Cotic Cascade
£2,699 (Gold build) A supremely capable drop-bar shredder
Weight 12.2kg (S, inc bottle cages) Frame Steel Fork Steel Gears Shimano GRX Brakes Shimano GRX Wheels Hunt Trailwide V2 29 Finishing kit BikeYoke 125mm dropper seatpost, 29” WTB Ranger Light stem, Race Face 60mm tyres, Cotic saddle
THE COTIC CASCADE is a genredefying bike that takes ‘gravel’ to the next level. Whether you see it as the modern incarnation of a rigid mountain bike, or the latest take on a gravel machine, the Cascade offers near-unrivalled dropbar capability, though it’s not without its quirks.
Boost spacing (to create wider axles and therefore more lateral stiffness for bigger wheels) and a 1x-only chainring design helps enable huge tyre clearances, with 2.4in (60mm) rubber fitted as standard, plus room for more. The sloping toptube gives space for a long-travel dropper post, to help you manoeuvre the bike on tricky descents, while the Reynolds 853 steel frame and chromoly forks are laden with mounts for racks, luggage and mudguards, ready for adventure.
This Gold build features a reliable Shimano GRX groupset. The chunky WTB Ranger tyres are fitted to Hunt’s Trailwide 29 wheelset, which has a 30mm internal rim width that’s perfect for this 60mm tyre width.
You’ll also get an X-Fusion Manic dropper post (due to supply issues, the test bike had a BikeYoke 125mm dropper) with routing for internal cabling from the bottom bracket area and a dropper lever (to lower the seatpost quickly when needed) within the left-hand Shimano GRX lever, stock permitting (the test bike came with a hard-to-reach thumb dropper lever).
The Cascade’s flat-mount brake mounts could take larger 180mm rotors, which would give you more powerful braking, and reduce overheating and brake fade on really long descents or with very heavy loads, but 160mm is ample for most gravel riding.
If you fancy some bikepacking, copious mounts give plentiful set-up options, from racks to cargo cages, bolt-on top-tube bags, extra bottle storage and mudguards. Cotic is also empathetic towards home mechanics, with external cable and hose routing.
Size matters
The Cascade geometry is certainly more MTB than endurance road, with a (slacker) 68° head angle on this size small, plus a longer wheelbase (1,092mm), a shorter 60mm stem and wide drops.
It’s a shame this size small (54cm) is the smallest size on offer (sizing goes up to XL), aimed at riders over 165cm. At 165cm tall, I’m a smidge above the average height for a British female, yet I’m right on the bottom limit for sizing. Cotic says it’s making a narrower 42cm flared drop handlebar for
shorter riders, though, and it suggests pairing this with a 50mm stem. With my hands on the hoods, my arms were straighter than I’d like, so I’d definitely try this combo to help counteract the long GRX shifters. I’d also like to see an XS frame size, perhaps with smaller 650b (27.5inch) wheels.
My Cascade test bike weighs in at 12.2kg without pedals: a little more than some gravel bikes, but that’s probably mostly due to the wider, knobbly tyres. The frame is a claimed 2.63kg for a size large with axles. However, weight is less important for a bike of this ilk than a racing-orientated gravel bike. If weight’s a real concern, you could upgrade to the Salsa Firestarter 110 carbon fork for £510, saving 730g, without losing any of the fork mounting points.
Rocky roads
Thanks to the 29er wheels and wide, confidence-boosting tyres, I made it over rocky terrain that would have been a hikea-bike moment on most gravel bikes. I’ve ridden MTB-centric gravel bikes before, including the Fairlight Faran and the Riverside 920, but the Cascade goes further, notably with its dropper-post options and extra-large tyre clearance.
I was a little under-geared on steeper climbs with the 11-46t gearing on this test bike, but you’ll get an 11-51t cassette, giving you more gears, which will also help if the bike’s loaded up for bikepacking.
At £2,699, the Gold build is, in the context of today’s market, modestly priced compared to other similarly specced bikes, and there are also options for budget and premium builds. The design is well-suited to the UK’s rugged, dishevelled patchwork of trails. But just remember, the flip-side to prowess on the rough stuff is sluggishness on the tarmac – you can’t have it all! So for riders who like it rough, and who want the addition of drop bars, bikepacking mounts and so on, the Cotic Cascade is a real enabler.
“I made it over rocky terrain that would have been a hike-a -bike moment on most gravel bikes”
Verdict An excellent bike that’s ready for adventures on the rougher side of gravel