2021 Cotic BFEMAX (Reynolds 853 Steel) Review
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Cons:
- Extremely supple frame
- Very stable in technical terrain
- Lightweight
Cons:
- Fairly expensive
- Low stack
Who it's for:
- Fans of Cotic
- UK riders
- Shredders
- People who want a smooth riding bike
- People who want a modern geometry
- Those who like long chainstays
Who it's NOT for
- People looking for a playful riding bike
- Smaller riders (sizing runs BIG)
My full thoughts on the 2021 Cotic BFEMAX
today we review the cottage beefy max
a lot of you have waited patiently for this review thank you i've been riding this for two weeks i really wanted to get to know it before i just hopped on it and gave an initial review and then sent it back because i really want to get to know this bike and i do that with all of my bikes i really try to get to know them before reviewing them put a lot of miles on this and today we are riding high line trail in sedona i don't take very many review bikes on this trail because most hardtails i don't feel comfortable riding on this trail this is a very special bike as you will find out in the review i really like it 444 chainstay 438 reach 65 degree head angle on this 140 king creek helm this bike rides far different than its geo table suggests i'm five foot six i'm on a size small i have a bmx racing background as a kid i've been mountain biking for 20 years in the past whenever i've ridden a bike with chain stays longer than 435 it's kind of felt like a boat like you're towing a trailer hard to get into manuals hard to bunny hop and play so when i saw this one had 444 i was a little worried but i kept an open mind and decided to see how it rode before i let that number change my perceptions and i'm glad i did for some reason despite the long chainstay numbers this bike does not feel long it feels very maneuverable i can put it where i want i can lift up the back wheel when i want reach feels slightly shorter than the numbers suggest feels like a 4 30 reach to me not a 438
man this bike excels on the climbs which i did not expect this has quickly become one of my favorite technical climbing bikes which totally blew me away
that is such a hard move there
this is hard to do in one pole
what else is crazy is how light
and snappy this bike feels this bike is an absolutely incredible climber one of the top two bikes i've ever ridden for climbing on the power moves especially it's fantastic usually long chain stay bikes i'm awful in the chunky stuff but like i said this doesn't ride like it's as long as it is i think calling this the beefy is a disservice beefy bikes like the chromag root down the rsd middle child the kona hanzo these steel over built hardcore bikes feel over built yes it's beefy it has aggressive geometry and it's strong but it doesn't ride like an overbuilt bike and that is part of the magic of this thing this has a very alive feel it's not the most supple hardtail i've ridden but it's definitely stiff in the right places it doesn't beat you up but it has a springiness to it it's it's it just feels alive and they've been able to keep it light that's what's crazy this bike's like the kid that shows up to the first wrestling meet that's super scrawny and everyone's got low expectations and then he just throws it down on the mat and takes the state title and you're just like holy cow just really surprises you how hard of a punch this thing packs this thing is spry it is peppy it is fun to ride this is what a good steel frame should feel like you can get more supple steel frames so if you were crushing out long miles or looking for more xc stuff i'd recommend a different model and i think kodak would as well but this is the most lively slash energetic slash supple's the wrong word but comfortable aggressive hardcore bike i've written yet it's right up there with my banshee paradox so far i've cleaned everything first try on these climbs and that's not normal for me the reason i do long reviews is because there's so little info about a lot of these bikes and i figure the more info you have the better you can make decisions about whether it's for you or not
this bike has incredible balance at slow speeds despite the 65 degree head angle despite the 51 mil offset fork i if this were my bike i'd get a 44 mil offset the handling's just a little bit twitchier on the 51. i don't like a twitchy front end
it initiates corners well
it tips into the lean angle quickly with the 51 mil this bike is a great wheelier what's surprising is i don't have to lift the front wheel very high to find the sweet spot on the wheelie it's far more playful than it should be for a 444 chainstay
but it's less playful than something like a chameleon or the middle child or even my banshee this is meant to be an enduro winning hardtail and that sounds silly but in the uk they do have hardtail enduro classes which i think is awesome what amazes me is the balance on this bike this just always feels like you're perfectly balanced left and right seat tube angle feels perfect seated position is perfect for once i'm not sliding my seat rails forward the reach feels short
