Mk1 Solaris 27.5+ (WTB Asym) – Page 2 – Bike Forum

roverpig · 2015-09-19T07:49:55Z

There seems to be a bit of interest in making the Solaris chubby, so I thought I'd post some thoughts on my experiences as I go along. I've not ridden it in anger yet, so this is just spec and setup. I've got a Mk1 Solaris frame that I bought second hand (from here I think). It's been a funny "relationship". I loved it for the first few weeks, then neglected it completely for six months (preferring to ride my full-suss). Recently I stuck a shorter stem and wider bars on and found I loved it all over again. So, I thought I'd try a chubby conversion on it. I think it might work well for winter XC riding up here. I decided to buy the wheels from Cotic (Hope Pro 2 Evo with WTB Asym rims; 29mm rear 35mm front). Partly because it's hard to source rims, partly because I'm lazy and partly because Cotic have done a lot of testing using the Mk1 Solaris and thought this was the best combo. So who am I to argue? I also like the fact that they aren't too wide. If I don't get on with the B+ feel then I've still got a decent set of 650B trail wheels. They're not boost of course, so they are already obsolete, but you can't have everything. The wheels themselves look pretty smart, although I wasn't sure whether to line up the WTB logo on the tyre with the one on the rim or with the valve as usual. In the end it's not quite either :-) The wheels themselves seem to be well built; true and feel quite tight (although I couldn't be bothered to measure the spoke tension). I'd managed to pick up a pair of WTB Trailblazer tyres a few weeks back, so just bought the wheels and tubeless kit from Cotic. These came with the rim strip and tubeless valve fitted, which was nice. The tubeless valves are a bit funny though. They are black, which matches the rims nicely, but there is no thread on the upper part of the stem, which means I can't use my screw on head from my track pump if I remove the core. Fortunately this wasn't a problem as they were the easiest tubeless setup I've ever done. I put a tube in to seat one side, but I'm not even sure this was necessary. The tyre is a very snug fit on the rim. My previous wheels were Hope Pro2 Evo with Arch Ex rims and I was running a 2.25 Hans Dampf (snakeskin, trailstar) on the front and a 2.25 Racing Ralph (snakeskin, pacestar) on the rear. I weighed both sets of wheels and the weight difference was almost exactly the same as the difference in the quoted tyre weights. The front was 140g heavier (WTB tyre is supposed to be 130g heavier than the HD) and the rear was 340g heavier (tyre should be 350g heavier). So the wheels are pretty much the same weight and overall I've gained pretty much a pound in extra tyre weight. As I say, I've not ridden it in anger yet. It feels fine going round the garden and up and down the road. I think it looks great too. I'm sure that part of the appeal of fat and chubby bikes is the Tonka toy looks. [imgNow, who thinks I should sort out that lawn, bench, house rather than go for a ride ?

alexh

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What pressure are you running in the rear?

Posted : 25/09/2015 8:47 pm

roverpig

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Topic starter

I think it's 18 psi. Well my track pump thinks it's 18 psi and who am I to argue !

Posted : 25/09/2015 8:51 pm

takisawa2

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You really should try a rigid fork & a 29+ front on these [i]Chubaris's..[/i]. 😉

Posted : 25/09/2015 11:04 pm

alexh

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Fair enough, thats the same as me (11st). I'd found the rear wtb plenty grippy, but then again I have been using an ardent race of late..

Posted : 26/09/2015 10:13 am

roverpig

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Topic starter

Hmmm, maybe it was just something specific to Thursday's (night) ride (wrong tyre pressures, or just very wet trails maybe). I did a ride today that included some fairly steep tracks with loose corners. I deliberately did a bit more braking than strictly necessary and it seemed to grip just fine.

I also smashed my previous record on a sustained (18 minute) climb (by a whole minute), which was very surprising. It's a bit sandy and loose in places, so maybe the extra float and traction compensated for the weight or something, but it was a bit of a surprise. Not that the climbing is the main thing. It's going down where you really notice the extra tyre volume, but I expected to pay a price for that on the climbs so it's surprising that isn't happening (yet).

Posted : 27/09/2015 11:15 pm

nemesis

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I found my trailblazers a handful on wet grass FWIW. Great elsewhere though.

Posted : 28/09/2015 9:35 am

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[Closed] Mk1 Solaris 27.5+ (WTB Asym)