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Just got an email from Cotic, saying that they've decided to stop making the Soul.
I absolutely loved my 26er, was a fantastic bike to ride. Sad day to see it discontinued.
Yeah I had a custard yellow one, great bike. I do worry that there is no ‘xc’ bike in range now - Solaris is firmly a trail bike. Or I’m getting old and grumpy!
I had a V1.2 and just got a Gen 5 in the demo fleet sale..... extremely glad I did.
Feel oddly emotional.
I've still got my 26 Soul and used to have the Simple as well. I never had the Soul down as an xc bike though. Mine was 130mm forks and very much in the do it all / trail camp. Its sad to see the Soul go, it does look like 29 is now becoming the most popular wheel size.
I wonder how bad/good a Solaris would be at "XC" type riding with a 120mm fork, low rise bar and light wheels and tyres.
Anyway, sad to see such a big name go, but there was a bit of an overlap with the BFE already, and that's definitely not what a small brand wants
Is it being replaced with something new ?
Sad to see it go, glad I have a Gen 5 one, it'll probably be another bike I'll never get rid of.
Is it being replaced with something new ?
Nope declining sales apparenty, people prefer the Bfe if they want 27.5 or the Solaris if they want 29ers...
I had actually planned to buy a Soul for my son when he's a bit bigger, didn't want to spend the cash on on yet as he'll quickly outgrow it. (yes, I wanted it for myself)
Can understand there not being space for two 27.5 hardtails in their range - just surprising the Soul was the one to go.
Got the same email. End of an era indeed. Still ride my 2013 26" Soul singlespeed with 140mm fork.
Shame - but they continue to offer other great bikes. I’d be in the “rather a Bfe or Solaris” camp
I'm a bit sad too. A gen 3 Soul was the bike that got me back into mountain biking. Although, given that I now own a SolarisMax and a FlareMax I'm probably representative of the reasons why the Soul is going out of production.
I'm tempted to pick up an Orange one for posterity - it will alway be "the" cotic colour for me. But maybe I'll just head ebaywards and see if anyone is selling a Gen3 in large...
although if anyone is feeling really nostalgic:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=411264
I too had the email and felt strangely saddened by this. Been riding Souls in one form or another for the past 11 years, every time I sold one I instantly regretted it, owned the same one twice and sold it twice. It’s the benchmark for me geometry and handling wise and the bike I just kept going back too.
I now have a gen 5 frame and after doubting the longshot geometry before purchase I now get it and love it. I’ll never part with it now.
Just read the email as well and slightly gutted for some weird reason.
I've been mountain biking properly for just over 8 years, which is when I bought my first Soul and I've had one ever since, though 3 different frames. Until last week when I dismantled the 275 and replaced it with a Solaris!
This is the last photo of my Soul. Shortly before it was shipped off to Poland. It was then stolen after a couple of months but nearly 10 months later it was recovered when the owner saw it outside a local cafe.
and this is the first photo. still mostly boardman at this point, but I had a lot fun upgrading it over the years.
Genuinely sad about this. I went through a lot of steel hard tails looking for "the one". A Soul evaded me for a long time, and I've never looked back. 26" was awesome, 27.5" also awesome. Now I need mine never to break. A mate was just pricing one up on recommendation, too - alas, no stck.
Can understand there not being space for two 27.5 hardtails in their range – just surprising the Soul was the one to go.
Me too.
I wonder if they will rename the next Solaris the Soul?
Shocked but not surprised... or is it the other way round?
Wonder if they've considered re-naming the Solaris to keep the torch burning?
I wonder how bad/good a Solaris would be at “XC” type riding with a 120mm fork, low rise bar and light wheels and tyres.
Get a mk2, great for XC riding...
http://unduro.co.uk/mtb/review-cotic-solaris/
edd
I wonder if they will rename the next Solaris the Soul?
My guess is Cy would be very slow to use the name on anything that wasn't exactly the original brief, a lively springy hardtail- not sure he'd feel completely happy using the name on the Solaris
And I'd imagine making it more affordable and BFE-like just to keep the name in the range was ruled out for the same reason.
