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I currently have a Cotic Soul and a Cotic X.
The Soul was recently re-painted and I'm running it as a plush singlespeed at the mo (but with XT/R gears hanging around in a cupboard), while the X is my do-it-all bike kitted out with a mix of ageing 9-speed Tiagra STIs, BB5s and newer 105 bits.
Basically, I'm committed to the Soul and at...um...a crossroads with the X... I need to spend some dosh to renew the X in its current form.
The Soul is lovely, but used once a week... I have two pre-school kids. The X, on the other hand, is used almost daily.
I'm seriously thinking about combining the bikes and ending up with a Soul that has off-road (26in) and on-road (700c) wheels, a choice of rigid and squishy forks and the best of the combined parts. Given that I've previously done John O'Groats to Land's End on a 26in hardtail, I'm not bothered about losing drop bars.
The main reasons to do it are:
- The best of my parts, in use, all of the time;
- Suits my needs and can be switched quickly as needs be;
- Takes up less space (my wife and kids have bikes too);
- Costs me nothing.
The main thing that puts me off is that I leave my X at a busy railway station at least once a week; albeit beind the ticket barrier with several hundred other bikes and a mahoosive lock. I could get a Brompton on a bike-to-work scheme I suppose. 🙄
Has anyone else done this or runs a similar bike? Thanks. 🙂
You had me on one bike up to the railway station. That would be the deal breaker for me. I have a 1992 muddy Fox hybrid for that sort of thing. Will leave it anywhere on a budget lock!
I too was with you until the railway station! It sounds reasonable but just add another lock.
Or sell both and a 650b / 29er....
Tricky one - Would it mean buying a disk 700c wheelset, or does the X have disks so you have one already? [Maybe a stupid q, but can you fit 700c wheels into the soul frame - is it not a bit of a squeeze?]
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. I'd keep the two bikes, all the good parts on the Soul and keep the X functional for the daily commute.
Swapping between two sets of wheels is one thing. How often do you really think that you'd put in the effort required to switch forks?
Don't think the one bike for everything really works. Keep both.
I salute you on a genuine 'one bike for everything post'. On here, one bike for everything usually involves hand wringing about whether the same 6" travel bike will be useable for the UK and a week on the lifts in the alps.
That said I think swapping forks regularly is a bridge too far and that keeping both if poss is the way to go.
Thanks chaps.
The X does indeed have a disc wheelset (XT hubs on Mavic TN719 rims). I also already have a spare rigid fork for the Soul. I'd probably run it rigid for most of the winter and then swap back to my Fox 32s come spring.
I do enjoy riding the X - it's a very comfortable bike and well-suited to my needs. It could just do with some new parts; STIs especially - and it feels a bit odd having some top kit left at home most of the time.
Perhaps this is talking me into a flat-bar (Roadrat?) build, so that I can interchange some more parts between the two bikes...
Ye too much hassle. Put your gears back on the soul for your mtb, then buy a roadrat flat bar singlespeed thing with the money you'll sell the x for, they pop up second hand on eBay. Build it from any singlespeed kit you can transfer from the soul and just look for some kit in classifieds.
The x will get snapped up cus it's a trendy non racey trail/freeride/all mountain cross bike init!
If you're gonna get a Brompton then it's no longer one bike to do it all is it!
And if you REALLY need one bike just sell both and build a Solaris and have a cheap spare set of wheels with slicks/cross tyres for commute.
Bad idea IMO.
A cross bike with extra wheels for road duties would be my choice. And a Raliegh 20 for the railway station - nobody steals a Raleigh 20.
In my experience; I change wheels frequently, change tyres rarely, change forks almost never.
Ok guys - I'm going to do it, do it, do it! (Well...most of it).
A quick recap:
- I currently have two bikes (Cotic Soul, Cotic X);
- Most miles are on my X, so despite the Soul having nicer parts it's used less of the two;
- Space for bikes at home is limited due to a growing family;
- Keeping the Soul with two sets of wheels seems ideal, but...
- I park my bike at a railway station, when I'm not doing a 15-mile round commute.
This is my plan:
1) To test out the theory of a two wheelset bike, I'm swapping-in the 700c disc wheels from my X onto my Soul. This is a zero cost experiment, although I'll run my rigid forks because the XT hubs on the X are 9mm QR (15mm on the Soul's Fox 32s). If it works out, I'll sell the X and get some 700c wheels with the same hubs, discs and cassette as the Soul's 26in wheels.
2) The limiting factor for reducing to only one bike is the railway station parking situation (locking-up an expensive bike). So, assuming the Soul with two wheelsets works out, I'll get a folding bike. E.g., I see that the Tern Uno is £295 at Evans, or I can do a Brompton on Cyclescheme. This would also save me time at the railway station.
I'll let you know how the experiment goes...
Here we are - ready to go:
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If it works out, I'll swap the XT 9mm QR front hub for a 15QR Hope hub and pop the matching Fox 32s back on. 🙂
Just need to investigate folding bikes now...
I'd highly recommend getting something shit for parking at the station- get on Gumtree, find an ancient Rockhopper or something for £50, get it all working nicely, sorted. Relatively theftproof, and the saving on wear and tear on the nice bike is massive- my commuter with its 7-speed just goes on and on.
^^I've been parking the X at the station for 2 years - the plan is to get a folder for there and use the Soul for all other riding. 🙂
Is there much benefit to a folder for you though? Or is it just a big lump to carry around?
if you leave it the station does it need to be a folding bike?
i thought the whole point of folding bikes was to take them on the train?
I'm struggling for space. I also travel nationally with my job - so a folder would get used. I've been taking my X with me occasionally and it's no fun having to reserve a bike space on a train.
Then ignore my stupid plan 🙂