Loving my Soul for xc/trail centre stuff, but my back doesn’t always enjoy it.

What full suss bike out there would most closely mirror the Soul? Something light, little bit of cushioning, but still with the geometry and snappiness and fun?

Cy’s working on, effectively, a full sus Soul. Might be worth the wait?

or if you’re not needing much, perhaps some trail smoothing, a Solaris or other 29er?

My be right at this moment the Santa Cruz TRC is close 68deg head angle shortish rear end seat tube for a lrg is around a 19 etc sweet spot for front travel is 120/130 for forks so pretty close and from what I remember of the emails that where going aroundd this is what was banded around to cy so as wwaswas said my be worth the wait till next year.

Was more thinking of transferring all the Soul bits to a 26 frame.

Have tried a steel 29er(SIR9), didn’t make a huge difference on that front, and lost some of the fun factor compared to the Soul.

batman11 – Member
My be right at this moment the Santa Cruz TRC is close 68deg head angle shortish rear end seat tube for a lrg is around a 19 etc sweet spot for front travel is 120/130 for forks so pretty close and from what I remember of the emails that where going aroundd this is what was banded around to cy so as wwaswas said my be worth the wait till next year.

Yeah, bit gutted I missed out on the cheap ones that did the rounds, zero chance of me buying a full price one.

I ride a Soul and test rode a TRc a few weeks back. Fantastic bike but £2.7k for a frame is bonkers!

What about an ASR5 or Bandit?

Giant Trance?

Wouldn’t trust a Yeti

Bandit might do it, yeah.

The Giant Anthem is a superb wee bike, light, fun, fast, springy and very comfy.

I’ve been looking recently, to compliment the Soul rather replace it.

Have Yeti not sorted the rear end issues out as I’ve always wanted one? Bandit is a bit heavier I think and getting a demo may be problematic.

Thudbuster? If you like the bike and it’s just your back that doesn’t it might be worth a try for longer rides at least. Cheaper than a new bike or frame and should be easy enough to sell if you don’t like it.

Why not try a carbon seatpost with a titanium railled saddle, I run that combo on mine and find it helps take the sting out even more.

Plus much cheaper than a full suss bike..!

I don’t get less back problems on my bouncy bike than on my hardtail.
It’s worth changing a few other things before your frame (bar/stem/saddle position etc).

munchiepumps – Member

Why not try a carbon seatpost with a titanium railled saddle, I run that combo on mine and find it helps take the sting out even more.

Not tried carbon but an EA50/30 gives a much ‘softer’ feel than a Thomson.

Brooks saddles give a soft ride when broken in too, but bring problems of their own!

Nice big fat rear tyre? – Purgatories have a huuuuge volume, can be run nice and soft without pinching or bottoming out.

Weirdly the most Soul-ish full suss I’ve ridden was my old GT Idrive 5. Very similiar capability and attitude. On the downside it weighed roughly the same as my downhill bike’s frame.

I run a Easton EA70 carbon post with a titanium railed SDG BelAir, just takes that extra sting out making long days in the saddle less battering.