Still riding my beloved MK1 😢
My guess is Cy would be very slow to use the name on anything that wasn’t exactly the original brief, a lively springy hardtail- not sure he’d feel completely happy using the name on the Solaris
Good point.
The current Solaris is pretty solid and slack, potential for a more XC-ish 29er HT perhaps.
Not surprised at all but it does feel strange! Just goes to show how things change.
I used mine for all sorts of stuff, XC rides to uplift days. It too started as a frame replacement for the Boardman XC bike I had - and thinking about it, I’m sure anyone doing that now would be replacing the frame on a 29er, so that’s probably part of the reason it’s gone.
It used to be the case that I was always seeing people on Soul’s but nowadays I can only think of one mate on a 27.5 Soul. And almost everyone I know with a hardtail either has a big fork on a 27.5 or a shorter fork on a 29er.
Also, the current BFe geometry means it climbs well and carves singletrack - it’s not all slack of seat angle and high of BB like the older ones were with big forks. And modern 140-160mm forks seem to actually work on hardtails, the damping and air springs mean you can run plenty of sag and still have the mid stroke feel good. So the BFe is more versatile than it used to be.
Of all the bikes I've ever owned, my Mk 1 Soul was the one I felt most connected with. (Mine was one of the very, very few that cracked at the headtube.)
Had a mk2 and I rode it all over the country and my riding improved no end. That orange with the wrap looked brilliant. Lots of good memories but the call of a 29er meant I sold it on. Sad to see Cotic end production but change happens
i would post an image if it was straight forward!
I think it's time for a new standards buzzword/acronym, has been at least a week. Maybe we could have LLsS&S?
I had a MK2 I think:
I did end up ripping my knee open and spending four days in hospital after crashing spectacularly on it, but I can’t blame the bike. I am big Cotic fan tho: Roadrat, MK1 Solaris, MK1 Rocket, MK2 Solaris, SolarisMAX, FlareMax.
My LS SolarisMax is my fav. 140mm forks. XC bike it isn’t, brilliant bike it is!
Shame about the Soul, but you can see the logic.
Never had a Soul. Always wanted one but at 6'4" I was always too big. Even the Large longshot 'technically' only goes up to 6'2". In truth, for people of my size 29ers make more sense.
Ironically been looking at either a SolarisMAX or FlareMAX. Was booked on for demo at the end of March before the world stopped.
Question is if you could have only one of those two, which would it be? Particularly interested in why Alex feels the Solaris was/is the best of the lot.
Cheers
Mine is my current go-to-bike for the lockdown. With 700c wheels and carbon fork it has been ideal for riding from home and a little light off road . I recently bought a Solaris Max so I don't know whether I will ever put the Soul back to full off-road spec but I can't see me actually selling it, it will always be a handy hack.
I had a 26 inch Soul and a Soda, both lovely frames. The Soda frame is on the wall in the spare room ; )
I don't own a hardtail anymore but if I did it'd be a 29er. It's a shame the Soul is discontinued but understandable. Orange was the best colour!
The small mk3 26" I had was ace. I wonder if the declining sales of the Soul are because it's far too long.
In reality its been many different steel hardtails over the years with one name.
In reality its been many different steel hardtails over the years with one name.
Which is why renaming the Solaris as the Soul with the next update might make sense.
I had mk 1 or 2, upgraded from an Inbred but didnt like the orange so anti-murdered it.
Particularly interested in why Alex feels the Solaris was/is the best of the lot.
The first Solaris was the first 29 I rode while demoing the Mk1 26 rocket. I really liked it so when Cy was selling the demo fleet, I bought it. From then on I was hooked on the 29er HT and preferred it to the 26 Soul. Maybe that was because I’d hurt myself tho on the Soul.
The SolarisMax V1 I bought was for my daughter. So a bit small for me in a M. But a M Longshot is perfect (even tho Cy and I have a gentlemen’s disagreement that I should get a L, I always get M Cotic frames!). It’s just so much fun everywere - it’s been to Wales, Quantocks, etc plus loads of rides in all seasons here in the FoD.
I don’t really like it much on 29s tho strangely. Been on chubbies 99% of its time with me which is now nearly 2 years. I think all the other Cotics I’ve had, I always had something ‘similar’ or wanted something similar. The SolarisMax tho is different to anything I’ve had before in terms of a HT I’m happy ride anywhere.
