Building up a second hand Soul frame. So far have a RS Revelation fork and Avid Juicy 3 brakes from my old bike. I’m on a budget so keen not to go crazy with other parts, but would love to hear suggestions from other Soul owners (or anyone else) on what works for them, and if you’ve got thoughts on my suggestions so far.

GEARS – Keen to stick with SRAM for gears so am thinking of the X9 front and rear.
CHAINSET – Shimano SLX – can get one on CRC for £88 so seems like the best option?
SEAT POST – I’m tall so need a decent long one – any suggestions under the £50 mark?
SEAT CLAMP – what size clamp does the narrow tube take? Any suggestions for a decent quick release clamp?
HANDLEBAR – again as I’m tall are there any good riser bars for under £50?
WHEELS – I’m assuming decent wheels are expensive so I’ll probably stick with the ones I have (cheapy Mavic) but if anyone knows of a good quality low-cost wheel would love to know.

If it helps give context I’ll mostly be riding local singletrack (south downs, stanmer) with the occasional Wales trip.
Thanks

Build it with what you have until it breaks, then upgrade if you want. I use a Hope clamp on mine (it came with it) but it seems to need to clamp damn tight to stop any movement. Maybe the salsa one they originally came with?

There’s loads of bars/seatposts out there. Pretty sure I got my Thompson seatpost for less than £50.

We supply the Hope ones with the frame, 30.0mm size. Really good.

Shop around for kit, but if you’re tall and have a large I’d recommend something wide like 710mm and a good amount of rise, and go for a 400mm seatpost with some layback. Can’t help with recoms really, but you’re spending a good amount of money there to pick some really nice kit with some money knocked off on any of the mail order places. FWIW I use Bontrager King Earl bars (same shape as Big Earl and Rhythm Pro I believe) with 50mm rise and 710mm width, 80mm stem. Used to use Bontrager seatposts too, but the clamps are a bit of an aquired taste.

Not another Soul in Brighton! 😉

I have 670mm bars on mine – I’d go wider if the trees in Stanmer weren’t so close together – 60mm stem, straight seatpost (Gravity Dropper). Just about to switch the wheels to Flows on Hope Pro 2 Evos. I have X9 shifters, X0 rear mech and SLX double front mech. The SLX does seem more reliable than the X9 front mech on the old bike. How tall is tall?

Hmm, I had something along the lines of 60mm stem, 685mm lowrise bars, X9 with double-and-bash setup, SLX cranks then replaced with XTR (but the SLX ones are fab)

Pro kit is nice at a sensible price, for bars stems and seatposts.

Oh and seatclamps, Hope is the sensible option IMO- Salsa feels better on day one but after a bit of muddy use they stop being so good. Cheap ones are often rubbish, it’s a bit of a false economy I reckon.

topangarider – will look at the salsa – thanks.
cy – thanks for the response – it’s a beautiful frame so huge credit to you and the team for producing it – will look into the bars you’ve suggested.
chiefgrooveguru – I’m 6’4” – thanks for the advice – will look out for another soul in Stanmer – i’ve been riding there for two years and have seen a few so perhaps that’s you!

GEARS
CHAINSET
SEAT POST
SEAT CLAMP
HANDLEBAR
WHEELS

Setup recommendations? Definitely include the above bits.

If you were happy enough with the contact points on your old bike then just use them and tweak it from there.

Hi, another happy Cotic Soul owner here, love mine and use it for everything from occassional dh (if my Pitch is unavailable) to full on xc and everything in between so have mine built accordingly.
Spec:

Soul frame, med 2010 model in orange
Rockshox Pike 454 dual air u turn wound down to 125mm mainly
Chromag seatclamp
Thomson post
Mavic en521’s on pro 2’s
Conti black chilli rubber queens
Sunline v1 am 50mm stem
Easton havoc dh bars cut down to 720mm
Odi Ruffians
Hope mono m4’s with 180mm floating rotors
XT rear mech
SLX shifters
SLX front mech
SLX double and bash chainset
SLX 9spd cassette
Goodridge cables brake and gear
Hope headset
Charge Spoon saddle
Superstar Nano pedals

Maybe not to everyones preference but i love it and although it could be built way lighter it’s much more capable as it is for me.
Great frames, however you build yours i’m sure you’ll love it.

stevede – thanks for the list – I definitely feel like I’ve bought more than just a frame – there’s something a bit special about it, and I’ve not even ridden it yet.

