It really is a lovely looking bike. This is the same build as those cheeky shots we got at Cycle 2009 last year, and the sleek oval top tube really does look amazing. The mahoooosive forks (160mm travel, 35mm tubes) are perhaps a touch overkill for the average UK trails but Cy assures me they’re a hell of a lot of fun.

You can pre-order one (the production frames are due in mid March) at Cotic’s site here…

£370 gets you a 5.4lbs hardcore hardtail with lovely finish, quality tubing, British design and great pedigree. The BFe was a burly development of the classic Soul. The production frames will feature slimmed down regular tubing on the rear seat stays to add a little more give to the rear end – it’s shaping up to be a real beauty.

Check them out at Cotic – and read all about her in Issue 12, due out in early March.

James News BFe, Cotic, hardtail

It feels like I’m running a bike shop at the moment – a garage FULL of bikes… we’re heading off north of the border in a couple of weeks for a weekend of hardtail ragging.

First to arrive at Wideopen towers was the 2010 Genesis Alpitude, a complete bike option from the UK designed, Madison supported bike company – and an update on a bike we tested last year on longterm test. Back then we were really impressed so it was a definite for the trip north.

Main change for 2010 is the increase of travel to 150mm with minor tweaks to geometry to suit. This bike passes the CEN regs discussed in Issue 11 and is a well spec’d, well finished lovely looking machine. At a shade under £1600 it may seem expensive but in our opinion is worth a ride if you’re over 5′8″ and in the market for a light but sturdy hardcore hardtail that’ll EASILY keep up with your mates on FSRs on more trail centre based riding.

Check out:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/alpitude/alpitude/overview/
(also available as a frame only option – but why bother when the full spec’d bike is great components at a great price!)

Read what we thought in Issue 9 here…

James News

Well you wait all year for an Issue of Wideopen and then one comes along on time?

Yes you read that correctly – our aim of having Issue 11 with you by the end of 2010 is still looking do-able (keep those fingers crossed with us!)

Contributors from across the country are rattling off interviews, reports, articles and more – all for your enjoyment.

Expect a few interesting Industry articles in this ‘off season’ issue – along with a first look at two new test bikes.

Keep your eyes peeled on the site at the end of December, or in the meantime sign up to our Facebook group for an update the minute it’s available on our site!

James News

Winter is a bugger for you and your bike and whatever riding you do we at Wideopen try and cover the products that make this time of year just that little bit easier…

The second parcel to arrive at the office this week was a little smaller than the one from SKS (see Christmas Goodies Part 1)… but size isn’t everything and it was very exciting to see two bottles of the new chain lubes from our friends at Juicelubes.

Now strictly speaking one of these isn’t really suitable for this time of year! Juicelubes have produced two chain lubes, one for summer and one for winter (roughly speaking) and that’s probably a good enough description for most of you!

Chain Juice is the wet weather lube and is quite a thick green lube which after being applied to a clean(ish) de-greased chain should last a few wet weather rides without the need for re-application. It also promises to not go that lovely gunky black that a regular lubricant can in wet weather conditions.

Ceramic juice is a dry lube. Again after cleaning and degreasing your chain (Juicelubes recommend their ‘Super Gnarl’ reviewed in Wideopen Issue 10) you apply liberally and leave to ’soak in’ before wiping off excess with a rag.

We’ll be giving both a thorough testing over the winter and into next year. Expect to see a Longterm report in Issue 11 and 12 to cover some dry weather (with luck!)

Check out the Juicelubes website for more information. We’ll let you know when and where it’s available for you to buy.

James News

Winter is a bugger for you and your bike and whatever riding you do we at Wideopen try and cover the products that make this time of year just that little bit easier…

First up we’ve got some pretty pimp mud protection from German brand SKS. Now mud guards aren’t exactly the coolest products to grace these pages and they’re not everyones cup of tea but if you’re sick of a face full of crud and an arse that looks like you’ve been wrestling with pigs then take a look at these…

First impressions are good quality products that should last a few winters – and quite nifty they’re easily removable for when the dry weather rolls around again. Pricey, but worth it? Check out in Issue 12 next year for a Longterm result. In the meantime you can read the technical info on the SKS website.

Read more…

James News

A Gamut P30 arrived in the post today thanks to the lovely chaps at Madison.

First impressions are good with a solid feel, quality finish and simple fitting. This P30 is a dual ring chain device and one that’ll be fitted to the Cotic Bfe when it arrives in the new year. Brief first look in Wideopen Issue 11, out before Christmas.

RRP £114.99
www.madison.co.uk

James
Producer / Wideopenmag.co.uk

Sent from my Three mobile

James News

First report in from Jon aboard the Longterm test bike – the new Ragley Blue Pig, built up with a selection of tasty Nuke Proof parts courtesy of the lads at Hotlines…
A nice new build to suit my need for a slightly longer roomier hartail without loosing the fun factor of my Orange SubZero comprising:

16″ Ragley Blue Pig in Skwosh £259.99 www.ragleybikes.com
Billed as a Revolutionary Steel long travel hardtail, featuring a very distinctive 3 finger chainstay allowing massive tyre clearance whilst providing enough space to run a 36 tooth mid ring with no issues.

Bridgeless seat stays and chain stay mounted IS disc brake give a very clean looking idividual rear end. A key feature of the frame are the bolt on cable guides providing flexibility in cable routing choices.

My initial impressions of the frame were ‘WOW’ an amazing looking paint job with custom placeable sticker set.
During the build the bolt on cable guides fought all the way but the benefits in looks and flexibility outwayed the dificulties.

