come her way purely by her being one of the most hard-working, genuine and authentic people you're likely to meet.

In 2020 when she became pregnant with her son Atlas, the anxiety of impending motherhood weighed heavily. This wasn't helped by the desertion of brands and relationships that she had worked earnestly to cultivate. Ambassadors exist to promote their brands, but brands also need to champion their people. In this regard, some more-than fumbled. Some of her sponsors showed their true colours by treating pregnancy as an illness, instead of leaning into the miraculous and life-changing wonder that it is.

Her embrace of motherhood combined with her pre-existing love of cycling has grown in parallel with Atlas. As he's become more mobile, the adventures have become even longer-legged, including multiple bike-packing overnighters and shotgun-seat pump track visits. Kelly highlights that the information for new female cyclists is severely lacking; let alone pregnant ones or new mothers. The relatively recent creation of accessible routes and women-only riding groups has been a huge boon, and certainly helped Kelly step into her new chapter of life with renewed confidence, or at least a little less trepidation. Her work with Komoot has only strengthened this resolve.

Cotic is a small team, built on trust and integrity, so it was inconceivable to 'let her go due to her impending arrival'. Kelly came to us looking for solutions which would help her retain her independence, freedom and (literal) vehicle for escape. The solutions weren't complicated! If you stay true to yourself, everything else will work itself out.

So the premier - Wednesday 7th February 2024 - We've gone all out on this one. We've hired an amazing space in Sheffield called The Hideaway for the evening. Once you come up the stairs you'll be greeted with a warm, inviting bar with plenty of seats and a great selection of drinks - avec or sans alcohol. Further through the room is the open kitchen where you'll be served a beautiful curry, rice bhajis, samosas along with chutneys & raita. Once you've got your drink & food sorted, we'll be showing a couple of short films, followed by the star of the night "Kelly". It's about 15 minutes long.

Following that, we'll have a Q&A, hosted by Aoife Glass of The Spindrift Podcast, featuring Kelly, other rad-mums Vicky & Phoebe, Doctor Fiona Spotswood who has worked extensively on gender inequality in cycling, and hovercraft racer Bron.

Rough timings are:

• Doors open at 6pm
• Films start approx 7.30pm
• Q and A 8pm ish

It's a little loose as we don't want it to be hectic. It's going to be such a good night.

Buy your ticket now - click here

As if that wasn't enough, we'll have some freebies from Komoot, and a selection of super-fine riding clothes from Velocio dotted around the space. Kelly has raved about these ethically sourced clothes on pretty much every shoot we've been on and the kind folks at Velocio have given us a special discount... At the checkout, just drop "KellyTheMovie" in the code box for 25% off! Nice.

If you can't make the premier in real life, we'll be launching the film on Youtube at the same time, and hopefully if the technical fairies allow, we'll be live-streaming the Q&A. Keep an eye on the socials for details.

This film has been a true joy to work on and every moment spent in the company of the inspirational and supremely talented film making duo of Kelly and Liam, has been an honour. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it, and we all hope it encourages people that life doesn’t have to stop when big changes happen.

Now a staple in the Cotic calendar, our 'Beat the Winter Blues' Cotic CC ride is back.

Do you own a Cotic mountain bike? Join us on Saturday 27th January 2024 to pedal away the mince pies and January blues.

This is one of our favourites days out of the year, the weather always does something wintery and the vibes are always good. It is a sociable MTB ride in the Peak District, usually 2 or 3 decent climbs and descents at a chatty pace for Cotic owners.

Places are limited to 30 riders, and you need a ticket. Just £5 which covers your parking and your first post-ride drink in the pub. Anything left in the pot will go to Edale Mountain Rescue.

If you'd like to come, please email info@cotic.co.uk with your full name, billing address and phone number. We will then raise an order for your ticket and send a payment link email.

As ever, we are meeting at the Travellers Rest pub just outside Hope. We can park here while we ride, and then thaw out by their fires with a pint and a bite to eat afterwards.

