wonder what this means for the Soul then ? Will it fade away into an old school, short steep xc/bikepacker bike, or will it get updated too ?

Why should the Soul fade away? They’re different animals for different riding styles (and often different terrain). My old Soul Mk2 was always great at swoopy singletrack etc, it just wasn’t a berm shredding, gnar eating monster.

Why should the Soul fade away?

…..because with the current trend to longer and lower, it is, for me at least. feeling outdated/weird when I swop onto it from my other bikes. Mine is one of the last 26’ers and I have no plans to change it though !

Looks great.
What’s the geometry like?

cokie – Member
They got rid of the minging wishbone! Yes.
Looks great.
Completely agree. I hated the wishbone. Made it look a bit on-one..

Wrong. Wishbones look great. Reminiscent of Muddy Fox from days of yore.

Hmmmm. Not really feeling the love love for it if I’m honest; I don’t like the seat tube / top tube brace. But I didn’t like my 26inch BFe to ride…it looked nice though.

The black with funky coloured decals is pretty cool though.

It’s a massive chunk cheaper than the Switchback and the Shan, so will probably be pretty popular.

6079smithw –

cokie –
They got rid of the minging wishbone! Yes.
Looks great.
Completely agree. I hated the wishbone. Made it look a bit on-one..

Wrong. Wishbones look great. Reminiscent of Muddy Fox from days of yore. [/quote]

I’m not that old 😉

I’ve heard whilst on a little demo day that there’s a new Soul just around the corner……

It’s actually the same angles as a Switchback but a bit higher of BB, longer of chainstay and reach, with more standover clearance thanks to the shorter seat tubes and dropped top tube and brace. Slightly lighter too!

Completely disagree. I hated loved the wishbone. Made it look a bit on-one Bontragery..

🙂

Same angles as a switchback? Switchy I think is a 65 head angle sagged at 140?

Looks fabulous. I said I wouldn’t move from 26 but …. very very tempting

My biggest critism is they don’t come in the lovely Rocket Red (as per @david’s pic)

Soul won’t fade away, I suspect we may see a revamp focused on 120 forks and “on-marketing” geomtery 😉 as per the rumour above

I’m now wondering if they’ll make some geo updates to some of the other bikes in their range. I do like the look of that light blue Bfe frame.

My 2012 BFe is that same Blue, looks lovely “in the steel” as it where

Looks fabulous. I said I wouldn’t move from 26 but …. very very tempting

Just bung 26″ wheels in the 650B frame. The old (sigh) BFe 275 is brill with tiny wheels in.

Switchy I think is a 65 head angle sagged at 140?

Almost (but no cigar) 66, as per dog head post, on page 1…

Same angles as a switchback? Switchy I think is a 65 head angle sagged at 140?

I adjusted all the geometry numbers for matching axle-crown lengths – Stanton’s are quoted with a 160mm fork at 25% sag – I’m anal like that 😛

Another vote for wishbones – they look fabulous.

Do you think Cotic are saving money on decals by not having to mix colours?

Almost (but no cigar) 66, as per dog head post, on page 1…

I didn’t read the post properly, close but no ceegar indeed! 😳

I REALLY like the black with printer colours, and even with a 120mm fork it’s 2° slacker than my Soul, which I’d like, and the BB wouldn’t be too low. But 1.5lb heavier for a large frame I bet, and suppose due to the beef it’ll not feel as boingy. As it’s got to be my do everything bike (just sold the Zesty) weight is important.

Hope the revised Soul rumours are true, but not sure I can hold out….

Mrs Polisherman is REALLY hoping the new Soul is out before our Spain trip in October…

kayla1 – Member

Looks fabulous. I said I wouldn’t move from 26 but …. very very tempting

Just bung 26″ wheels in the 650B frame. The old (sigh) BFe 275 is brill with tiny wheels in.

I measured up my 26″ and 650b wheels and tyres the other day, Purgatory Control, 2.3, tubeless on both, on the front, slightly wider rim on the 650b. Less than 1/2″ between them. 26 3/4″ and 27 1/4″.

