nice! how long is that stem? I was going through my parts bin and found a 120mm stem from the late 90s and I thought how funny it would look on my bike now.
Greetings Seatboy;
The ETT length on my 21" is 23 1/2inch, long enough for me with the 150mm stem.
I would not hesitate getting any Soma, the overall quality of the frame construction and paint is some of the best I've seen, and I have been riding and repairing bicycles for 40 years.
Regards
That's the new XL size, and I'm pretty happy with the fit after my first shake down ride. I'm happy there are still companies making rim brake frames these days.
Greetings Seat_Boy;
Soma makes some very nice bikes for quite reasonable prices, and yours looks GREAT. Love the color!!! Congratulations on your purchase. How does it ride? Take care of it and it will last a long time; 'Steel is Real'. Good luck Seat_Boy.
Regards
Carl in Ocala
Thanks for the nice words. Rides well so far, but I've only got one lap of my local trail down. I didn't like the green in pictures, but I like it lot better in real life. Quick handling, and no issues from the sliding dropouts so far. I'm not regretting selling my full sus Spearfish to get this... yet!
That's a nice set up what for gearing are you running? The blue ano parts set it off...
This photo was set up as 32x20, but have Surly cogs of 22t, 20t, 19t, and 17t in the bin for different trails. Waiting on a blue HBC 21t cog and a blue spiderless ring, but I doubt I will see if before xmas. As parts wear out, will be adding more blue ano pieces in the future...
Here's my Double Cross DC in full monstercross mode:
Normally its got a 130mm Thomson -10 deg drop stem on it with 700x28 slicks on it for commuting and road riding. Pics above show it with a 120mm Thomson +10 stem and 700x42 Wormdrives for gravel road/light trail riding.
62cm Frame with a 410mm post most of the way out. Was on the fence between the 62cm DC and the 66cm Smoothie ES and the disc brakes and dirt capability won out.
Greetings Chaps;
Let's try and keep this Official Soma thread active. I'm still enamored with my Groove, and from what I've seen; everyone who has a Soma is as well. Soma frames are reasonably priced,and extremely well built and finished. I'm trying to keep my Groove somewhat retro looking with some vintage components I've purchased over many years, including : Shimano XT M-730 rear mech., Shimano XTR M-900 crankset, SunTour XC Pro pedals, SunTour XC Pro thumb shifters, Specialized 6al4v Ti. 150mm stem, Litespeed Ti bars, American Classic Ti seatpin, Onza bar ends.
Cheers
I just picked up a 2013 Felt Nine 60 but it's too small....I have upgraded every component on it except the seatpost and now am going to be swapping out frames for a Soma Juice...Trying to decide between the L and XL. I'm a hair over 6'2" with a 31-32 inseam and long torso and arms.
Just got myself a Soma Double Cross, as a commuter, light tourer, road bike and a cross bike. Will post some pics at a later date, doing the build this weekend. Specs as follows:
-Frame 58cm Double Cross - and fork
-Headset Chris King
-100mm 10' rise EA90 Stem
-EA70 - drop bars
-Ultegra Drive train
-Crankset FC - 6703 (52/39/30) and FD 6703
-RD 6700 and 11 - 28 cassette
-105 5703 STI levers
-Thomson Elite 27.2 seat post silver
-Brooks Swift saddle Honey
-Brooks Bar tape honey
-Brakes Shimano CX70 Cantis with Kool stop salmon pads
Road wheels:
Chris King R45 hubs, DT Swiss RR585 rims DT Aerolite spokes 20 hole front 24 rear Conti GP4000s
Building up a second wheel set for commuting / touring
Chris King Classic Cyclocross hubs 28 32 drilling, not decided on rims yet.
Picked up pretty much all of it over the last few months either second hand or in clearance deals - got 50% off the CK gear / rims / spokes in a closing down sale and paid $150 for the crank from CRC, $100 brand new for the brifters from a mate. not including the 2nd as yet un built wheelset I reckon I've spent well under $2K (yet to do the math)
Geetings ddublu;
With your long upper torso and inseam I suspect you will be better served with the XL frame with its longer top tube. Soma's are great, solid and well finished, with a realistic price range. Good luck with your build, expect to see completed photo's!
Cheers
Geetings ddublu;
With your long upper torso and inseam I suspect you will be better served with the XL frame with its longer top tube. Soma's are great, solid and well finished, with a realistic price range. Good luck with your build, expect to see completed photo's!
Cheers
I ended up going with the XXL (22") and it's perfect. You asked for pics....you got 'em.