so this is where the geocharts feel different than i think the chainstay feels shorter than the geochart says but the reach feels shorter too and since kotak has such a low c tube height i could definitely size up to a medium and still have plenty of seat post appreciate them doing that yeah what a joy to ride this bike rides quite different from any other bike i've reviewed and i've really struggled to put it into words i'm glad they've included this riser bar i really like the feel and sweep of the bar it's very comfortable
this is a cottage bar and stem they believe in short stems to match their geometry and i agree it fits it well some bikes throwing a 35mm stem on ruins the feel this bike feels just right i think for the first time in my life i've cleaned every techie section on this climb first try it accelerates very quickly like a lot of aluminum and carbon bikes but it's noticeably less stiff than the dv9 the santa cruz chameleon carbon feels about like the santa cruz chameleon aluminum a little bit stiffer under pedaling though a little bit smoother than my thai middle child i'm impressed and it feels zippier and less flexy than my thai middle child the helm fork feels fantastic i love the helm one of my favorite forks i wish it rode slightly higher in its travel but it sure is
supple man that's a plush fork i can't believe i'm at the top already that went by way fast
that's got to be one of my fastest climbing times up this trail
morning all right let's point this downhill see what she feels like the bars are close to me and low i feel a little more forward than i want remember the chainstay is six centimeters longer than my reach that's kind of an awkward feeling when the back part feels longer than the front but we got a nice black head angle to keep that front tire out there in front of me
even though the riding position feels a little bit like i want to go over the bars it really doesn't because the wheel's so far out there oh this is so good this bike corners extremely well
front end feels a little bit nervous slash floppy with that 51 mil offset which sounds crazy because most people say shorter offset feels more floppy this feels a little more twitchy
so if you can still manual this bike it takes more work than a short chainstay bike this bike wants to stay fairly planted and just charred the faster you go the faster it wants you to go this thing is so composed on the chunk
yeah the faster you go the more it wants to be pushed this is a very racy bike
having fun on this
it still rides like a hardtail you feel the bumps
what a good bite see how she does on the steep stuff
there's the line i'd like a longer reach on that really steep stuff
maybe 15 20 mil so i'd size up to a medium but that's just the sizing issue for me so i would if you have steep terrain
or fast terrain i would size up a little bit more than you normally do especially if you're pairing it with a small stem like this oh this bike is a joy
it's weird my first few rides on this i felt like the front end was a little floppy like it was almost too slack i think most of that is due to the offset of the fork
but now that i'm used to it i don't feel it and i think a 140 fork is the sweet spot for this 120 could be really fun too but i think i'd get the solaris max if i wanted that
a lot of bike designers i've been talking to lately i ask them what they do to build in compliance so the hardtail doesn't beat you up and a lot of them say we don't really factor that in we just want it to be strong so that it doesn't break because we don't want people saying don't buy bikes from company x they break and i can understand that but it's disappointing because there are a lot of by companies that do build in compliance and what a difference so don't fall into the steel is real trap and think that all steel frames feel the same or even all reynolds 853 frames feel the same they're not going to but kotak did a good job tuning the ride of this bike here come the big moves
got a little off there i buzzed my butt on the tire the tire kind of smacked me in the butt there this is loose i don't like it
that's gotten eroded this bike is planted feels good
all right one thing i've felt which is really interesting i haven't buzzed my butt on a back tire in months i buzzed it about three times there i'm not sure why that is
definitely sat on the tire a few times weird it felt bigger than a 29er to me for some reason yeah one solid pull top to bottom baby and that is highline on the cottage beefy max handled it extremely well i felt like i had to get back more to avoid feeling like i was going over the bars that's just a sizing issue for me i cannot believe how good this balance is at low stand speeds it should not with its numbers this just goes to show that geocharts only tell part of the story spike likes to jump but it's a little bit slower jump than a short chainstay bike this does not feel like a dirt jumper with the dropper at all like some bikes do this feels like a downhill version of a hardtail
this bike's very special it falls in that exceptional category it's not just like everything else
it's unique
