Cotic RoadRat - Drop Alfine build

As I am now slowly falling down the slippery transition that is growing up I have come to the point where I need a more sensible everyday bike to do the commuting and keep the fitness up whilst work slyly takes up more of my time. My commute is not massively long but does feature a couple of serious hills, as you may have seen in the Tour of Britain Swansea has a few of those! I wanted something skinny tyred, geared and drop bar but also low maintainance and durable to cope with the stunning welsh weather. The obvious choice for this brief was the RoadRat.



Cy doesnt do the dropbar with a standard geared option. A trawl of the web found the beautifully made barcon shifter by JTEK designed for use with the Alfine hub. The final build is the standard singlespeed dropbar RoadRat with the Jtek shifter and the rear wheel swapped for its Alfine equivalent. The range of gears provided by the Alfine is sufficient for the steep climbs but I will admit the pace is high and there is not an easy cruise gear that you would find on a traditional setup. I dont mind this but I am used to fairly compromised gear setups having only ever run a single front ring on my bikes. The hub itself performs far better than I was expecting. The internet seems full of mixed reviews but I have to say there is no noticable drag and shifts are sharp however they do require easing off the pedals to change. The lever has a really solid action and is very comfortable to use. I love the subtlety and clean look that you get with this setup.

As a commuter this bike fly's. Getting to work is a shed load more exciting and is absolutely flat out down the hill in the morning, it is now a rapid and somewhat brutal way of waking up! The RoadRat handles nicely, the v brakes are so much more effective than standard road brakes which helps raise the confidence when fighting with the traffic. The bike looks really clean and understated which works well to avoid too much attention in the bike sheds. I personally really like the drops as it gives a range of positions for different scenarios whether thats head up amongst other road users or getting the head down for slogging up a hill.

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NPS 4X Rd4 - PORC

Photo courtesy of Andy Fricker

Rd 4 of the series was down in kent at the pretty impressive Porc venue. This meant fully getting to know the M4 and a bit of a wrestle with the M25, by far the best way to spend a hot saturday afternoon! Porc itself is a woodland set aside for mountain biking. There is a massive log cabin which sits alongside the track and plenty of earth works scattered around catering for Dirt Jumpers downhillers and obviously the 4X riders.

The track itself is an interesting one, it is a blast to ride being absolutely flat out and included some relatively challenging corners at the bottom as the rock hard ground is covered in a soft layer of fine sand making traction pretty sporadic in places. I dont think however it produces brilliant 4X racing. It is too narrow the majority of the way to allow overtaking and very little preparation before the weekend meant only the main line was smooth and completely free from undergrowth. The first corner was in most cases where the race was one or lost. The inside line had the advantage, the entry was over a small jump wide enough for 3 and a half riders and the exit was wide enough for 2 riders abreast. The outside lane allowed you to generate a lot more speed for the exit of the corner but there was no where to use it as the inside line more or less totally blocked off the exit. From there on any overtaking required a pretty bold manoeuvre or a mistake from the rider in front.

My motos themselves went well with 3 wins and a 3rd after a failed attempt at trying to take the inside on Dave Roberts left me sprawling around on the floor. I grabbed a second place in the quarter but only a 4th in the semi leaving me in the B final up against Gareth Parr, Tom Gethin and Tim Pearson. Off the start in the B final we were all level necking into the first corner. The width of the track wasnt having this though and I felt someone get underneath my bars causing me to veer into the side of Gethin taking us both down in the process. Flipping into the floor gave Gareth and Tim the chance to get clear and Gareth took the win. I grabbed my bike and managed to get down to take 3rd place which left me with 7th position overall. The Senior podium was taken by John Hewitt, Lee Feery and Dave Roberts.

It was a fun weekend of riding but we are now looking forward to the next round and the national champs at South West Extreme which is being held on a totally fresh track that is rumoured to be a massive step up in difficulty with technical features that should create some really exciting racing.

