£4,949 • 29in • cotic.co.uk
Cotic’s charismatic steel-framed FlareMAX is back for round five, and it’s embracing the down-country theme it stumbled across back in 2018.
First a bit of background though. Born five years ago as the 29in version of the 27.5in Flare, the 5th generation FlareMAX still rolls on big wheels. The frame tubing is mostly a custom ‘Ovalform’ version of Reynolds’ premium 853 air hardening steel too, so it doesn’t look radically different from earlier iterations.
Dig a little deeper however and it’s clear that the design has continually evolved. Yes, the signature ‘DropLink’ suspension still yields 125mm of rear wheel travel, just like on the 3rd Gen bike, but the kinematics have changed, inspired by Cotic’s mid-travel Jeht bike, and introduced on the previous FlareMax.
And it was for the Gen 4 bike that Cotic officially
