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It's green & shiny. But a couple of questions;
I've used the same fork, grips, handlebar, stem from my full Sus bike, yet my hands were killing me at the bottom of a rough descent today. Am I right in thinking that the extra reverberations from the hardtail rear end are causing this. If so, big volumous tyre? Or am I just holding on too tight?
(Its a fab bike. Love it!)
this is STW so MTFU 😉
Stay loose man 😉
MTFU and ride no-handed.
MTFU and ride no-handed.
On the back wheel ffs!
Pussy
Check the fork set up. If you've left them unchanged they might be too hard/soft/wrong on the Soul.
All of the above! 😉 Big tyres are good on the Soul, it has so much clearance at the back you can run them all year around.
[new stock stw response mode on]
Wheels are too small, 29er or 650b you need.
[new stock stw response mode off]
+1 on tyres. I am on 2.3's and it's pretty comfy
Cy might be on to something. Seems to know a bit about these. 😉
I'd still think a bit of experiment with hand position might be worth it. Swapping stem/spacers up and down, and rotating the bars forward or back a bit might just do the trick. Unlikely the old bike had exactly the same length headtube to BB, so you will be in a slightly different position even when not seated. Doesn't cost to try those changes either.
Oh, and PICS!!!
worst new bike thread ever
PICS
Check your fork pressure and I would put some tubeless 2.25 ardents on , mine is comfy !
Should definitely stick the biggest volume tyres you can on at lower volumes, better than phaffing around with fork pressures.
How do you post pics from iPad ?
Basically, you don't. This site doesn't "host" pics, only show those hosted on others. Go to Photobucket or Flickr or similar, set up a freebie account and upload your pic to there. Then once you've got that sorted you link to the hosted pic using the IMG tag box thing in the posting box. There's a better fuller spiel about it ^^^^^ where it says Forum Help.
Use 2.2-2.3 tyres on mine. Must admit coming from a fs i hung for dear life too, but after a couple of rides and picking better lines rather than charging through the rough like i would on my fs, no issues.
Use 2.2-2.3 tyres on mine. Must admit coming from a fs i hung for dear life too, but after a couple of rides and picking better lines rather than charging through the rough like i would on my fs, no issues.
Having never owned a full-sus before and feeling like I already charge straight through the rough on my max-gnarr-build Soul, I shall be fascinated to see if I can take even straighter lines on my forthcoming Rocket! 😉
You run 140's chief...but i like a bit more stability on the ups with 120's!
From what i hear, the rocket...well goes like a rocket.
Hope you went orange?
Foam grips and carbon bars, plus a 120 Reba run at 25%sag, but with neg chamber set to a smidge below pos. And 2.25 tubeless snakeskins with 25 and 28 psi. I'm 15st. Rode penmachno on it yesterday, faultless setup for my style.
Photos need to be uploaded to something like Flickr (easy to do with the app and you can set the Flickr account name to match your stw name if you wish), then you share the photo using bb/HTML code option and copy that here after clicking img option - you only need the line starting [img] - most code can be deleted.
I suggest that you are riding too hands heavy on the new bike being unfamiliar with it. As a HT it will skip around more on a rough descent and I suspect your responce is to grip more tightly. You might be a bit too far forward with your weight too (don't hang too far back so you loose steering). You might be a bit stiff in the legs too, need some flex.
Enjoy the bike Cotic's are wonderful 🙂
Learn to love the loose. 😆
You're probably holding on too tight, but bigger volume tyres will help. I wouldn't change fork set ups until you get a fell for what's going on
@ scapegoat - how you find it with 120 Reba's ? I am waiting for a set to replace my velvets.
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Ok. Post pic now (phew)
Anyone like to comment on current setup?
Thanks
Very interested in this post. As the others say, you can go for a longer front fork, bigger volume tyres with lower pressurs, shorter stem, softer grips etc.
Some time ago I got myself a very nice Ti 29er hardtail in the hopes of doing away with my 26" full susser. After 18 months I still can't bring myself to ditch the full-susser. When the trail gets bumpy and fast, even a titanium 29er hardtail gets bouncy and scary; whereas 105mm of rear DW suspension on a 26" bike sucks it up and rides with confidence.
Oh btw. Faboulus looking green - Luv It! 😀
And yes cables need shortening 🙂
Control angles!
Looking at that photo your brake levers, shifters, reverb etc are almost vertical.
I would rotate everything up to more horizontal so you can get your wrists down and relax your grip. Are those grips lock on? If not and you are gripping hard then you are probably finding they squirm around so you grip even more and so on.
