[Closed] Proper excited, new Solaris content

Looks nice - haven't ridden minefor a few weeks cos of the flooding 🙁

Congrats. Love mine to bits, especially in mud

Some mucky pics to follow.

Steady on mate, I know you're excited but you don't want to get a ban 😉

Great bikes. Been out on mine today 🙂

Mmmmm.

That is all.

Very nice! Needs some green grips though 😉

Oh I think i may be strangely drawn towards hope team green bits 😆

Oh I think i may be strangely drawn towards hope team green bits

If you're not sponsored, that'll be expensive...

I'm sponsered, but by the NHS not Hope!

I'm sponsered, but by the NHS not Hope!

Aye, me too 😀

Red hubs. All green bikes should have red hubs.
And get rid of some of that vast chainring collection.

And get rid of some of that vast chainring collection

Is he not allowed to run a triple if it suits his preferred style of riding? 🙄

I see no DPC on that wall.
(Want btw, really want)

Nice bike...Near identical spec to mine 😀

Sack the tyre fitter. Front tyre/Rim logo's are miles out 😉

"Sack the tyre fitter. Front tyre/Rim logo's are miles out"
Derrrrrrrr, its valve and logo.

Anyways.
4mile road climb was easily despatched (oh how he lies) dispite the wind and rain.
Then over the top offroad, very nice. very stable and very fast.
So far so good, pleased bunny 😆
[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/12727150123_f8fb00a5bc.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/12727150123_f8fb00a5bc.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/16701462@N03/12727150123/ ]20140223_120050[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/16701462@N03/ ]paul.sal[/url], on Flickr

woods were a little cut up in places.
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/12727119783_0daee9dd0a.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/12727119783_0daee9dd0a.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/16701462@N03/12727119783/ ]20140223_124003[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/16701462@N03/ ]paul.sal[/url], on Flickr

the front mech is a little congested. its FM771 with dual pull so i've sawn the bottom pull lever off so that should free up a little more space.
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2820/12727085093_7a642d7a8c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2820/12727085093_7a642d7a8c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/16701462@N03/12727085093/ ]20140223_124745[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/16701462@N03/ ]paul.sal[/url], on Flickr

Lovely looking trail Spesh, which part of the world? Bikes not bad either!

Stiperstones, sunny shropshire.

Bah - posting photos = hassle

Let me join the love-in!

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8653230640_299154dc84_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8653230640_299154dc84_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/8133348@N03/8653230640/ ]IMG_0452[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/8133348@N03/ ]oxym0r0n[/url], on Flickr

Now with Hope BB, MT6s and 10 speed XT/SLX/Works

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Try again - here's my new Solaris .

Solaris, ff29, fireline or wait for on-one to release the parkwood.

These do look nice, and I love steel bikes but then the weight weenie racer in me says get something light.

Oxymoron...that is the most tastefully build bike i think i've ever seen.

Solaris, ff29, fireline or wait for on-one to release the parkwood.

El Mar?

Actually, looking at the minuscule amount of mud clearance between the rear tyre, front mech and seatpost, I now find myself agreeing with takisawa, irrespective of whether a triple or double is required 😉

No doubt a lovely bike, but in claggy mud, that would wind me up.

Are you not supposed to use a top swing front mech with the Solaris?

Top pull front mech is right shortcut. .
The green looks great!

Just been to afan for a weekend of joy on mine. . My mate has the same. . Two solari out eating up the welsh trails!
The solaris ate the trails up, fantastic. . I did all my climbs with fork at 100mm then wound out to 120mm for the descents. . The fox adjust fork was lovely and plush. . The solaris handled better and more grounded then a previous yeti asr5 I have owned, which says a lot about how good the steel framed hardnut is!

Enjoy the bike!

Oh, further to that, I experienced some serious mud, and tyre clearance wasn't an issue, neither did front mech become tight, all fine. .

Here's mine.

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8555929274_a457d6e1ce_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8555929274_a457d6e1ce_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/8555929274/ ]Worcester Beacon at Sunset[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/alexleigh/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Originally had a HD 2.35 in the back. Very tight. Ended up chopping the extra bit of the top swing mech off. Switched to a 2.2 tyre as well. Since then no issues at all. Swapped out that Reba for a Rev at 120mm which I was worried might affect the superb handling, but if anything it's even more fun.

"Solaris, ff29, fireline or wait for on-one to release the parkwood."
i can't comment on the others, but i've just come from a FF29 to the solaris. on my dodgy scales 200gm difference.
Now that is either not much or quite alot depending on where you start from. but I'm happy with that.
i liked the FF29 but i never loved it. At 6ft i'm right on the change between a med and a large. All advice was towards the large (no demo bikes at the time.) But they are a tall frame, maybe a medium would have been the way to go.

front mech.
Low band will foul the rear wheel, has to be a high band. Cutting the bootom pull arm off has opened up the gap.

sorry not really getting the single ring thing. i've got a double on the FSR, but that can run out of gears on the top end, but the increased chain ring clearence is good on a FS.
the 29er will be used for big days out and multi days, the FF29 spent a lot of time in the big ring, more than my 26in hardtail. Also if i'm at the end of a big day or are carrying kit for a over night then 22t is might be nice to visit.
I've tried 32/22, and missed 42.

Does the Solaris feel any slacker than the FF29 (with the same fork)? I'm also in the situation of liking, but not loving, my FF29. Actually I do love it on the way up, but coming down it just feels a bit steep; like I'm perched right on top of that front wheel. Obviously I can shift my weight back, but it still feels as though my hands are just too far forward relative to the front axle. On paper the Solaris geometry looks pretty similar though.

