Welcome Commuter Cycles to the Soma Family

Commuter Cycles in Brunswick, Australia bills itself as a "bike shop with a difference".

"We offer tailored servicing and repairs, reliable accessories and good value replacement parts. We take great pride in our workmanship and think bright lights, panniers and mudguards are cool. At Commuter Cycles, the workshop is the shop, so you deal with the same people who look after your bike.
Better still, Commuter Cycles makes looking after your bike easy by offering courtesy bikes, opening early and closing late, and we’re conveniently located next to the Upfield bikepath and Brunswick station."

Keen shop here....  One of the shop folks rides a Grand Randonneur to work. Plus they had the sense to order multiple Soma Wolverines in September. (We are currently suffering a Wolverine drought)

From Lust To Love: Long term review of a 48cm Soma Double Cross

Cassandra, co-founder of Spoke Haven in Madison, WI, didn't need another bike, much less another steel bike. But she had an idea for a fun winter project, something she could build from the ground up. She ended up choosing one of our Gunmetal Blue Matte Double Cross's. Choosing from a mix of new and parts-bin stuff, she ended with quite a fun commuter and light tourer.
The second thing we noticed (the first had to be the tasteful use of purple anodized parts) were the Shimano bar end shifters with Paul Thumbie mounts. ("The Paul thumbies have made me really happy. I used to nail my knees on the bar end shifters mounted on the bar ends")

Here is an excerpt: (For the full review and complete build list please go to the Spokehaven blog.)

Soma has done a fantastic job on their overall bike line up and the Double Cross is no exception. I get tons of compliments on the bike and the color of the frame. The pearly blue is extremely classy looking and the powder coat has held up incredibly well. The logos and the frame badge are also gorgeous. Color me in love with the bike and the Double Cross frame. I should note that the newest color of the bike is more of a gunmetal-ish grey, but still very beautiful.

If anyone reading this is debating between the Surly Cross Check and the Soma Double Cross, I would highly recommend considering the Soma. It does has a taller head tube on it which means it’s not as aggressive, but for the price I think it’s just a slightly nicer frame. That’s not to say I’m not down with Surly. I love them as well and would buy a dirt tourer or one of their many cool fat bikes,  but I just love the Double Cross more if doing a straight comparison. One other major plus, for me, is the fact that Soma uses vertical drop outs and not horizontal drop outs. I know why Surly uses horizontal dropouts and it makes for a more versatile frame, but they can be a pain in the ass when changing a rear flat. I also used to have issues with the wheel pulling to one side no matter how tight the rear skewer was on the Cross Check. I haven’t dealt with that what so ever on the Double Cross.

Soma Stanyan: Bicycle SPACE's Bike of the Week

 

 We are dang proud to be Bicycle SPACE's Bike of the Week. Bicycle Space is a bike shop in Washington D.C. Though they are not even 5 years old, they are one of the biggest Brooks dealers in the country.

Erik, the co-owner, built up the Stanyan for himself (our lugged road sport frame set) with a smattering of modern, but mostly 80's era parts off bikes he's owned in the past. Check out the whole interesting story on their blog.

Dealer Spotlight: Hoopdriver Bikes

Hoopdriver in lovely Toronto, Canada only started stocking Soma Fabrications last year and the shop itself will only be celebrating anniversary no. 2 this April 25. Happy Anniversary, Martin!

Hoopdriver Bicycles is sees itself as providing bicycles, parts and accessories that are functional, smart, durable and attractive.They make a special effort to also source and stock unique products that are difficult to find elsewhere. They carry a number of touring, randonneuring and commuting bicycles. They recently built a number of gorgeous Somas that we want to share with you. Click here to view his Flickr sets of these bikes and others.


Soma Stanyan 58cm with EneCiclo tires 28c tires


Soma Double Cross 54cm with NOS blue Mavic Open Pro rims
and King headset


Soma Buena Vista with Sturmey-Archer 3-speed
hubs, Dia-Compe reverse levers, and VO fenders