Got the frame last week and getting the rest of the parts this week. Will post some photos as the build goes on.

What type of build are you going for?

Ive gone about things arse over tit and bought all the components and cant afford the frame yet!

Is the ST as big/ or bigger than the DT?
Looking forward to this though..

You won’t regret it! Due to some brake issues, this weekend was the first I’d been out on my Soul in about a month.

Have been riding my 29er, which is also great, but the Soul is so zippy in comparison. And I rode a section that has been psyching me out for the past year. 😀

I prefer the aesthetic of the old frames, but a dropper post would really suit my local trails.

Not going too big with it, have a Fox F120 RLC FIT 15mm QR with a tapered steerer I got off a mate. It was built by TFtuned and shimmed to 110mm. It’s going to be a bike I can train on do the odd race with and ride trail centres. Looking forward to getting it built as I’ve only ever ridden xc race bikes.

I fancy doing a Cotic build myself. I’ve worked out it should cost around £2K with all my chosen components.

I’m looking forward to seeing the finished article!

Got the fork, stem, post and saddle today, black 2×10 XT groupset will be going on. Getting a front wheel built Friday by Harry Rowland to match a rear I’ve got. Should have all the parts this week.

Is that a 17.5?

Yes 17.5.

Trust me, you’ll love it.
I built mine up 2 years ago after spending 7 years riding a Giant XTC Team with 80mm travel SIDs.
Was expensive, but the best thing I ever did. It’s my favorite toy!

High rise bar has since been swapped for a Haven carbon to lower the front end a little to help on the climbs.

Very nice! I’ll have to get to Wales for a couple of days when it built. I intrested to see how it rides compared to a xc race bike.

The geometry will probably feel quite strange to begin with, especially on the climbs, but the stabilty on the downs and on general singletrack runs will make you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
And I know some people think the whole steel frame thing is just a cliche, but I genuinely noticed how much more supple the ride was compared to my old alloy Giant xc frame.

Anklebiter101, that may well be the longest seatpost I’ve ever seen! Nice bike though.

Anklebiter101, that may well be the longest seatpost I’ve ever seen!

That’s not a seatpin, thats a scaffolding pole… 😉

Thanks 😀
I’m 6’2″ but don’t have the longest arms and I found I prefered the reach of the medium Soul frame over the large.
In my defence, this picture was taken right after riding a 5 mile road section to get to the start point of the off road ride, so it isn’t always up that high!

That’s looking great already! I’m going for a similar build but in orange. Got myslef a nice pair of 120 rlc fit’s too…but could only find black ones.

What steerer length are you running? I’ll need to cut mine down, but want to make sure it also fits my Ex8

Steerer was already cut down to about 190mm, its a second hand fork. Mine frame is a medium frame and can use 10mm of spacers.

Cotic advised me a minimum of 195mm for a large frame, so 190mm should fit both bikes nicely. I’ll measure a few times before tho.

Don’t know about you but my build expense is starting to burn holes in the holes I already had!

If the steerer is new just cut it to the correct length for your bikes? No point just cutting it to 190mm if that’s not what you need. Think hope have a how to on there web site that will help you work out where to cut it.

It’s getting there now, should pick the front wheel up Friday and have a ride with it over the weekend.
Picked up the parts to shorten the rear brake hose today so will get that done later.

All finished now, off to Wales Friday for 3 days so hopefully get some good riding in.

wow, looks really nice…i love the black cotic soul…

Very nice bike.

Don’t know if anyone can answer this, but on the new frames with the bars turned at right angles, what is the clearance like from the down tube to the fork top caps?

Reason I ask is that I currently have a 1 1/8th 140mm fork (120mm planned in the future) and am thinking about a Soul, so would like to lower the front end. Fitting a zero stack lower headset gains me the geometry of a 125/130mm fork but I don’t want the risk of frame damage.

That will be a great bike for you. I got one 2.5 yrs ago, 120 mm Float etc, Stans Crest rims on Hope XC hubs with 2.25″ tyres run tubeless for comfort and grip. Just a great fun bike for almost all conditions.

I do have a Turner but prefer to ride the Soul on most days. Brecons, Surrey Hills, Exmoor, Moab, Quantocks, Switzerland, Dartmoor, Peaks and local stuff too. Not cheap at £2,500 all in but a great bike and relatively low maintenance.

Nice… While I do love the orange, black is classy 😀

I’ve had mine for knocking on 5 years now and my latest ride on it was as enjoyable as my first. It’s very unusual for me to keep a bike this long! But there is just no need to replace it…

mmmmmm nice!! the black frame is sweet.

My new soul frame should arrive this Fri, seeing yours has inspired me!!!

Keen as…

Very nice, simple colour scheme looks very elegant (if that’s a good word for a bike ?)

Had the same issues as anklebiter101 – had a riser bar on my 19.5 Soul but it had two downsides – skippy on climbs, even with forks locked out, and made me sit up like Miss Marple as well.

Shortened the stem from 90 to 50, went for a wider set of Easton Monkey bars rotated a bit to soften the sweep back and the lift – now it’s set up just right – love it.

Just need to get my new DT Swiss white rims on now….

Personally I found the front end a bit wandery, esp. above 120mm.

Keeping the saddle as far forward as you can cope with helps… richard should be okay!

Very nice.
Would look betterer with black forks… 🙂
I bet its ace to ride.
Only ever onwed one, an early one & it was probably the best 26″ HT I’ve ever ridden. Difficult to say quite why, but it just had “something”…
Enjoy.

Was thinking about black forks but got the white ones second hand for a good price.

Had a great time in Wales, very surprised how good the bike was. So easy to ride and great fun, also gave me lots of confidence on any rocky sections which I find hard on a race bike.

[video]http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=share&v=OeDr7AET34U&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DOeDr7AET34U%26feature%3Dshare&gl=GB[/video]

Nice bike that, what are the chainring sizes on that XT crank?… I take it clearance is good on the chainstays?

Looks lovely! What easton seatpost is that?

Chainset is a 38-26 with 11-36 cassette, clearance is fine and ratios work really well for me. Seatpost is a Easton EC70.

Lovely build! Hopefully I’ll get round to getting one myself at some point.

Congrats on the build. I noticed you opted for a medium at 6’2. What is the length of your arms if you don’t mind me asking? I’m 6’1 and considering a medium as well.