Duly signed!

If you have some good quality drill bits, start by drilling through the remaining bolt with a 1mm drill and then progressively use bigger drills. With the ‘inside’ of the bolt removed, if you are careful, you may be able to ‘collapse’ the remaining threaded bit that’s left of the bolt without damaging the threads on the stem.

Good luck and may the force be with you.

Re the ‘boring’ colour, my thinking was simple in that if I get a nice pretty colour (like cotic orange which I love) then there will be lots of tears and snotters when it inevitably gets scratched and scuffed.

I think I’m a relatively careful person when it come to protecting the paint finish but given I have a propensity to topple most times I’m out it’s not long before I’ve inadvertantly marked the finish.

Maybe I should just GAPOB 😉

Actually everything is as per the standard Solaris geometry. I spent a lot of time ensuring everything was kept the same. It still climbs like a mountains goat, although I cannie.

No mud clearance ?

Plenty, the same as the standard Solaris, if not a wee tad better as the chain line is a tiny bit longer to take the slack out of the chain.

Personally I’m not keen on the saddle nor the silly mudguard on the forks

Agreed! It doesn’t look the best but it keeps the mud of my face. I’ve yet to see an aesthetically pleasing mud guard

Did you get it professionally laquered or was it a rattle can job?

Rattle can, I’ll wait and see how it holds up, if it’s crap I can get it clear powder coated for £40 inc a quick sandblast clean.

Brooks + dropper is certainly something I’ve never seen before!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is a Ti brooks if that make any difference 😀

Did you not think about a non-Rohloff dropout and using a Monkeybone on the brake mount? I think it looks tidier, but would it work with the inboard brake?

Yeh, I ran the old rig with a self made Monkey Bone. It certainly made things a little easier and looked good but still a faff when the rear wheel needed removing.

Only a mother….

😆

I agree, 28.5lbs is a tad ‘heavy’ by todays standards but to put it in perspective I’ve lost almost half a stone over the last few weeks and it was free! I’m still a little fat but I’m happy!

Yes, the tyre / wheel aligement is socking, sorry 😳

Me! OP, I’ve owned several 5’s over the years, along with various HT rigs: Orange P7 (commute), Genesis IO, Cotic Simple 26″, Cotic Roadrat

At the tail end of last year I eventually sold EVERYTHING to fund 1 bike. I had the choice of going for a Ti frame with OK bits or a niche steel frame with my choice of top notch bits. I opted for the latter and bought a Cotic Solaris and fitted it with a Rohloff with other nice bits and bobs.

Solaris photo thread

Have to say, I’ve loved it and haven’t regretted for one minute selling everything I used to own.

Now I’m saving for a custom 953 HT frame.

oxymoron: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Yes, I’ll eventually get it re-sprayed, if I can cope with not having it for a week! I did consider the ‘Simple’ but getting the back wheel off is a right faff. Compounded by IME never having had a horizontal dropout that didn’t loosen of it’s own accord.

All this ‘fettling’ is a kind of ‘experiment’ before I go for my custom build.

Bregante: Nothing has been tweaked in terms of geometry. My local frame builder and I spent considerable time making sure nothing was changed with these ‘mods’. The seat angle and clearance are still as per the standard Solaris. Might be my fish eye lens making it al look a bit weird 🙂

My, errrrmmm, slightly altered Solaris frame. 😳

I’m saving the pennies for a custom frame but couldn’t resist fettling with my current rig. I had all the original guides removed and then new custom guides brazed on to accommodate the Rohloff. Then brazed on some Paragon swinging dropouts thus removing the need for a chain tensioner but ensuring all the geometry stayed the same.

Surprisingly, all the tweaking ended up with a marginal weight saving of 1/3 lb on the overall build.

[/url]
Tweaked Cotic Solaris[/url] by Rosscopeco[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
Tweaked Cotic Solaris[/url] by Rosscopeco[/url], on Flickr

Brooks, naff said 😀

Coming from Inverness and now living in Glasgow, we frequently travel North and beyond to see my family. I’ve stopped counting how many time I’ve driven the A9 and been ‘stressed’ by the time it’s over. Depending on the time of day we now tend to take the slightly slower A82 as opposed to a stressed out trip up the A9.

IMO I find it rather bemusing when people pass me a great speed on the dual bits and then cannie overtake for toffee and sit behind slower vehicles when the road is clear and safe for overtaking. Over the years I driven both roads rather swiftly and sometimes very sedately. I’ve learned that by sitting at a steady 60ish we often only take a few minutes longer than if I drive like a demon. That being said I would still seize most OT opportunities that came my way.

Again, IME and with the exception of the summer ‘tourist’ months I’ve found the A82 offers a far ‘safer and less stressful’ road to travel on. Why? IMO it’s because the queues of traffic very seldom form in the same way as they do on the A9 and therefore there aren’t as many ‘frustrated’ folk trying to find as many ‘near death’ experiences as they can on the A9. I enjoy driving and as above the A82 usually only takes a few minutes longer if I sit at a steady 60 AND take every OT opportunity.