Greetings Again ddublu;
Congratulations; Great looking Soma build with an excellent component choice. Thanks for the photo's, now I'm envious!!! Seriously you have without doubt an A #1
bike. Merry Christmas
Regards
Juice SS's seem to be the hot ticket. Put mine together a month or so ago. It's a great bike-much livelier handling and ride than the Raliegh XXIX I had before. The sliding dropouts are a lot easier to work with than the EBB (to me at least) and the lighter tubeset and curved top tube make me feel right at home on this bike! It's a 16". Please forgive the extra long rear brake line--I've had it trimmed since these pic...
and I picked up a Double Cross this winter to use as a utility bike. Unfortunately, shortly after, I came across a Rawland Drakkar that I liked better for the same job. This will soon be stripped down for sale, but here it as as of now:
I had the idea to make a long and low cruiser: 26" tires would drop the bottom bracket, slide the dropouts all the way rearward, I thought it would be fun and plush. But in the end, it just kinda sucked. Mostly I attribute this to the Bontrager Earl tires, which have all the rolling performance of a wheel with a sticking brake. Awful, slow anchors. Pedal strikes actually weren't too bad.
That Juice is nicely coordinated but will likely handle poorly due to the height of the bars above the saddle combined with the dirt jumper stem. There's not a shot of how wide the bars are but most guys that run tiny little stems are also running 30+" wide bars so make up the comparable reach to longer stem/narrow bar setups.
Rigid bikes need some weight over the front end as you do not have suspension driving your front tire into the dirt.
Thanks for the input. This is my first bike project and the stem is a stubby 50mm (orange). I'm still playing around with the height to get it more suitable and getting that fork re-cut when I find the the right spot.
Thanks for the input. This is my first bike project and the stem is a stubby 50mm (orange). I'm still playing around with the height to get it more suitable and getting that fork re-cut when I find the the right spot.
Within reason, when you're in your standard riding position, when you look down at where the stem clamps over the bars, the front hub should line up right underneath the bars. Bikes with suspension can get away with shorter reach stems but setting your stem length this old-school way ensures that you'll have enough weight over the front end on a rigid bike.
what size Bside is that and what is your inseam? I am looking to get one of these, but their sizing is a little whacky..
That's the 15" B-Side (gen 1) and my inseam is ~29". Sizing is/was a little weird because of the super-sloping top tube. A 400+mm seat post is definitely required.
Here's a more current photo, back to rigid with Ragley Carnegie bars, since swapped to a black stem & stan's crest wheels:
Alright you Soma lovers, tell me why or why not for the Soma B-Side as a single speed race build. I currently ride and race an El Mariachi in SS and think the 650B tire size is perfect for my 5'8" frame. Tell me why this is or isn't a better choice than a S.I.R.9 or something similar from Niner.
I am planning on taking my double cross on an offroad tour round Borneo next year - Officially Soma say 38's are the widest tires it will take with fender but looking at the fork I reckon I could get a 2" 29er tire in there no problem and a 1.75 (44 - 45) rear with no fender - anyone any experience with running wide tires - what works and what doesn't would be useful?
42mm rear tire is really pushing it on the back of a Double Cross. It's enough to where mud packed up will begin to scrape the paint off the seatstays and chainstays.
And the bike doesnt handle so well with bigger tires. Ends up really top heavy with anything more than 35mm tires and tends to loop out easily on climbs.
No, the biggest change in the 2014 model is a tapered headtube. They also state "optimized for 100mm forks" but I haven't compared the numbers to see a what that might entail. I would love to see a brown one built up. I've only seen frame pictures on a white background. Hard to tell stay it will really look like.
No, the biggest change in the 2014 model is a tapered headtube. They also state "optimized for 100mm forks" but I haven't compared the numbers to see a what that might entail. I would love to see a brown one built up. I've only seen frame pictures on a white background. Hard to tell stay it will really look like.
I don't believe it's actually tapered. They say you can run a straight steerer with a zero stack headset or a tapered steerer with a zero stack top and external bottom. They specify exactly what bottom, i don't remember the details.
Also, the dirty nickel was also "optimized" for the 100mm fork.
So I'm feeling the desire to put together a B-side for some fastish, carvy, not too technical trail riding.
Front squish and Gears. I loved my Groove as a Commuter, never gave me a problem and rode like a dream, but for a clyde riding hard off road, would the B-side be a wise choice as a trail bike?
I built up a Smoothie ES for a friend on a budget-turned out pretty nice. Decently made, lightweight steel frame-prep work was minimal and it went together easily.
just build this a few weeks ago.. haven't been able to get on the trails yet with it, hopefully this week since there is no rain in the forcast!
super happy with the build and turned out lighter than the 26" SS it replaced.
now I need to get one of those cool replacement headbadges!