what's surprising is how fun this is at slow speeds in slow technical terrain and big lift moves hard climbs punchy stuff i recommend this bike for those who like bombing going really fast down steep stuff who like more of a racy enduro feel than just kind of a sit and spin cross country feel not to say you can't crush out the miles on this you definitely can i wouldn't put it as the top of my list for jib bikes where you just goof around and pop off every little thing at slow speed this bike i would probably say is the best climber i've ever ridden whether it be long slogs on a fire road
howdy or punchy stair-steppy stuff like this
that is amazing it'll claw its way up there wow definitely felt the long chain stay helping me there wow that if you've ever been here you know how hard that climb is only made it two or three times ever and i just rolled into it talking first try this bike climbs so well case in point that was a special ride that was amazing this bike was built for highline let's rate this bike climbing 10 out of 10. i've never ridden a better climber and for once the longer chains stay helped on climbs normally for some reason it hurts there's no doubt this new hutchinson griffis super sticky tire helps as well and that's a great match compare this with the zip wheels and the helm fork man what a bike cornering i'm gonna give it 9.5 out of 10. i think if it had a 44 mil offset it'd be a 10 out of 10. a great corner look at this i've got a 150 post and i could even race that a little more that never happens for me so thank you for keeping that short unlike so many companies and thank you for a straight seat tube codec that means you could run super long droppers in there thank you for external routing love that this frame was easy to build up thank you for the threaded bottom bracket descents i'm gonna give this i can't give it a very accurate rating because i feel like this bike was just slightly too small for me what's crazy about this bike on the descents is you are going way faster than it feels and you come into something really hot and you're like i wasn't going that fast and then you stop and look at it or talk to your buddies and they're like you were hauling this bike you're going way faster than it feels like you do and that's a compliment to the bike you got to remember you're on a hard tail and not just fly through stuff so i wish it was a little bit longer i should have sized up to a medium the frame feels fantastic this is how a steel frame should feel thank you katic for not over building this frame it feels light it feels zippy now if you're in the midwest and you just ride flat stuff and there's no real chunk i would go with one of kotick's other models that hopefully rides even a little more supple and it's just a little bit less aggressive on the geometry i highly recommend this bike if it fits your style if you're doing faster terrain more aggressive terrain and by aggressive i mean chunky rocky bumpy steep on the brakes hard type of terrain not just kind of flowy meandering terrain it can do that but i would probably recommend a different bike for that type of riding let's compare this to some other aggressive hardtails right now the closest comparison is my banshee paradox v3 the longer chainstay is noticeable on this and i think this climbs slightly better than the paradox the paradox feels a little bit more comfortable going downhill i'm not sure i think it's a little bit longer reach compared to the rsd middle child the middle child feels like a dirt jumper that just wants to play around on stuff and the middle child steel feels over built and heavy and not spring it doesn't have the great ride quality that this does this feels more a little more like a race bike both are fast bikes this is probably suited a little bit more for like enduro racing i'd probably pick this for dirt jumps i'd pick the middle child for whistler i'd pick this compared to the diamondback sinker carbon it has a similar feel that it wants to charge and just bomb down hills the sinker felt slightly more composed than this and i'm not quite sure why i think the little bit lower stack kind of got to me and i think i need a little more reach and then i think this would beat the sinker in that this is still has a much better feel than the sinker it feels like a higher quality bike and this climbs way better than the sinker santa cruz chameleon is completely different than this steeper head angle twitchier more bmxe but they're not even in the same realm despite both being hardtails i'm blown away super fun bike if you're tall or racing long steep stuff and more concerned about top speed and times i think you're going to really love this longer chainstay it can be playful but popping into manuals bunny hops and jumps are a little bit harder on it than something with a shorter chain stay so just decide if that's what you're looking for in a bike thank you katic for sending this i'm honored to have been able to review this if you guys enjoy this review subscribe and hit that bell icon that'll notify you every time i publish a new video and you can be up to date on what i'm doing lately if you want sneak peeks and to provide input into my videos and see the bikes i'm reviewing way before they hit youtube become a patron i am super grateful for my patrons you guys rock keep up the great suggestions over there they're shaping what videos i film in the future and they get a lot of sneak peeks over there thanks for watching there's a party in the mountains and you're invited
