This looks interesting. I love laggan but it’s a bit short and it’d be nice to have something else to add to it. Can anyone give a few more details on how to get there and what it’s like? Any more pictures?

Thanks for the advice. Might have a look into the shim idea but like you say it’s only noticeable in between longest and shortest travel settings.

I take it that if I sent the forks for a service that wouldn’t be something they’d fix then?

I have a similar problem with my 09 u-turn revs where there seems to be a little more oil than i would expect coming up the stachions from the seals. The fork also seems to have about 3-4mm of play in it when it’s adjusted to anything other than full travel. I don’t know if this can be fixed or is even something I should be worrying about though?

Well I’ve finished the conversion and rode it in to work today and am pretty pleased with it. It’ll happily get me through the winter anyway.

Have only received my brake levers and tyres so far. Brake callipers are coming from Hong Kong (hopefully).

Anyway this the starting point.

Might even give it a clean first before I change anything.

Nice. That’s pretty much what I’m going for. What gear ratio is best for mixed use. I found that 32:16 that the io came with is a bit too easy on the road so changed to 36:16 but haven’t done any serious off road yet. Am I going to suffer?

Sounds great. I’m also tempted to try a 29 inch wheel on the front seeing as the forks are corrected for 100mm travel. I’m assuming this would work but someone may know different?

We went there on honeymoon and stayed in a hotel that I think was called the president or something with president in it anyway. It’s up on the hillside but within walking distance of the centre of town. There are regular free shuttle buses run by the hotel. The views are spectacular and the outdoor bar/pool areas are really nice. We had a great time.

Get her to get you a Sorrento cycling jersey from the sports shop in town. It’s actually pretty good quality so better than the usual tat the in laws bring back from holiday!

I enjoy the forum and find the swearing (or alluding to swearing) reasonable as it’s all part of the banter.

Singletrack magazine isn’t my first choice mountain bike mag though because I remember the swearing put me off. I agree that in an article which someone has taken the time to consider and, had others proof read and approve there just isn’t any need for swearing. I feel that if there is swearing in an article that is supposed to give a knowledgeable insight into a subject it just suggests laziness and decreases the credibility of the author.

This is the second soul that I’ve owned after an enjoyable spell on full suspension but it’s more fun on a hard tail around here.

It’s a frame I bought from gumtree for £50 and restored to it’s former glory. Have just changed the setup to 1×9 but otherwise it’s as in the picture. Great bike for doing all sorts on.

After a few rides I have to agree that back pedalling became an issue. It’s inevitable and I did drop the chain a few times because of it. This is what I bodged to remedy it and so far so good.

Thanks for the supportive words of encouragement. It’s what I know to be right. It’s hard to make myself think that way at the moment but I’ll get back to it tomorrow and do my best to minimize the damage done.

I have to say my boss was good about it and tried to assure me that it was just one of those things but it’ll be on my mind for a while no doubt. I certainly won’t be making that mistake again.

Best foot forward and all that!

They’re brilliant. Cheaper than an iPhone and I much prefer mine to my old 4s. It’s one those things that everything seems to have been thought of and executed as simply and effectively a possible. Great phone andiimproved by recent ice cream sandwich firmware upgrade. Get one you won’t regret it.

+1 for bonty xr4s. Made the mistake of buying nobby nics once and got rid after 2 rides – genuinely awful, they were everything you wouldn’t want from a tyre.

Just bought one from Halfords. Had been thinking of getting one for ages but was put off by the price. Thanks for the tip.

It is indeed Dundee. Not many souls in this neck of the woods and even fewer green ones!

Green soul you say? You could just buy one cheap second hand then get it whatever colour you like!

I like the the new orange souls but yours looks great too, especially with the kit you have on it, those tyres look great. Looks to be a fair bit racier build than mine. I’ve got some SIDs on my singlespeed that might get swapped over if I ever feel like making a lighter build but for now the focus is purely on fun.

The finished product. Just need to get out and enjoy it now.

I’ve got a shimano SLX BB in it.

