and if so, how do you rate it ?

I have an option to swop out my 2013 Soul 26’er for one. I am thinking of a change anyway as Soul feels a bit short now compared to my FS. I know Tarn is a good bit longer, and swopping out the tyres to 2.8 Nobby Nics would hopefully ?….get it dialled for winter natural manky muddy stuff too…

Any thoughts?

Lol! Just bought one to replace/live alongside my Soul!

Riden it 5 or 6 times so far…it’s a beast!
I was going to get a chubby Solaris, but Wheelbase had a sale on, £1100!!!
What do I think? It’s long, but in a good way. My Soul feels very cramped in comparison. It’s a bit of a lump but once riding that all seems irrelevent. I decided that plus tyres could be a potential future after watching how easily a mate cruised around the Yorkshire Dales 200 on plus tyres as opposed to my 26″x2.2’s.
The paint job is lovely, and the components are ok. For Lakes/Pennine biking maybe a 30t front ring might be better than the 32t. The WTB Rangers lasted one rocky Lakes descent. I’ve replaced them with 3″ Nobby Nics, seem good in the gloop, but we don’t have clay up around here.
VERY low bottom bracket, needs a bit a different technique on tech rocky climbs.
Brakes are “ok”, just got a 200mm front rotor (Might swap the SLX’s from the Soul)
Traction uphill is ridiculous, downhill it’s a monster. It doesn’t have the playfull springyness of the Cotic, but bloody hell it’s fast!

Bird Zero.

Polisherman – really useful, thanks.

Nobeer, yes, I think I agree !

Polisherman, I meant to ask, do you see it now replacing the Soul ? My concern would be that it would be a bit barge like and the loss of playfulness for chucking it around in the woods, slow, rooty stuff etc. I’m not so fussed about the big rocky descents as I have an Anthem for bigger days.

Well I have just been for a car park ride on the 2017 Tarn 20. Nice but not sure, compared to my Soul (which does feel a bit short compared to my new Anthem, the Tarn feels like a bit of a barge as it is loong…) heavy too, but fun. Not sure how it would stack as a Soul replacement for winter manky local tight stuff though….. brakes felt decent enough, tyres would go for NN’s. Tempted but think might hang off and see what transpires with the new 2018 Soul…

I think you might be in for a pleasant surprise with the new Soul. After a day with Sam the demo man, he said they’d been testing a new version.

Sounds interesting……

Well I have just been for a car park ride on the 2017 Tarn 20. Nice but not sure, compared to my Soul

You’ve got to go with your gut, no point dropping money on something if you’re not sure. However, I think it would be considerably heavier in theory than your Soul. It wouldn’t bother me, and the roomy feel would be up my street. I don’t think a car park poorly will show the tarn in its best light, will be ponderous and draggy…point it on a decent descent and I think it would stack up well against the soul.

Not ridden either FWIW, but that’d be my guess based on similar bikes I have ridden.