Duck Egg Cotic Escapade - Its changed again!
Twelly
Posts: 1,437
Since moving to the New Forest, I have found that although there are some very nice roads, most of the quiet back lanes are very rutted, pot holed and gravelly and I have had to turn away from some interesting looking forest paths because I was on my skinny tyred Ribble. There is virtually no decent serious mountain biking so my BFe is overkill and slow for rides around the forest. I have come to the conclusion that a touring/CX bike is ideal for round 'ere.
I bought a Cotic BFe a little while ago and I love it so it just seemed like fate when they announced 2 weeks ago that they were introducing a do-it-all drop bar frame with clearance for big tyres. Put my order in a couple of days after the announcement.
Frame and fork arrived yesterday so I have spent the morning stripping down the Ribble and built as much as I can.
So far:
Cotic Escapade frame, Duck Egg Blue, Large 58cm
Cotic RB3 steel fork, 9mm through axle
Avid BB7 Road brakes
Sram Apex shifters, rear mech and compact chainset
GXP BB
Shimano pedals
Exotic Carbon/Ti seatpost
Charge Scoop
FSA Gossamer Bar
Easton 100mm stem
Cane Creek headset
On the way:
Superstar are custom building the wheels for me
- Stans Alpha 340 rims
- Superstar Switch hubs 9mm/QR
- Sapim Laser double butted spokes
- Brass nips
Vittoria Zaffiro tyres - temporary - I have some Ultremos for when I want to go fast but its everyday boots will be something with a bit more tread and 32mm flavour, I'm thinking Vittoria Randoneurs but I am open to reccomendations
Ultegra front mech - the Apex one I have is braze on so will not fit. I would have kept the Sram theme going but I can get Ultegra for less than a new Apex mech
Bar tape (black), cables, bar plugs blah blah
Should have it finished by next weekend. Love the colour.
I bought a Cotic BFe a little while ago and I love it so it just seemed like fate when they announced 2 weeks ago that they were introducing a do-it-all drop bar frame with clearance for big tyres. Put my order in a couple of days after the announcement.
Frame and fork arrived yesterday so I have spent the morning stripping down the Ribble and built as much as I can.
So far:
Cotic Escapade frame, Duck Egg Blue, Large 58cm
Cotic RB3 steel fork, 9mm through axle
Avid BB7 Road brakes
Sram Apex shifters, rear mech and compact chainset
GXP BB
Shimano pedals
Exotic Carbon/Ti seatpost
Charge Scoop
FSA Gossamer Bar
Easton 100mm stem
Cane Creek headset
On the way:
Superstar are custom building the wheels for me
- Stans Alpha 340 rims
- Superstar Switch hubs 9mm/QR
- Sapim Laser double butted spokes
- Brass nips
Vittoria Zaffiro tyres - temporary - I have some Ultremos for when I want to go fast but its everyday boots will be something with a bit more tread and 32mm flavour, I'm thinking Vittoria Randoneurs but I am open to reccomendations
Ultegra front mech - the Apex one I have is braze on so will not fit. I would have kept the Sram theme going but I can get Ultegra for less than a new Apex mech
Bar tape (black), cables, bar plugs blah blah
Should have it finished by next weekend. Love the colour.
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Comments
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Now that i like a lot ....I too am in a similar situation that a MTB is overkill for my needs and that an balls out cyclocross frame could be slightly racy for me so this looks like it fills a gap ...i was considering the purple frame but it might be abit too much colour wise .
Look forward to seeing this built up .0 -
Looks a lot better in duck egg than that purple colour!
Any idea on what the Frame/Fork weighs?0 -
Very nice that. I have a roadrat that I might paint duck egg blue, black Is just a bit dull. Geo is a bit weird on Cotic bikes, my medium has a 59" top tube which is too long for me really. For it to fit properly you would need short legs and a very long torso.0
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mattythemod wrote:Now that i like a lot ....I too am in a similar situation that a MTB is overkill for my needs and that an balls out cyclocross frame could be slightly racy for me so this looks like it fills a gap ...i was considering the purple frame but it might be abit too much colour wise .
Look forward to seeing this built up .