The paint job, however didn’t please during the build, a coating of paint around the top of the seat tube and along the clamp slot required removing before the seatube could be fitted.

The paint reared its increasing ugly head whilst trying to fit the rear wheel, I have ended up removing the paint from the non-drive side dropout to allow ease of wheel fitting.

Once the build was complete the Ragley had impressed me no end with a great ride and resonsive handling it climbs easily and descends with a smoothness that it’s length can be thanked for, but showing it a rocky rugged track shows it is no bland ride it was flickable, chuckable and most of all fast!

Here’s to a winter of muddy, rocky and fast trails around the Peaks, Wales and Scotland to fully test the Pigs gravity desceding and brutal ascending attitude.

Nukeproof: Warhead 27.2 x 400mm seatpost £44.99, Warhead 50mm 31.8mm stem £59.99, Warhead SL 1 1/8″ headset £39.99, Warhead 760mm 20mm rise Bar £44.99. www.nukeproof.com
What can be said for initial impressions of cockpit parts and seat posts? well with the Nukeproof kit a quality finish and attention to detail springs to mind.

The surfaces and fit were flawless with great quality graphics. The Headset is smooth and compact and time will tell its durability. Lets see how things run and how they cope with a winter of grit and mud!

Nukeproof Neutron Cromo Axle Pedal £69.99 www.nukeproof.com
After many pedals requiring adaption after first ride (get the grub screw box out) I was pleasently surprised to feel comfortable straight off with the Neutron pedals. They are noticeably thin whilst still featuring a deep concave design. From the specs the seals, bushes and bearings indicate a good lifespan should be expected and the finish still looks as good as new even after a few gritty rides and a couple of comedy crashes.

Nukeproof Generator all mountain wheelset £299.99 www.nukeproof.com
Featuring: Nuke Proof Generator hub set and SunRingle MTX 29 rims. New in built up but not yet ridden, can’t wait as they look and appear the part.

The sticking Glass yellow hubs are a bold statement wihich actually go well with the Orange of the Blue Pig, It’s nice to have an individual looking hub which isn’t an anodised show piece.

The build of the rims appears spot on with good spoke tension and no obvious abnoralalities. Sealed bearing front and back should see a long life with minimal maintenance which works well for me and my favourite mud and grit.
A few rides over the next week will give me an initial opinion as to there performance.

Overall the build has gone well with minimal problems and a continued long term test will let the bike prove itself, here’s to seeing you on the trails as you can’t miss me on the orange and yellow beast!

Jon will give us a more in detail look in Issue 11 (out Christmas), with a wrap up article in Issue 12 out in 2010.

James News

Thanks to Scott Cartwright at www.eggraphy.com we’ve a few snaps from this weekends racing at Hamsterley.

The Descend Hamsterley team put on their ‘Fast and Furious’ this weekend with uplifts, cash prizes, 3 runs per racer and BC points. At £47 quid for the whole lot it could well have been the best value for money race of the year.

A full report will be in Issue 10 – for now check out Scott’s photos and head over to the Descend Hamsterley website for results.

James News

We caught up with Cy from Cotic at the Cycleshow to get the low down on the all new Cotic BFe…
With the advent of the new CEN testing standard and the general proliferation of hardcore hardtails in the market Cotic have completely revised the BFe.

Still the all round hardcore bike it is capable of alpine descending, twisty UK downhill, 4X racing and all round ragging. The frame is capable of 100 to 160mm forks, depending on your discipline – and is tough tough tough. Weighing in about 5.2lbs it’s no featherweight but respectable for the construction, intended use and quality build.

Cotic have also bucked the trend, and with feedback from Robbie Rickman, their 4X rider (and from me) they’ll be putting out an XS size for the 2010 model – great news and we’ll have one on test first thing in the new year when the production batch arrive. Even better news is the price drop down to under £400!

So in the meantime sign up your interest on the website and enjoy these cheeky pre-production shots snapped by Jamie at Cycle.

www.cotic.co.uk

James News

We’ve been excited in the office for a long time now after seeing design and prototype snaps of Brant Richards new hardtail design… Well Brant goes back a long way to On-One fame, and as the northern correspondant at Wideopen I’m pretty interested in hardcore hardtails. This one looks a peach and has some really nice design features, the machined bottom bracket chainstay yoke, nice dropouts, clever cable guides and I love the fact you can stick the stickers where you like them… very BMX!
We’ll be building it up with a full set of Nuke Proof gear, as previously mentioned on the blog. Keep your eyes peeled in Issue 10 for a preview snap, and a full writeup in Issue 11.

Designed by award winning designer Brant Richards of Shedfire, manufactured for us in the best frameshop in Taiwan we’ve ever seen, this is a hardcore long forked trail hardtail, designed to take everything you can throw at it.

Frame Specs:
• Front Derailleur: 28.6mm Top Pull
• Seat Post: 27.2mm
• Seat Collar: 29.8/30mm
• ChainLine: 50mm
• BB Shell 68mm
• Headset 1.125in standard
• Rear disc size up to 203mm
• Fork length 130-150mm optimised.

I’ve also taken a set of blingy bling bling titanium bar end caps (after losing one of my alloy ones at Lee Quarry) on test… are they worth twice the price of the alloy counterparts? Hmmm first impression is very very nice – quality machining and lovely finish. £39.99 worth? I’d stick with alloy, but hey, titanium sparks when you catch a rock! Cool. Here’s the lowdown…



Bar caps are often thought of as bike “Bling” however there have been many documented accidents resulting from uncapped bar ends, some of which have even been fatal!

• Laser etched
• 6Al-4V Titanium
• Last 5 or more times longer than the average Bar Cap

James News