Here's three of the bunch built in my shop over the years (I apologize for the poor quality of the photos). The Smoothie, Smoothie ES, and the SS all build up into extraordinary bikes. Two of those shown were built with Campy Record 11.
I loved the ride of my Juice--super smooth. However, I found no real difference between the ride of my Surly Cross Check and the Double Cross. I compared them here:
That was an interesting read. I was also coming from a MTB, the groove. and it was just so perfect in terms of being supple and responsive. the Straggler is so much stiffer and less intuitive. maybe that's just the nature of the frame style. I did notice the points you'd made about the Double Cross, I'm hoping this up-coming batch addresses some of them (most importantly to me, the cheap, ugly rear drops)
I know it's only been available a short time, but has anyone got some time in on a Wolverine frame yet? What are your impressions? How's the sizing? I'm 5"9" and have been on a 56cm Cross Check that I find just a bit too big. Can't decide whether the 52 or 54 Wolverine would be a better fit. The 54 isn't all that different from a 56 CC. I'm ordering online and don't have anywhere to try a Soma frame out.
I know it's only been available a short time, but has anyone got some time in on a Wolverine frame yet? What are your impressions? How's the sizing? I'm 5"9" and have been on a 56cm Cross Check that I find just a bit too big. Can't decide whether the 52 or 54 Wolverine would be a better fit. The 54 isn't all that different from a 56 CC. I'm ordering online and don't have anywhere to try a Soma frame out.
you and i are in the same boat! i was going to order the 56 then i looked at the specs and not i'm leaning more towards the 54!
I've ordered a 54. Should be here in a week or so, then it's off to the powder coaters straight away.
How does the 54 fit? I'm on a 52 AllCity NB (550 tt), and wondering which size Wolverine I would be. I'm leaning towards the 52, but worried about toe overlap. How's yours fir? Any pics? Thanks!
Does anyone have a real world comparison between the new Wolverine and the Salsa Vaya? Any experience in riding both bikes and might want to share their observations?
Does anyone have a real world comparison between the new Wolverine and the Salsa Vaya? Any experience in riding both bikes and might want to share their observations?
I was hoping someone with more experience than me would respond. Apparently that won't be happening. So I guess I am as good as you'll get.
In my 15 minutes riding the Vaya I was able to see that it rode like cheap 4130. Which honestly isn't bad. but it's nothing special. The Vaya is definitely stiffer, But more relaxed in terms of handling.
The Vaya Rides like a Vaya. Which is to say it rides like a touring bike. While I wasn't blown away by it, I also wasn't disappointed. It is what it is and it was not right for me. I also wasn't a huge fan of the price to quality ratio. but it's a solid bike at an average price. I just find Soma to be a better value, especially since I always build from the frame up.
The Wolverine would make an excellent tourer, but like all these "gravel grinder" bicycles, that is not what it is at it's heart.
It's an XC mountain bike. At the core of it. These "hip new designs" are a great way to repackage the speedy, light duty rigid MTB's that marketing told us were inadequate in the late 90's. But frankly, people never stopped wanting them.
Now, most of these "gravel grinders" are unabashedly MTBs. The Surly Straggler for example. It's right at home with knobbies on a dirt trail. (having owned a Straggler, it was not the right bike for me. At least for my build. I wanted a fat guy road bike. a super commuter. And the wolverine did that better. That being said, I might buy another Straggler one day. but it will be dressed in full time Knobbies and geared for the trail. Which means a Karate Monkey would probably be the better choice. anyways, back on topic)
More than most gravel grinders, the wolverine seems to be built for street. which is in no way a negative. It has a substantially more forgiving ride and snappier handling.
I'd say if you're Touring. and touring with a heavy, 80+ pound load for more than 100 miles a day. I'd go with the Vaya, in spite of a harsher ride it is just an easier bike to cruise along with. Less mental effort. and when buried in cargo, it's ride will most likely soften.
If you're doing light touring here and there. and the bike will have other uses. I'd go with the Wolverine. I bought it as a Daily Driver. and I'm happy with it in that roll.
That's the stated fit, but there's often some margin there. People report being able to fit a DW in the back of the B side, and it sure looks like the rear triangle is just about the same.
That's the stated fit, but there's often some margin there. People report being able to fit a DW in the back of the B side, and it sure looks like the rear triangle is just about the same.