Will average speed cameras work on the A9? IMO it depends on how what we mean by ‘work’. My fear would be that the queues could just get worse because some less confident drivers may be less inclined to overtake the slower vehicles because of the cameras. IMO that could lead to even more frustration and in turn result in more daft overtaking manoeuvres by some.

Good / bad drivers are a constant. Some people are confident drivers and will safely overtake whilst some aren’t so confident and will be less inclined to overtake. All types of drivers can cause crashes. You can be the best driver in the world but if some nutter pulls out in front of you, your’e still brown bread.

It’s a state of mind, ‘Drive prettily’ as my old man always says.

Just had a chat with a very reputable watch repair business in Glasgow and asked for their thoughts. Without any hesitation they recommend the Kinetic movement over the auto movement. In their experience the auto’s are susceptible to vibration and shock and would eventually succumb to repeated exposure ie MTBing. Having read a little more online, it would appear that replacing a duff capacitor is relatively simple anyway. Decision made me thinks! Thanks again for your input.

winston_dog – Member
I bought the Seiko solar divers a few weeks ago.

I have got fed up with flat batteries or crap time keeping from automatic watches. I had bought an automatic divers watch from Chris Ward which looked great but I sent it back as it gained about 30s a day.

I have to admit winston_dog I share your frustration re the timekeeping of my ‘good’ watch.

I have the SKA371 (I also got it from Creation)

Bobba fatt…did you have to pay any custom fees? Is there a limit in terms of product value you can bring in before you pay taxes?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Does anyone know of any issues with either these watches going a bit loopy when they are subjected to all the hand / arm vibrations us MTBers experience?

I broke my RH clavicle in a similar OTB fashion when I was 24. Being right handed I thought my Rugby days were over. However, they gave me the option of a plate but I decided not to following advise from my rugby club physios. So….other than a 6 – 8 week recovery period building the muscle up around the shoulder I then got back to playing club rugby at a reasonably high level as an inside (crash ball) centre for another 6 years with no ill effects. The best way to protect a joint / bone is to build muscle round it….oh, and drink lots of milk!

Another ‘in the trade’ here, ‘over boarding’ is a no brainer, as long as you pick up the joists and not the lath.

If I was restoring an old castle or stately home then I can understand why some might want to go back to how it was ‘originally’ done. Do you live in a castle or stately home 😆

£1K for body only seems…eye watering?! Can anyone remember how much the 60D was when it first came out?

Had the LEV for maybe 9 months now with no major issues. There’s a bit of play but nothing too bad. I fitted the tensioner and glad I did, the supplied cable stretched a fair bit so it came in handy. If I had one bug bare about it, it would be that you have to completely unload your weight from the saddle before pressing the lever and sitting ‘gently’ on it to drop the post. If I put my full weight on it once the lever is pressed it tends to stick. Anyone else observed this? Other than that, it’s my first dropper post and I can’t believe how much of a difference it’s made to my riding.

DIY’d my own wet room inc toilet and sink 5 years ago when we re-furbished our existing house. It wasnnie difficult and I don’t recall it costing that much more than a bog standard one (pun intended!) especially by the time you factor in shower curtains, shower trays, glass doors etc etc

The room measures 3m x 2m. I used moisture resistant boards on the wall and floor. I sealed the floor and walls with a wet room tanking paint (the most expensive bit of the whole thing). I was a bit paranoid about this so gave it several coats.

I shaped the floor tiles down towards the drain by using maybe 50% more grout than you’d normally use ie extra thick at the dry bit and normal thick in the wet bit. Oh, I also installed a elect under floor heating mat which is just the best thing since sliced bread. I finished it all off with standard wall tiles and bathroom paint.

I’ve commandeered the shower as my own so it gets used every day and for all post ride hose downs.

…as I say…she doesn’t get the whole ‘sport’ thing so…

We’ll both go to the Doc together. On second thoughts, that might backfire if I’m told I’m past it!

rosscopeco, why didnt you just get a simple?

Good question! I bought the Solaris with the intention of selling it one day when I had enough pennies for a custom frame but I got impatient! The longer term plan would be to internally route all or most of the cables so this frame is basically the test bed for all this fettling.

nonk 😆

Do you actualy know your HR max ?

Yes, I do a MHR maybe twice a year. My local trails have 2 fairly long technical climbs maybe 30mins into a spin which make great test beds. The last 50m or so on both climbs require full effort to clean so as I say a great place to do it. Last time I peaked @ 181. I’ve seen it a few beats higher but it plateaus there.

Very rare to hit 100% on a ride you’d be on the floor……..

I would usually peak somewhere between 178 & 181 on most rides. It only reaches that for maybe the last 20 or so seconds before it hurts and I hit the floor!

