[Closed] Cotic Soul

I think the Soul is only rated to 140....

From what I have seen, pretty much everyone that has a Soul loves them. I run a Bfe with 160mm fox vans (same geo as a soul) and think its great, if a little slow to turn on tight stuff.

As mentioned above, the Soul and BFe geometry are the same so you would effectively be running a lightweight BFe. Take a look at [URL] http://cotic.co.uk/geek/ [/URL]. That might be fine for you, depending on your weight and riding style but could invalidate the warranty so speak to Cotic - their customer services are very good. (Or buy a BFe!)

Pointless with 150mm forks, 130mm would be better but I'd go even less (100 - 120mm)

Yep - love my Soul. Have U-Turn Revs which stay at 120mm....

here is mine, exactly as you are on about, but set at 135mm.

130mm is the best middle ground IMHO

[url= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/5801231505_04ddcdbe08_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/5801231505_04ddcdbe08_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/5801231505/ ]P1030728[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

and yes this is my 2nd and they are very good indeed

They are good.
If I fell out of love with my 29er I'd happily get a Soul again.

Its like banging on a cage of parrots though whenever a Soul is mentioned on here. 🙂

Run 130mm Menja's on mine and love it.

Random is right - check out the website, and if you still have questions, give them a ring - found them to be great at answering all my Q's. You'll prob speak to Cy anyway who designs them.

Soul is a lovely bike and I really enjoyed mine but I can't imagine how it's going to be with a 160 fork. Certainly be way outside what the Soul is designed for. The BFe is a different type of bike altogether despite sharing geom.

If you want a steel HT for long forking XC which is where the Soul is at, but you want to use a longer fork then a 456 is a good fit. Not too far away from the Soul having ridden both but built to take the fork you want to use.

Thanks all, I was originally thinking of going Titanium but can't justify the cost hence thinking of the Soul (recommended by LBS as an alternative option)
I'm quite happy to run the Rev's @ 130mm and think the BeFe might be a bit too much for my riding - mostly local woods/trails, occasional trip to Quantocks, Dartmoor or S Wales trail centre. Think I might give Cotic a call........

I have just upped the forks on mine from 100mm Fox Floats to 120mm RS SIDs. Definately wouldn't want to go any longer than that!

I'm running pikes @140mm on mine without any issue (2nd hand so not worried about warranty). Front does get a bit floaty on steep ups but then this also means its easy to get the front in the air for obstacles!

I loved my Soul, do miss it... But I wouldn't have wanted a fixed length fork in it, seems to waste the versatility of the thing. I had a 100-130mm Revelation in it and it shone at all settings, shame not to take advantage of that. If I was going to run one length, it'd be 120mm, that's the best balance IMO

Now I'm a Cotic fanboi so this feels a bit wrong but you might also want to check out the Carbon 456- it's lighter, a little cheaper, and will take a longer fork. OTOH it looks like it was left too close to the radiator. I've only had 1 very short ride on mine but it reminds me a lot of my Soul, in a way the standard 456 never really did- it has that feeling of "let's PLAY!"

But still the Soul's one of the great allrounders and isn't going away. Made the Dirt 100 for the last 3 years, which for an XC bike in a DH magazine is some going...

I ran my soul with coil uturn pikes. Felt good at 140 and climbed great when down at 100-120.

Within past month I changed the forks to blackbox reba's fixed at 120 and it's great. I still run a short stem, wide bars Stans flow rims and flat pedals but 120 seems to suit it really well. It climbs ace but I'm sure the fact it weighs 25lbs helps somewhat!

Mmm, I have a 456 with 140mm revs and I find it hard work on steep climbs as you have to stay right over the front end to stop it popping up so what it would be like with 150mms I don't know. Great on the way down though! I had actually been thinking of going for a soul as living in the Peaks there are an awful lot of steep climbs. I wish I had spent the extra originally rather than settling for the cheaper, heavier option.

I've a soul with 130mm Revs and find it can be a little wandery on steep climbs. Plan on spacing them down to 120mm. Mines a small though.

Hmm, thanks all, just got back form a wet ride! Looks like the Soul might not be the one as I do want to run at least 130mm and would like the option at least of running 150mm. Don't fancy carbon so the 456 is a no go. Maybe I'll start a "what hardtail frame" thread and see what idea's the STW massive give me.....

New Soul will take 140 max but even in the rocky Peak you only need that on the rocky descents. 125-130mm seems to be the sweet spot for singletrack. 150mm could break the frame and IMO steering would be way too wandery

I've just switched from 100mm Rebas to 140mm Floats on my Soul. Will report back once it's had a decent amount of riding time...

Looks like the Soul might not be the one as I do want to run at least 130mm and would like the option at least of running 150mm

What sort of riding are you doing? Jumping off cliffs?

I do want to run at least 130mm and would like the option at least of running 150mm. Don't fancy carbon so the 456 is a no go

What's wrong with a steel 456 ? It'll feel pretty close to a Soul, will run a longer fork and is way under £200.

LOL @ davidtaylforth, no but I am a clumsy rider and bigger forks allow me to be even clumsier and not fall off 🙄

I run a Soul with u-turn Sektors and find that 130-140 is about right.

Nice bike. Very subtle ride. Comfy yet can handle the rough stuff too.

I've also got a 456 which is generally stronger/stiffer and more of a hooligan. Great fun. On shorter rides I actually prefer it to the Soul, as the setup is burlier and more jumpy.

Just bought a BFe so we'll see how that compares....

I recently spoke to Cotic and though they understandably didn't want to commit to a one definitive fork size, they did plump for 120mm as the best compromise.