Nice build speshpaul...here's mine (for the love-in):

[img] [/img]

Photo is 18 months old and just after it was built. XT 2x10 drivetrain, SLX brakes, F29 100mm forks. Considering treating the bike to a new SLX clutch mech and I may go with a 1x10 setup now that I've got a e13 top guide and works components 32T ring.

Very tempted with 120mm forks too. Very tempted. Dropper also. Might swap out the front ardent for a high roller too.

At present though very happy with the bike. A great all rounder and the go-to-bike.

Andy
Climbing, very pleased with it so fair- thats one proper tarmac slog and a some off road techy stuff.
On the downs feels good, i've not had the same over the front feeling on either, what size stem are you running, 80mm here with a setback post.
if you are anyway near shropshire you are welcome to have a feel 😀

On paper the Solaris geometry looks pretty similar though.

The FF29 is 71 deg with a 100mm fork static, the Solaris is 71 deg with an 80mm fork sagged - so about 2 deg slacker with the same fork.

Thanks folks. I couldn't tell from the Kiness site whether it was measured sagged or static (and hadn't spotted the different fork lengths either). It's tempting to try something properly slack with shorter chainstays (like a Singular Buzzard), but I do like the tight handling of the FF29 most of the time and 2 degrees off the head angle is already going to be pretty noticeable I guess. Certainly food for thought.

I'm currently running a 75mm stem with 720 bars, so there is scope to go shorter and wider there too. Nowhere near Shropshire though and currently off the bike with a broken arm anyway 🙁 But that just gives more time to plan new builds 🙂

Singular Buzzard- get a test ride. some people love them, i wasn't impressed, had it for 2 weeks stopped riding in the end. it did have some terrible mazza forks on it thou.

This is slack up front and unfashionably long out back.

[img] [/img]

I think it looks quite good.

Early testing is positive.

Thanks. A test ride might be tricky to organize though. What was it (apart from the fork) that you didn't like?

Staring at the geometry charts I guess the head angles are not so different. The Solaris is 71 degrees at 470mm A-C and the Buzzard is 69 degrees at 500mm. So what's that? About 0.5 degrees difference with the same fork? The biggest difference (I guess) would be the shorter chainstays (425mm vs 440mm) and the shorter ETT (595mm vs 625mm for the 19/L size) on the Buzzard.

i really wanted to like the Buzzard, but we didn't get on. i'd have another go with decent forks, but it seemed heavy and unresponsive. i really struggled to make it climb. it just didn't have that POW! factor. seemed heavy/dead. It was the same bike that chips reviewed in the mag about 14 months ago and he liked it.
i was given it to demo for a couple of weeks, and i was almost sold as i pushed it out of the shop. but we didn't get on.

Is it wrong I'm selling mine?

On a front mech note - you've done the right thing, OP. 😉

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/10629288345_31757a6468.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/10629288345_31757a6468.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Pimpmaster, if you're thinking of selling yours can you PM me some details?
thanks

Rode mine for the first time in a while round Llandegla on Saturday, Loved it!

Some lovely build above, here is mine 😀

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/10885185684_3890017792_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/10885185684_3890017792_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/timcondran/10885185684/ ]Cotic Solaris[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/timcondran/ ]Tim Condran[/url], on Flickr

The problem with my Solaris is that the other bikes didn't get much of a look-in last year, although when the mud really came down I went over to s/s (Simple) to try to keep the Solaris' drivetrain from turning to cheese.

Must ride it less.

Sorry 4130s0ul, but it's sold pending drop off on Weds.

If it falls through I'll give you a shout.

@timc - What forks are they?

In fact, what 120mm would folks recommend for the Solaris?

Thanks Speshpaul, that's very interesting. It sounds as though it was more than just the fork. Could it have been down to heavy wheels/tyres though?

Maybe the Buzzard is just better suited to those who are happy to winch up the climb and get their kicks on the way down. To be fair, that probably describes a lot of MTBers, but personally I get as much out of the climbs as I do the descents. The thing that I really love about the FF29 is the way that it skips up stupidly steep stuff. There are a number of sections that I thought I'd never be able to ride up (and haven't managed on any other bike) where the FF29 just seems to keep going until suddenly, there you are, at the top. It's just a pity that I can't feel the love for it on the way down.

I'm guessing that I'll have to give up a bit of that climbing ability to get something that inspires more confidence on the way down, but if I'm going to give up too much I figure that I might as well go the whole hog, get a full suss and really enjoy those descents.

Im about to get a solaris too, but trying to decide between 120mm reba Rl's, Sids RCT3's or some discounted Marzocchi 44 switch TAs. whats the consesus on forks?

Rob, don't discount the Xfusion slides, try jim @ JTECH for a price.

Thanks P-Jazz, appreciate that

4130

KingofBiscuits - Member

@timc - What forks are they?

Rock Shox Reba RL 120mm

No complaints so far from me!

Grips since swapped to less offensive black ones which I couldn't find when I put it together 🙄

Spares/partial parts bin job hence old dropper and random 9 speed bit with non matching shifters, one sram, one shimano, oh the humanity!!!

[img] [/img]

4130soul, my (large) frame, forks and h/set will be for sale in a week or two....

I'm not at all sure that I'm doing the right thing though but N=N-1 in my house currently.

[img] [/img][/url]

email in profile 😥

So how does a Solaris feel in comparison to a Soul? As a dedicated bike for bad weather/mud is there any advantage as a completely untechnical bridle way basher/XC trainer?

As a 6'er on a large can you get a good aggressive XC position with the high front?