Wheels rolling at 10:30, we'll ride for 2-3 hours depending on the conditions. Trails will be some classic Dark Peak climbs and descents, lengthy and technical in places but suitable for any Cotic mountain bike from a 26” Soul to the latest droplink bikes. We can adjust the route as we go, to do more or less riding to suit.

Couple of key points for the 2024 ride:

No gravel bikes. Sorry, but the trails are definitely too spicy for drop bars. This one is MTB only. We'll do a CC Gravel Ride from HQ later in the Spring.

Sorry, but we aren't able to offer demo bikes on this year's ride. If you're keen to try out a Cotic, you're welcome at HQ 10-4 Wednesday to Friday to come and have a spin on our local demo loop.

Most of us Cotic staff will be there, and we're looking forward to riding with you. If you own a Cotic, you are already in the Cotic CC.

If you don't own a Cotic yet, hit the button below, buy a frame or bike, and you could be joining us on the ride!

See you there.

Last weekend Paul and Sam headed down to the Surrey Hills for a weekend of demos and a CC ride

Despite not having a huge amount of elevation (compared to our local hills at least!), it's a properly good area to ride a mountain bike. Accessible for many people, and chock full of lovely singletrack, the woods around Peaslake are one of our favourite spots to ride.

After a Sat Nav special saved us from too much M25 traffic, we arrived ready for a Cotic Owner's Ride on the Friday afternoon. A small but lovely group of keen beans joined us to share their local trail knowledge and enjoy a brilliant couple of hours of riding. All wheelsizes were represented, with a 26” Soul and a Hemlock, 27.5 Soul up to a Jeht, my SolarisMAX and Paul on a C2 FlareMAX demo bike. The grins were all the same size though; ear to ear!

Pints outside the pub to finish was a treat. Thanks everyone who came along.

Both days of demos were great, loads of happy riders testing out Cotics and answering questions such as 'am I C3 or C4'?' and 'do I need an Escapade or a Cascade'. The sun shone, and a good time was had.

We managed to sneak out for rides after packing down both days, which was a real treat. It's been a few years since I've ridden round there, and I was pleased I could remember a good number of excellent trails. Rooty woodland singletrack trails littered with kickers and berms aren't too plentiful locally, and my Wolfpack tyres were right at home in the Surrey loam. Lovely.

We'll definitely be back in Surrey next year for more demos, keep an eye on our mailing list, social media channels and the demo page

If you want to get a demo in soon, they can be arranged with us back at our base between Chesterfield and Sheffeld any Wednesday, Thursday or Friday between now and Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago we returned to our favourite event of the year, Ard Rock MTB Festival.

With the weather forecast looming large, we packed all the clothes and a whole bunch of demo bikes into the rental van and set off north to Swaledale. An annual fixture in our calendar, it's brilliant to see how the event has grown into the beast it is today, and this year was a fine vintage despite challenging conditions at times.

We set the stand up on Thursday and jumped on our bikes for a spin on the demo stages. One of which was a stage Paul and I had raced a couple of years ago, a proper top to bottom run with rocky corners, steep chutes and flat out grassy turns. This year was Cy's first Ard Rock since 2017, and even then he never got chance to ride any of stages. Something tells me after riding the demo stage this year he might be strapping a number board on his bike next year! A lovely pub tea in Reeth set us up nicely for the weekend.

Friday was a busy one. Shorts and T shirts all round, and I barely left the stand all day. Lots of demo customers and plenty of bike chat, the day flew by. It was ace to see so many wild Cotics, from pre-longshot Rockets with custom paint jobs to the latest gen 4 RocketMAXs all enjoying the Epic race and practising for Saturday and Sunday's races. Thanks to all you Cotic owners who dropped by the stand, we love seeing the bikes putting smiles on your faces.

