LCP

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Liam Mercer

Tech Editor here at off.road.cc Liam can also be found photographing bikes as well as revelling in cycling's intricacies. Whether it's gravel, mountain, or e-MTB as long as it's a bike on dirt, he's happy.

4 comments

3 years 1 week ago

@JL77, I can honestly say that this bike does mould to the trail! I didn't think I would notice, it being your average trail rider, but moving from a Lapierre Zesty to the FlareMAX was incredible. You can feel that little bit of flex and feels good! All the stuff Cy is saying about sustainability is so important too. We need to look after this incrediblle world we are in charge of! 

3 years 1 week ago

Hi. Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you like the FlareMAX. There are many benefits to steel on a full suspension bike in our opinion. We use steel for performance. Steel is so strong and stiff as a base material compared to aluminium and carbon fibre that it allows us to design bikes with smaller tubes which do allow some flex into the frame. As unlikely as it might sound, you can steel get those steel feel benefits even on a full suspension bike. Our bikes can flex a little along their length, moulding to the terrain and breathing with the trail. They are fabulous on rooty, chattery terrain. I wrote a load about this a couple of years ago if you want to read more. (https://www.cotic.co.uk/news/2019/steelforperformance)

As you rightly point out, steel is incredibly strong and durable so it's great for longevity, and making durable bikes that last a long time is really important to us. Steel can be repaired and easily recycled. The super high strength Reynolds 853 steel we use for the front triangles is made from mostly recycled material, and steel has the lowest environmental impact of any common frame material. Lower than aluminium and much, much lower than carbon fibre, even before you throw in issues like recycling. So it's not just about performance, the lovely clean lines, or even strength, it's about trying to be better and making less of a mess of the planet too. 

Cheers,

Cy @ Cotic

3 years 1 week ago

Hi. Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you like it. The benefit of steel is ride feel, because it's so strong as stiff as a material we can use it in smaller sections than weaker materials like aluminium and carbon fibre to allow an element of flex along the length of the bike. It makes them breathe with the trail better and hold lines on things like cambered roots. 853 is also not just any steel. It's nearly 40% stronger than regular cromoly so it's super strong, but most importantly, it's long term durable too. It's incredibly important to us that our bikes last and can be easily repaired or recycled. Steel is brilliant for this. It's also the lowest impact material to build a bicycles frame from. We use steel for performance (I wrote a blog about that here if you're interested: https://www.cotic.co.uk/news/2019/steelforperformance), but also because it's not just about performance for us. It's about trying to have a low impact on our planet and build things that last instead of disposable. 

Cheers,

Cy @ Cotic

JL77 wrote:

 

Beautiful bike. As much as I love steel, I wonder what the benefit is of having a front triangle in steel on a FS, though. For more extreme FS bikes, having something more bulletproof may make some sense.

 

3 years 1 week ago

Beautiful bike. As much as I love steel, I wonder what the benefit is of having a front triangle in steel on a FS, though. For more extreme FS bikes, having something more bulletproof may make some sense.

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