Cotic have been making steel framed hardtails for a number of years - designed with UK trail riding in mind they've built up quite a following and for good reason.
After years in development they've released there first full sus - perfect for winter training and general hooning about all year!
Word from Cy is they'll be demo bikes available at 18bikes in Hope and BikesUK in Bristol very soon... sign up to there mailing list for more info.
We're hoping to feture Cotic in the mag soon but in the meantime here;s the low down on the Hemlock, pictured above...
The Cotic Hemlock is our all new super versatile full suspension machine. Years in development ; designed and engineered with the same painstaking attention to detail and refusal to conform to the marketing led 'norms' of the industry that brought you our award winning hardtails ; the Hemlock takes our trail bike philosophy to the next step. Like its hardtail brethren, it allows the use of long travel suspension without the excess weight or overt emphasis on one style of riding.
(visit our Geek page for more notes on development rationale)
A super low toptube keep the ride tight and chuckable, and a massively oversized downtube keeps both wheels pointing in the right direction for maximum handling confidence. There is, of course, enormous tyre clearance for up to 2.4" tyres, and a full length seat tube allows full saddle height adjustment. The cable routing is the same mud-repelling semi-outer design as our hardtails.
The heart of the frame is a 4-bar linkage suspension, complete with chainstay pivot. Why go for a multi-pivot bike in bearing hungry UK conditions? We simply prefer the way this type of suspension works and could achieve exactly what we wanted in terms of ride feel and performance. Don't worry though, this is still a UK designed and tested product, so all the practicality and functionality you expect from a Cotic is present and correct. For example, all the pivot points use double sealed off-the-shelf cartridge bearings, with a massive 15mm main pivot axle and double sided chainstay pivot bearings. This keeps stiffness high and bearing load low, and the use of easily sourced bearings means hassle free, cheap sourcing when replacements are required. How often might that be? Well, the bearings in the final prototype probably need replacing about now, after 2 UK winters and a whole Luchon summer season.
So what about the ride feel? Firstly, we have achieved a crisp pedaling feel around the sag point with lots of climbing traction: No fancy damper cheating required ! There's a small amount of pedal feedback, but that's a good thing in our book. It lets you know what's going on underneath you in those crux situations. We've cleaned technical climbs on the Hemlock that we've not managed on any other bike. Just after the sag point the axle starts moving back towards the frame. This minimises chain growth and gives that fantastic bottomless feel of a great 4-bar bike.