Most of the kit on the bike came off my 2008 meta 5 frame and forks which I sold. The aim was to try and do the project for no more than I sold the frame and forks for.

I almost did it and would have done if I had kept the float 140s from the Meta but I just thought the revelations would be a better match due to them being adjustable. At the end of the day the whole project has probably balance out at me spending about £50 plus a bit to the bike shop to have the brakes bled.

Thanks for the positive comments. I’m really pleased with it. As you say it looks as good as new so I can’t complain.

I didn’t get the third hose guide. The bike shop put some small o rings around the hose either side of the guides to keep it tight between the guides so I’ve not noticed the hose slapping around too much yet. If it does start irritating me then the stick on guide could be the way to go.

Will post a few pics of it complete in the great outdoors and some daylight when I get the chance.

Have got bike back from the shop now so the brakes are bled and it’s ready to go.

Here are a couple of pics of the area where the dent has been repaired.

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.

Spec as follows:

Frame – Second hand Cotic Soul

Fork – Rockshox Revelation Air U-turn

Brakes – SLX 180 rear / 200 front
Shifters – SLX
Chainset – SLX double and bash
Front Mech – Deore
Rear Mech – SLX

Saddle – Charge Spoon
Seatpost – On One
Seat Collar – Hope

Grips – DMR Lock on
Bars – On One
Stem – On One
Headset – Hope

Pedals – Time Roc Attack

Wheels – Stans ZTR355 on Hope Pro 2 Hubs
Tyres – Bontrager XR4 2.35

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.

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.

I had a look at Archicad and thought it looked quite good and a lot more reasonably priced than the Autodesk products.

BIM is something we know very little about. How relevant is it going to become for small practices?

Taff – Am I right in thinking you can’t create 3D models in LT meaning that you’d do the modelling in 3DS Max?

We currently create the model in AutoCad and then import that into 3DS Max but it might be more economical to just learn to do the modelling in max and stick to 2d in cad.

Al we do is use the basic commands to draw polylines, extrude, subtract union etc. in CAD and then import the model to 3D Studio where we apply materials and create a fly through with sun/daylight and do some renders. The most complicated thing we’re likely to animate is a few opening doors or a car driving along the road past the building.

Paying over £5000 seems a lot or is that just the going rate?

I have a singlespeed hub for my genesis io and have always wished it was a standard freehub so I could use it as a spare wheel for when the one on my main bile was out of action and for that reason I would always use a standard freehub and conversion kit in the future.

I’ve also found that there is quite a large difference in cost between single speed hubs/sprockets with the really expensive ones apparently being good but the affordable just being really awful and lasting a matter of months if not weeks.

That said, I do kind of agree with the thing about if your getting a custom frame made particularly for singlespeed use it would be good to have a really nice singlespeed specific hub on it.

No help at all was it.

Not at all.

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 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.

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.

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.

The repair and spray is going to be £120.

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 . . .

I have a pair of pretty much brand new folding 2.1 nics for sale if anyone wants them? £35 posted.

I had a RF one in my genesis io and it broke within 2 weeks. After that I put in a NC-17 basically because it was cheap. It’s amazing though, never had any problems with it, just fit and forget. Had a look at getting some more NC-17 kit because it was so good but their prices seem to be creeping up. Guess that’s the same as everyone else though.

Good point. Can’t beat a good project though.

It’s set up with the parts from my genesis io at the moment but I’m thinking of building it up a bit burlier. I had been looking around for a BFe.

I’ve got some 140mm fox floats and slx groupset from my meta that I might put on. I’m also planning on a shorter 60mm stem and some Bontrager XR4 tyres.

Have just bought this as a bit of a restoration project. Has a nice little dent in it that I need to patch up and then its off to the powder coaters.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx231/whereisthurso/Cotic%20Soul%202/IMG_3379.jpg

Ended up going to see the seller today and bought it for 50 quid.

The dent doesn’t look too bad and apparently it can be filled with brass and then powder coated so that’s the plan for now. Just need to choose the colour now.

Pics here.

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx231/whereisthurso/Cotic%20Soul%202/IMG_3383.jpg