Cotic Solaris and alternatives

[droenn]

The story of how I got into MTB and the culmination of this thread.

 

(also I am procrastinating from work and this looks like I'm writing something important)

 

In 2013 I moved to South Africa and needed a bike. I'd been city commuting for about a year, and was leaning towards getting a single speed road bike.

 

However, it seemed like everyone here was into mountain biking, so I thought, why not. I'll give it a go.

 

I went and got myself an entry level Schwinn bike.

 

http://www.bicycling.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Schwinn_Moab29er-2.jpg

 

The stats are pretty basic for this ride - but it was more than capable of getting me on the jeep tracks and trying out a bit of single track.

 

I was hooked. I started riding a few times a week and gradually got fitter, lost a tonne of weight, and was enjoying myself immensely.

 

I started off with a small upgrade. The tyres were worn, so I thought I'd give tubeless a go. This was a big improvement and gave the bike a much better feel on the trail, with more grip came more confidence.

 

Soon after, I found myself getting increasingly frustrated with the drive train. The front derailleur was dropping the chain all the time, and the rear was constantly losing its indexing. Time for the first major upgrade: a SRAM X7 2x10 group set. This was a world of difference, and although I had lost the security of the real granny gears from the 3x9 it came with, I quickly overcame this and was pedaling up anything I could before.

 

I also decided to try some better pedals and got some studded flats (VP ones). I don't think they were really meant for MTB, and given I was still wearing Salomon hiking shoes, I ripped my shins and calves to shreds. I still have some decent scars.

 

The next upgrade came from necessity. I was riding home one day, and just dropped off the pavement about 10 cm. I nearly fell off and was completely embarrassed from such a lack of skill. However, on pedaling again I realised the entire back wheel was completely bent. I took into the LBS and was keen to just get the rim upgraded. On inspection, it was far worse, the entire rear hub had gone and the wheel was shot. I was still over 100 kg, and the bug had well and truly bitten. It was time to upgrade the wheelset: ZTR Flows on Novatec hubs. In hindsight, I should have paid more for better hubs, but overall the wheels have been the most significant upgrade to date. The strength and width of this wheelset, not to mention they actually rolled, allowed me to go faster, hit rockier terrain and be more confident.

 

All this time, I'd been riding with a Suntour XCM spring fork. This thing was a pogo stick. I'd started really enjoying the Fire Hut trail and Jonkers, as well as popping off little jumps here and there and had no idea how bad this thing truly was, and how much I was compensating for it in my riding. Then, one day, the fork was at total compression as I rode fast up onto an embankment, at the top the fork unloaded and the pogo stick like force threw me up and over the handle bars and down the hill. Luckily I landed fine on pine needles, but it was evident it was time to address that part of the bike.

 

I was able to source a 2nd hand Fox 32 FIT fork, and at the same time, after much reading on here, added a 740 mm Boobar and a 60 mm aka stem. This again was an awesome upgrade, I couldn't believe how light the front of the bike became and how it soaked up all the little bumps that previously made my hands numb.  

 

So after changing over the saddle as well, the bike was now looking like so:

 

 

I think it stayed like this for a while, I got into races and changed tyres a few times - but nothing major.

 

At the start of this year, I was about to head out for a ride and noticed that my gloves were covered in fluid from somewhere. On closer inspection it was evident that my Tektro brakes had leaked all over the cockpit. I went to get them checked out, hopefully just a reseal and bleed. But, not to be: the entire front brake was gone. I started pricing up SLX brake sets, since I had used them on a test bike, and was just about to go that direction. However, at that time SRAM had just released the Guide brakes into SA - and all the reviews were great. So I bit the bullet and went for the RS. After the wheels, the 2nd biggest upgrade. I now could actually control my speed into corners, rather than holding on for dear life and hoping something would bite!

 

So, now I've upgraded everything, except the frame. I put this thread up in February looking to see what options there were. A couple of disappointments a few missed opportunities, and some time abroad meant this got pushed down the list of priorities.

 

Then, Cotic announced their new models, and the rand dropped significantly. Given that a new Solaris frame was going to go for over 11K, I contacted Matt at Cotic ZA and asked to see if there were any old models left. There was a single medium left. A week later it was mine, at the LBS and being built up.

 

And here it is, the product of almost 3 years of riding and upgrades. The evolution of a 5K plod-about bike into my trail devouring, hard-tail beast (if I do say so myself).

 

 

 

edit: I missed the parts about changing to 1x10 and switching to 5-10s and Saints pedals but oh well.

[J∆kk∆ls]

My first buy was also a Schwinn. Pretty much went through the same motions as you and over time it blossomed into a well spect Cotic Bfe. The Solaris will be my next horse.