Cotic's enduro

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary steps hone performance of RocketMAX

This competition is now closed

By Alex Evans

Published: May 20, 2022 at 7:00 am

Cotic's RocketMAX Gen4 29in-wheeled enduro bike is now offered in five sizes under Cotic's C-Sizing structure, where the change in reach between each size is just 19mm. The C5 – equivalent to the old XL size – has a 5mm increase in reach.

Staying true to Cotic's long-standing relationship with steel, the new RocketMAX's front triangle is made from Renyolds 853 tubing that's exclusive to the brand, in a bid to increase strength.

Maximum compatible front-wheel travel has been increased from 160mm to 170mm, with some geometry changes to accommodate the tweak.

Out back, Cotic still uses its Droplink suspension with a progressive kinematic offering of between 150mm and 160mm of travel depending on the stroke of the shock fitted.

Prices start at £3,999 for a RocketMAX Silver SLX build and increase to £6,499 for the Platinum SRAM GX AXS build.

The headline update to the RocketMAX Gen4's frame is its new Reynolds 853 Ovalform down tube, chosen to increase strength and stiffness. However, thanks to its steel construction, Cotic claims its frame is "compliant and naturally ground moulding", something we want in spades, please.

To boot, the front triangle is manufactured in the UK – a factor only a few brands of Cotic's size can boast of.

The Taiwan-made 6066-T6 aluminium swingarm has a Boost 12x148mm rear axle and clearance for 29×2.5in tyres.

Other visible changes include the addition of a small brace tube between the down and seat tubes.

On the underside of the top tube are water bottle mounts, where there's space for a 625ml bottle. There are secondary mounts on the underside of the down tube, and Cotic sells frame bags to fit the RocketMAX for onboard storage.

Cables are externally routed from front to back, except the gear cable, which passes through the seatstay to reduce noise and give the frame clean lines.

The rear brake mount and chainstay and seatstay pivot use the same bolt, which is an interesting touch.

It uses a standard 44mm head tube with an external lower cup and integrated upper. This design means the bike can be run with 29in or 27.5in rear wheels, because the angleset evens out the geometry change created by the 27.5in or mullet rear-wheel setup.

The Gen4 is now compatible with 170mm-travel front forks, up from 160mm on the previous bike, where the maximum permitted axle-to-crown length is 586mm. A 170mm-travel 29in Fox 38 measures 583.7mm and a 170mm 29in ZEB 586mm.

Cotic's Droplink suspension is a single-pivot design with a linkage-driven rear shock that's used to tune the bike's kinematics.

The linkage on the Gen4 RocketMAX uses an all-new keyed design, where the linkage and axle can only be assembled one way. The keyed – or flat – sections, Cotic claims, help reduce twisting and flexing through the linkage.

Travel sits at 160mm with a standard 65mm stroke shock, but this can be reduced to 155mm or 150mm with a shorter stroke.

The revised link also has a reduced leverage ratio compared to the Gen3 bike, but retains its super-progressive feel to provide support and bottom-out resistance, while being supple at the start of its travel.

This also means it's compatible with both coil and air shocks, although Cotic only recommends using Cane Creek's Kitsuma coil with the RocketMAX.

Cotic's departure from the often-used size names (small to extra-large, for example) to its new C-Sizing structure not only results in an additional frame size, upping the number of RocketMAX variations to five from four, but also helps remove the stigma or entrenched conviction that a rider is any given size.

This is accompanied by 15mm reach increases between sizes and, Cotic hopes, Goldilocks reach figures in each of its C designations.

The C1 bike is recommended for riders between 162 and 172cm, while the C5 ups that to 184cm to 192cm, hopefully catering for a wide range of body types and riding styles. Each size designation has an overlap for its recommended rider, too.

Cotic says for its C3, C4 and C5 sizes, the seat tube angle has been steepened to compensate for the increase in seat height usually associated with bigger riders on those bikes.

The geometry of the bike is typical of Cotic, with a long reach, wheelbase and chainstays paired with a slack head angle.

Headline figures include a slack 63.5-degree head angle, a fairly steep 76-degree seat tube angle, long 448mm chainstays across the sizes and reach figures that span from 444mm to 520mm.

Compatibility with mullet wheels and 160mm-travel forks adjust the geometry from the stock 29in-wheel, 170mm-travel fork setup.

Cotic hopes that a customer is more likely to find their perfect fit with this new sizing structure.

Sticking to Cotic's Silver, Gold and Platinum build range, prices for RocketMAX Gen4 full bikes range from £3,999 to £6,499.

Each of the models is entirely customisable by the consumer, too, so it's possible to up- or down-spec any bike in the range.

Cotic has been smart with its spec choices, however, offering higher-performing parts in key areas. For example, even its most affordable RocketMAX Silver SLX build features RockShox's Lyrik Ultimate fork, SLX M7100 drivetrain and Deore M6100 brakes.

Cotic's focus on price and performance is impressive. At the top end, the Fox 38 and Float X2 Factory-equipped Platinum build also has SRAM's GX Eagle AXS drivetrain and is built with Hunt's Trail Wide 29 v2 wheels.

Senior technical editor

Alex Evans is BikeRadar's senior mountain bike technical editor. He started racing downhill at the tender age of 11 before going on to compete across Europe. Alex moved to Morzine in the French Alps at 19 to pursue a career as a bike bum and clocked up an enormous amount of riding. Hitting those famous tracks day in, day out for eight years, he broke more bikes than he can remember. Alex then moved back to the UK and put his vast knowledge of mountain biking to good use by landing a job working for MBUK magazine as features editor. Since working for MBUK, Alex's focus has moved to bike tech. He's one of BikeRadar's lead testers and knows how to push bikes and products to the limit, searching out the equipment that represents the best value for money. Alex is also a dedicated eMTB rider, and still dabbles in racing of a sort, doing his best to top the Strava leaderboard on the steepest, gnarliest and twistiest trails the Tweed Valley has to offer – just for fun, of course. Alex is also a regular on the BikeRadar YouTube channel and BikeRadar podcast.

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