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Cotic Soul Fork Advice

32 posts & 26 voices | Started 2 years ago by marlinman | Latest reply from marlinman

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marlinman - Member

In the process of building up a Cotic soul and currently debating which fork to buy. Trying to decide between the 100mm Reba teams on-one have on offer or trying to find some NOS 2008 U-turn air Revs with 100-130 travel.

I am an old git so don't do any crazy riding anymore so no huge air drop offs etc... but wonder if the Cotic will be a bit nervous running a 100mm fork because of its steep angles. Hence the thought of hedging my bets and going with the Revs with Uturn if I can find some so I can play with the fork settings.

Any help and advice out there?.

Posted 2 years ago #
takisawa2 - Member

I ran one with coil Pikes for a while.
Could descend anything at 140mm.
Could climb anything at 95mm.
At 100mm will have fast steering, but not nervous.
Wouldn't want to be stuck at 100mm.
It rode best at 120mm, in fact thats where I left it 95% of the time. Couldn't be arsed with all this winding up & down.
Best hardtail I've ever ridden by the way.
Go for the revs. Perfect match.

Posted 2 years ago #
trailmonkey - Member

It all depends on how/where/what you ride I guess. Personally, I find the steering way too twitchy at anything below 110. 130 is where I like mine.

Posted 2 years ago #
jamesgarbett - Member

120mm is the Soul's sweet spot

Posted 2 years ago #
tang - Member

im runnng 120mm reba team maxles, match made i reckon. i paid £200 from the states, 'wheels and sprockets' ebay store, with all the duty/vat etc 290 ish. unless you have a friend in the states, much cheaper

Posted 2 years ago #
mr_stru - Member

I run mine with 100mm Maguras and it handles great. It's certainly quite lively set up like that but I'd not call it twitchy.

Posted 2 years ago #
Northwind - Member

Also depends on what else is on the bike... Stem, bars, etc. I think you're spot on, the 08 Revs are a perfect match, but not so easy to find now.

The Soul's not nervous at 100mm, just a wee bit "XC", fast handling, very responsive, but it loses a bit of its allround capability. Likewise at 130mm, it'll still climb well but not as well as it does at 120mm, and it's still agile, but it's a lot more confidence inspiring and capable when pointed down. There's always a tradeoff but it's not too severe.

I think those 100mm Rebas should be adjustable to 120mm shouldn't they? If I was going fixed length, I'd want a 120mm Reba with a maxle personally. But I'll stick with my Revelations.

Posted 2 years ago #
Trustyrusty - Member

I have a set of Reba SL's that I've run at 100mm and it was a bit more racy that the 115mm I now have them at as that's as big as they go. Have also ridden mates Soda's and Souls with 130mm Rev's and Magura Menja's.

The old 130 Rev's feel great for travel at 130, but the damping isn't quite as nice as my Reba SL's. The Menja 130's are lovely forks to ride, but are often a lot more cash to buy.

If I were you I'd get the adjustable Revs as I'd love to run 130mm on mine and I find that the soul can be a bit sensitive to set-up. I could never quite get comfy in the 100mm set up, even though the bike was much better for racing/efficiency. In the longer travel settings the bike feels a much better all-rounder and is much more comfy for longer rides.

Posted 2 years ago #
brooess - Member

As a few people above have experienced, 125mm seems to be around the sweet spot for all-round handling for me too

Posted 2 years ago #
Northwind - Member

FWIW it's also very nice with 140mm. I just replaced my 08 Revs with 09 maxle air u-turns so I've lost the 100mm setting- not too much of a loss- but the 140mm option is nice to have for descending. Though of course only the most recent Soul is warrantied for that, so it's your decision whether you want to go oversized- I don't do it often but it's nice to have in reserve.

Posted 2 years ago #
metalheart - Member

I have run Vanila 125's and Pike 454's on mine.

Just had a pair of Talas fitted this morning.

I found the vans at 125 was just a bit on the wandery side on the up for my liking.

Ran the Pikes mostly at 110 which was better

Intend running mostly at 120 on the Talas.

Posted 2 years ago #
epicsteve - Member

I had 125mm Vanillas on initially but for the last few years I've run with 85-125mm Talas. Both were great, with the Talas at 100mm most of the time. It's got an 80mm stem on and I wouldn't have called it twitchy at 100mm.

Might stick Vanilla's back on it next year though.

Posted 2 years ago #
tinribz - Member

Running 130 Revs here and I find the front end a bit light sometimes, the odd moment of panic about flipping when lifting up the front for a boulder or log. Don't remeber it happening on a Dialled with the same forks. But then that was a 19", this is a 17.5.

80mm stem, 2cm spacer, but can't imagine a couple of cm on the front can really make that much difference can it?

Maybe my arms are getting stronger, or my @rse fatter.

