Endless Velo Love 650b New Xpress Review

Found this review of the New Cream 650b tires over at endlessvelolove.blogspot.com. Some really nice photography to accompany it.

"I haven't had a single flat tire [...]. The tires are comfortable, allow for speed [...], and are aesthetically  what I was looking for in a tire."

Read the full article here http://endlessvelolove.blogspot.com/2013/05/early-review-soma-new-xpress-650b-tires.html

Zugster Custom Rando Bags

I just got word from Adam @zugsterbags that he's finished with our custom Rando bags. These will be showing up in the Soma Store very soon. If you want one, get your order in quick because when they're gone they're gone.

Soma Smoothie SS: Our Stainless Steel Road Frame All Built Up

The Smoothie SS uses the same semi-compact geometry of our CrMo Smoothie, but is fillet brazed with double butted thin wall KVA MS2 stainless steel. We opted for a nice hand polish over the cheaper Scotch Brit finish. Sold as frame alone. Component highlights: SRAM Force crank (Rival Apex mix of other drivetrain stuff) Zipp post, Vredestine tires, Ritchey fork, Look pedals, zinc-plated IRD Techno-Glide headset. Bar, stem, tape and saddle are ours. Special thanks to Willliams for loaning us the Carbon System 38 wheels. Also thanks to American Cyclery for building it up quick, so we could display it at the first leg of the Tour of California.

Bike Shop Spotlight: Le Cyc in Tokyo, Japan

Le Cyc is a chain of bicycle stores in Japan. From what we can tell they aren't clones of eachother like some of the chain stores in the States. The one in Tokyo which carries a few Somas has one of the most diverse collection of bikes we've seen in one store. They carry urban stuff like Linus, Vamoof and Electra (and our Buena Vista and Double Cross). They carry cargo bikes like Bullit (and our Tradesman). They carry fat tire bikes from Surly. It's all jammed tightly in a medium-size space, but done without looking like a dollar store. A bike geek can't go in without his/her eyes widening at least 5mm.  Photos: Ken Homma. http://cyclespot.co.jp/lecyc/ (Use hyperlink in first sentence for the Google Translated page)

Soma Tradesman (version 2)

Kenpa Classic

Soma Buena Vista with drop bars and interesting saddle bag.

Bicycle Times reviews the San Marcos

Matt K just posted this long term review of the San Marcos over at Bicycle Times.

"I believe bikes have personalities and those personalities are part of the buying decision. Jim Porter of Merry Sales (Soma’s distributor) says their relationship with Rivendell is like the relationship of Elvis to blues or gospel music. Taking his analogy further: if Rivendell is gospel, then Soma is Elvis being played in an old Cadillac."

Read the full review here www.bicycletimesmag.com/content/review-soma-fabrications-san-marcos

Soma Stanyan 650b from Velo Cult

George at Velo Cult in PDX sent me some gorgeous shots of his custom Stanyan 650b build. I love the look of the new Cream New Xpress tires with all the shiney shiney on this bike. You gotta hand it to the Northwest for putting together some sexy builds.

Beveled Honjos, omg so nice.

Whoo! Everything fits!

The Nitto CT81 is one of the nicest looking threadless stems around hands down.

That is some classy leatherwork right there!

Keeping it classic with the ENE Ciclo downtube shifters. 

Dia Compe 750 centerpulls are ideal for 650b conversions. Now available with modern recessed hardware for those in the know.

And the mud flap matches the seat bag. Well done sir, well done.

If you want to see more from Velo Cult follow their blog here velocult.com/blog/ Thanks George!

Rivendell on IRD 8/9spd cassettes

From Riv

"We’re now carrying IRD cassettes, 8-speeders and 9-speeders, made, we hear, by

Shimano’s subcontractor and to the same quality standards."

"Anyway, the great thing is we got to pick the ratios, and although it’s hard to go way wrong with a cassette, there is a theoretically-smarter-than-usual way to go about it, and that’s what we've done. The cog gaps increase as they cogs get bigger, so the effective change in gear or effort makes sense. PLUS, we got 12t top cogs, which are more useful than 11’s, and 34t low cogs, which split the difference nicely between a 32 and 36."

Saga Moustache Bar Touring Build

Some really nice Japanese bits on this build. Nothing compares to these Nitto racks for loaded touring.

Thanks to David @ Brazen Bicycles for sending this over. More shots of this build here http://brazenbicycles.com/Soma-Long-Distance-Touring