Right – I am going to apologise and probably also regret asking (such questions usually cause more confusion than anything else)

I want a new steel hardtail
I want a cotic

Should I go BFe or Soul?

What sort of riding do you do. What do you ride now?

Yeah – ok I was avoiding that.

Everything from Sundays with the kids on roads and paths to trail centre red.

I was fun and can’t decide whether I want the heavier but flicker Bfe or the long and light Soul

Current ride – Speciallised hard rock

I’d have the Soul if you can afford it. The new one seems to cover most of the Bfe ability.

Soul

Soul.

Solaris max – sorry

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

I have a BFe.

You want a 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.

Soul.

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 think your all probably right – I just love the low standover and stance of the BFe

It’s like the BFe is taunting me to go big…

But then the soul… the classy lady at the bar

Hmm

Thanks everyone

Any extra opinions always welcome

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

Cheers

I have a Bfe; it is more than I need…

I have two BFe (not the latest frame). I love that it can do everything I can and then some!!

The soul for who I am

The Bfe for who I aspire to be

I have a Soul. I want a Soul. You should get a Soul.

What forks take your fancy?

The soul for who I am

The Bfe for who I aspire to be

Excellent 🙂

You might want to look at it from a fork travel perspective, what are you intending .. 120mm go for the Soul, 140mm BFe

EDiT: I see @kelvin beat me to the question

I was thinking 120 soul or 130 BFe

Soul then. If you’re only thinking 120 or 130mm forks, and want a one bike to do it all, the Soul fits the bill.

soul, you know it makes sense. 8)

Collected my new soul from them yesterday…… just saying …. 8)

Love my mk4 soul.

The soul for who I am

The Bfe for who I aspire to

It’s true but I’ve a DH bike for that sort of stuff

<insert spanner>

Solaris Max frames were on offer at Cotic a couple of days ago.

Otherwise, definitely 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). 😀

I’d say Soul as well.

I have an old battleship Grey BFe from way back in the day. It is a tank

I love it but it is not really a do it all bike its a downhill hardtail

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!)

* right on-trend, me 😆

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’d definitely get the Soul if you’re set on 650b and have the funds.

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.

Ironically the extra weight if the BFe doesn’t put me off

Ironically, that isn’t actually ironic, it’s just a fact that the extra weight of the BFe doesn’t put you off 😉

Surely everything about the BFe is irony?

Wahey! 😆

Ok maybe it isn’t ironic…

It is just a twist to the narative.

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.

I think your right nedrapier

The two bikes are almost too close

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).