Either will be a massive step up. From what you’ve said Soul. FYI I have a BFe and my next bike (n+1) will be a Cotic torn between what though, Escapade, Soul or Solaris Max
IMO you can “flick” the Soul as much as a BFe. I wanted a Soul but they discounted end of line BFe’s so I bought one (£300 vs £450 I recall back in 2012). Love it but would have been equally happy on the slightly lighter Soul
The Soul sounds perfect. Don’t make the mistake of assuming the Soul is some sort of lightweight XC machine. It’s far from that. It’s designed for long hard rides in the Peaks and will easily weather the type of riding you’ve mentioned, and far more burley too. The BFE is basically an even more gnarly hardtail DH or Enduro machine.
Of the two you mentioned for the riding you describe, Soul. It may be the lighter option but it’s fully capable of, say, Ardrock. It’s s tough tesilbike that just happens to be light. The BFe is a monster with a bomber build, hence the name ‘beefy’. 😀
I’ve had a soul and bfe,
Bfe is a proper brute of a bike and the soul is a proper do it all bike, not as harsh ride .
I liked the bfe but loved the soul
Whilst you wouldn’t normally hear me advising against a SolarisMAX the ones on offer (of which I own one) are the ‘old’ geo and as such doesn’t really compare directly with the new geo Soul or BFe.
My own contribution to this recommendation is this: if you have to ask which one to get then it’s definitely the Soul (it’ll do what you want). 😀
BFe. Yes, you can build it up heavy and indestructible with the right/wrong parts but you can build them up light as well and they can do anything. I love my old shape 650B BFe (on 26″, for life, it’s not dead, etc…) and it gets used for everything from all day 70-odd mile ‘gnarmac’* potters to local DH races (I have a few sets of wheels which makes a difference to the all-roundyness of the bike!)
Ironically the extra weight if the BFe doesn’t put me off
Bizarrely both are lighter than my current Alu bike
I was worried the front on the soul might be a little steep to be truly “modern” but then is that just a fashionista thing rather than a real riding concern.
Demoed the old soul – with a 140 fork – and the new BFE last year and thought I knew but then a new soul and
I was worried the front on the soul might be a little steep to be truly “modern” but then is that just a fashionista thing rather than a real riding concern.
The BFe and the Soul both have the same head angle. BFe has steeper seat tube and more BB drop to suit a 20mm longer fork.
When it was first released, the soul was the long travel, hardcore hardtail for people who wanted/needed more than just a XC frame. It still is, and the riding it’s capable of is probably beyond what most people will get it into.
The BFe, as people have said, is for really full-on riding. Trouble is, having it in the line-up means that people assume the Soul is the lightweight xc-only machine, and it really isn’t.
If the BFe was optimised around a 160mm fork or was much much heavier I wouldn’t look at it but it’s just in touching distance and makes the soul look more XC than it probably is
It’s Cy’s fault, for sweating for years and years making them both lighter than most other steel bikes of similar capability (or making them both more capable than most other steel bikes of the similar weight, take your pick).