I have an analog with continental tires 26x2.2 race king, are like 56cm wide, well you've ridden maxxis 26x 2.25 CROSSMARK are 57cm wide, the manufacturer says that for a 2.4, meaning that as 62 cm wide, truth is there is room, but would not know whether to say 2.75. suddenly becomes very attached to the frame.
Thanks Agwan for the reply. I have a Vaya that I built up a year ago and it doesn't really get ridden much. I wanted a machine that could do it all, you know, commute, tour, gravel roads, light XC. I have tried it all except touring so far and it doesn't seem to do anything well. I tend to like my Soma DC much better. That has me wondering if a Wolverine might be a better tool than the Vaya for my needs.
My DC is setup for commuting with 32mm tires, fenders and a front rack. It feels better riding it and out of the saddle climbing than on the Vaya and I think that is due to the very tall head tube on the Vaya compared to the DC. To me the Vaya seems 1) sluggish and I think that is a due to the longer wheelbase and 2) seems less stable with the very tall headtube. The handle bars on the Vaya are about 1 1/2" higher than the DC. I can fix that with some changes of the stem and spacers, but the slugishness can't be changed.
The other thing interests me is that the Wolverine seems to have more tire clearance than the Vaya. I have a 650b wheel set for my Vaya with 2.1" tires for off-road duties and it works, but suffers about a 3/8" bottom bracket drop in height compared to running 40mm x 700c tires on my other wheelset. Seems like the Wolverine can handle 2.1" tires at 700c.
I don't anticipate heavy touring, but I am planning an off-road tour next year that will be about 70% dirt and 30% pavement over about 5 days. I keep telling myself, let's get through Christmas and New Year’s first and then think about buying a new frameset. Let's see how that goes :-)
Did the Straggler fit right? and are you swapping the same parts over? If so the ETT and Standover are very similar. ETT for the 60cm Wolverine is a centimeter shorter than the Straggler, so keep that in mind. They also probably wont have a size larger than 60cm until the next run. At which time Soma has also planned some changes to the chainstay yoke, much like the most recent B-Side/Juice has
As well as moving the gate for the belt up to the seat stay (personally, I like the split drop out looks. but these changes are for stiffness, which is needed for a belt drivetrain)
Thank you for taking the time to reply. The 60 cm straggler standover is about all I can handle, so I'll likely go for the 60 cm Wolverine. Do you know when the new framesets will be released?
Soma hired a new "Social Media Manager" who refuses to do any part of his job. He ignores all questions.
I do know they're on order. And that the frameset has been a HUGE success for them. But when they actually get to the states and get distributed is beyond me.
If I was to make a totally uneducated guess, I'd think late June at the best, Late summer at the worst. And I'd place my bets on late summer.
Soma is a weird company. They've always made small batches. Which has been fine because they're not some giant company. But I was told they only made 300 Wolverines the first run, the second batch only numbered 100. Surly made THOUSANDS of Stragglers, and that bike is also at or near selling out most of the time (And it's a lesser bike that costs more money!) They both order from Maxway in Taiwan, I'm confused at how Surly can maintain inventory but Soma doesn't.
There are literally dozens, if not hundreds of people who are ready to fork over 600 bucks a pop for the frameset. Which is not something that can be said for ANYTHING ELSE SOMA MAKES RIGHT NOW. And Soma's reply is
"yeah, sure. We'll get around to it. I guess. LOOK AT ALL OUR RANDONNEUR SHIT! LIKE 4 RANDO BIKES! AND A FAT BIKE"
"But Soma, no one wants that from you. they want the Wolverine and a disc brake Smoothie"
"Eff that! WE MADE BIGGER DIRT DROPS!"
"No one wants that!"
"200 DOLLAR RANDO BAGS!"
"We have Velo Orange for cheap rando crap. MAKE THE BIKES WE WANT FROM YOU"
"GRANT PETERSEN DESIGNED THIS ONE BIKE! LUGS!"
"MAKE OUR DAMN BIKES SOMA!"
"NEVER! WE'RE A GROUP OF ENTITLED SAN FRANCISCAN HIPSTERS, PROFIT BENEFITS THE PROLETARIAT, WE ARE ARTISTS! WE WILL DEFINE THE MARKET!"
''A successful company realizes consumer demand drives the Market!"
"Never! here! take another "adventure road touring bikepacking bike!" Also! let us make a 29er that is too fragile for the trail!"
"...Dude...*facepalms*"
granted that conversation is fictional. But it is more or less how it would go if neither party could lie or use tact.
Soma hired a new "Social Media Manager" who refuses to do any part of his job. He ignores all questions.