a lot of you have waited patiently for this review thank you i've been riding this for two weeks i really wanted to get to know it before i just hopped on it and gave an initial review and then sent it back because i really want to get to know this bike and i do that with all of my bikes i really try to get to know them before reviewing them put a lot of miles on this and today we are riding high line trail in sedona i don't take very many review bikes on this trail because most hardtails i don't feel comfortable riding on this trail this is a very special bike as you will find out in the review i really like it 444 chainstay 438 reach 65 degree head angle on this 140 king creek helm this bike rides far different than its geo table suggests i'm five foot six i'm on a size small i have a bmx racing background as a kid i've been mountain biking for 20 years in the past whenever i've ridden a bike with chain stays longer than 435 it's kind of felt like a boat like you're towing a trailer hard to get into manuals hard to bunny hop and play so when i saw this one had 444 i was a little worried but i kept an open mind and decided to see how it rode before i let that number change my perceptions and i'm glad i did for some reason despite the long chainstay numbers this bike does not feel long it feels very maneuverable i can put it where i want i can lift up the back wheel when i want reach feels slightly shorter than the numbers suggest feels like a 4 30 reach to me not a 438
man this bike excels on the climbs which i did not expect this has quickly become one of my favorite technical climbing bikes which totally blew me away
that is such a hard move there
this is hard to do in one pole
what else is crazy is how light
and snappy this bike feels this bike is an absolutely incredible climber one of the top two bikes i've ever ridden for climbing on the power moves especially it's fantastic usually long chain stay bikes i'm awful in the chunky stuff but like i said this doesn't ride like it's as long as it is i think calling this the beefy is a disservice beefy bikes like the chromag root down the rsd middle child the kona hanzo these steel over built hardcore bikes feel over built yes it's beefy it has aggressive geometry and it's strong but it doesn't ride like an overbuilt bike and that is part of the magic of this thing this has a very alive feel it's not the most supple hardtail i've ridden but it's definitely stiff in the right places it doesn't beat you up but it has a springiness to it it's it's it just feels alive and they've been able to keep it light that's what's crazy this bike's like the kid that shows up to the first wrestling meet that's super scrawny and everyone's got low expectations and then he just throws it down on the mat and takes the state title and you're just like holy cow just really surprises you how hard of a punch this thing packs this thing is spry it is peppy it is fun to ride this is what a good steel frame should feel like you can get more supple steel frames so if you were crushing out long miles or looking for more xc stuff i'd recommend a different model and i think kodak would as well but this is the most lively slash energetic slash supple's the wrong word but comfortable aggressive hardcore bike i've written yet it's right up there with my banshee paradox so far i've cleaned everything first try on these climbs and that's not normal for me the reason i do long reviews is because there's so little info about a lot of these bikes and i figure the more info you have the better you can make decisions about whether it's for you or not
this bike has incredible balance at slow speeds despite the 65 degree head angle despite the 51 mil offset fork i if this were my bike i'd get a 44 mil offset the handling's just a little bit twitchier on the 51. i don't like a twitchy front end
it initiates corners well
it tips into the lean angle quickly with the 51 mil this bike is a great wheelier what's surprising is i don't have to lift the front wheel very high to find the sweet spot on the wheelie it's far more playful than it should be for a 444 chainstay
but it's less playful than something like a chameleon or the middle child or even my banshee this is meant to be an enduro winning hardtail and that sounds silly but in the uk they do have hardtail enduro classes which i think is awesome what amazes me is the balance on this bike this just always feels like you're perfectly balanced left and right seat tube angle feels perfect seated position is perfect for once i'm not sliding my seat rails forward the reach feels short
so this is where the geocharts feel different than i think the chainstay feels shorter than the geochart says but the reach feels shorter too and since kotak has such a low c tube height i could definitely size up to a medium and still have plenty of seat post appreciate them doing that yeah what a joy to ride this bike rides quite different from any other bike i've reviewed and i've really struggled to put it into words i'm glad they've included this riser bar i really like the feel and sweep of the bar it's very comfortable