Ah, proper tall! I’d imagine you’d need a longer stem than me and possibly a layback post as the large is only 3/4″ longer than the medium. And wider bars. Or could you just bend your arms more? Double+bash rocks round here for log hopping!

Once I have my new wheels I’m swapping from 100mm to 140mm forks (already have them but the bolt thingy won’t fit my current front hub). My guess is I’ll be dropping the stem right down on the steerer and pushing the saddle further forwards on the rails to compensate for the slacker angles and higher front end… Let me know if you want some riding company, I can always do with an excuse to go and play in the woods.

I’ve had two souls, and have varied from running with Pikes to u turn revs (tried some 20mm Reba teams as well) now I have fixed travel Revs Rlti’s currently fixed at 140mm.

I used to run Easton bars @ 685 and a 70mm stem, but have just swapped to a race face 60mm turbine stem and a set of race face sixc bars at 725mm.

Currently running 2×9 with a gavity dropper and I must say it’s great.

old one

Dirty Cotic by eastham_david, on Flickr

with rebas

IMGP1128 by eastham_david, on Flickr

and now as with the Rev RLti’s.

P1030648 by eastham_david, on Flickr

sounds like your proposed set-up seems spot on. What fork length are your Revs?

oh and as for wheels I have used 719’s and DT5.1’s. both on hope hubs. and both tubeless. I am now running Stans 355’s tubeless.

chiefgrooveguru – me and a few friends normally go riding at 10AM on a Sunday – set off from the white cottage just off Ditchling road – look out for a gangly bloke on a black Soul – or a black Focus CX for the next few weeks.

Vortexracing – the revs are 100-130 – I imagine most of the time they’ll be 100 except for the occasional trail centre visit. Like the look of the 2×9 set-up.

I’d go for a 410mm Thomson post at 6’4″. It’s good to have plenty of post left in the frame.

bol – good to hear – have just bought one from the classifieds. STW is fantastic.

bol – good to hear – have just bought one from the classifieds.

Good call. I’m neither tall, nor that heavy, yet I have a nack for killing/bending/breaking seatposts. Thomson’s are the only post I will trust these days.

Regarding the rest of the setup, Souls always look better with a slightly more XC bias IMO. That is to say slightly svelter wheels, tyres, triple ring and perhaps a 90mm stem… All IMO of course though, each to their own and all that.

Salsa feels better on day one but after a bit of muddy use they stop being so good.

Bought my original Soul in 2004, and just realised recently that the Salsa seatclamp is the only original component left!.

Can’t say fairer than that.

(shameless plug) Take a look over here>>>>>
I’ve got some loverly KCNC 710mm wide scandium bars and a Hope 30.0mm bolt up seatclamp in silver for sale 😉 (end of shameless plug).
Enjoy your build !

oooh – photos! My build….

Summer 2010 build by Mr.Spinner, on Flickr

Rossrobot – I’ve got a similar setup to what you’re going to do with your current old bits – bought a 2007 soul built up from this forum.

Not that different from yours – except it’s Shimano Deore ver SRAM, but the Revelations worked out great for me on the downs once I dropped them down to about 120, and they’re great for occasional trail centre DH when they’re dialled back up. DT Swiss rims with Hope hubs, Avid Juicy 3s, Time Z pedals (**** love them, despite their size and weight) and hope headset and seatclamp. Raceface riser bars suit me (I;m 6’1″), although I’m thinking about something a bit wider for a morte planted feel.

We head out from shoreham to cissbury/chanctonbury ring most Sundays if you ever fancy tagging along.

timnwild – might take you up on that once it’s built – i’ve walked around chanctonbury a few times recently and spotted some awesome looking trails.