I think just about everyone at Soma ignores questions by current and prospective customers. I have heard they are pretty silent but found this out for sure when I sent a question regarding the adjustable dropouts on some of their frames (specifically the Analog I was ordering).
I sent the question to both Soma and IRD (whose dropouts they are) on April 2nd. Soma never answered. IRD decided to email back on May 3rd with a completely useless email (entire email content, cut-and-pasted: "Your best option would be to your frame to an experienced bike mechanic. They can check the bolt tension and dropout alignment.")
I AM an experienced bike mechanic, that is why I was asking the manufacturer about their sliding dropouts when I did not have direct experience with them...my experience has taught me to ask the experts prior to taking my hamfist and wrench to a bolt. And the manufacturer gave nothing!!! A useless as well as late response.
Searching for another avenue for the info I was looking for on April 21st I contacted both the parent company of Soma, The Merry Sales Co., as well as one of the dealers Soma is always going on about on their blog, American Cyclery. Within hours I received usable info from Merry Sales and a link to a PDF from Paragon Machine Works containing usable info sent from American Cyclery.
At least I found what I was looking for. Soma makes good frames, but their customer service is non-existent. I do not wonder why Surly, who is selling what is in my opinion an inferior product, is making many, many more sales than Soma.
As another experienced bike mechanic, I know exactly where you're coming from.
I also know that pain when you realize that you know more than someone "professional"
"I know that the TechDoc says this, and it is a good ground rule, but trust me... It works differently in reality. YES I AM AWARE ATF VOIDS THE WARRANTY."
Soma wasn't always this way, back in the day when I bought my Groove, they were friendly and responsive... that was... Five-ish years ago?
What kills me is the fact that American Cyclery technically IS Soma. Soma is a partnership between AC and Merry Sales. AC does the designing, a little prototyping. and Merry manages production, distribution and pretty much everything else.
It's not wholly clear WHO at AC is doing the design work, I think it's a handful of people. But It's counter intuitive to have to contact the bike shop instead of the brand.
And as someone who has shopped at American Cyclery down in San Francisco. Even that shop has issues. The store is technically two stores, across the street from each other. One road and one MTB. I've had to go to the MTB side to ask for help before, because the "Ole' skool legit roadie steel is real Velo-Grouches" would only sigh, grumble and scowl as I asked for pricing on Nitto stems.
Which really got my goat, because I was on a road trip and went out of my way to see their shop and give them money for things, because I loved my bike that much.
It was a part of that snobbery that made me trade my Soma Groove for a Surly Straggler. The brand is less bullsheety. But frankly I missed the ride quality and went back with my Wolverine. I wish Surly's cost what they were worth, or were worth what they cost. because at 600 dollars it should be a name brand steel (Or ride like it. and it doesn't) It should also have no major failings (The Straggler has moronic drop outs) as they sit, pretty much every frame in the Surly line needs to cost roughly 200 dollars less. Not that they ever will. but that's the price drop I need to go back to Surly.
I love this Soma, and for 550 it's worth what it should be. Frankly, if I ever want to go with a different steel framed bike, I'll probably save up and go custom or semi-custom. None of QBPs steel bikes are really my style, or a good price.
Soma is effectively a 1 man company, and he's stretched pretty thin. They never hired another social media person. The assertion that Soma is run by hipsters is incredibly amusing to me. Anybody who acctually knows them will understand why. FYI, all Soma technical emails will automatically get forwarded to American going forward.
I don't buy bikes due to their social media.
I used to work in shops as well, so I know my way around a bike - I rarely need feedback from a manufacturer.
I have seen several retailers say the Juice was convertible to a 142x12 but the google machine would not tell me what or where to buy the parts, So I messaged several retailers who claimed the conversion was possible with no answers.
I emailed Soma next, they responded they were not positive which drop outs might be able to do that and said they have heard it can be done, but have not claimed it themselves. They pointed me to Paragon.
I emailed Paragon and they said they don't make parts specifically for Soma, so they are positive what will work and they don't have a Juice on hand to test - however we agreed on trying some stuff out and we resolved it. Paragon is now aware what "works" on the Juice.
I then messaged Soma to let them know the part numbers so they would know for future inquiries. They thanked me for the feedback and we moved on.
While I certainly would have loved to have heard directly from Soma the answer and have it quickly, I found no issues with them not knowing the answer. They do not list on their site it is convertible. They also did not blow me off - they pointed me in the direction to help me find an answer.
