Archive: Rocket 26 (Gen1)

The Cotic Rocket 26, our full suspension frame

Discontinued, superseded by Gen2. This page is kept as an archive record for owners and for anyone researching an older Cotic Rocket.

Years of production: 2012-2014

This is the original Rocket, on 26" wheels. See the Rocket archive for the later generations.

The Cotic Rocket is our 150mm travel full suspension frame.

The Rocket is a swaggering speed machine. It brings together the grace, durability, clean lines, fun, interactive feel and attention to detail we put into all our hardtail frames, and adds a whole truckload of speed and rock pounding performance. It's an Enduro race weapon which the Cotic Steel City Media Racing team took to multiple podiums in 2013.

The Rocket uses a Reynolds 853 front triangle, cromoly seat stays and a 7005-T6 swingarm. They are amazing materials which deliver the durability, strength and confidence a bike like this needs.

The details are all covered, with ISCG05 mounts, a taper steerer compatible head tube, a 142 x 12 bolt thru back end, and sealed, capped and shielded pivots, right down to the precisely located hose routing.

The original Rocket with 26" wheels described here was supplied in 2012 and 2013 with one of the following shock options:

Fox Float RL
2012 model year Fox RP23 Factory Kashima
2013 model year Fox CTD Factory Kashima
BOS Vip'r

In summer 2015 the Rocket got 27.5" wheels: see the Rocket 275 (Gen2) page.

Owner's manual: download the Cotic Rocket 2012-2013 Owner's Manual (PDF), with details on pivot maintenance, bearing specs and shock set-up.

Frame details

Reynolds 853 Ovalform and DZB tubed front end brings precision, durability and strength
44mm standard head tube designed with an external bottom cup for taper steerer compatibility and a zero stack top cup for minimal stack height
Oversized 35mm seat tube for super stiff support for the main suspension pivots
31.6mm seatpost size is dropper seatpost compatible, and the frame has top tube bosses for external routing, or a seat tube slot for stealth
ISCG05 mounts on a regular threaded bottom bracket bring drivetrain security and reliability
Torque box swingarm with Reynolds 631 stays and Syntace X-12 142 x 12 rear axle
15mm pivots for the BB and droplink keep the frame solid front to rear
Clearance for big tyres: 2.5" DH tyres run with plenty of clearance
Geometry for speed, fun and interaction using 140, 150 or 160mm forks. 66.5° head angle and low 13.3" BB with a 150mm fork
150mm of Cotic droplink suspension brings precision, fun and interaction via a strong progression rate on the linkage driven single pivot layout
Sizes: 16", 17.5", 19". The frames are designed to be compact and chuckable
Weight: 7.6 lbs for the 16" including a Fox Float CTD EVO shock

Geometry

The chart is a guide to frame size. Ultra Compact Geometry means that the frames are small and long. You can take this two ways: a regular position coupled with a small and chuckable frame, or go for the next size up and go long and racey without feeling like you're riding a gate. There was no XL Rocket 26. All measurements are static.

Frame Size	Small	Medium	Large
Seat Tube (centre-top)	400mm	445mm	490mm
Top Tube Length (effective)	576mm	593mm	610mm
Chainstay Length	428mm	428mm	428mm
Head Tube Length	100mm	105mm	120mm
Usual Height Range	165-173cm	174-182cm	183-191cm
Stem Length	40-70mm	50-80mm	50-80mm
Frame Wheel Travel	150mm	150mm	150mm

The angles, BB and fork-dependent dimensions for 150mm and 160mm forks:

Fork	Head Angle	Seat Angle	BB Drop	Reach S / M / L	Stack S / M / L
150mm	66.5°	73.0°	+8mm	403.5 / 419.1 / 436.8mm	564.3 / 568.9 / 582.9mm
160mm	65.7°	72.3°	+14mm	395.6 / 411.2 / 428.8mm	569.8 / 574.6 / 588.6mm

Component sizes

Seatpost diameter: 31.6mm (400mm long minimum). Minimum insertion is 100mm into the frame regardless of what your seatpost says
Front mech: 34.9mm (bottom pull)
Bottom bracket width: 73mm
Bottom bracket thread: conventional English/BSA
Chain guide mounting: ISCG05
Headset: 44mm: Hope 2H, Cane Creek ZS44 top/EC44 bottom, Chris King Inset I7, or Nukeproof 44IETS
Rear hub: 142 x 12 bolt through
Rear axle: Syntace X-12
Rear mech hanger: Syntace X-12 T1
Shock: 200 x 57, with 16.0 x M8 fittings at both ends
Dropper post routing: external under the top tube only. No Stealth

Fork compatibility is defined by travel, not length. If you run a fork with more travel than stated for the frame, the likelihood of damage or failure is high.

Development history

25 November 2011: the new Cotic full suspension frame. After two and a half years of work, the new full suspension frame was finished and going into production, with the first frames due in mid-March 2012. It was a trail bike with 150mm rear travel, for 140-160mm forks.

9 December 2011: the overall specification.

150mm rear travel, using Cotic droplink suspension
Slack, low geometry: 66.5° head angle and 13.3" BB height with a 150mm fork installed
Designed for use with 140, 150 and 160mm forks
Front triangle in Reynolds 853, swingarm in 7005-T6 aluminium, seat stay/shock strut in cromoly, droplink a one piece CNC machined 7075-T6 part
7.6 lb frame weight including a Fox RP23 shock
44mm standard head tube, designed around a zero stack top/external cup bottom for taper steerer compatibility
31.6mm seatpost for dropper seatpost compatibility, and hose clips for remotes under the top tube
ISCG05 mounts, and a regular 73mm threaded BB shell
Syntace X-12 142 x 12mm rear thru axle
Loads of tyre clearance: it easily ran Maxxis 2.5" DH tyres in the rear end
15mm pivot axles on both the main pivot and droplink pivots combine with the massively stiff 35mm steel seat tube to lock the back end to the front triangle for maximum handling precision

19 December 2011: introducing droplink. droplink was Cotic's new suspension platform, a linkage driven single pivot design with a strong progression rate.

17 January 2012: why steel? Cy wrote a final essay on the Rocket explaining the case for a steel full suspension frame.