Sad.
I've been on Cotic hardtails since they first appeared - I had Soul no.22 of the initial batch of 30, then spent a decade+ on a Soda, bought one of (if not the) first v5 frames early in 2018. I had been tempted by a BFE, but Paul told me to wait and try the Soul and he was right - a much more refined ride and gave away very little in the handling stakes.
I've ridden the snot out of the v5 and it's never put a foot wrong. Mostly peaks trailriding, but plenty of steep and gnadgery stuff, some enduro, some bikepacking. It just gets on with it and still surprises me with what it'll let me get away with. For such a long bike, its incredibly nimble in the tight; non-super low BB in conjunction with the LS geo means you can roll all manner of stupid steps and its the best tech climber I've ridden.
I do think it lost out a bit to not being as marketable as the BFe. The Soul carries a certain amount of "old skool XC" history* around with it, which is a bit unfair to its talents - especially the new ones. I suspect there's plenty of people on newish BFes who would actually be better off on Souls, but were swayed by the bigger rad-factor of the BFe.
Anyways. I'll have to look after mine a bit more if I can't get a new one! Have some pics!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-En6MnrBd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlJNtafh7r0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
*years and years ago I did an uplift day with a bunch of guys I vaguely knew from the old Chocolatefoot forum. They assumed that because I mostly rode a Soul I was an XC-lycraweenie with no handling skills and were a bit surprised when I could comfortably keep up with them both in speed and sendiness on pure DH trails, until I pointed out that in a typical 6hr uplift day they got 10 3 minute runs. If I rode for 6hrs, I probably got 1.5-2hrs of descending in...
Was my first 'proper' bike, after starting out on a Trek 800. Bought in 2003 (IIRC mine was no. 49) and I bloody loved it, built it up myself, grey paint, red decals to go with the red bombers and red fire xc tyres.
Cracked at the chainstay hole, Cy gave me a half price replacement, but it just never seemed as beguiling as the mk1 somehow.
Great memories, but as I'll probably never have another hardtail, ho hum.
I'm a Solaris man and I am sad to see the Soul go! But I guess with with the array of tyre widths available you can run a Solaris in plus mode with 2.6/2.8 tyres or the Bfe depending on the nature of your ride. and the Solaris is more versatile because it offers the 29 option - and probably a lot more sales to Cotic because of the number of bases it not only covers, but covers well.
Not sure I agree with the new Solaris not being "XC". Seemed ok with a 43 miler at the weekend with 3000 feet of climbing.
@househusband, yours would have been a mark 2, as you got it after riding my mark 2, up in the Pentlands on a ride with me and TJ. At least I presume it was a mark 2, it was certainly different from the initial models, most notably it didn't have V brake bosses and was not available in orange.
It does feel like the sad end of an era to know that there'll no longer be a Soul being sold by Cotic.
Finding it sad too... I basically learned to ride on my first one, and it led me to get my Hemlock which was basically my partner in crime for everything, right up to the enduro world series... But I get the reasons. And I suppose, while the Solaris maybe fills the same evolutionary slot now, it's a very different sort of bike.
The whole BFe/Soul conundrum's always been interesting I think, I remember even way back in the day Cy saying that most people who bought a BFe would be better off on a Soul. But if you've got a "hardcore" and "less hardcore" model nobody cares how capable the less hardcore model is, they just go direct to the beefy one.
Had three and loved them all, A sad day indeed 🙁
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and lastly
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🙁
Got the latest model earlier this year. Really great bargain from eBay. Hands down one of the best hardtails I’ve owned and I pretty much only ride them. I’ll be taking extra special care of it from now on.
Think the Bfe is more popular purely because of the price. That’s why I bought one many moons ago. Simply couldn’t afford a Soul. I wonder if the Flare will be dropped next. Seems like the end of an era. I don’t like the new headtube badge and downtube decal on the Rocket either.
Not sure I agree with the new Solaris not being “XC”. Seemed ok with a 43 miler at the weekend with 3000 feet of climbing.
Was that my comment? I owned one and I did similar length rides on it.
Yes it's an XC bike in the broad sense, but not really in the narrower sense like the older version I owned.