I would say on the decents make use of the reverb and get the saddle well down, lower your CofG and let your legs flex and get your wrists and heals lower and relax your grip.
edit: looking again you may need to rotate your bars back slightly too.
Andyl- good point! I'd not changed the setup from transfering over from other bike. Perhaps head angle and therefore stem/handlebar is different. Def going to try horizonal-izing me brakes! 🙂
Shifters and brakes look absolutely fine to me. Too horizontal and they won't be in the right place when you're descending. Getting more over the front of the bike, letting the fork soak up the bumps and putting less weight on the back wheel - that's what I consciously try to do when riding the HT.
That looks sweet, by the way. Money spent in the right* places and saved elsewhere, and that apple green looks great!
*well, how I would spend it anyway.
I would do as suggested with brakes and gear levers bring them higher up and get your saddle level not pointing down.
Control angles!Looking at that photo your brake levers, shifters, reverb etc are almost vertical.
I would rotate everything up to more horizontal so you can get your wrists down and relax your grip.
+1 all of this, definitely sort that out before you do the standard STW reaction of buying loads of new stuff. Nice bike too.
Re: lever position....
Sit on your bike in your normal riding position, lean forward and rest your palms on your grips with your fingers outstretched straight in front. Your fingers should rest on your levers and imagine a straight line drawn through the length of your arm and outstretched fingers. This is the right position.
If you are struggling to then reach them descending with your saddle down, then maybe tip them up a smidge.
Sit on your bike in your normal riding position, lean forward and rest your palms on your grips with your fingers outstretched straight in front. Your fingers should rest on your levers and imagine a straight line drawn through the length of your arm and outstretched fingers. This is the right [b]starting[/b] position.
You might find you like them a little higher or a little lower then that, I think I run mine a little higher.
Yeah, fair comment - start from there.
Sit on your bike in your normal riding position, lean forward and rest your palms on your grips with your fingers outstretched straight in front. Your fingers should rest on your levers and imagine a straight line drawn through the length of your arm and outstretched fingers. This is the right position.
Your body position when braking hard is way different to your default body position - positioning your brakes for this makes them much closer to horizontal. Also, dropping your wrists will give your hands a much more secure position on the bars and you need higher levers for this to be comfortable. Just measured my brakes and the levers are 15 degrees below the horizontal when I'm not on the bike, so 15-20 deg when riding.
Adjusted brakes a little towards horizontal. Spin out around the roads- feels good. Will try out on the Peaks tomorrow
@bigdan - yup that brake / shifter change should allow you get get into a much better position. As they were you would most likely have too much weight on your hands as you were weight forward to reach the brakes,
Lovely bike
@Ianc
Its great with rebas. I had 100s on a cube cc bike for years, then put them on the soul after despacering them to 120. Sweet, really sweet. I run them plush to start with, but have now changed to a tapered steered with 20mm maxle. Much stiffer, and run them so that they don't dive .... I was finding the bike compressed and steepened the head angle so in back up to 25% sag and let it run a bit chattery on the flat. At penmachno yesterday it didn't miss a beat, and there's plenty there to test it. And me! 😛
Scapegoat, thanks for info. I am getting 120, tapered, 15mm ones, although they are on back order for another 10 days. Was running 120 velvets since the bike was built 3 months ago, but they started creaking so are being warrantied 🙂
I'm expecting the Reba's to be a little plusher
Fairly sure you need to Man Up. Nice that someone is still riding those retro hard tails with ickle wheels.
Why does eveyone elses seatposts look massive on their Soul's? Either ive the wrong size frame or you're all gigantic! 😀
He he! I'm 5'11" with long legs and short trunk ( I used to be six foot til I crushed a couple of vertebrae 😀 ) so a medium is only just big enough. Its playful and chuckable rather than stretched out all day styles.
Saddle pointing down will force weight on to your hands- try it horizontal.
I love it
Thanks All for the advice. Off to play about out tomorrow morning!
Running a bit more sag seems to help a little.
Is it hard to reduce travel on Fox Floats ? Do I need Mojo et al to do?
rode my mk 2 soul today round some local woods and it was fantastic ! every time I think of buying a 29er I ride the soul and think ...nope ! whats the point I love it too much 🙂
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/59190559@N05/9386696574/ ]IMG_1338[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/59190559@N05/ ]bluerichiepig[/url], on Flickr
Like your setup
Guess 120mm forks?
Yes 120 forks , they are only recon gold but seen some nice dt Swiss 120 which would be good 🙂