I have a Cotic Soul and Cotic X at the moment. The Soul wears a Fox fork, Hope / DT wheels, XT and XTR. The X is set up with a 9-speed Tiagra / SLX / 105 mix and XT / TN719 wheels.

I do commute a 15-mile round trip about twice a week and a trip to the station another twice a week (national travel!) – the X has been good for that mix, but means the Soul is used for MTB’ing only. My workplace is secure, but bikes get more of a hammering at the station.

The X is heavy though (almost the same as the Soul) and it’s got to the point where I need to replace some parts. It also feels a bit odd to be riding my inferior parts most often.

I’m wondering whether a 29er hardtail with 2 wheelsets would be a good thing? I’d ride that to work, then convert my Soul into a rigid singlespeed for the ride to the station.

Any experiences or opinions welcome 🙂

Your X sounds perfect as an all round commuter. It might be a bit heavier than you’d like, but the geometry will feel a lot livelier than a 29er in my experience. When I rode my Solaris and X back to back on the road I couldn’t believe the difference.

Bol – thanks for that.

I see that you have a Kinesis Pro 6 and used to have an X. Do you have any thoughts about the Pro 6 -v- X? Also, how do you find the Solaris? 🙂

I wouldn’t leave the soul at the station. How far is it? You could pick up something for half the price of the soul frame that would probably do.

for the commute I would go for the CX if you plan on building the 29er with suspension forks and will be on the road as it’s going to subject the forks to lots of road muck. But if you have the chance to do a bit of the commute/way home on trails then it would be a harder choice.

I think you need n+2 – ie a hack bike and a Solaris.

I liked the X a lot, but the opportunity came up to swap it for the pro6, and it seemed like a better option for me. A bit bigger, a bit lighter and a bit faster handling. As I use it as a winter road bike and year round commuter it seemed sensible. The X is more comfortable though.

I’ve got one of the first Solaris that were released, and have had it longer than any other bike I’ve had, which is a sign of how much I like it. I haven’t tried it with 120 forks, but the 100s have been good for 99% of the riding I do. Had a Soda before, which I loved, but never felt quite big enough, and certainly wasn’t as quick despite being a fair bit lighter. I wish there was a market for a ti version – although I couldn’t really justify it.

Thanks chaps. I’ll probably sit tight for the moment then, based on the above.

The X is quite heavy, but it’s comfortable and does everything I ask of it (including being chained-up at the station, dropping down random rough paths, commuting and road rides). It’s Cyclescheme time at work, so I was considering doing a mash-up of a Pro 6 with Kinesis build kit and my existing X parts. It would certainly be lighter, but I don’t know if it’s worth the cost to change.

Reading more and more about 29ers, it seems that 650b looms large. If a 29er wouldn’t be much cop for commuting, then I’ll hang on and see how the choice of 27er parts unfolds.

I’ve got a 2011 Croix de Fer and spent £500 over the summer lightening the thing. It’s gone from 26.26lbs to 21.11lbs; 3lbs came out of the wheels and 2lbs out of the drivetrain and the difference is astonishing. It feels like how the bike should’ve been to begin with.

Previous to this, I ran slicks on my On-One Ti29er SS and replaced the SS with an Alfine 8. The CDF is almost incomparable in terms of speed and fun.

Spend some cash on the X and make it the bike it should’ve been!

Now, if I could just find some white CX Carbon Disk Forks to complete the weight reduction 🙂

Thanks Daffy – what did you do to lighten the bike? My X weighs about 23 lbs / 10.4kg, wearing:

– XT M756 hubs on Mavic TN719 rims (could probably save 500g here)
– Tiagra 9-speed shifters, 105 crank, SLX mech and cassette, XT chain (not much to be saved here)
– Easton EA50 bars, stem and seatpost (not too heavy)
– Conti GP 4 season tyres (only 250g each)
– Avid BB5 brakes (a bit portly, but BB7s are almost same weight)

The Tiagra shifters work fine, but I know the more expensive options feel a lot better and I could see myself going 10-speed.

It seems there’s not much I could do to make it a lot lighter, other than replace the frame, forks and wheels – all of which cost £££.

Stans Crest or Iron Cross would save you 200-250g immediately, spokes another 100g, If you can run tubeless (like me) another 300g. Swapping your hubs for XTR or some such will save almost another 200g.

I used Stans Crest with DT Revs on WI hubs and tubeless SB8s. I also converted the drivetrain to full Dura-ace 7900 from a mix of Tiagra and 105.

It genuinely feels like a different bike.