Soma Cazaderos - A Favorite of the CX Magazine Gang for Adventure

Here's a short and to the point review of the Soma Cazadero tires out of Cyclo-cross Magazine.
Click on the image to read the whole thing. Glad to hear it is one of their "all time favorites for gravel and adventure" even though we are aware gravel is still in its infancy. We hope the Cazes live up to that statement over the years.

Cazaderos come in both blackwall and skinwall, 700c or 650b. 42mm width only (1.65").
Have you  tried them yet?

The Juice and B-Side Gets A Gates Belt-Drive Option

The Juice (29er) and B-Side (27.5er) hardtails are now available with a split Tange Sliding Dropout for compatibility with belt-drive systems. Build them SS or with Rohloff (or other internal geared) hubs. Colors are the same. The only other design difference is with the drive-side chainstay which has a flat plate to make sure there is clearance for 2.4" tires and the thick Gates front cog.

The standard models are still be available. The belt-drive ones are only available in small quantities this year.

Stock we have now have a split in the dropout for the belt.
Future 2015 production will have a split in the seatstay.

Modified chainstay: Looks different, but quite stiff.
Passes Gates/Rohloff frame stiffness test.

Wolverine Review from Back Alley Bikes in SEA

"Riding hands free is no problem, such as when grabbing for a snack, removing a riding layer, or taking pictures. Obviously 2.1-inch trail tires won’t feel spry climbing on Seattle’s hills, but they were fun! Especially cutting through alleys and around the Central District’s choppy streets and all over Beacon Hill. The Wolverine reminded me of when I switched from downhill skiing to snowboarding, and how I viewed terrain differently. Whereas obstacles and tree lines were only for flirting with on skis, on a snowboard I’d duck in and out of trees, I’d head straight for the swoopy humps and get some radness. Same thing with the Wolverine. I started popping off of dirt embankments, skidding into loose corners, and rolling obstacles like on-board a 29’er."

Check out the full review!

http://www.backalleybikerepair.com/somatic-tangerine-wolverine/

John's Soma Juice Touring Build

Just thought I'd drop you guys a pic of my latest build. I've been using this bike as a trainer/commuter since it handles really well on all types of terrain and it's set up so comfortable. I'm joining a group of my buddies next week to ride the GAP trail in PA so I have it set up in touring trim. Thanks for a great product!!!

John Scheidhauer

Alpine Autoworks Inc.

Gary's Soma Juice

Attached are three I-phone snaps of my new Soma Juice at the Benicia State Recreation Area. The bike is so much fun, and a very different experience from riding my old rigid 26er.

I highly recommend the semi-custom route, where one’s choices of a frame and components are guided by an expert--in this case, mountain bike practitioner and skilled mechanic Tom Hurlbut of American Cyclery in San Francisco. I had a fit issue that had to be accommodated--note the uncut steerer tube, available for further adjustment if necessary. No off-the-shelf bike can give you everything you want and nothing you don’t. Of course it’s more expensive to buy the components a la carte, but the result in my opinion is worth the extra expense, and I doubt I’ll be replacing anything any time soon. And not least, it’s steel!

GARY K. HEPPELL

2014 Juice Update

2014 Frame News!

Our new B-Side has been getting some circulation online lately, but we wanted to let all the 9er fans out there know we didn't forget about you.

Here's a few shots of the Brownstone Soma Juice for 2014. The geometry is unchanged from the 2013 model, but we're going with a tapered head tube to accommodate some of the newer forks on the market these days (Zero Stack upper assembly and an external cup 40.EC44 bottom assembly). Don't worry though, you can still uses a regular steer tube with the correct headset (Zero Stack).

These should be ready to ship in a couple weeks so if you want one of the first batch get in touch with your local Soma dealer and ask them to reserve one for you.

Soma Juice 1x10 Hardtail Build

Have a look at Daryl's snappy looking Soma Juice.

View the full set at www.darylwatkins.com/somajuice/

Click To Enbiggen

Just added a slew of photos to our Flickr stream.
Some stolen off our Facebook group. Others are owner submissions. Here are a few.
See more here and here.


"Retroscool's" Juice 29er w/ Titec H-bars and Surly Larry front tire



Jeff's Stanyan, which replaced a big brand aluminum road bike.
Wishes he replaced it sooner.


Soma ES from Dream Cycle.


Soma Double Cross from Dream Cycle. These are NOT custom matched
fenders! Amazingly the "beige" SKS Longboard fenders made from
recycled PET water bottles match our Ivory paint pretty closely.

Second Coming of the Soma B-Side

Only MD and LG sizes available now.

The 650b MTB platform has not taken the mountain bikedom by storm. Are we surprised? Not really. Even back in 2007, we never thought or hoped it would supplant either of the more established tire sizes. We felt it had its place as the "happy medium".... a tire size that would be ride ideal for some riders... mainly those who felt (in their opinion) 29ers were a little to unwieldy and slow and were willing to give up a little of the 29ers rolling advantage to get back some of a manuevering quickness of a 26" bike. No doubt it has done just that for some mountain bikers. Some have said they won't be going back to 29ers or 26ers.
So that is why we are continuing with the B-Side, even if it doesn't sell as well as our Juice or Analog frames.
The version 2 B-Side still features our custom spec of double butted Tange Prestige heat-treated CrMo tubing. It does boast some notable upgrades, including Tange/IRD stainless steel sliding dropouts. These offer the rider single-speed and geared set up options with fewer hassles than a track-style "dropout" and lighter weight than an eccentric bottom bracket. The dropouts include eyelets for fenders, but there are no rack mounts. We don't expect too many to run fenders on this bike, but it doesn't hurt to include them.


We also tweaked the geometry so tall riders don't have to raise the seatpost quite as much (a comment from some owners). Some riders will still need a 400mm post. Other geometry changes include a shorter chainstays overall and a longer top tube on the 16.5". Integrated seat clamp is gone (again at the request of our fans).
The bike is still designed around the length of a White Brothers 80mm travel 650b fork; however we expect most folks to fit a 100mm travel 26" fork on the B-Side, which is about the same length.
If you are looking for top shelf hardtail option for 650b that's versatile, too, look no further than the new B-Side in its stately matte Gun Metal Blue finish. Sizes medium and large available now (no ETA on the other sizes) Geometry is posted below. We will not be including on the main site, until the new page design is ready. Sorry about that.