Does anyone here ride both a Soul and a Solaris?
How do the two bikes compare to each other?
Is there much difference in riding the two?

I own a Soul, and have ridden a Solaris for, ooh, about five minutes, so I’m almost qualified to answer this, hooray!

I was impressed with how the Solaris didn’t dump me on the floor when I made a stupid line choice, it just carried on over stuff in a way that I wouldn’t have expected the Soul to handle so well. It did feel slightly less manoeuvrable than the Soul, but that’s got to be partly down to the fact that it was a large and I normally ride a medium Soul. It didn’t feel completely weird compared to the Soul, there’s definitely a strong similarity in how the two ride. If I was after a 29er I’d have a Solaris very high up my list of possibles.

My Soul is just flipping ace, but people must get bored of hearing that…

Well, the Solaris is definitely greener…

I find it climbs better (possibly exagerated by the 10mm extra on the t/t which makes it pretty spot on for me size wise). I find it more confident on techy-ish descents. It’s definitely more forgiving. The 29er roll thing I guess.

I find the soul better on the flat though (quicker to accelerate and more manoeuvrable). Not that the Solaris is slow steering wise, just Soul is quicker.

What I would say is that I had the option of keeping a Soda or getting a Solaris. I rode them both side by side over a 4+ hour natural trail and I definitely preferred the Solaris. I have no regrets on that score.

I rode a Soul for around 3years but have sold it after getting a Solaris 4 months ago

They feel very similar to each other and I don’t think you can tell the difference in top tube lengths, I find myself quicker on twisty singletrack, up-hill and have more confidence on the downs.

Was going to keep them both but really couldn’t see me riding the Soul again.

I’d agree with the above. I’ve had a couple of Sodas and have no regrets about the swap. I’d describe the Solaris as the most Soul-like 29er, which is what I wanted. No it isn’t quite as chuckable until you start to ride with your body a bit more. It’s much more confidence inspiring for a tall and somewhat talentless rider like me though.

How tall are you freakish giants riding Solarises (Solarii?), above please?

And if you could only have one bike… Soul or Solaris ???

Just my 2cents ….

I’m 6’3” and a fairly regular size 😛

I have recently just gone from a L Soul to and XL Solaris.

With both bikes designed to run shortish stems I found the Soul to be a little cramped. I have always liked a long TT and the XL Solaris certainly has that!

I have my Solaris set up with an inline post, 70mm stem and 762 V1 flat bars. The same set up albeit with a layback post on my Soul felt nimble and chuckable but even with a Thomson post I was getting close to needing a larger frame.

Only have a short pootle on the Solaris but immediately its a better fit and feels more comfortable.

Have sold my Soul ( 😆 ) now so guess that makes me a Solaris man 😉

The buying of a Solaris though is all bol’s fault 😆

Lots of food for thought here. I love my Soul but will be having a ride on a Solaris at the weekend with a view to possibly switching, so will give my two penn’th then.

oneoneorange
Im 6ft 4 with 36 inside leg, running an xl.

Hmmm, I’ve had my Solaris for a couple of months now and it’s been a fantastic bike. It rides well and is incredibly comfortable. Since building up the Solaris, I’ve not moved my BFe so I was debating whether to get rid on the BFe frame and build the parts onto a Soul but form what I’m reading here, there’s not much point!
As much as I like the BFe, I think it’s days may be numbered 😯

I feel very small….and will stick to my small man’s Soul! Cheers all.

MrGreedy – post up your views as you say.

The buying of a Solaris though is all bol’s fault

Ha. You’re the second person who’s said that. Maybe I need to see if Cy will give me a discount on a 29er Rocket by way of commission. 😆

I’m 6’4″ riding an xl. I had a large Soda, which didn’t feel particularly cramped, but looked a bit odd with a mile of seatpost, as I’m all legs. I’m thinking of going for a shorter stem as I’m getting a bit old for the stretch on longer rides – as I discovered on d2d last weekend.