I owned a BFe once upon a time, and have ridden many a Soul. The Souls always felt nice, super comfy yet fast and nimble. On the other hand, my BFe always felt a bit harsh to ride.

Yes, the BFe is going to be stronger/stiffer, but unless you’re riding park I doubt it’ll make much difference to you. If you are riding park, you’d have more fun on a different bike altogether. I know there will probably always be people that like ‘hardcore hardtails’ but full sus bikes are so good these days that I can’t imagine a circumstance where I’d rather a BFe over something with rear sus. YMMV of course.

Get a Soul.

The soul for who I am

The Bfe for who I aspire to be

This.
I’ve spent quite a lot of time on both (relative to how new they are). I loved the BFe and if they hadn’t sold out of medium blues I would have had one there and then after the demo. However, once I’d tried the Soul, it was blatantly obvious that its a much more forgiving ride than the BFe, which as a 10 stone, 42 year old who doesn’t huck bikes off the shed roof anymore (although I used to – see below), I don’t need the brick outhouseness of the BFe, and the geo is similar enough that there’s absolutely no issue chucking a Soul down steep loamy tech.

Which is why I now have a halfbuilt new Soul in my office. 😀

Gratuitous Mk1 BFe pic from back in the day:-

Kelvin your right in many ways – they are two excellent bikes both of which I think I would be very happy with.

Because of the engineering rigour with which they are made they are very broad and overlap in their capability and hence why they are competing in my mind.

I think I probably know that the Soul is the right bike for me but that the BFe has a look and feel that is proper cool.

JonEdwards

Is that both 5th Gen comparisons.

Like you I’d have bought the BFe straight away but out of stock and now have the headache.

Your clearly a more skilled rider than I and I think you are probably 100% right and I should get me a soul.

Yup. I think I was the first member of the “general public” to get hold of the latest Soul on demo! (the joy of having mates in high places!)

Jon

Whilst at 35 I’m not ready for my pipe a slippers, with the day job and the reality of life I am not going to be launching off any sheds anytime soon.

As much as I lived the BFe and think it’s a beautiful bike I think I know the Soul is probably the right choice

Incidentally – what colour frame did you go for?

This thread has led me to change my next bike from a bfe to a soul. And I’m 100% sure it’s the right call too.

don’t get the BFe, the handlin won’t be much different, it’ll be heavier, you won’t do anything on it you couldn’t have done on the soul etc etc.

but most importantly, there’s nothing worse than a steel frame that doesn’t give you the comfort a steel frame should. it’s just a drag. get the soul. be comfortable and not beat up at the end of a ride.

nb, i’ve never owned either, but i have owned a 2 too heavy too rigid steel hardtails…

@alex IMHO is has to be Orange

I don’t need the brick outhouseness of the BFe

I don’t think anyone does tbh. As someone who would rag the shit out of this type of bike, and is relatively heavy @ 15st, i’d still go Soul all day long. Unless you like crashing into walls – the BFe is complete overkill 😀

<not helpful post> Never ridden a soul but my 2012ish 26″ BFe never fails to make me grin like an eejit </not helpful post>

I think it is amazing really how much love there is for both bikes.

Having ridden the BFe I can say that I thought it was a great bike and a lot of fun. I would agree with everyone who says that it is heavier and more than I would need or use. The only “problem” – if you can all it that – was that whilst it is heavier I didn’t feel it was heavy and whilst it was more than I needed it was still tremendous fun.

So that is why despite knowing that the Soul probably is the right choice I have felt so torn.

Having said all of that I would probably have fun on either!

Buy Both 🙂

It isn’t just the strength though – the BFe is stiffer, which some prefer, particularly with a longer fork trying to twist the frame about. And the BFe is optimised for 20mm more fork travel (steeper seat angle and lower BB), so if you prefer how a longer fork feels (I’m liking 150mm travel on my hardtail) then it’s probably the better choice.

I doubt you’d break either in normal riding, even with some hefty cases and hucks.

Love the look of the new be… But…

I bought a new soul in Mercury. It looks gorgeous, took it for its first ride last night…
It’s awesome. Apart from the saddle.

I have the bike we first tested the Mercury finish on. It’s lush. Still looking great after plenty of abuse as well. Photos can’t do it justice.

I love my Mk5 BFe, having owned a Genesis Tarn and tried a number of other alu 150mm hardtails whatever the static weight the BFe rides lighter, has the most compliant feel and best ride up, down and along…

To be fair I bought it before the new Soul was released and as I wanted to reuse a 150mm fork and non boost wheels the new Soul would not be a contender.

Being a Cotic convert I’m sure you will love either!

Every1 I see riding a Bfe looks like their having such fun

&

I was gonna go 130mm for the fork

BFe is NOT some kind of brick sh.t house, I ride mine for everything inc xc all day rides.

You can put a 130mm fork on a Soul and you won’t die or the frame disintegrate.

Buy the bike you WANT. Either will be just fine 8)

Soul will happily take 140 – it’s rated for it. It’s usy more than is sensible though, 120-130 is usually a happier place for the bike. I failed to catch fire at 140 for a couple of years before trying shorter forks though…

Theyre both loveky

Inspired by this thread, I left the Rocket in the garage and dragged the BFe out round the woods today. Of course it can do ‘normal’ XC style tides, even if an XS BFe feels like a BMX after riding the Rocket.

It IS a brick poocabin of a bike though…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/JHT7dB]2018 01 21 bike 10 02[/url] by Rob P, on Flickr

Im glad it inspired you and that is a lovely bike

I think they are both so capable that they cross over so much

The soul is so tough it will do all I could throw at it

The Bfe so tough but still lighter than many more xc/trail spectrum bikes.

Cotic have made 2x fantastic bikes and I’d probably have a blast on either but just need to choose 1

Where are these SolarisMAX frames on offer?

http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/solarisMAX

Limited sizes available now though….

New Solaris coming…

Just as well I’ve at least decided it’s 27.5 so I don’t have to add that in!