Despite a bleak forecast, the weather held out on the Saturday, and it was another big day of demos and people checking out the Cotic range. As has become tradition, we held a Cotic CC owners ride late afternoon on the Saturday. We got rained on a little bit, but it was warm enough grinding out of the valley floor that we barely noticed. The loop on the opposite side of the valley to the race stages has become one of my favourite rides of the year, a lovely stretch of rocky singletrack down a gully which gets better every time. I heard my front wheel clang a rock not long after passing Darren's camera lens, followed by the hiss of air and the spattering of sealant. Thankfully it held til the bottom and I managed to plug the tyre. One of the riders wasn't so lucky though. It's always a hazzard of riding in the Dales.

Punctures fixed, we rolled on, scattering sheep and hopping over puddles. Riding fast open singletrack in a big train with the festival village in sight never gets old. Beers and chatter back at the stand rounded off a lovely afternoon before the rain came in.

That rain never relented, Sunday was very moist. Riders coming off the hill looked like they'd been away at war, but we still had some hardly souls braving the conditions to ride demo bikes, kudos to them!

As always, Ard Rock did not disappoint, I wish there more events like this in the UK, with world class trails and great festival atmosphere. I hope they manage to book some sunshine next year though! We'll be back regardless.

Thanks again to Vicky at The Laurels for the warm welcome and delicious breakfasts, thanks to the Ard Rock team for having us and thanks to everyone who came by the stand to chat, check out the bikes and take them for a demo ride.

Sam.

Last week saw our second Cotic CC gravel ride from HQ. Since we moved to our new place, we have tried to make a bit of habit of doing these Friday afternoon rides, and it's been lovely to have so many of you join us for the three we have done so far.

The ride from HQ takes in some lovely bridleways and lanes and quiet roads. As is often the case with riding gravel style in the north of England, a couple of bits of the ride probably flirted with being mountain biking, but everyone loved it, even the guys on their Escapades! And for a 'quick local' ride, it certainly packed the elevation in. It didn't feel super hectic on that front, so I was quite surprised when we got back to see my Garmin telling me we had done nearly 640m of climbing in the 2.5hours we were out. Everyone voted for the extra hill though, so they can't blame us!

We had such a great, eclectic mix of bikes on this one. Everything from the more usual Escapades and Cascades, but also a 2007 Soul and at the other end of the spectrum an XC/Bikepacky FlareMAX. In the middle we had one of the first flat bar Cascades we saw, and Sam on and Darren on their SolarisMAX's, albeit in very different specifications.

Back at HQ everyone got a couple of beers courtesy of Komoot, some Cotic socks and tea, coffee and cakes. Bit of chat to round our a very nice Friday afternoon. See you at the next one?

Our latest Cotic CC ride really did put the 'mountain' into mountain biking. Our owner's ride up Snowdon was a fantastic day out.

Last Tuesday we tackled the highest mountain in Wales with some eager Cotic owners. With a watchful eye on the weather forecast on the days before, it was looking like we'd somehow booked the only decent day that week! The call was made and we assembled in Llanberis around lunchtime keen to get stuck in.

With temperatures set to be below freezing at the top, we layered up and set off. Straight into a 1 in 4 tarmac climb. Layers immediately came off again! It was a punchy start, and I'll admit it took some mental fortitude to keep my toys in the pram. Thankfully the gradient soon eased once off road and there was a steady section of pedalling to loosen the legs and lungs.

We ascended up the main Llanberis path, the later start meaning the mountain should be quieter by the time we started descending. This meant passing lots of walkers on their way down, the mix of reactions was great. 90% disbelief at the idea of taking a bike where they'd just walked up. It's always to nice to see people who have no clue about mountain biking being blown away by the idea of it and what is possible, and even nicer that the vast majority of people were totally happy to share the mountain with bikes as well as boots.

The steady spinning soon turned into loose and technical climbing, Paul was in his element. After being under the weather a few weeks ago and not getting enough bike time since, I was starting to struggle already so I went with the idea of 'yes I'll get there, but slowly'. It seemed to work, everyone else was blowing too, just moving faster than me!

The views the whole way up were outstanding, which really helped keep morale up. The summit was in sight before we knew it, and what a treat. There was barely a breath of wind, and 360 degree views. We wrapped up again, the forecast was right, it was cold up top!