----
I will say I noticed a difference from when I contacted them just a little over a year ago. Evan was answering emails and responses were generally within a day. It did feel more welcoming to speak with him than my last interaction - however that is not something that makes or breaks working with a company. It just makes it more pleasant to me.
I found Agwan's post entertaining, and worth sharing with the management at Merry Sales. Thanks for that.
As Agwan already surmised correctly, we are small and lean, probably smaller than you think. And currently we are running Merry with fewer people than we'd like. And we already wear one or two hats too many here. Thus, email answering fell by the wayside (or more like off a cliff),... but we are catching up. We know it is more important to do a good job assisting people that are actually trying to reach you, rather than whoring for "likes" on FB or even designing new products.
Regarding the unfortunate shortages of Wolverines, it's a combination of the crazy port issue and how we run our frame business...We don't require dealers to commit to min. buy-in program, we don't force our distributors to provide forecasts (though it'd be frickin helpful if they did). Usually that's less stress for our dealers/distributors which they love, but if there is an unusual spike in demand that means it will take longer for us to catch up. Believe us, it upsets us to no end that we can't supply product to you folks in a timely manner. (BTW we don't use Maxway! We never had. Not that there's anything wrong with them)
We don't want people to feel sorry for us, but please don't think we'd rather smell the leather on $200 randonneur bags all day than helping potential customers.
I know who you are Evan. So I appreciate your post very much. I'm bothered to hear that they never hired another SMM, but that would explain so much. If they're still only a one man company, that's on him. It's a great brand and interns are affordable and gullible. (That also explains the TON of products for a niche section of cycling. One man is making his passion. I can understand that.)
As for Soma directly, I am glad to hear that the low volume of Wolverines is largely related to you not torturing dealers. As someone who has personally had to deal with QBP's game of "you can order one frame. No you're not a Dealer you can't order any, okay you can order but it has to be a minimum of X orders. okay but you have to commit to ordering X more next year. Okay you have to carry it full time. No you can't be a dealer" It's good to know that you're not playing that game.
I'm also excited to hear that you don't use Maxway, Not that I dislike Maxway, but the wet paint on your bikes has always looked so much better than other bikes I've seen built there, I had just assumed you paid extra for that. I am a bit bothered that I can't arrogantly prattle on about where you build your bikes anymore. At least not until I figure it out again. If I ever do.
I totally understand the issues on the Wolverine stock. When QBP released the Straggler, they had a mountain of issues getting it to the states. and there wasn't even a dock worker strike at the time. And they ordered a huge volume. Some of these things are out of our control. I just hope you can ride the "Gravel Grinder" cash cow home. Because the Wolverine is a good "Almost anything" bike.
Hopefully you can tell from the tone of my previous post that it shouldn't be taken too seriously. 2 of the 3 bikes in my Garage are Soma (the other is a steel, 95 rockhopper I bought new off Ebay in 2013) I've just finished helping a friend build up a Smoothie that I talked him into buying. I have another friend I talked into a Double Cross. I am totally a fan.
All that being said, I demand disc brakes on everything, Celeste as an Optional color on everything, The ability to run a 55 tooth Gates chainring on everything, A carbon fiber downhill race bike. and the highway 1 bars in a 50cm width. Because I have gorilla shoulders and I'm sick of Flat bars. Dirt drops just aren't the same.
And the guys at AC still possess 32% more elitist sneer than your average roadie shop.
Somacisco or Evan, any update on size 60 availability date? Is there a huge wait list for this size Frame set?
Originally Posted by somacisco
I found Agwan's post entertaining, and worth sharing with the management at Merry Sales. Thanks for that.
As Agwan already surmised correctly, we are small and lean, probably smaller than you think. And currently we are running Merry with fewer people than we'd like. And we already wear one or two hats too many here. Thus, email answering fell by the wayside (or more like off a cliff),... but we are catching up. We know it is more important to do a good job assisting people that are actually trying to reach you, rather than whoring for "likes" on FB or even designing new products.
Regarding the unfortunate shortages of Wolverines, it's a combination of the crazy port issue and how we run our frame business...We don't require dealers to commit to min. buy-in program, we don't force our distributors to provide forecasts (though it'd be frickin helpful if they did). Usually that's less stress for our dealers/distributors which they love, but if there is an unusual spike in demand that means it will take longer for us to catch up. Believe us, it upsets us to no end that we can't supply product to you folks in a timely manner. (BTW we don't use Maxway! We never had. Not that there's anything wrong with them)
We don't want people to feel sorry for us, but please don't think we'd rather smell the leather on $200 randonneur bags all day than helping potential customers.
Evans comment about Soma NOT being a Hipster company still kind of amuses me.