Posted 2 years ago #
Vortexracing - Member

I used to run pikes

Ran them at 125mm most of the time ,but did run them at 140mm for longer steeper DH. Made a difference IMHO.

now run Reba 120mm teams, excellent for 90% of the riding, but just miss the 140mm on some really rocky stuff.

A lot lighter though.

the 120ish travel seems to be the sweet spot. Depends on axle to crown length of course.

Anybody know if the new Souls have changed the geometry or has Cy just added the gussets to cover the running of 140mm forks and not changed the geometry

Posted 2 years ago #
bigrich - Member

i run mine at 140 with low pressure. works a treat

Posted 2 years ago #
iamtheresurrection - Member

F120s here too. 100mm is a bit short for the bike in my opinion, not nervous handling, but it seems to be missing the point of the bike a little

Posted 2 years ago #
JonEdwards - Member

If you get the on-one Rebas they can be rebuilt to go to 120mm (my old man got a set and I helped him do the travel change today).

I've run assorted forks on my Cotics - Fox 100s, Pikes, Pace RC41 XCAM, and now on Maxled Rebas. 120mm does seem to be *the right thing* for doing everything without needing to resort to travel adjust. I can get up nigh on anything remotely reasonable to attempt, yet it's still pleasantly slack DH.

Posted 2 years ago #
Northwind - Member

Chucky, new Soul has the exact same geometry.

Posted 2 years ago #
Vortexracing - Member

Cheers Northwind.

Only strengthened for the fork then.

Posted 2 years ago #
Mrtrotter - Member

Air Pikes set at about 120mm. 70mm stem and mid risers. Seems about right for me.

Posted 2 years ago #
cy - Member

It's a preference thing, but the bike isn't twitchy with shorter forks, just fast handling. The published angles may look steep, but we quote 'rider on board' angles, which is what you actually experience. A lot of other companies offer static angles, which differ quite a lot from rider on board on a hardtail because it's only the front end extending due to the fork.

FWIW my preference is 100-110mm forks, short stem, v wide bars. If you do a lot of rocky riding you may want a but more, but if a lot of your riding is twisty singletrack, stay on the short side IMO.

Oh, and whoever it was who said about the 2cm of spacers, try taking them both out and see how you go. I've noticed big differences when removing 5mm of spacer, so that will be quite different IMO.

Posted 2 years ago #
BigDummy - Member

Where is Forking_Our_Souls when you need him?

Posted 2 years ago #
kelvin - Member

120-130mm on mine.

Posted 2 years ago #
DaveGr - Member

Have run 100 - 130 U turn Revs for two years on the Soul. Usually have them set to 100 or 110 and only wind them out on more rocky descents more for piece of mind and get-out-of-jail card. Thinking of changing to 90 - 120 U Turn Rebas as I've just freed them up off another bike. Oh, and 95mm stem and narrow bars for me

Posted 2 years ago #
Jolly Green Giant - Member

Sounds like this year`s Revelations are a bit too much then.Reba 120 Team Maxle sounds ideal but they are a bit pricey.

Posted 2 years ago #
kelvin - Member

Ooo... light + 120mm + 20mm axle ... apart from price, that sounds ideal.
More forks in this category please manufacturers...

Posted 2 years ago #
shortcut - Member

I got a Simple last week and am running 100 Reba Teams from On One. It is working well like this for me and I don't feel a need to change to 120's even after a weekend at Gwyder and Penmachno.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ben_mw - Member

I got hold of some 08 air U turn revs for my Soul build a few weeks ago, mainly because I wasn't sure what travel to go for. The bike handles lovely at each end of the travel range, if differently, but I seem to have settled on 110/115 ish for most of the time, just occasionally winding them out to 130. Frame is large, stem about 90mm, bars not massively wide, couple of spacers at the minute - it's only had 4 rides, so I'm still experimenting.

Posted 2 years ago #
marlinman - Member

Ben

Where did you buy the Revs from, were they new or used.

John

Posted 2 years ago #
chappers - Member

I run 100mm Sid Race forks on mine. Not nervous at all. Steering pretty quick but works great for fast x-country. I too don't do any crazy stuff any more since I broke my collar bone (not on the soul!), but my confidence is coming back.
Got my forks from Active Sport: http://activesport.co.uk/shop/category_2f8639feef43f2964be0cee184dad78c/Forks.html?shop_param=cid%3D374%26

Posted 2 years ago #
AntM - Member

Running 100 Menjas on my Small. 70mm 0 deg thomson stem and Thomson setback post plus EA70 monkey bars. A little twitchy but it's used for racing as well as just general riding. Have just put on straight EA70 and 90mm stem for Strathpuffer together with Ergon grips.

Posted 2 years ago #
marlinman - Member

Thanks for all the advice people, gone with 100-130mm Rev U-Turns in the end.

Cheers

John

Posted 2 years ago #