Cotic's website does say the new frame is certified up to 140mm. I have 140mm revs on my Heckler so might do a bit of fork swapping and go for the Soul 🙂

trailmonkey - Member

What's wrong with a steel 456 ? It'll feel pretty close to a Soul, will run a longer fork and is way under £200.

I could be biased but I don't think the 456 feels that close to a Soul, despite having such similiar geometry... Little differences add up I guess but it's not just the frame numbers, on the Carbon I find myself thinking of the Soul but not of the steel 456. Maybe it's placebo or unconscious snobbery, who knows.

i owned a soul for about 4 years, now i've got a 456. haven't ridden it a huge amount but enough to tell that it's not massively different to the soul. chunkier for sure, ride wise ? not much in it. once i'd got the set up right, it certainly felt familiar enough to ride my sketchier local trails without any feeling that i was on someone elses bike.

Well, of course it's not massively different, but there's still a surprising distance between the two IMO, just like there's a fair old difference between the carbon and steel 456, or a Soul and a BFe.

well, i'll level with you, it ain't a difference worth £300 that's for sure.

The probem is with buying a frame it's not like you can test ride in the first place, you have to go off other peoples opinions and recommendations and I must admit that's what pointed me in the direction of the Soul.

the 456 is stiffer in the front triangle, which makes it more planted on big rocky descents. It's also stiffer at the rear which makes it harsher than the Soul, which is very good at absorbing trail buzz.

The Soul is lighter, and the steering is very slightly faster, but not so you'd notice in anything other than a back-to-back comparison.

Finish and paint is better on the Soul.

All IMO of course. The main pros of the Soul over the 456 are, to me, the weight and the rear end plushness.

Cy spends a lot of time testing and researching, I would listen to him to be honest.

If you want to run 150mm buy a BFe.

trailmonkey - Member

well, i'll level with you, it ain't a difference worth £300 that's for sure.

Don't agree with that either. Never regretted the price of my Soul, and I've spent enough time now on steel 456s to be sure I was right.

The 120mm 'best compromise' does rather seem like simple arithmetic! 😉

Also there has to be a huge variation in stiffness required for a given terrain & speed depending on how much you weigh and how smoothly you ride (ie the dynamic loading on the frame).

I have a 140 Fox 32 Vans on the soul. Handles well.

My new bfe is set to 160mm all the time (van 36) and I think it is awesome... Get one 😉

@cheifgrooveguru: that my friend, is the wisest statement made on this thread. One rider of 10 stone & 5 foot 10 will not feel the same handling as one that's 14 stone... not only that, ride style, smoothness etc has everything to do with ride quality & how the frame feels to an individual.

a stiff back end can be made to 'skip over the rough but another rider who sits down for all terrain will say 'too stiff, jarring, teeth shattering'...

unfortunately, that helps in no way what so ever...

I've run my Soul with lots of different forks, from 100mm to 145mm. 140mm wasn't too bad (140mm Vanilla's were ok), although the front end did get a bit wandery at times. Overall I perhaps preferred 120mm Floats of all the forks I've used, although it's currently wearing coil Pikes, usually just left to 120mm.

I've also run my BFe with various forks between 140mm and 160mm. 160mm does feel a bit long on climbs, but 140mm was good. Currently it's wearing 150mm Talas.

Morning all!

First off - you can't run 150mm forks on a Soul. It's not CEN certified for it, and if you're looking for that in a hardtail you'll end up with something much, much heavier than a Soul for just that extra 10mm of fork travel. IMO the main win with the Soul over anything else in it's class is the weight. Sure I'll put my geometry and ride feel against anything, but the biggest difference really is that compared to a BFe or a 456 or something of that ilk is that the Soul is over 1lb lighter. Having ridden a BFe as a trail bike, and having directly compared a Soul to a Soda (similar weight saving again), you just notice the bike light up when you squirt the power when you have that advantage. That's probably also why the carbon 456 erodes the Soul's advantage in terms of feel, due it being a similar weight.

It's also worth noting that - rider preferences notwithstanding - 150mm forks on any hardtail for the riding you're looking at doing is overkill IMO. I live in the Peak district and have settled down with Fox F120 QR15's on my bike. As people have mentioned, the 140mm forks are great at rock flattening, but do make it a little harder work on the very steep techy climbs. As I have a full sus for effective rock flattening, I keep my Soul a little livelier all round with the shorter forks. Even though I'm the designer of the frame, this is still just my opinion, but I think you'd find your Rev's at 130mm a great companion to the frame for the kind of trail riding you're talking about.

I know the 120mm thing seems like a cop out, but it is genuinely where we stand on the subject, but it's very gratifying to see so many people liking the set up with longer fork.

I sounds like you're in the South, so the Peaks is a way to come, but we do have a demo on at 18 Bikes in Hope this weekend. 9.30-5.00 at their shop. 1hr Peaks loops. Email or call us to book in. We've got a couple of medium Souls, a small and a large, plus 2 small BFes as well.

Thanks Cy, you have confirmed all that was said in a conversation I had with my LBS this morning - the revs @ 130mm (as they are now) will be more than enough and suit the bike. Thanks for the demo offer but I am down south - Devon - so no chance of getting up this weekend. I'm 5'11" so I'm guessing the 17.5" will be more suited to me than 19"? (This advice also given by LBS today)

Yup, medium fo sho. If you give the shop a chivvy to get your order in today it'll be with them on Friday.

I'm 5'11" nacho and the medium is spot on.

Perfect, thanks reggiegasket, have actually mailed Cy to confirm sizing! Won't be ordering today Cy but mind is pretty much made up 🙂

5'10/11" on a med BFe, perfect. I'm over the 160 travel HT thing (for now), 120 is where it's at. I think it's a placebo. Got Pikes on, generally at 120. Handles much better...bit more exciting too?...