My Simple rocked hugely with 80mm corrected P2s last winter. Fine and dandy with 100mm forks or 130mm Revelations wound down to 115mm. Works fine at 130 going down but hated it uphill with them like that.

It's not an earth shattering bike. It's only a hardtail afterall but it is very nice. I can understand some people not getting on with it but I'd be interested to hear what hardtail they are riding instead of it.

Steep?

When I bought my Soul Cotic informed me the HA was 71 degrees at an A-C length of 440mm (100mm fork sagged 30mm)
so say 1 degree for every 25mm –
70 degrees at 465mm
69 degrees at 490mm
68 degress at 515mm
(without sag)

So yeah it's around 69.5 degrees with a sagged 130mm fork.

I've had mine a few years now and it really does do everything – Peak District, Lakes, trail centres, lite dirt jumping, drops, canal towpaths, Alps, and wotnot.

I keep thinking of changing and trying a Prince Albert or similar but it'd just be change for change's sake really.
Different yes, but better? Dunno.

And I don't really get the 130mm only limit thing.

Am I more likely to snap the headtube off my Soul running my Pikes at 140mm compared to someone say 3 stone heavier than me running their Pikes at 130mm?
What if they're doing 4 foot drops to flat and I'm doing 3 foot drops?
Will their Soul be indestructible while mine will fold when I ride off a curb?

From Cotic-
The Soul is limited to 130mm of travel or 508mm axle to crown, which ever is shortest. It's your frame though and you can do what you like with it but if you do try to run them longer the headtube will break.

Has anyone ever seen a Soul with a headtube ripped off due to this?

I thought the head angle was slack compared to the seat tube. By having a steep seat tube it moved the riders weight forward over the front fork so that the rear "skipped" over obstacles and you used the front suspension more? Opposite to a Jones so I've been told which places the riders weight more over the rear wheel.

Either way, I ride it with my weight more over the front and the fork wound out a bit more than I used to. Works for me and the peddling position is more efficient.

yes – just rebuilt mine with new 120mm rebas; its fun – well impressed with the maxle lite

"From Cotic-
The Soul is limited to 130mm of travel or 508mm axle to crown, which ever is shortest. It's your frame though and you can do what you like with it but if you do try to run them longer the headtube will break."

Si knows his bike I'm sure… But it's so tempting. 09 Rev with Maxle Lite or Pike is 518mm 😛 TALAS 140mm is 515mm. What's 10mm between friends? 🙂

Anyone running with 140mm rockshox at full length on the Soul? Any problems?

100mm Reba's feel great to me, the bike just seems to fit me, and puts a great big smile on my face when riding it 😀

I did say it's subjective. I'm used to a meta5 with a cane creek + 5 headset and Lyriks, so the Soul was bound to feel a bit steep. I've purchased a Handjob instead. OhMiGod! Different people like diferrent bike and you should try them first shocker!

I`ve been,mulling over the idea of buying a Soul for a while now,and these pics are telling me I need one.
In my head I am visualising a black soul with white wrap graphics,and a Reba Team Maxle lite.
Just checked Cotic site to see black is out of stock……. 😥

The Soul is limited to 130mm of travel or 508mm axle to crown, which ever is shortest. It's your frame though and you can do what you like with it but if you do try to run them longer the headtube will break.

Has anyone ever seen a Soul with a headtube ripped off due to this?

When I bought my Soul (number 20-odd) there wasn't any such caveat on the website or marketing – it was just promoted as a frame that would take 130mm forks. I quite happily ran '04 Freerides on mine (a-c about 518 I believe) as well as 130 Shermans and now Pikes. I'm not going to agonise over another 10mm of fork length, especially since in the real world riders of widely differing weights and riding styles and running different sag will bring loads more variables to the loading of the headtube.

Are there not some new rules coming in from Europe about steel hard tails needing stronger head tubes and the new cotic's will be rated then for 140mm forks but will be a little heavier?

If you do rip your headtube off any bike your unlikely to get a warranty as it clearly been ridden into something solid. The longer the fork the more likely this is to happen hence the BFE in the Cotic range and the Stiffe in Coves range.

i run 140 dual air revs, feel ace. just do a smidge more sag.

I'm not going to agonise over another 10mm of fork length, especially since in the real world riders of widely differing weights and riding styles and running different sag will bring loads more variables to the loading of the headtube.

My thoughts exactly.

Seems the standard fork length these days is 140mm (Revs 150mm for 2010)

love mine. Used to run 'Pushed' Pikes but changes to 120mm Maxle Reba teams.

mainly XT kit with thomson and carbon bars.

absolutely love it.

I never got on with my Soda. 6' with a large frame and it was just too big even with a small stem. T'was useless for descents as I couldn't hang back for enough without having my arms completely locked out.

A medium would most likely have ben too small although the TT is a better size.

24" on the 19 was too long for me.

Im a bit ambivalent about mine.Im not convinced about running anything over 100m on the front.Climbing anything steep with a longer fork is a pain as the front end tends to be hard to keep down.I think the bikes really was designed to run the 100m up front and i see Cy rides and recommends 100m fork as his choise.Overall id say its a good bike but not a classic by any means.

Hmm. I run mine with a fairly short stem just now and I ride it at 120mm or 130mm most of the time, can't say as I have any problems with climbing. Really steep, low gear stuff I do need to keep my weight forward but that's all really.

I never got on with my Soda. 6' with a large frame and it was just too big even with a small stem. T'was useless for descents as I couldn't hang back for enough without having my arms completely locked out.

A medium would most likely have ben too small although the TT is a better size.

24" on the 19 was too long for me.

Er so you'd want a medium then. Can't see how it would be too small if it was the right length.

Er so you'd want a medium then. Can't see how it would be too small if it was the right length.

…and at only 17.5" seat tube i'd need to be running at maximum post length all the time which has caused failures on Sodas in the past, so NO.

I think they are excellent frames, would be top of my list if I was buying another Hardtail

Well quite if the seatpost isn't installed to the correct depth in the frame. Not necessarily the seatpost minimum insertion line.

Love mine.

(double post oops)

Love mine too, Revs 115 for most things 130 for steeper descents, + when I fancy a slacker head angle.
I'm just under 6' + 17.5 is perfect. I love the long low stance + ability this gives you to weight shift + keep your centre of mass low, without hanging off the back + therefore losing control of the front end.
…its only a hardtail afterall….. gasp!

In the Swiss Alps in a blizzard it looks like

and again.

lets try again.

i give up

"Preview" and "Edit" are your friends you know 🙂

I can get image to upload. But it looks cracking anyway, especially with the glacier in the background.

Have you had the bike yet, Tim? If so, any thoughts?