I know a lot of people are interested in cotic seeing as it’s such a great brand so you might be interested in my latest project too.
Having been a cotic soul owner previously I decided to get back on the cotic band wagon and having looked around endlessly for a cheap BFe I ended up buying this soul frame for £50.
It’s a bit of a mess having been powdercoated and also has a dent in the non driveside chainstay but I thought I’d have a go at restoring it to its former glory.
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So the frame is off to the painters just now where they’re going to repair the dent and paint the bike before adding decals and lacquer.
It’s going to be my main play bike for Glentress etc. having just sold my Meta 5 frame so it won’t be in the same guise as is shown in the pics. I just built it up with bits from my singlespeed to check it was all straight and true before spending any cash on it.
I’ll be using some of the parts from the meta, namely:
SLX double crankset and BB
SLX shifters 9spd
SLX cassette 9spd
SLX brakes 200mm front and 180mm rear
Stans ZTR355 Wheels with Hope Pro2 Hubs
Charge Spoon saddle
Time roc attack pedals
– and have treated myself to a couple of things to finish it off:
Can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting this built up. Could be a couple of weeks until I get the frame back from the painters though. Until then all I can do is admire all the new kit that’s going to go on it. Going to have legs of steel by the time it’s finished as I’ll have to ride the singlespeed all the time.
It’s quite a bit more than I was originally planning – I had a £60 powdercoat in mind with no repair initially but I saw a few powdercoated bikes that looked a little shoddy and decided it was worth making a decent job of it and got a place to do it who specialise in custom motorbike paint jobs.
I’m just getting a flat colour as is traditional with cotics but hopefully the quality of finish will be top notch. Hopefully . . .
They were going to do one of two options depending on what they decided would be best. One option is to drill a tiny hole in the rear of the chainstay and gently tap out the dent from behind before filling any imperfections and welding the hole. The other option is simply to fill the dent – as akak said, it’s not a big dent and probably makes no significant structural difference. The previous owner was about 15 stone and rode it like that so it can’t be that bad.
I am putting a certain amount of faith in their experience with motor bike repair etc. though, as they’re bound to know a lot more than i do about such things.
Yes I’d thought about sizing down the rotor but decided I’d just stick with the 180mm. I think it’s really unlikely that the braking forces will do any damage and at £170 all in for the frame if it does brake in a couple of years time it will have been a fun project if nothing else. Fingers crossed it’ll be fine.
I might have been able to get a second hand one for £170 at a push but then this is going to look good as new and there won’t be another one like it.
As I said, I had a good look around for a second hand BFe but they were in short supply and going for about 225 in decent condition. Plus it’s just a bit of fun – a good little project.
So they are going to treat it like a panel repair 🙁
Filler is likely to come out double fast. I would be doing some research / spk to Cy on the effect of welding it. It is possible to weaken it. More harm than leaving well alone
My nearly new BFe frame cost me 150 off here. Did you get that frame from a guy in Dundee?
I would honestly be giving it a quick patch spray, and riding it as it. With all the Bfe frames being sold lately I reckon more should come up 2nd hand pretty soon.
Iy you are going down the repair route then get a decent place to fill the dent with brass or solder. It will be worth it in the long run.
Argos charge about £15 to brass fill a dent.
If you are going the whole hog with new paint then consider the cable routing for the rear brake. Two mounts at either end of the TT never seems enough (cable always bow in the middle). Again Argos would charge about £8 for an additional cable guide.
With shelling out for paint it only seems right to do the frame work properly.
Shop around for decent powdercoaters. Depending where you are of course.
My local outfit charge about £50 for a sand blast and paint in a non fancy colour.
As I say, I am confident that they will do a good job having seen their previous work.
I know what you mean about the alterations too. The frame I have has closed loops for running the hoses through which means i’ll have to dismantle the brakes to run the hose through so I had thought of having these altered to cable tie style ones but in the end decided to keep it as original.