Our plan had paid off, looking down Ranger's Path we couldn't see a soul. What a trail. It's no joke, and gets very hectic in places. The fast scree start lulls you into a slightly false sense of security. Just as I was thinking I might pull over to give my hands a break, the trail dropped into some serious chunk. Keeping a decent turn of pace was key, too slow and you dropped into the holes, but too fast and you'd not be able to change direction when it really counted. Ace fun, but I had a word with myself more than once, lots of concentration required.

'Mechanical of the day' goes to Tiff, who's break pads decided to have an off-bike excursion part way down. Miraculously we found them both, and managed to bodge them back into the caliper using what was basically a key ring, and he rode the rest of the mountain no problem. It's not a bodge if it works.

Serious kudos to all riders, the descent was double black diamond and everyone did really well. Self preservation kicked in a couple of times for me and I walked a couple of sections, live to fight another day and all that! I really enjoyed it though, riding in a proper big mountain environment is always great, and the sense of achievement cleaning some of the stuff I did unsighted was brilliant.

Looking back up at the mountain before the last razz down was a pretty special sight. Special mention to Liam, who piloted his BfeMAX down the mountain with aplomb. Chapeau sir.

We bombed down the bridleway back to the vans, some a little battered and bruised (Paul's ankle is pretty swollen now, but still works!) but all alive and smiling.

This was a proper adventure, it's great to be able to do stuff like this with the Cotic CC and we genuinely love seeing Cotic owners having such a great time on their bikes. We're open to suggestions for other days out on both gravel and mountain bikes, let us know if you have any ideas for rides you'd like to do. It could be something you've wanted to try but haven't had the chance yet, or a great loop close to you that you'd like to share. Give us a shout.

Like the sound of joining us for a ride on your Cotic? Our next CC ride is Friday 12th May in Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders, on the legendary Golfie trails. It's our favourite place to ride. Get in touch if you'd like to join Darren and I for an afternoon on steep and flowy trails, all welcome whether you're a seasoned Tweed Valley regular or want to check out the Golfie for the first time. The vibes will be chilled.

Hopefully see you there.

Sam.

Calling #CoticCC riders... Friday afternoon ride planned...

Today Cy, Paul, Rich and Sam are with a few cotic.cc ⁠riders up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)... sorry about the FOMO. What a day to be out!

But fear not... we have another ride for Cotic owners this Friday... get the afternoon off, and book a place to join us!

On 28th April - ahead of Cotic being at the Ride Free Collective festival weekend - we will be running a Cotic CC ride on a chilled lap or two around the Verderer's at Forest Of Dean.

We will meet at 1pm in the Cannop car park outside Pedal Bike Away.

Kit Notes:

The Verderer's is a blue graded trail centre trail about 11km per lap. It's got a steady climb all the way to the top of the hill, and a lovely, swoopy descent all the way back to the car park. Smiles for miles. Any Cotic mountain bike will be perfectly fine for a ride around this one. I (Cy) will be on a Jeht in all likelihood. Kelvin will be on his SolarisMAX or SodaMAX.

Remember, we're not guides, and this is not a supported ride. Even though it's 'only a trail centre', punctures and making everyone wait are just as boring on a groomed blue trail as the top of a mountain. Bring tubes, pumps, tools, plenty of water and a snack. Check the weather and wear appropriate riding gear.

Important bit:

The ride is ticketed. We are keeping numbers limited as it's only the two of us. No turn up on the day places will be available.

Calling #CoticCC riders... we're off up a mountain.⁠

On Tuesday 25th April we're heading up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and would love it if you joined us. If you haven't received our newsletter yet then simply email demo@cotic.co.uk with your name, address and phone and we'll put you on the list. Spaces are very limited as it's a big day out and we want it to be chill. It'll probably be chilly, but that's different. ⁠

Let's hope for weather like the last time we went up there. Watch the video below....

#WalesNeverFails 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Haw dywedyd “mynydd” na myned drosto.