this is a cottage bar and stem they believe in short stems to match their geometry and i agree it fits it well some bikes throwing a 35mm stem on ruins the feel this bike feels just right i think for the first time in my life i've cleaned every techie section on this climb first try it accelerates very quickly like a lot of aluminum and carbon bikes but it's noticeably less stiff than the dv9 the santa cruz chameleon carbon feels about like the santa cruz chameleon aluminum a little bit stiffer under pedaling though a little bit smoother than my thai middle child i'm impressed and it feels zippier and less flexy than my thai middle child the helm fork feels fantastic i love the helm one of my favorite forks i wish it rode slightly higher in its travel but it sure is
supple man that's a plush fork i can't believe i'm at the top already that went by way fast
that's got to be one of my fastest climbing times up this trail
morning all right let's point this downhill see what she feels like the bars are close to me and low i feel a little more forward than i want remember the chainstay is six centimeters longer than my reach that's kind of an awkward feeling when the back part feels longer than the front but we got a nice black head angle to keep that front tire out there in front of me
even though the riding position feels a little bit like i want to go over the bars it really doesn't because the wheel's so far out there oh this is so good this bike corners extremely well
front end feels a little bit nervous slash floppy with that 51 mil offset which sounds crazy because most people say shorter offset feels more floppy this feels a little more twitchy
so if you can still manual this bike it takes more work than a short chainstay bike this bike wants to stay fairly planted and just charred the faster you go the faster it wants you to go this thing is so composed on the chunk
yeah the faster you go the more it wants to be pushed this is a very racy bike
having fun on this
it still rides like a hardtail you feel the bumps
what a good bite see how she does on the steep stuff
there's the line i'd like a longer reach on that really steep stuff
maybe 15 20 mil so i'd size up to a medium but that's just the sizing issue for me so i would if you have steep terrain
or fast terrain i would size up a little bit more than you normally do especially if you're pairing it with a small stem like this oh this bike is a joy
it's weird my first few rides on this i felt like the front end was a little floppy like it was almost too slack i think most of that is due to the offset of the fork
but now that i'm used to it i don't feel it and i think a 140 fork is the sweet spot for this 120 could be really fun too but i think i'd get the solaris max if i wanted that
a lot of bike designers i've been talking to lately i ask them what they do to build in compliance so the hardtail doesn't beat you up and a lot of them say we don't really factor that in we just want it to be strong so that it doesn't break because we don't want people saying don't buy bikes from company x they break and i can understand that but it's disappointing because there are a lot of by companies that do build in compliance and what a difference so don't fall into the steel is real trap and think that all steel frames feel the same or even all reynolds 853 frames feel the same they're not going to but kotak did a good job tuning the ride of this bike here come the big moves
got a little off there i buzzed my butt on the tire the tire kind of smacked me in the butt there this is loose i don't like it
that's gotten eroded this bike is planted feels good
all right one thing i've felt which is really interesting i haven't buzzed my butt on a back tire in months i buzzed it about three times there i'm not sure why that is
definitely sat on the tire a few times weird it felt bigger than a 29er to me for some reason yeah one solid pull top to bottom baby and that is highline on the cottage beefy max handled it extremely well i felt like i had to get back more to avoid feeling like i was going over the bars that's just a sizing issue for me i cannot believe how good this balance is at low stand speeds it should not with its numbers this just goes to show that geocharts only tell part of the story spike likes to jump but it's a little bit slower jump than a short chainstay bike this does not feel like a dirt jumper with the dropper at all like some bikes do this feels like a downhill version of a hardtail
this bike's very special it falls in that exceptional category it's not just like everything else
it's unique
what's surprising is how fun this is at slow speeds in slow technical terrain and big lift moves hard climbs punchy stuff i recommend this bike for those who like bombing going really fast down steep stuff who like more of a racy enduro feel than just kind of a sit and spin cross country feel not to say you can't crush out the miles on this you definitely can i wouldn't put it as the top of my list for jib bikes where you just goof around and pop off every little thing at slow speed this bike i would probably say is the best climber i've ever ridden whether it be long slogs on a fire road