FWIW I’m don’t religiously use my HR, I just think its a good measure to use. If I feel crap one day, I tend to just bumble along and enjoy the scenery!

Good reading BTW. I’ll be normal then!

My version of a VERY tweaked Cotic Solaris.

I’ve always hankered after some swinging dropouts. In the goodness of time I’ll have a custom 931 frame made but in the mean time….had some lovely Stainless Paragon swinging dropouts fitted by my local bike builder bencooper.

I’m a big fans of the classic Cotic geometry so kept the same chainstay length & BB drop, removed all the existing cable guides and had some dedicated ones fitted. Despite the ‘heavier’ dropouts the whole rig is just over 0.25lb lighter. Running it for a few weeks before I take it for a nice new coat of paint.

“Holds breath and awaits Cotic fan club backlash….”

[/url]
Tweaked Cotic Solaris[/url] by Rosscopeco[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
Tweaked Cotic Solaris[/url] by Rosscopeco[/url], on Flickr

Thanks for the link Drac…”impatiently awaits Mrs R getting home”

Don’t rate anything Alpkit.

How so? Bad / past experience?

alpkit pipedream? Best designed and used bag I’ve had…and I’ve had a few…

Sleeping Bags

Not that we have a dog but it’s on the cards. Thinking about a wee Russell or fox terrier so have been thinking about this myself. IMO…

Nay to a trail centre…too busy and the potential for upending some one else or pissing people off is fairly high.
Yes on your local trails. Less busy (maybe not) and lets face it…most local trials are used by dog walkers anyway.

OP…have been thinking about doing this myself over the last couple of weeks. Was there much snow / ice or is it all gone? I can see from my home that the Campsies are all clear but I’ve cannie see the Ben.

NS surge looks promising. Probably more akin to a Bfe?

Bump for the evening crowd!

I can vouch for their SkyeHigh 600. The wife and I bought a pair at the tail end of last year and they’ve done a few nights now down to a balmy -2 with no worries. Well made and they zip together!

An old recipe my Highland Gran told me…

1 x sour – lemon or lime
2 x sweet – honey
4 x strong – any whisky or Brandy
8 x weak – hot water.

Any measure size will do….whatever takes your fancy.

Down that with a couple of paracetamol and you’ll sleep rather soundly 😀

Well…thanks for all the comments. Think ill go down the sport science route…I think there’s actually a sports clinic in Glasgow which I might be able to blag a wee session on. My wider family is full of Docs…I really dont want to piss them all off. 🙂

You groan when you pick up anything on the floor.

…and whilst you’re at it you wonder to yourself…is there anything else I can do whilst I’m down here…!

To my shame I now recall a ‘little’ incident we dreamed up as kids. We only did this to cars so no cyclists were harmed. 😀

Timing was everything….one of us would go to the other side of the road and as the car approached we’d both ‘pretend’ to pull on an imaginary rope.

Most drivers would just drive by laughing but I do remember one old lady hit the anchors big style and ended up doing a rather long loud screechy skid (probably on her seat too!)….we basically crapped ourselves and bolted! 😳 Funny now but if any of my kids ever did this I’d skin them alive!

I once had several ’empty’ coke cans thrown at me from a passing car…it was in Dundee so that’s not altogether surprising. 😉

The best one liner has to be from a builders site in Glasgow as I cycled by “…the last time I saw a pair of legs like that, they were hanging out of a poachers bag…” 😆

West Highland way…in under 24hrs!

I’ve had both, if you consider the original Cotic Simple was the same as the original Soul. Ended up selling the Simple and staying with the Solaris. Mine is a medium with a Rohloff, dropper seat post and Ti brooks saddle and it still weights in at 28.44lbs inc Time pedals so I’m happy with that.

The Solaris definitely rides better in my opinion, especially on fast technical stuff. It’s very confidence inspiring in terms of….”don’t touch the brakes….don’t touch the brakes”. I had a FS 5 before and I’d say I’m arguably faster DH on the Solaris than on the 5….although there’s a bit more vision blur when you get to the bottom 😆

The only downfall of the Solaris, IMHO is that it’s a bit big and cumbersome when it comes to super slow techy stuff. I have however been reminded earlier today on here that its more than likely my skills as opposed to the bike / frame. I cannot disagree.

A common theme that’s emerging… 🙄

Had a wee chat with TFTuned earlier re my fork set up. I was thinking along the lines of getting it PUSHED and thus hoping that the fork would ‘react’ quicker when it drops into the troughs. In short they didn’t think it would make a justifiable difference but recommended that I mess about with the sag and increase the pressures and slow my rebound down a touch. One thing I’d not thought of before was that a fork with fast rebound could kick the wheel out of line…especially if it’s stuck in the bottom of a deep trough full of sticky slimy pine needles. This actually fits with some of the offs I’d had so I’ll give it a try.

Thanks for all the opinions…it seems that I’m the one who has to change here. Sadly I’ll have to find another way to justify a N+1 solution. 🙂