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RedHill NPS 4X

Redhill is one of my favourite 4x venues. It always has a great atmosphere with the camping right next to the track and lots of other antics going on with the dirt jumps and new bomb hole area. The track is flat out and really doesnt take much effort to be properly hauling making some pretty exciting racing.

I have recently made the transition to clips and this was my first time out using them in anger. I am still at the stage where the stupid crashes happen due to forgetting to twist and unclip, apparently this is all part of the learning curve but so far I have done a half back flip pulling out from the take off of a steep jump and forgetting I couldnt just jump off the back of the bike. I almost ate it at Bryn Bettws getting hit by a gust in the air and had a good stack in practice on the saturday over Redhills new rock garden, in short this new clipped in stuff is still pretty hairy and giving me a few to many exciting moments.



The payback is off the gate and the reassurance of being able to attack the pedals without foot issues. This was doing me well off the gate and 3 out of the 4 motos I was out in front by the first corner. Unfortunately 2 of these motos I ruined the lead I had by binning it on the bottom half of the track. The first crash was on the grass chicane, my tyre lost grip on the second corner, grabbed and high sided me into the take off of the following jump. The second crash was on the last corner when Dave Roberts was right on my tail and I pushed too hard losing the front wheel on the grass hairpin. These crashes turned what was one of my better days of racing into a bit of a disappointment as I didnt make it through to the quarters. The senior podium ended up being taken by Tom Gethin, Peter Hosker, and Dave Roberts.

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BFe Mk II

I have been riding the new BFe for a few weeks now, the concept of the frame is exactly that of the old model only Cy has managed to sneak in a few tweaks and refinements in order to bring it in touch with the new regs whilst still keeping the weight impressively low. From my understanding this means this should be even stronger than the last. My original BFe has been abused solidly for 3 years, the paintwork is heavily scarred but the frame itself has never shown any signs of weakness in this time. The original BeeFe is only out of action now because her prettier little sister has shown up!

The most striking new feature other than the lush new paint job is the ovalised top tube. I remember Marin did something like this years back to increase stiffness however their oval was rotated by 90 degrees. The advantage of this is the BFe is more compliant vertically helping to reduce harshness whilst beeing super stiff laterally where it counts, sounds a far better application of the concept. There is also an extra sticker on the frame indicating that reynolds 853 and 631 tubing have joined the party. This really shows Cy's obsessive nature when it comes to specking the optimum materials for the job according to their required loads and purpose.

I have also switched to the Magura Thor forks for the time being which run at up to 140mm of travel and also lighten up the front end when compared to the Wotans. Fork action is very similar, I am really enjoying the sharp twitchy nature and low front end that comes from running the shorter travel forks.

The overall feel of the bike is ace. The geometry of the BFe is now proven, the new frame fine tunes that original design. The bike is all about stability and speed. It loves being absolutely hammered on the pedals and positions your body in a strong balanced attack position that really lets you charge, keep the bike on target and maintain control when things get a little hairy.

More importantly here are some pics, plenty more to follow!

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Kali Protection

The guys at Bullet Distribution sent me some more of the Kali protective gear to test, so far no serious head to the ground testing has happened so will have to comment on the secondary features of the helmets such as comfort and style. The two helmets I have been trying are the Avita Carbon a more XC orientated lid shown above and the Raja 'piss pot.'

Not so much to say about the raja really as with all lids of this type it has a thick layer of foam encased in a hard outer shell with minimal venting to achieve maximum head protection. The fit is good, I like the graphics and the subtle styling features with the 'rail' over the top make it stand out from other equivalent helmets. It comes with a range of padding sizes as to be expected to fine tune the fit.

