Verbier Summits Alpine Adventure: The Video

Verbier Summer

Simple fun in Verbier from Rob Rickman on Vimeo.

The Dimplespeed was built up with the aim of creating a toy that was nimble, lively and most of all tons of fun for all those situations where the BFe is a tad overkill. The simple shares the same solid reassuring geometry as the rest of the Cotic range. With 120mm adjusted rigid forks it takes mountainbiking back to basics and is incredibly agile. The geometry gives shed loads of confidence allowing the bike to be piloted down terrain where a fully rigid bike traditionally really should not venture.

Modern bikes have masses of features that aid both performance and comfort so why strip them away? Going Singlespeed gives such beautiful drive and confidence when stamping hard on the pedals and forces real commitment in the climbs. The bars look so clean, the controls are simple, no distractions leaving a very pure connection with the bike. Best of all with the Dimplespeed setup the bike becomes 2 bikes in one. The light trials gear gives snappy performance and allows the steepest alpine climbs to be taken on. A quick flick of the chain allows the second gear ratio to be selected that is perfect for charging round the local woods or ragging about through town.

Rigid forks are so much fun, they create a new outlook on riding. To go fast an incredibly active, accurate and supple style is required. Incorrect line choice will either totally kill the bikes momentum or have you picking yourself out of the undergrowth. This makes even mellow terrain technical and challenging. The satisfaction when getting it right is so rewarding as is the bewildered look of fellow riders on their nice cushy rides when they struggle to pull away.

The Simple is so much fun, the stripped back look is so sexy and without any of the extras it is light and screams to be chucked around and played with. Having so little on it to go wrong or gadgets to get distracted by it brings biking back to the fundamentals of just getting out and having a good time.

Verbier has provided an amazing testing ground for the Dimplespeed. I have had an amazing time exploring what is possible on this bike. It has been pedaled up the same climb used in the tour de france, along amazing singletrack, pointed down the DH track, hopped over rocks and walls around town. All the time it has put a massive grin on my face and opened up a totally fresh set of challenges to test my skills as a rider.

Most of all it was brilliant fun going out with Simon Vacher exploring, searching and building new lines. I think we found some absolutely stunning shots that gives a bit of a peek of the amazing scenery that Verbier has to offer. All credit to him for putting together an awesome video.

VIDEO : pixelblockmedia.com
MUSIC : hopeandsocial.com
BIKE : cotic.co.uk/product/simple

This report was emailed in by Rob from Verbier and

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"Like a supermodel wearing fake tan"

Cy posted this comment from Tim Cokayne up on the Cotic website last week

"New Cotic Soul frame arrived this morning. The builders tea colour is really nice. Skinny and light like a supermodel wearing fake tan."

I think this is a brilliant description, my simple goes further having had all the useful, practical ideas and concepts stripped away to leave the raw basics. Like a true blonde there is nothing too complicated about her. The beautiful tan colour further enhances her lines and she is incredibly elegant. I particularly like the lack of clutter on the bars and the streamlined look provided by the rigid forks.

I had her on the scales and she comes in at just over 24lbs which I dont think is too shabby. Light weight trials bikes rock in at under 20lbs but the Simple still has some rider comforts like a useable seat/seatpost and a fairly sturdy build. As a comparison the Simple frame is over a pound lighter than the steel Pashley 26MhZ trials specific frame and really not a lot heavier than the Alu trials frames on the market. In terms of dieting weight could be lost on the cranks and bashguard, moving to smaller disks and a skinnier set of rubber on the front. The bars at the moment are Spank DH ones that also put a lot of pressure on the scales.

I was having a bit of a play with some bamboo canes earlier and these couple of extra pounds dont hold the Simple back. The bike will still happily jump over a pole set at handlebar height which is just shy of a meter off the ground. Trials probably wasnt in Cy's original brief when designing this frame however its got really nice geometry and for a lanky rider like me it is a good size to really chuck around. Quality materials and engineering have kept the weight down and also gives me confidence that it will be able to handle this style of riding.

Anyway more importantly heres a quick vid of the bike in action:

Cotic Simple - Playing with Bamboo: Bar height sidehop from Rob Rickman on Vimeo.

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Dinglespeed update - Toolless gear change

Using DMR chain tugs allows toolless gear changes. I was a bit worried about having to carry a spanner in order to adjust the chain tugs so that the gear could be changed. The DMR tugs however allow the wheel to slip forward slightly when the QR is undone. The QR head sits in a cup in the tug, this pulls the wheel back when the QR is tight. The amount of movement allows the chain tension to be reduced enough to flip the gear. To change gear all that is needed is a quick undo of the QR flick the chain across and then close the QR. This works perfectly, both gears are well tensioned using this method and have that beautiful direct singlespeed feeling, result!

Heres a vid of a gear change in action, exciting stuff!!

Cotic Simple - Dinglespeed - Toolless gear change from Rob Rickman on Vimeo.

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Dinglespeeding the Simple

The parts I have been waiting on have arrived, the Simple is finally able be ridden hard. The tugs hold the wheel solidly in position so the issues with sliding under heavy pedaling have been resolved. More excitingly a 26t chainring has now been fitted alongside the 32t and an extra sprocket has been added at the back making this a true dinglespeed (double-singlespeed for those not in the know). the Simmple now has 2 gear ratios (26:23 and 32:16) to play with that both run the same chain length. This means that with a quick manual flick of the chain I go from a snappy light trials gear to an XC/BMX/sprint kind of gear. The 2 ratios are about perfect for their intended use. If I had more flexibility in available chain rings for the front I would probably go for a slightly harder trials gear but mainly because I have always liked to stomp a higher than average gear for trials type stuff. The big gear is mint for charging about on. These pictures were sneaked in between a couple of rather aggressive showers, hopefully this crazy weather stops soon so I can have a proper play! I still need to cut down the steerer tube and source a more elegantly sized bash ring but otherwise this bike is more or less there.

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