Not sure where to put my money, any help would be appreciated.

PA! I have no frame of comparison (that’s right, I admitted it) but mine was amazing.

I also can’t stand the Cotic headbadge, it just cheapens the whole frame despite the craftsmanship. I bought a Soul, then a PA (within a week or two) and never built the Soul up.

Since selling my frame to a friend (I got the FS itch again), I keep eyeing up the Dialled frames on the classifieds. Really simple aesthetically with those lovely blocky dropouts. I had the 520 Reynolds, a newer model would be even better thanks to the 725.

I miss you Albert 😥

Which will bring you more pleasure, the bike or the piercing?

Isn’t the BFe more comparable to the Alpine? What sort of riding do you do?

PA’s are stunningly capable and great value for money. I miss mine terribly…

I own a PA and love it, very capable of handling trail centre’s, local singletrack and general XC duties depending how you build it. I run mine with 140mm forks and SLX chainset with bashguard and it just does it all with no fuss.

I know a couple of people who have had Bfe’s and felt they were “over-biked”. They have a good rep but i think they do feel very “beefy” if you are doing anything other than going downhill.

PA – everything from long days in the saddle, commutes, uplift days, alps holidays. Ran mine 9 speed with pikes.

The impression I get from what Mike has said is that in order of stiffness/grrrr it goes Soul, PA, BFe, Alpine.

What chiefgrooveguru said!

to be honest i think the riding I do would be more suited to the PA and could possibly be over biked with the bfe at 150mm forks.

could possibly be over biked with the bfe at 150mm forks.

Use it with a shorter fork then, it rides far better with one.

I believe 853 PAs are available on pre-order at the moment (before end Feb) at same price as standard PA according to Dialled website

@davidtalyforth – in your view what’s optimum fork travel for BFe ?

I use mine with about 110mm, I think Cy/most others tend to agree that 120mm is the “sweet spot” for a Cotic.

There has been a blue Bfe hanging up in Samways in Derby for ages priced at ~£299. Looks S or M size to me. It is was a Soul might have gone for it.

@Blackhound – £300 is the new list price a BFe, Souls are £480

I use mine with about 110mm, I think Cy/most others tend to agree that 120mm is the “sweet spot” for a Cotic.

I think it’s a very personal thing. With a straight or layback seatpost and saddle rail adjustment you can change the seat tube angle by a number of degrees. With different stem lengths/rises, bar widths/rises and steerer tube spacers you can change the length/stack/feel a lot. With different axle-crown heights you can change the head angle, seat tube angle, BB height and stack/reach. And it all interacts.

I very much like 140mm forks on my Soul (identical geometry to a BFe). Mr Taylforth thinks I shouldn’t! 😉

@davidtaylforth – I read the geometry of the BFe is as per the Cotic, so in your view the BFe is best with 120m also ?

@chiefgrooveguru – thanks for comment

you dont often see the PA and BFe directly compared, more usually the BFe and Alpine as both will handle the bigger forks, but ride admirably with shorter trail forks and for most people the tiny increase in frame weight is negligible.

I’ve had a BFe and an PA, both great bikes. You’ll love either one.

From memory, they frames are very similar weights.

If i was choosing between the two i’d get another BFe, it felt a little more ‘fun’.

The blue and the Gritstone are great colours.

Bargain at £300 too!

The current earlier 520 and 853 Prince Alberts will be similar in weight to a BFE, but the newer 725 will be marginally lighter.

The forthcoming Prince Albert Classic (new 853 frame) due this summer will be slightly lighter still.

@davidtalyforth – in your view what’s optimum fork travel for BFe ?

I run a Pike coil u-turn on my small BFe… almost a perfect fork to match the BFe imo. Typically have it set to around 120mm, but have wound it out to 140 when hooning it down Afan. Although the BFe is capable of 160 forks, I think they’re probably overkill.

Pike or Revs seems to be fork of choice for Bfe, depending if you want heavy old school coil, or light modern air 😉

I have 90 to 130 U turn (revs of course) and it does XC, climb and hoon with equal aplomb.

@prezet & @sugdenr – thanks, very useful. Exactly what I was thinking something like 130 vs 120-140’s

Might be worth trying both if you can. Loiter round a trail centre often enough and you’ll see them about.

I have a new style PA which was a lot cheaper than my mates Soul I’d had several extensive test rides on.

Despite thinking to my mind that the Soul was a “better” bike frame due to the cost and materials I actually prefer the fit and feel of the PA. We have both swapped bikes mid ride since (very similar kit on both bikes) and I’m perfectly happy with my choice. He isn’t about to offer a permanent swap of his Soul for my PA so as you can see it’s always going to be a case of whatfeels best to you.

I still prefer the shape of the Soul and love the Blue BFe but the ride of the PA suits me best I believe (feels a bit more easy to pop off things whereas the Cotic feels a bit more suited to hammering with wheels on the ground.

130mm QR Vanillas up front by the way but I’d like some Pikes or similar on it ideally.

I have a reasonable collection of bikes and the PA is the most used and best all round by far.

Dialled Mike; would the classic have the same dropouts and bracing between the stays as the current 725? It’d be good to see it as an evolved PA rather than a re-run.

I also reckon different colours to distinguish the frame could be interesting. Or even a lacquered raw finish!

Dialled Mike: what colours are planned for the new classic?

kane10255, info on the Dialled front page.

Cheers for that, soobalias.

anyone got pics of the prince albert in the black, red and sky blue colour please

Herman, sorry for the slow reply.

The Prince Albert classic will look pretty much the same as the current 725 version. Same dropouts, gussets and SS/CS bridges. A nice distinguishing feature of the Classic will be the original “PA” head tube logo engraved on the head tube.

Sounds spot on. All this nostalgia has got me getting a mk1 520 for a rigid 69er project 😆

Maybe I’ll swap it out for an 853 when they land?