Nice bikes by the way, particularly the Kona – nicely understated – not sure if the Soul will end up that way yet!
I’ve just received the frame back from the painters this week. They’ve done a great job and the repair to the dent is flawless. I’m building it up today so more pics will follow. So far so good. Am pleased with the colour choice too.
How did they do the dent in the end? Filler or the pop it back from the other side? Pics of dent repair too ifyoupleasethanksverymuchly.
Letmetalktomark – I remember early Souls never had that middle hose guide as the steel was butted very thin in the middle and Cy was worried about welding onto such thin steel. Something like that anyway.
I was indeed riding down Hawkhill this morning. The bike is off in to the shop to have new brake hoses fitted as the ones off my old bike had some pretty nasty bashes.
Won’t be getting it back until Wednesday though so these are the only pics I have. None of the dent yet but I will get some. It looks exactly the same as the drive side though. They popped the dent back form the other side apparently.
Nice one, I was just reading this thread in the back of the work van, looked up and saw a green soul coming down the hill! What are the chances of that. Nice job by the way bet you are well chuffed.
It does kind of look like it doesn’t it, the hole is precut to go around the bottle boss so there isn’t any other way to position it. So no it isn’t upside down, that’s just how the decals are.
I’m building up my Mk1 Soul after having a crack in the chainstay mended. There is a little drain hole near the dropout on those models that can cause a teeny problemette.
Powder Coatings in Birmingham did a beautiful job of re-spraying it for £48. Mot a smidge of paint in any of the threads, and it’s a fantastic stealth matt black. Makes all of the other bits on it look a bit tarnished.
I’ve zip-tied the brake hose in the centre position, to stop flappage, but I’ve threaded an O ring around the hose which makes for a smarter look and should stop it moving about.
Well done, for all the usual naysayers doubting the skills of the company you found, looks like they’ve managed the project well. I sold my Voodoo Wanga on ebay for £8 the other week cos it had a pin-head hole in it. Wished I’d have kept it for a project now!
Seeing Cotics in different-than-standard colours always makes me smile!
Seeing your bike makes the whole “you could have gotten a neat 2nd hand one for the same money”-talking obsolete, doesn’t it?! Your project, your colour choice – good job! 🙂
So Cotic can still supply the complete decal kit then?!
Do they have a choice of ‘period’ ‘Soul’ decals? White letters vs. black letters etc?
I’m thinking of petrol-izing my custard Soul (see colour patch below).
It’s a greenish blue.
I know, I know it’s a sacrilege to give-up on this original iconic colour and some seem to love it.
But… I really don’t like it! And I have tried hard to like it! Still do. 😐
The best thing about the custard colour – as my other half suggested – is that it doesn’t look fancy… 😆
When i pull my finger out and resurrect my Bontrager i was going with custard. I spoke to Cy to find out the specific flavour cos it looks great in the flesh.
your rite what you said about the decal, if you turn the bike round facing the opposite way, the writing is the rite way up, ive got one of the new gen. Bfe’s with the decal lacquered to the frame, looks the same as yours..
Seeing your bike makes the whole “you could have gotten a neat 2nd hand one for the same money”-talking obsolete, doesn’t it?! Your project, your colour choice – good job!
OK, OK, wait a minute, this is an idea:
– keep the custard Soul and get a Bird’s sticker
(I might have finally found a reason to like the colour, jambalaya! 🙂 )
– get a project like the OP and paint it petrol
– run one suspended and geared, the other SS and rigid
Puts on a determined look and goes CTRL+T -> ebay …
I wish I’d seen that Wants for £8-00, I’d have given you £20 for it. I’ve got one as a rigid SS. I desperately want it repainted as it’s seen better days.
Well done OP. “We” throw far too much stuff away. That’s the advantage of steel. Colour is great, looks similar to Jenn’s test Solaris. It’s the colour I want for me Wanga. Did you get decals from Cy?