Friday 24 September 2010

The COTIC KP24

Today I rode a bike that made me grin so much that at the end of the ride my face hurt more than my legs! 


The bike is A COTIC KP24, and its rightful owner is Kate Potter. It was by chance that I am able to borrow it for the world solo 24 hour champs. 


 I first met Kate Potter at Mayhem where she was racing solo and I happened to catch a few word with her after she won. 
Despite being incredably busy, she remembered our conversation and emailed me loads of information about solo racing. My race plan was born!


At every race after that she would always shout encouragement at me as she zoomed past, and when I quallified for the world 24 hour champs to be held in Australia I emailed her again.
Being Australian I figured she would be able to give me some tips. Bingo! She had raced at Mt Stromlo! I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I took in all her advice again- I was no longer leaping head first into the dark. 



One of her tips was to go and practice riding rocks, absent in Surrey! And what better place to practice rocks than at AQR (A Quick Release, ) Kate and Ian Potters Guiding company in the pyrenees.
To my amazement Kate lent me her bike for the week- the prototype KP24,  I instantly fell in love with it. I had heard about this bike but never imagined I would ever get to ride it!

The KP 24 built my confidance on rocks and drops. (As did Ians coaching) My normal bike is quite twitchy and I usually choose to mince around things. (Not a technique the Potters seem to understand!) The KP24 is an incredably honest, trustworthy bike. You point it at something and it simply keeps rolling- no fuss, it just worked.
To my double amazement The Potters said I could borrow the KP24 to take to Canberra to the world 24 solo championships. Yippee!

I have just come back from a 3 hour blast across my local trails on the Cotic KP24. I am buzzing! how much fun can you have on a bike even when you are grown up and responsible?

The KP24 is a one of a kind bike. It was designed by Cy at Cotic for Kate potter to be the perfect 24 hour race bike. It has the same suspension as the hemlock but shares the geometory with the soul. Cy designed it to be as light as possible so that Kate could use it for endurance races. The only thing it shares with the hemlock it the seat tube and the pivots. everything else being lighter and smaller- the weight of frame with mad dt carbon shock is a mere 5lbs. Not bad for a non carbon full-suss bike! 

I knew it could handle the rugged terrain out in the pyrenees but was shocked how it 'owned' my local twisty forrest singletrack! It flew over the roots, cornered like it was on a rail, (Thanks also to Maxxis for the crossmark tires) and was fast up the hills to boot.

I am now sitting in a coffee shop, taking advantage of the time the KP24 saved me on my normal loop by being able to sit down to eat cheeky tea and cake! Winner:-)

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