My personal opinion is that the Soul is the pick of Cotic’s range. If you’re looking for a top notch, batch built steel hardtail, with bags of class, great geometry and a very versatile ride, then the Soul is it. I loved mine and should never had sold it, but hey ho. It’s such a versatile bike, working equally as well with a 100mm fork for fast trail/XC riding as well as with a 140mm fork (I had a Pike on mine) for aggressive AM riding. The subtle changes in geometry were well managed by the overall lay out of the bike and endowed the bike with just the right character for the amount travel the fork offered.
The BFe is the bike you buy if you either a) can’t quite stretch your budget to the Soul or b) intend to launch it off some pretty big shit. I don’t think many people riding BFes specifically need the BFe as the Soul is pretty tough already; but if there is an element of doubt, or indeed if you prefer something that gives quite a stiffer ride compared to the Soul, then the BFe is a good choice.
Really need Jon Edwards to comment here as he’s probably got more experience on all Cotic’s bikes save for Cy himself, and is one of the few riders who actually needs the BFe in his garage, as well as all the others (I think he owns one of each hardtail including the Ti?)