It's ideal for what I want, I was deciding between this and a Kaffenback (full build). Would have cost about the same but I love the BFe and the Cotic looks much nicer! I'm not a fan of the purple, looks a bit naf with the black downtube wrap.Mark__gti wrote:Looks a lot better in duck egg than that purple colour!
Any idea on what the Frame/Fork weighs?
Cy from Cotic told me its 2.2kg for the frame, 1kg for the fork. As it stands in the pictures mine weighs 6.3kg so I am estimating 9.5 - 10kg when finished. Weight really isn't important to me anymore though. I no longer do TT's and I have no racing aspirations, I just use the road bike for exploring, fitness and to supplement my mountain biking so I have no need for a super lightweight racer.Camcycle1974 wrote:Very nice that. I have a roadrat that I might paint duck egg blue, black Is just a bit dull. Geo is a bit weird on Cotic bikes, my medium has a 59" top tube which is too long for me really. For it to fit properly you would need short legs and a very long torso.
I really like the Roadrats but I wanted a drop bar bike and the long top tubes meant that wouldn't really work so when this came along it was ideal. I would talk to Cotic about the respray, they build the Rocket frames in the UK now so I am assuming they have facilities to paint. They are always very friendly so might be able to sort you out.0 -
Thanks for that. Might e-mail Cy and see what he says. Bought the flat bar version originally but since converted it to drop bars. Bit stretched but not unridable. Need to keep it for all all weather/commuting duties. Tempted by a Chinese Ti frame but can't really justify whilst I have the RR.0
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like it...0
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Superstar have just emailed me, wheels are in the post, should be here tomorrow, as will the front mech and cables. Watch this space0
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Starting to come together now. The wheels arrived yesterday and the 9mm through axle came today but no front mech or cables as yet so it will have to wait until tomorrow to be finished. I think it is looking great.
I need a new seatpost, the 250mm one on there is just not long enough as the top of the seat tube is much lower on this frame than my Ribble. Will probably go for the same one from Exotic but just a couple of sizes up.
The 160mm adapter Avid sent with the front brake is wrong. It is a 160mm rear/180mm front adapter so I have had to order the correct one before the brakes can be set up. did think about throwing a 180mm rotor on but might have been a bit ridiculous on a roadie...
So for now it has the short cage mech and 11-25 cassette from the Ribble but I will swap them out for a medium cage Apex/Rival mech and something with more range like an 11-30 to really unleash its do-it-all nature.
I can't decide whether to take the decals off of the rims... I am really liking the 'all black on duck egg' look. I'll either take them off and have the stealthy look or I'll get Slik to make up some white/black/duck egg decals for me.
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I really like this. A guy down my road has one of those Road Rats (I think) and that looks great too. Winner!0
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Very nice, love the colour. I'm a big fan of steel bikes since I bought a Charge Hi Juicer, the feel is great. I've got a Boardman CX which I recently converted to 105 as I don't get on with SRAM or at least Apex. I'm seriously thinking of doing a donor swap for one of these now I've seen it. Only issue is the Chainset which is bb30 on the CX.
As an aside I've got a mid range Apex rear mech WiFli which goes up to 32 in good nick (few paint chips which I've touched up) but not been crashed. Done about 8000miles. Black. If you're interested £25 posted?0 -
Sounds interesting.. could you link me to some pictures? It would have to wait untill next month though, if I buy anything else for this bike this month me and my girlfriend won't be eating!0
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No worries I'm not in a rush. I'm at work atm so will take some pictures and send them to you.0
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All done, only ridden up and down the road to test the gears. Will try and get out on it properly tomorrow. Need to find a big hill and get some heat into the brakes to bed them in. Wooden doesn't begin to describe how they feel at the moment!
Very happy with it and even just going up and down the road I can feel how much smoother and relaxed it is compared to the Ribble. Definitely doesn't feel fragile like every other road bike I have ridden.
The seatpost is way too short so I will stick a temporary one on for its first ride, shame its bright orange...
I have made a bit of a mess of the bar tape so that will be re done when I am bored.
Lots of room for fat rubber..
Next to its bigger, uglier brother...