howdy or punchy stair-steppy stuff like this
that is amazing it'll claw its way up there wow definitely felt the long chain stay helping me there wow that if you've ever been here you know how hard that climb is only made it two or three times ever and i just rolled into it talking first try this bike climbs so well case in point that was a special ride that was amazing this bike was built for highline let's rate this bike climbing 10 out of 10. i've never ridden a better climber and for once the longer chains stay helped on climbs normally for some reason it hurts there's no doubt this new hutchinson griffis super sticky tire helps as well and that's a great match compare this with the zip wheels and the helm fork man what a bike cornering i'm gonna give it 9.5 out of 10. i think if it had a 44 mil offset it'd be a 10 out of 10. a great corner look at this i've got a 150 post and i could even race that a little more that never happens for me so thank you for keeping that short unlike so many companies and thank you for a straight seat tube codec that means you could run super long droppers in there thank you for external routing love that this frame was easy to build up thank you for the threaded bottom bracket descents i'm gonna give this i can't give it a very accurate rating because i feel like this bike was just slightly too small for me what's crazy about this bike on the descents is you are going way faster than it feels and you come into something really hot and you're like i wasn't going that fast and then you stop and look at it or talk to your buddies and they're like you were hauling this bike you're going way faster than it feels like you do and that's a compliment to the bike you got to remember you're on a hard tail and not just fly through stuff so i wish it was a little bit longer i should have sized up to a medium the frame feels fantastic this is how a steel frame should feel thank you katic for not over building this frame it feels light it feels zippy now if you're in the midwest and you just ride flat stuff and there's no real chunk i would go with one of kotick's other models that hopefully rides even a little more supple and it's just a little bit less aggressive on the geometry i highly recommend this bike if it fits your style if you're doing faster terrain more aggressive terrain and by aggressive i mean chunky rocky bumpy steep on the brakes hard type of terrain not just kind of flowy meandering terrain it can do that but i would probably recommend a different bike for that type of riding let's compare this to some other aggressive hardtails right now the closest comparison is my banshee paradox v3 the longer chainstay is noticeable on this and i think this climbs slightly better than the paradox the paradox feels a little bit more comfortable going downhill i'm not sure i think it's a little bit longer reach compared to the rsd middle child the middle child feels like a dirt jumper that just wants to play around on stuff and the middle child steel feels over built and heavy and not spring it doesn't have the great ride quality that this does this feels more a little more like a race bike both are fast bikes this is probably suited a little bit more for like enduro racing i'd probably pick this for dirt jumps i'd pick the middle child for whistler i'd pick this compared to the diamondback sinker carbon it has a similar feel that it wants to charge and just bomb down hills the sinker felt slightly more composed than this and i'm not quite sure why i think the little bit lower stack kind of got to me and i think i need a little more reach and then i think this would beat the sinker in that this is still has a much better feel than the sinker it feels like a higher quality bike and this climbs way better than the sinker santa cruz chameleon is completely different than this steeper head angle twitchier more bmxe but they're not even in the same realm despite both being hardtails i'm blown away super fun bike if you're tall or racing long steep stuff and more concerned about top speed and times i think you're going to really love this longer chainstay it can be playful but popping into manuals bunny hops and jumps are a little bit harder on it than something with a shorter chain stay so just decide if that's what you're looking for in a bike thank you katic for sending this i'm honored to have been able to review this if you guys enjoy this review subscribe and hit that bell icon that'll notify you every time i publish a new video and you can be up to date on what i'm doing lately if you want sneak peeks and to provide input into my videos and see the bikes i'm reviewing way before they hit youtube become a patron i am super grateful for my patrons you guys rock keep up the great suggestions over there they're shaping what videos i film in the future and they get a lot of sneak peeks over there thanks for watching there's a party in the mountains and you're invited