They build (sometimes lugged) steel bikes, in the style of the classic frames, Which Hipsters love.
Based in San Francisco, Which is Hipster Mecca.
They call themselves SoMa, Which is one of the most Hipstery parts of that Hipster city.
They painted a bicycle called the "Groove" a color called Cappuccino. They called another bike the "Analog"
Don't get me wrong. I listen to genres like Ambient Doom Metal and Ethereal E-Pop. I complained about Monsanto ages before everyone else, And I knew about Steampunk before it was cool. I denied knowing about Steampunk after it became uncool.
I majored in Art.
If I could grow a decent beard I'd be a hipster in a heartbeat, but I don't look good in flannel.
Also, saying you aren't a hipster. makes you a hipster. It's a paradox. I asked Bill Nye about it.... He shot Neil Degrasse Tyson and then the universe restarted.
So don't bring it back up.
I can't find anyone who can name a bicycle company more synonymous with Hipsters than this brand.
Do you think I can get Lucky Strike to build Bicycles?
That's not really a whole lot of trolling. It is a fair amount of humor used to bring something back to light after a fair amount of time. The humor is further used to color the comments in such a way that those who have even a modicum of insight can tell that my concern, while still existing, is not of great urgency or even emotional weight.
I've noticed that in this day and age of the internet being fast and affordable, terms like Meme and Troll are enthusiastically miss-applied.
Don't get me wrong, I think they would very much like to be a hipster company, much like the middle age dentist who starts wearing Warby Parkers and throwback nikes.
Has anyone noticed the clear coat flaking off their drop outs and the area over their decals?
Because mine has been.
It's not a huge bother, and it gives me an excuse to powdercoat the thing.
I've been thinking about Specialized Allez Red, (Most names for this shade are "Ferrari Red" "Racing Red" and even "Really Red") Bianchi Celesete (RAL 6027 comes closest)
Or something neon, Or Glittery, Or both.
It's amazing that an issue like this on my Straggler would probably have enraged me. Mostly because I was never happy with it.
But this bike is awesome and you can have it when you pry it from my cold dead hands. So I'll get over it.
Hi. I am looking hard at the Wolverine, after the Glitter Dreams Straggler going out of stock. Seems it might be a lucky happening.
That orange though. It looks really good, but someone else stated something about orange looking better on somebody else's bike, and I'd been kinda thinking that. What does it cost to have a frame repainted? But then again, "just ride the goddamn bike".
My Fuji Cross is a 54 (fits great), but the Wolverine ETT in size 52, is very close (3mm), with the only really (probably) noticeable difference in geo would be the seat tube, and a few other things here or there. That sound about right to you?
it's a challenge some of us are ultimately worthy of.
I can't remember exactly how much it cost to powder coat my Wolverine, but I'm sure it was in the $200 - $250 CAN range for a simple coat in one color. I'm really pleased with the results. Depending on the powdercoater, you may have to supply your own powder if they don't have any stock in the color you want.
Skip -
I have the Juice and have been riding it now for 2 years.
I ran it 2x10 for the first year and running it 1x1 now.
Impressions - I ride a 19" and I am a Clydesdale rider - it is a tad flexy - but you should expect that with steel. Once up to speed, you do not notice it much, but just messing around at low speed, you can tell it is there. Nothing alarming, but figured I would mention it. A smaller frame and a lighter rider would reduce the flex I feel tremendously.
The ride is nice. I have a fox 32 float up front and have run 2.4, 2.2 & 2.0 tires on the front and rear trying to find the ideal setup for my local trails. I have settled on 2.2 Nevengals and intend to stay with this setup. Of course this is on my trails... if I lived in AZ, I would chose differently.
Personally, I do not see any advantage to adding weight to the front end of the bike with a fat tire/fork. As I see it, ff I want a fat bike, I would just get one, not make a franken bike. There has been a guy on Ebay trying to unload his franken bike for probably 6+ months now. That might be a cheaper route for you if you are going to build something.
BUT - to each their own. If it is what you want, I look forward to hearing your feedback once built.
Alo - on my juice, I was able to get the adjustable dropouts from Paragon to convert my bike to a 142x12 setup with a DT Swiss maxle.
Originally Posted by scoon
Anyone care to share their impressions on the Brown Juice? I am thinking of building a rigid one up with a semi fat front end.
Skip -
I have the Juice and have been riding it now for 2 years.
I ran it 2x10 for the first year and running it 1x1 now.