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Apologies over the links, trying to do it on my phone and got fat fingers!
Drop me pm if interested and I'll hold it until next month0 -
Always liked cotics, this looks lovely. Liking the through axles0
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Have you had a chance to give it a good ride yet? I'm interested in one of these as a winter bike but also to replace my cross bike. Would this do well as a cross race bike as well do you think? Would be nice to be able to race it and swap the wheels out for some wide slicks for road riding too0
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Paul 8v wrote:Have you had a chance to give it a good ride yet? I'm interested in one of these as a winter bike but also to replace my cross bike. Would this do well as a cross race bike as well do you think? Would be nice to be able to race it and swap the wheels out for some wide slicks for road riding too
I've been mega busy this week so haven't touched the bike since building it.. very frustrating!
Having never ridden or raced cyclocross I'm probably not the best person to comment but the tyre clearance, disc brakes, sturdy frame and through axle look good on paper for dirty riding. The cable routing means it is very comfortable to shoulder. Ill be getting out and exploring the New Forest on and off road this summer so will report on its on/off road abilities soon. Got a couple of sportives coming up and it will be my partner for Ride London this year (hopefully I can find a couple of gravel shortcuts!)0 -
Cool, I look forward to hearing about it. I looks perfect as a do it all machine, just not so sure about the racing. My current machine beats the snot out of you on an hours cross race but it is really responsive and stiff. Wouldn't want to ride it for a few hours though and although cantis are fine for racing, for trails (Have taken it on a red route before) they are pap. Disc brakes are the future for cross bikes I'm sure.0
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Disc brakes are the future for all bikes you mean.. It is a shame it has taken the roadie world so long to catch up. As soon as the UCI lets the pros use them I think rim brakes will become a thing reserved for 'classic' bikes.0
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When they can get the weight down they will go for them I think. Weight can already be taken out of the rim on a disc setup. All the main manufacturers seem to be taking it up so won't be long...0
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Thanks, me too!
Finally managed to get out on it yesterday, 25miles in pouring rain, perfect to test the brakes I guess. Took a long stretch of dragging the brakes intentionally to get some heat into them but it paid off and they are now spot on. Very strong and great feel.
The bike is awesome. The 32mm Randoneur Pros arrived in the week so they went straight on and I got a new seatpost from exotic which is much longer. I can only describe it as feeling like a very fast mountain bike. Very comfortable. Irons out the road and still feels very quick. I feel like I could quite easily bosh a century on it without any discomfort, definately not the fastest accelerating bike I have ridden but that was to be expected.
Off road it is just as comfortable and feels very nimble and stable, I would be happy to take it round a blue/orange graded MTB route. The tyres had a decent amount of grip despite very wet and muddy conditions.
Overall it does exactly what I want from it so I am very happy. Looks great too.0 -
What's the deal with the 9mm wheel axles and Superstar hubs?
SRAM don't seem to do a 28.6mm band on front mech. Would Shimano 105 be as effective combined with SRAM levers?
Oh and what headset did you go for?0 -
I had Superstar build the Switch hubs on to Stans Alpha 340 rims because they are light, smooth rolling, easy to service, take discs and can take a through axle. The Cotic fork will take a normal wheel/QR but you have to 'spread the legs' ahem.. to get the wheel in.
Headset is Cane Creek.
I have an Ultegra front mech and it works perfectly.0 -
I don't really understand this axle business, but the Switch hubs with the 9mm axle look like they might be just right for the frame?0
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The rear is a standard QR drop out. The fork has a closed dropout so you need to use a 9mm through axle, which is stiffer and more secure (supposedly) - handy when using disc brakes. I prefer through axled forks - for piece of mind more than anything but I did notice a difference on my MTB when I bought my first Maxle fork.0
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OK cool. Really look forward to your impressions as you use the bike more.
Will you load it up with racks and guards?0 -
Nice bike, love the 'do-it-all' aspect to it
Not that there's anything wrong with current set up, but as both saddles, (on roadie and mtb,) look to be the same, you could swap them over and get matching bar tape for the roadie? Might look cool, or just different
Just an idea anyway
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