I’m not in the market for a hardtail (N+2 was flatly refused by the minister for war and finance) but those printer colours!!!!
I really wanted an Escapade frame to replace my Kona Jake but really dislike the Fast Red but a trip to the powder coaters and some custom decals could definitely be on the cards.

Love the colours and geometry makes more sense but don’t like the dropped top tube and brace 🙁 also wishbones are awesome!
I hope they don’t change the soul too much, there is nothing wrong with ‘old school’ geometry on the right trails.

I measured up my 26″ and 650b wheels and tyres the other day, Purgatory Control, 2.3, tubeless on both, on the front, slightly wider rim on the 650b. Less than 1/2″ between them. 26 3/4″ and 27 1/4″.

I’m not massively trustful of your measuring skills, seeing as the rims differ by exactly 25mm in diameter. Did you forget to inflate the 27.5 tyres? 😉

…..because with the current trend to longer and lower, it is, for me at least. feeling outdated/weird when I swop onto it from my other bikes.

Same here with my old hard tails. Usually use my full suss, which I turn over every 3 to 4 years so keep reasonably up to date and found it made my older HT’s feel odd. Not bad, just odd. Even changing bars etc didn’t really help so they were never getting used. Cashed in loads of stuff to get a modern HT and now have two bikes I can mix and match with. 8)

I think it’s down to geometry staying reasonably similar for years but then suddenly having a huge change. It has made a lot of bikes, and most 26″ in my experience, feel weird. Doesn’t make them bad and if you have never had a lls bike you have no reason to care.

Agreed, I think if the Soul is updated I may be tempted. Problem is there isn’t much of a market for a 4 yr old 26 version. Even with good kit 🙁

On an entirely different note, does anyone want a (slightly abused) kidney?

It sounds like they’ve taken 26+ into account as well, which is nice.

Paul Cotic told me a while back that the original Rocket was conceived as a FS BFe (which was going to be its original name too). Looks like they’ve gone full circle and the BFe is now a HT Rocket…

I like the look of it, but just not enough to replace the XS 2nd gen BFe I already have, even if it does feel like riding a BMX when I switch to it from my Rocket 275!

Do people reckon it would initially be ok to run a big 26 fork and wheels? I have some lovely older 36rc2 in the garage in need of a bike! I’m pretty sure they can take big tires and at 150mm probably long enough to be ballpark with 650b forks.

Do people reckon it would initially be ok to run a big 26 fork and wheels?

It’d be fine. I’ve got 26″ bits in my ‘old’ shape BFe 275 and in my (new to me) Rocket and they both ride smashing. 650B can balls right off.

edit- a side by side comparison of the 650B wheels the Rocket came on and the nice 26″ wheels I put in it showed less than an inch difference in the overall diameters.

Do people reckon it would initially be ok to run a big 26 fork and wheels? I have some lovely older 36rc2 in the garage in need of a bike! I’m pretty sure they can take big tires and at 150mm probably long enough to be ballpark with 650b forks.

Definitely. With the 26″ tyres it’ll have about the same BB height as my hardtail does and that’s low but not too low. And generally 26″ forks are 10mm shorter than 27.5 ones for the same travel, so the angles will be as with a 140mm 27.5 fork.

Have a RocketMax and love it. Love the look of this (blue one) and have a couple of well spec’d 26″ bikes i’d happily rape for parts to build one of these up but…

Come on Cy sort it out!

[video]https://vimeo.com/230854382[/video]

Baybutt and Camus having a dick about…

(and a microcosm of Sheffield riding)

<<edit – why can’t I get this to embed, rather than just link?>>

Looks like the rear does use a wishbone…. at least on the Large that STW have.
Seems odd to have different seat stay design depending on the size?!

Still looks great either way though.

Seems odd to have different seat stay design depending on the size?!

Prototype? Or stronger/stiffer for the larger frame?