The Avita is something a bit more special. I guess it is targeted more at the trail rider who wants an all day lid with plenty of venting but also with a good level of protection. It mixes up carbon to keep the weight low, has lots of vents but still seems to be chunky enough to be of use in a decent crash. The helmet has a decent adjustable headband that is easy to use and feels secure and a visor to keep the sun out of the eyes. I think the styling is good with minimal graphics and a not too extreme shape.

i have also been testing some Kali Aazis soft knee pads. These have actually had some proper testing following a fair few crashes up at Harthill. They are similar in concept to the Troy Lee T-Bones which really are the classic when it comes to pads. The Kali pads are really comfortable as the bits in contact with your leg are nice and soft and stretchy and dont seem to get too hot or sweaty. I happily spent a weekend in them and forgot they were there really. Protection is good. The knee has both front and side protection and I can say it definitely works. The only downside to them is the fabric encasing the front of the knee pad isnt as hard wearing as other pads such as the T-Bones. After a weekend there were some noticable scuffs and snags in this outer fabric, they are still perfectly usable but they may be best suited under jeans to get the most life out of them.


More details on all these products can be found here.

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Harthill NPS 4X RD2 and Euro

Photo by Dave Thomason


Ace weekend of racing at the new 4X track up near Chester. The track itself was a mix of tight and awkward features that were a little rough and ready compared to the usual track standards. This however made for some really interesting racing and tonnes of overtaking due to the awkward flow. The terrain was loose sand on top of a hard packed under layer making grip a struggle to find and there was the odd random sandpit ready to catch people off guard. The weather played its own part in livening up the racing, we had it all. Rain to further lubricate the track and when that started making sense the sun was out to dry out patches allowing a formula one style dry racing line to form. The wind built throughout the weekend and by sunday it was seriously hauling literally blowing off the competition at the gate.

Saturday was an epically fun day of racing. Every moto turned into a real battle with moves being made left right and centre. I managed one win and 3 seconds, unfortunately this run of luck was lost in quarters leaving me out of the competition. With the Euro the following day and the imminent Fort Bill World Cup there were some big names entered and a full Elite class which was great to watch. There is a definite step up in intensity in the Elite class and the speed that the top riders were taking on the track and each other made for some top notch spectating. Check out this great video coverage by Corine Walders to really see what was going down.

British 4X National Rnd 2. Harthill May 2010 from Corinne Walder on Vimeo.

The big day was the Euro round on the sunday. We were all in one class mixing it up with the Elites. A timed qualifying run set the order for the motos which were a straight knockout. Qualifying went ok, a few mistakes up top left me in 40th place and put me on a gate alongside Will Evans, a large gust of wind right before the gate dropped put the other 3 off their balance and leaving me with a brief foray out front but the deep sand on the inside line on the second corner got me and from there it was chase to the finish and giving a final ranking of 43rd. The atmosphere trackside was really good and everyone was getting right behind the racing. The finals were hottly contested and the places the top guys were able to pedal and get those few extra cranks in is really impressive. Prokop ended up taking the win but I think Dan Atherton was my favourite to watch making a number of seriously impressive passes at the bottom of the track.

All in all a great weekend, the UK 4X scene feels really strong at the moment with great turn out and a number of fresh tracks popping up, bring on the next round!!

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Afan Dirt Park

South Wales mountain biking is seeing a great new development in the form of a new centre catering for the more extreme end of the sport. Last weekend saw some fine tuning of the new 4X track up at Bryn Bettws Lodge at the back of Afan. The track has been built with the aid of Phil Saxena who is better known for his work on the word cup 4X tracks. The place has big ambitions and looks set to be a really good venue for the UK scene. The pro line, christened by Duncan Ferris is quite literally massive and if that by itself isnt scary enough the run in is over a massive multiline rock garden. It was clear the track has been designed to make some tight close racing and will be a serious challenge for all levels of riders. If thats not enough there are also some comp level dirt jumps, a licensed bar and when we were there the guys had a barbeque going to keep us all well fueled. With any luck this is just the start, the guys have access to an array of diggers so we should see this being developed and built up over time, exciting stuff!

More details and updates can be found here: Afan MTB Afan Valley

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