What should I replace my mk.1 Cotic Solaris with?

You shouldn't, they're brilliant (speaking as a fellow Mk1 owner) Only had mine three years but it is the best all rounder I've ever had, tarmac commute there, EWS stage on the way home, all day rides on the moors, raced a beginners enduro on it, been the spare bike at 24hr Races, and overall a lot of fun.
Keep it

Ha! Thanks @andrewh. I intend to. I couldn't part with it now. But I would like something more modern for those rides from the door.

Budget?

I came here hoping you might be selling a mk1 in small. My daughter has comandeered mine a couple of years ago and I replaced it with a newer Soul in the hope it might be similar enough, but it's not and I miss it 😢.

I do have a small 26" Soul frame for sale @Earl_Grey if that's any good? Some parts too

Yeti ARC (from a former mk1 owner)

I guess the longer/slacker/steeper requirement, plus 10 years newer, will offset the springy/light steel feel to some extent, which is why the more recent Solaris doesn't do it for you?

But this?

Fairlight Holt?

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Specialized Chisel is a modern xc bike. Rides great.

Stanton Sherpa?

Pipedream Sirius? I went through a similar process when I wanted a trail HT to complement my FS trail/enduro bike.
I was looking at a Stanton Sherpa (conservative geometry imo), Cotic Solarismax (too heavy/enduroish) and the Pipedream which I found to be pretty much what I wanted i.e. race xc on a Saturday, ride win hill on Sunday, ride to work on Monday

I was going to say sounds like a Pipedream Sirius fits the bill too.

How about the Mk3 Solaris, when they went boost but before they went slack & long?

And consider sizing up to get more reach, I used to ride a large mk2 (at 5ft 8in).

Stanton Sherpa. Or I’m changing to a Sonder Signal ti

Came here just to post Stanton Sherpa Gen3 853. Beat me to it.

Another here who thought Stanton Sherpa.

I do have a small 26″ Soul frame for sale @Earl_Grey if that’s any good? Some parts too

Thanks @andrewh, but it's got too be an older solaris, best bike ever (and I do love my Soul, but...).

Sonder Broken road?

Or

Fairlight Holt?

Thanks @andrewh, but it’s got too be an older solaris, best bike ever

I know what you mean. When I win the lottery I'm having a copy of mine made in titanium, same but lighter😁

I find the SolarisMax works for me for everything, i ran it as an 'Enduro' style bike, then put lighter wheels and fork on and it's quite different... though i'd be tempted by a Sherpa ti? Or even a Switch9er Ti (having demo'ed one and loved it)

I still love my Mk1 Solaris. It's set up rigid, but every time I get on it after riding other bikes for a while I think how comfortable it is. There are probably beefier 'gravel' bikes now, but it's just an ace bike

Having owned numerous steel bikes over a few decades (including some old Cotics), my experience with recent hardtails would have me advising -dont get hung up on it being steel anymore.

Theres a much bigger difference between compliant and harsh alloy frames, than there is between a generic alloy, and steel frame.

Lots of really nice alloy frames available.

How about a Cotic Cascade with some 100mm forks on?

I swapped my Mark 1 Solaris for long low slack with a Last Fast Forward. Not living anywhere steep I prefered The Solaris for ragging around on. Great allrounder.

I'm in a similar position in that i've mistakenly ditched a more traditional xc trail bike (Parkwood 29er, previously Rock Lobster 853), and dabbled in a few things but not found quite what I want. I think bikes like the Solaris have become more hardcore and the current SolarisMAX is not what I would want. I've been thinking on this a good while and the current options are what have been mentioned already - not too LLS, not too heavy, and not necessarily steel. Modern XC race bikes seem to fit the bill a fair bit now too...

Fairlight Holt
Sonder Broken Road
Stanton Sherpa
Spesh Chisel
Scott Scale?
Cotic Cascade sized up to run rigid

Currently ride a Kona Unit X with my own fairly nice build on it. It handles well and I like it, and the geo is pretty spot on, but it's pretty darned heavy and fairly stiff, it doesn't have that zippyness which I do miss.

Yeti Arc. Nice.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, appreciated. A few repeat offenders in all the messages.

I agree with some of the sentiments regarding the SolarisMax. I found the front end / stack too low. So had to run 140 forks and spacers to accommodate. It took some bonding with and adapting to as it was initially difficult to get over the front end even with a 35mm stem as the cockpit/ETT was soooo long. There was no way I felt I could run a shorter fork.

I guess it lost that light, snappy feel too. Although it was great fun and very competent.

