Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom

Cotic’s second-generation Jeht gets a range of updates, including a revised front triangle, built from UK steel in Scotland, as well as tweaks to the sizing and suspension.

The Jeht is Cotic’s do-it-all bike, featuring 140mm of travel at the rear, controlled by the brand’s droplink suspension linkage, and 150mm at the front. The updated bike rolls on 29in wheels.

Cotic has built the Jeht to be highly versatile and it shows on the trail.

Nimble handling helps in tight trails, the suspension enables you to haul down the trail, while the Longshot geometry feels great up and down hills.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom frame and suspension details

The new front triangle, which sees developments in the tube shapes, is constructed from Reynolds 853 steel, made in Birmingham from recycled metal.

The tubes are then sent up to Five Land Bikes in Scotland, where they're welded together, before assembly is completed in the Peak District.

This ensures frame construction is almost entirely in the UK. Only the alloy swingarm is built in Asia.

Cotic says this is about as environmentally friendly as frame production can get.

In terms of frame tubes, there’s a redesigned Ovalform HD down tube, built to be stiffer and stronger than the previous Jeht’s, without increasing weight.

There’s also a new brace joining the down tube and seat tube, bolstering front-end stiffness and durability.

The head tube has no cables routed through it – they’re all routed externally from front to rear.

There are large Enduro MAX bearings sitting around large-diameter 15mm main pivots, two bottle cage mounts, room for 2.5in tyres and a non-UDH hanger.

Suspension

The system is a linkage-driven single pivot, meaning a single swingarm joins front triangle to rear axle, with a pivot located on the seatstay.

Cotic has increased the progressivity of the 140mm-travel droplink suspension on this generation of the Jeht to make it more supple in its early stroke, increasing grip and comfort, before ramping up late in the stroke to give greater control on bigger hits.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom geometry details

Geometry is thoroughly modern, with the middle-of-five C3 large-equivalent size getting a 482mm reach, alongside 64.5-degree head and 76.2-degree seat angles.

The new-generation bike’s bottom bracket is 6mm lower, while 448mm chainstays ensure the rear end is balanced with the longer front end.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom specification details

Cotic has a range of stock builds, however it’s also possible to modify them to suit your preferences, with a wide range of alternative components from numerous brands on offer.

My bike was based on the Gold XT Cane Creek build (£5,799), but was altered with full Ultimate suspension from RockShox in the form of a Lyrik fork and Super Deluxe shock, and a pair of Hope Tech4 V4 brakes.

The rest of the build featured Shimano’s XT groupset, Cotic finishing kit with a BikeYoke dropper and Hope Fortus 30 SC hoops with WTB tyres.

This contributed to the cost coming in at £5,996 and a weight of 15.8kg. This isn’t cheap, but is a consequence of the UK production.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom riding performance

I rode the Jeht on my usual trail-bike test tracks, both muddy and rooty laps in the forest, as well as plenty of bike-park tracks.

RockShox’s latest suspension is easy to live with from the off. I tend to follow the fork's pressure guide, with a little tweaking if required, and at the back I ran 30 per cent sag.

While I wouldn’t naturally err towards WTB tyres, the Verdict front and Trail Boss rear did their jobs well during testing.

The C3 I rode (182cm tall, 31in inseam) gave me a comfortable seated position, with the moderately roomy top tube providing plenty of space over the bike.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom climbing performance

Like the previous-generation Jeht, despite a sturdy-feeling package, the bike rolls up meandering hills and technical challenges with calm composure.

The suspension is stable when pedalling, and so despite having a lockout lever, on my test loops I rarely found my hands dipping down to the centre of the bike to give it a flick.

Even when stood on the pedals, the suspension doesn’t get wayward, until you start pedalling in an un-composed manner.

Traction levels are good, with the rear WTB Trail Boss tyre hooking up well and the supple nature of the suspension ensuring it doesn’t spit dirt when you twist the throttle.

Encounter a rocky or rooty step and the suspension balances its pedalling efficiency with moving out of the way effectively, so pedal rhythms aren’t interrupted.

Its only real Achilles heel is steep pitches, where your weight moves back, compressing the suspension and further slackening the seat tube. If I were to be critical of anything about the geometry, it would be that I’d like this steeper from the off.

On such sections, the lockout definitely helps.

Overall, the Jeht is more than capable of tackling any climb without putting you under too much duress, but isn’t quite a rocket uphill.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom descending performance

Downhill, the Jeht really hits the afterburners.

The suspension is super-smooth in its early stroke, enabling the bike to carry speed over stutter bumps and mid-sized roots.

It stiffens a touch when you’re on the brakes, but not so much that the bike becomes too rigid to cope with rough descents.

It’s progressive, bolstering mid-stroke support and enabling you to carry speed over mid-sized chunder as the suspension remains in its mid-stroke until you really pound it into heavy-going terrain.

The Jeht deals well with bigger hits, too, easing into its late stroke when required, but ramping up sufficiently that I removed volume spacers to ensure I got all the travel.

This also helped the Jeht ease into its deep stroke without such a pronounced ramp-up.

What became apparent was just how composed the Jeht is at speed. The bike’s calm demeanour is only accentuated by how quiet it is as you let it rip.

Add in a little steel ‘magic’ and the whole bike feels effortless at speed.

The geometry works, too. Its length either side of the BB helps you point and shoot through the most gnarled sections of trail, keeping the bike straight as a die in the air.

The added brace above the BB also seems to have given the front triangle that little extra stiffness that was lacking from the previous-generation Jeht.

Cotic Jeht Gen 2 XT Gold custom bottom line

Cotic has taken the Jeht and given it a subtle, but welcome overhaul. We already knew the suspension was good, and the tweaks only improve it.

Additionally, the extra brace above the BB seems to have quelled any questions I had over frame stiffness.

Fortunately, adding this hasn’t turned the frame into a stiff, unforgiving machine – it still has a sublime ride quality that’s bolstered by that little extra stoutness.

The UK construction certainly adds to the cost, but given the quality of the bike, the reduction of the environmental impact, and the contribution to some great UK companies, it’s a price I would happily pay.