Solaris – should i …shouldn't i ?

With the price reduction on the Solaris mk1 i’m now thinking of buying a frame & just putting everything from my Orange clockwork onto it ( fancy a steel frame + more room for wider rear tyre ).
Does this sound a good idea , or am i just going to waste my time( & money ) ?

The bit of extra rear tyre room is more on the mk2. That said I’m not sure what the clockwork is like for mud clearance.

FWIW I’m also a big fan of the Solaris.

I’ve put 2.3 on – but you’ve got to keep it pumped up ( & even then i’ve rubbed the paint off ) .

I have 2.2 mountain kings on mine. No issues but that’s not exactly a wide tyre.

I’m sure that i’d read that the Solaris frame would take a 2.4 no problem .
I was also looking at the Stanton sherpa , but at this price it looks like my mind’s made up ( just need to persuade the other half now :wink:)

Hope it works out 😉

Cheers . I’ll pop the question after i’ve made the tea etc. 🙂

Proposing seems a bit drastic.

Tell me about it …been there & done it .

Long time ago too 🙄

I’m sorry I just can’t help it.

Cheeky 😉

Buy it,they’re brilliant.I’ve got a mavic 2.35 on the back of mine,noooooo problem.

I’m having a confusing time with my Mk1 Solaris at the moment. I stopped riding it in January. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but my Five was just more fun and not much slower. Basically, I couldn’t think of a ride where I would choose the Solaris over the Five. So, it sat in the shed for six months. I only pulled it out the other week to give it one more ride before selling it. The problem is that I loved it. I took it out again yesterday and smashed my previous times on the Five, up and down. But, more importantly it was huge fun.

So, a week ago I wanted to sell it, now I think it’s brilliant. Hope that’s some help 🙂

I’ve just bought a mk1 and I love it. The geometry is spot on and really inspires confidence. I haven’t ridden since March 2014 and found myself riding flat out around my local woods 😀

Edit – buy one!

 Solaris – should i …shouldn’t i ?

Of course you should!

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Well I’ve got the green light 😀
Just need to check out if my headset fits etc & then the orders going in .
Then I need to decide which colour – I was duck egg blue all the way earlier , but the green’s growing on me now

Congrats and keep us posted with what you opt for.

My wife has a Soul in the Duck Egg Blue finished off with Hope kit in Gunmetal – looks mint! My Solaris is in the green and I ain’t in Hope’s racing team 🙄 so no nicely offset finishing kit for me!

Will do Normal Man – amazing what a carbonara & a bit of ironing can do eh ? ( so glad she doesn’t read this forum !)

Thanks for that whitestone, looks like an evening googling Solaris pics 😀

Good work fella!

Duck egg ordered this end too! My wife told me to shift my MK2 Cotic Soul though (could be emotional) ‘HidesBikeInLoft’

Thinking of grabbing a MK1 myself.

Will probably go green even though I still wish they did the blue 🙂

With them only having medium I’m a tad unsure on whether it’ll be too small for me at a shade under 6ft

For those of you with one what size do you ride?

Ta

I’m 5′ 10 (1/2)” and have a Large Solaris. I should be smack in the middle of medium but I’ve a long body and shorter legs so the large suited me better. Could have gone either way. Certainly not stretched out – did the Yorkshire Dales 300Km ride on it the other weekend and didn’t get back ache (lots of aches at contact points but that was to do with me not the bike). At 6′ I would be looking at a Large.

6′ on a Large

I’m 5’11” so I might email them tomorrow. My Clockwork’s a medium , but it might be best to check first .

5’9″ (1/2″) and I’m on a medium. It always feels quite long but that is running wideish bars.

2.2 rubber queen seemed to have enough clearance for this winter if that helps.

Short answer: see if you can find the geometry charts for the clockwork and compare with the cotic.

Long answer:
I’m 5’11” (and a half) on a medium.

I’m often on the line between medium and large frames. I had previously been riding a large Spesh Carve and loved the reach but found, despite long limbs, the standover wasn’t very confidence inspiring.

I guess my mtb old school mindset played a part as I have seen many that are not bothered by this so much these days.

My Carve had a 70mm stem and 700mm bars.

I spoke with Paul at cotic who recommended a medium, which was only slightly shorter but had more standover. I run it with a 60mm stem and 740mm bars.

The standover was just what I was looking for. Ideally I’d have a tad more reach, maybe 10mm but then I mainly ride road bikes so am used to being stretched out. I could swap for a 70mm stem but love the way it handles right now.

A friend of mine that is 6’1″ but likea quite a small bike has ridden mine and thinks it’s perfect so I guess it depends what you usually prefer.

My only issue has been getting a saddle that feels right. I think it may be down to the seat tube angle possibly. I really can’t be sure. I’ve tried at least 5 different saddles and a couple of those were my ‘go to’ default ones. None seem ‘just right’ but it hasn’t stopped me enjoying the bike.

I’ve just been printing the two charts off while at work ( ahem ) . They look pretty similar to be honest – i think i should get away with the medium ok , my clockwork feels fine .

6’3″ on a large. Test rode one up at the Dales Bike Centre and was told he XL would definitely be too big. Great bike just need to get round to changing out the forks as they are the weak point! Far too flexy & spindly!

5ft11 on a medium. I test rode one while I was demo’ing a rocket and then ended up buying the demo. I have short legs/long body

Cotic Solaris by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

That’s a 125mm reverb in the Med frame. Fitted me really well with a short (50mm I think) stem and some flat 780mm bars.

I’m sorry, but this thread title is really getting to me. Yes, it’s a good solution if you want security as it is designed around that and provides good sandboxing so you keep anything risky separate.

Showing your age there aracer 🙂

Anyway, were you after pictures ernie ?

Mmmmm stop with all the solaris love !

Not necessarily! OK, yes I was using Solaris in the early 90s, but also as recently as 3 years ago.

Bloody hell roverpig ….you’ve put more duck egg blue doubt in my mind now – that looks nice does that .

Roverpig linked to indecision? Surely not 😉

Sorry RP I couldn’t resist. 😀

Hey, NM, don’t shoot the messenger 🙂

Actually, this is my favorite picture of the bike, for obvious reasons.

I only laugh RP as when I go in to one of my bike related rants at home my wife says I’m doing a ‘roverpig’ now. You are just far more brave than me and actually post it!

In fact I mentioned the Solaris / Five post to her and the reaction was “are you sure that isn’t you?”

Keep up the the good work Sir.

Great pic btw.

Maybe you are going mad. Maybe I am you and you are just talking to yourself online !

And my username was not after the Commencal I once owned but trying to convince myself of my sanity.

I think you might be on to something…