I guess that really low front end/stack height also put me off the likes of the Sirius and Sherpa. Obviously, this is solely based on numbers as I've not seen either in the flesh.

I did consider the Yeti Arc, and there have been some good 2nd hand frame options recently, but at 6', would a large feel too compact?

The Fairlight Holt looks great and is surely quite close on paper to a modern equivalent. I've also heard great things about the Chisel.

Lots to ponder.

I love the look of the Fairlight Holt, but i felt there were too many compromises. The 27.2 seat tube, the T47 bb being the main issues.
I’m happy to run with spacers to get the front end high enough for my ageing neck. So the Sherpa (my wife has one and lives it) would have been good.
I did think of running a slack set in the original Solaris, but didn’t resolve the other bits like rear end stiffness or slackish seat angle.

So I’ve gone for the Signal Ti. It’s always looked right to me. It’s beefier than the Solaris, but I’m really looking forward to it. 120mm forks at the moment, it’ll get 130mm when funds allow

Interesting, but I don't think the 27.2 seat tube is a bad thing, plenty of dropper choices and I guess a bigger diameter wouldn't have gone with the rest of the carefully tuned tubeset - too stiff? I'm a bit sceptical of the T47 but reading around it more, it seems OK and offers full compatibility and at least it's still threaded rather than push fit. Adds a bit more faff making sure you have the right axle cups etc., but not a deal breaker.

I think fairlight are going to be offering complete builds of the Holt sometime next year, which makes it very tempting for a cycle 2 work deal if it comes in under £3k!

What Cotic should do is bring back the Soul in 29er form and more akin to the old Solaris. Something like the Sour Pasta Party which is another option for the Op.

Had a closer look at the Pasta Party and it seems to have flat mount brakes. Odd for an MTB

Seems a bit odd and here is their explanation.

link

What Cotic should do is bring back the Soul in 29er form and more akin to the old Solaris.

IIRC some of us were predicting/suggesting this when they canned the Soul.

I quite agree, I don't see the point of them having two virtually identical HTs (Solaris & Bfe), where one's slightly cheaper and heavier.

Just dial back the geometry and burliness of the Solaris for the Soul, and create the ultimate dad bike. Watch those grey pounds roll in.

@cha****ng that's me summed up!

Ooooo that Sour Crumble is a bit of all right.

Sour Crumble is top of my list for a new bike, shame about the price! Hardtail Party was very positive about it.

if me then my shortlist would be:

Fairlight Holt in lavender colour
Mason Raw
Sour Crumble (does look nice!)

then more budget choice
latest solaris in midnight blue
Pipedream Sirius
OnOne Hunter?

agree with some of the sentiments regarding the SolarisMax. I found the front end / stack too low. So had to run 140 forks and spacers to accommodate.

Totally this. I went from a mk2 to the longshot. I wanted a 120mm HT with a slacker HA. But it is now a 140 with a load of spacers to prevent me getting neck ache.

I like it, but wasn't what I wanted really. That said I have still put 4000 miles on it. It's my winter mule.

I went from a MK1 Solaris to a longshot solarismax. I LOVE the solarismax. So capable, and also versatile. doesn't really give anything away that the Solaris did but it can't, at least for me.

The Solaris was always a bit on the small side for me though.

Oh yeah and agree with solarismax needing to be run at 140. I wouldn't go lower. The stack is maybe a bit low.

I love the Solaris Max too... but I wouldn't want to pull it out for a 6 hour race, a Welsh MTB Marathon - and the Mk2 covered those bases pretty well.

The earlier ones were definitely a bit too short though.

Some of us are still on Mk1 Souls, for heavens sake!

I had a mk1 solaris (the green one, I think that was a mk1).

Tried various combinations of:

Rigid (100mm) equivilent fork
100mm SIDS
130mm pike

Standard headset
-1.5 angleset

Dropper
Rigid post

1x10
Singlespeed.

Stems from 90 to 35, bars from 720 to 760.

The 1.5 angleset with rigid fork is the one I miss. (760 bars, 50 or 70mm stem)

All other combinations, it has been surpassed in every way by my Bird Zero 29.

Limitations I remember are lack of rear tyre clearance and stupid cable routing. (designed for 2x10 with no dropper, bare cable under the top tube). And the shifter hit the top tube.

I too have a SolarisMax bought in the hope it would take the place of a 26" Soul. It didn't. Too heavy and a tad inflexible.
I have spent the money now so I will have to live with it but I am keeping an eye on this thread to see if there is an alternative that will motivate me enough to sell the SM and transfer bits to a new, lighter more engaging frame.