Impressions - I ride a 19" and I am a Clydesdale rider - it is a tad flexy - but you should expect that with steel. Once up to speed, you do not notice it much, but just messing around at low speed, you can tell it is there. Nothing alarming, but figured I would mention it. A smaller frame and a lighter rider would reduce the flex I feel tremendously.
The ride is nice. I have a fox 32 float up front and have run 2.4, 2.2 & 2.0 tires on the front and rear trying to find the ideal setup for my local trails. I have settled on 2.2 Nevengals and intend to stay with this setup. Of course this is on my trails... if I lived in AZ, I would chose differently.
Personally, I do not see any advantage to adding weight to the front end of the bike with a fat tire/fork. As I see it, ff I want a fat bike, I would just get one, not make a franken bike. There has been a guy on Ebay trying to unload his franken bike for probably 6+ months now. That might be a cheaper route for you if you are going to build something.
BUT - to each their own. If it is what you want, I look forward to hearing your feedback once built.
Alo - on my juice, I was able to get the adjustable dropouts from Paragon to convert my bike to a 142x12 setup with a DT Swiss maxle.
Thanks for the input. Since I want to try full rigid, the "not quite" fat dirt wizard in the front will do just fine. I'll save squishy duties for the bike that is full squishy. Will post back once the build gets going.
My Juice and Niner were overlapping a bit too much. Both were fun on the trails, but the Niner was becoming my 'go to' bike. Not much of a weight penalty and both climb well... so changes needed to come to differentiate the bikes a bit more.
The trails near my house are suitable for both geared and singlespeed.
So I switched the Juice over to SingleSpeed.
New setup includes dropouts for 142x12 DT Swiss maxle.
EndlessBikeCo gearing and spacers.
Hope Hubs on Stans Flows.
While I am not as quick on the Soma now as I used to be, there is a new fun factor that is making the Soma the new "go to" bike. I am not a singlespeeder at heart. I am just looking for something fun and challenging. This switch made my local trails all feel new again and made just grabbing a bike to ride for an hour fun again.
Just a little update:
I hasn't escaped our view that some have been trying to squeeze plus tires onto our B-Side and Juice, something they aren't really designed for.
In 4 or 5 months we will be releasing some Juices (our 29er) with re-designed stays that will truly fit 27.5 x 2.8" WTB Trailblazer/i45 Scraper combo with a 1x10 set up. This tweak will only be on the standard model, not the Gates Drive compatible model. The B-Side will also get this same treatment, but will more likely be 6 or 7 months out. These are not a full-on "plus" bikes, but a good way to experiment with this trend using older parts you may have.
Picked up a Soma B-Side V.2 Belt Drive frame recently for a custom E-build. Had one of the well respected LBS’s in my area face, chase and ream the frames vitals to prep it per Soma’s instructions and built it up to this point so far.
Over the coming months a California legal Type-1 power assist mid-drive system will be selected and installed with a chain drive while I fine tune the 3spd IGH gearing (likely a BaFang BBS02). The rear hub on this build is a Sturmey-Archer 3spd IGH 8-9spd cassette (CS-RK3). The wide cassette width will eventually be used for a belt cog line adjustment for whatever pedal power assist system goes into the bottom bracket. The SA 3spd IGH in this rear hub uses standard index shifters, so a Sram X9 3spd shifter will hopefully provide quick adjustable indexed shifting. Rims are Blue Halo Vapor’s sporting Schwalbe Smart Sam Plus 27.5 X 2.25, which are E-bike rated Green Guard tires. Full specifications and pictures will be posted when finished.
The Soma B-Side frame came very nicely finished and the Pumpkin Orange looks stunning against the blue accents!
Last edited by Whiptastic; 10-10-2016 at 06:22 AM.
Reason: typo
Shoot your TV and turn off your CPU’s, then get outside and start living!
Banshee Paradox & Soma Wolverine 3spd Belt Drive
She's basically done. Just waiting for the desired 21Ah battery pack to restock. That will be hidden in the Ibera Mini Commuter bag on the customized adjustable rack.
Hard to even tell it's an E-bike from this angle. Love that stealthy look.
From the side front.
Low and lean drive system with Orange/Blue/Black color scheme with White/Red accents.
From the top.
Riding her without power now and loving it. Soma B-Side single speed recommended gearing was used for the 1:1 2nd gear on the SA 3spd IGH. I ride it like a two-speed ( 2nd & 3rd) with a granny low 1st. Can’t wait to power it up a notch when the battery comes in.
Shoot your TV and turn off your CPU’s, then get outside and start living!
Banshee Paradox & Soma Wolverine 3spd Belt Drive
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Originally Posted by skoda
