I’m 5ft 8 3/4’s (174ish)almost 5ft 9 – leggy (32inch) and I’m bang in the creso of a small and medium. What say you? I think I’d rather the longer more stable top tube but will it feel like I’m riding a yard gate? Help really appreciated! My bar will be 720 on the new build – Xc mainly. My current bike is a SC Bronson with a 60mm stem and 750mm bar.

D

buy a Soul 27.5 🙂

Medium definitely (probably!). I’m 5.9 (175cm), with a 32in inside leg with a -ve ape index and my medium fits me perfectly with a 50mm stem. I’ve sat on a small and it felt very small. Doesn’t feel like a gate at all, in fact it’s very nimble. Obviously it’ll struggle on tight switchbacks compared to some bikes but that’s more a function of the wheel size than the frame I reckon.

Reach on a S/M Solaris is 405.5mm/429.3mm – reach on S/M Bronson is 375mm/403mm

So even a Small Solaris is a little roomier than a Medium Bronson. Obviously, hardtail vs full suss, there’s other factors at play. What size is your Bronson?

Dazh – you could post a side on image of the bike there mate?
It will be the long spin xc type ride I’d like it for. Comfort 1st.

Iainic – I had a soul for 5 years best hardtail I ever owned, sold it stupidly to build a Chameleon which I just cant get on with. Top tube is far too short 🙁

honourablegeorge – Bronson is Medium. Its compact straight up sitting geometry 74 ST angle. The medium Bronson and Small Solaris have the same reach 405mm but pop a 120mm on the SOlaris and the reach reduces by 5-10mm afaik = shorter. The medium Solaris is 429.3mm, however with a 120mm fork it might be more like 418mm ish.

Yeah… I’d prefer the longer Solaris if I was you – but then, I wouldn’t have bought the Bronson because it’s so short 🙂

buy a Soul 27.5

^ I’ll probably go with this: always wanted a Solaris and am between sizes like Drapper at 5′ 8.5″, I want the 16″ ST but the mediums 23.8″ eTT….solution to me seems to be the small Soul 27.5 with its 16″ ST and 23.5″ eTT

Probably the best I’ve got…

(Just twigged, did you send me a message on twitter asking the same? Sorry about that, completely forgot to reply!)

Dazh – not hassle – just trying to get some real owner feedback than biased online reviews…. that’s a smashing looking bike! You build very like the Euromag spec http://enduromag.com.au/site/bike-news/cotic-solaris-longterm-review-part-2/

twitter yeah – STW stalked mate! hahaha

nuke – thats all been in my head lately – but the 29er ticks the boxes. with a 32 inside mutant legs the small 16inch has about a meter of seat-post showing haha!

with a 32 inside mutant legs the small has about a meter of seat-post showing haha!

I really only want the 16″ ST so I can run a 125mm dropper as, if I was on a 17.5″, I couldn’t fit the dropper low enough and the saddle height would end up too high…if you’re a leggy bloke or ain’t bothered about ST length, then I’d say you should go with the medium Solaris

@Dazh would it be possible to get a mid seatpost to to mid bars dimension if you got a chance at some stage on the vertical.

Do you mean the virtual top tube length?

yes please with the 120mm fork! no bother if too much hassle

I think you’re pretty much the same dimensions as Paul @ Cotic and he’s definitely a small frame rider. I’m an inch taller than him @ 5’10” and usually take a medium.

I found that whilst the medium Solaris fitted fine, it tended to be in control rather than me – took a lot more oomph to haul it around thanks to all the longer dimensions implied by the big wheels. It was awesome in certain situations, but horrible in others. Personally I found the Soul275 a much better bet as an all rounder – just lots more fun.

I would if it was built but it’s sitting in bits in the garage at the minute awaiting a post-winter deep clean and rebuild. The cotic website lists it at 23.8in (centre post to centre head tube). I’ve got 100/120mm Talas forks on it and other than the steeper head angle and and more racy position at 100mm, there’s no noticeable difference in reach between the two in terms of virtual top tube length, probably only a few mm. I honestly think that a medium with a straight seatpost and 50mm stem will fit you. One of my mates who’s shorter than you has tried mine and said it was ok for him. If you’re in any doubt try emailing Paul at cotic as he recommended a medium for me. It sounds odd, but the geometry just seems to work. The numbers suggest it’ll be too big but when you ride it you don’t notice the difference.

Edit: I’ll echo Jon’s comments about sometimes having to haul it round corners. But I’ve always ridden like that so it’s never been a problem for me. Horses for courses I guess. Something with 29in wheels is always going to take a bit more effort to get round corners than smaller framed/wheeled bike.

Edit 2. Before the Solaris I had a small BFe which was ok but a little on the small side for me.

I guess it depends what you want the bike for. I’m an inch taller but have legs an inch shorter than you and have an M. I like long rides in the mountains, take it bike packing etc, so like a longer bike, almost wish I had bought an L. If you wanted it more for short fun rides, gnarly stuff, perhaps go smaller?

I’m 178cm with 32″ inside leg and Medium has been fine for me on Mk2 Soul 26er with 70mm stem and Soul275 with 50mm. FWIW I’d usually end up Large on a Santa Cruz and have a Large Chameleon which was my favourite bike for a long time.

I did buy an X in 58cm (Cotic frame sizing on these was deliberately weird – nothing like a normal 58cm road frame) as I was intending a compromise bike that was equally good off road or for long pedally stuff and after a bit of chucking a leg over a 56 and a 58 in Cotic’s warehouse I found the 56 felt right on the edge of “no adjustment left” for pedally. I’ve regretted this decision a bit ever since as the 58 is definitely a bit big once I start chucking it about. I suspect I should have bought two bikes rather than try and make one do two jobs

I’m 5′ 11″ with 32″ inside leg and I’ve a large Solaris. I run a 120mm fork – I’ve not tried the fork at 100mm. I’m running a 35mm stem. According to the Cotic site I’m smack in the middle of the medium range but it feels more like I am on the boundary between the two sizes. Most of my riding is long XC rides with just the occasional foray to trail centres and it’s fine for this, if the riding proportion was the other way round then the medium would be better.

Can’t really help as I’m 6’2″ and the large fits me perfectly. 3,500 miles on it and it’s brilliant.

Where are you based?
Plush Hills in Church Stretton have got a small, which I think will be too small for you. Its Kate’s bike but you can demo it for just swing your leg over it.
Al and Kate or Cotic dealers so they can order you one in.

Brilliant news – we’ve a new Cotic dealer here in Dublin and he’s building a medium Solaris as a demo – we aren’t blessed here with try before buy – guess this will solve my problem.