New Albion Privateer x Champs Elysees Low Trail Fork

I've had a few questions about the bike we featured last week, so here's a few more detailed shots.

The New Albion Privateer is my daily driver. This build is what we in the biz call a "mechanics special". Aka, the bike that I ride every day, but rarely service.

The great thing about having a bike like this is any time I have a new prototype or sample part I just throw it on. That gives me an excellent base line for comparing iterations of products that aren't ready for mass production.

For instance, this bike has seen every version of the Tanaka Decaleur. As a result it's slowly evolved into an almost flawless commuter bike. The tape is Soma Thick & Zesty in Camo Brown. It's a little funky, but it's growing on me.

The Champs Elysees Low Trail forks were designed to fit a variety of frames, but paired with the Privateer's 72mm headtube it yields 45mm of mechanical trail. This works out nicely for larger handlebar bags that tend to hang over the front hub.

The blades on these 65mm offset forks are a bit springier than the 45mm Classic Curves, but that certainly doesn't preclude you from loading it down a bit. I typically use 2 front panniers in addition to my Ostrich bag.

While it adds a bit of extra, weight I love that I can slap on pretty much any rack I happen to get a hold of due to the selection of mounts.

I have this prototype Gamoh Japan mini rack. It's similar to the Nitto M-18 and the Soma Champs Elysees, but it's made from sturdier CrMo tubing. I'm putting it through it's paces, but I doubt there's much that it can't handle, especially mounted directly to the mini rack eyelets.

Looking forward to more new racks from Gamoh this year.

I've been using this Ostrich rando bag for a couple years. I've tested a few other front bags, but this is the only one I bought outright. It's a modest, cotton bag with front closure. It has small rear pockets and a map case on top. This style of bag works great for commuting and photo shoots, because it comes off easily and can be carried with the shoulder strap.

These new Sun XCD crankarms are one of the newer parts I'm trying out. They're similar to the classic Stronglight and TA style cranks, which utilize a direct mount large ring and a 3 bolt inner chainring. We've sold these crank arms for a while now, but the introduction of these new chainrings makes them far more compelling in my opinion. I'm currently using a 44t large ring and a 30t inner ring, but I may swap the inner ring for a lower climbing gear at some point.

I have use a lot of derailleurs over the years, including road and mountain options from Sram and Shimano, but this Sunrace M40 is the cheapest derailleur I've ever used. It retails for about 20 bucks, and is equal parts aluminum and plastic. But you know what? It works great. Seriously. Paired with ENE Ciclo friction shifters it can push a 34t cassette with capacity to spare.

After riding the Cazaderos and then the Gravel Kings for the last few months I decided to try out a set of the super light Soma Supple Vs.

So far I've only had one flat in about 400 miles or so. These tires are noticeably faster than anything else I've ever ridden (340 g in 700x42c), but they're definitely a road oriented tire. Not that you can't use lightweight tires on dirt, but you need to be a little more conservative when you choose your line. I'm going to get my money's worth from these, but I'll probably try some of the upcoming skinwall Gravel King SKs when they show up.

So that's my bike. Not a particularly fancy build, but it's a great ride for the money and the most reliable steed in my stable.

Soma ES 66cm Custom Build

American Cyclery is our oldest dealer, and the shop we go to for technical advice. They build a lot of custom Soma frames and test most of the prototype frames we send out. One question that commonly comes up is what parts to use on our super large frameset, so I thought I would share this 66cm ES built for an XXXL rider.

The 66cm frames have a very long headtube, but most of our steel forks are fine for the job. This one was built with our Champs Elysees low trail fork. Normally the ES doesn't need this much rake in the larger sizes, because it already has plenty of toe clearance, but with this build we wanted to use the largest tires we could fit and still have room for fenders. Another benefit of the Champ Elysees forks is their integrated rack mounts that allow it to accept a variety of front racks for Randonneuring, bike camping or even loaded touring.

The ES currently comes with 57mm brake clearance. We are using Japanese made 35mm Soma New Xpress tires on 23mm rims so we needed brakes with maximum room. The Original Paul Racer, modeled after classic Mafac centerpulls, is perfect for the job, and will provide enough stopping power for heavier riders (no offence tall folks, but you need some good brakes).

This generation Champs fork has slightly more tire clearance than the original ES fork does so we have plenty of room up front.

We went with IRD 175mm cranks, which are shorter than some people would use on a bike this large. We feel that due to the wide range of gears on this drivetrain a shorter crank is better as it incentives spinning a high cadence rather than mashing up hills in the big ring.

The hubs are the sealed bearing Suzue High Flange light touring model. They're compatible with 8-10 road cassettes, which we prefer for their longer wear life. Newer models are available with 11 speed compatible freehubs, but 10 speed seems to be the best value for indexed drivetrains these days.

A Shimano 105 GS does a fine job shifting our IRD Elite cassette. MKS Sylvan road pedals and stainless toe cages give this bike a classic vibe. Since the ES has downtube shifter mounts as well this would be a good choice for California Eroica or the SF Randonneurs series. We offer the ES in such a wide range of sizes because it really is one of the most versatile bikes out there. For thousands less than most carbon bikes you get a machine that can take you almost anywhere and will last for many many years longer.

American Cyclery also offers custom paint, along with fitting and maintenance out of their San Francisco store front. Custom built bicycles can be made to order via their website or in person the next time you're in the Fog City.

http://www.americancyclery.com/

Supple Vitesse SL

I mounted up a set of 33c Supple Vitesse SL tires on Pacenti CL25 rims to try them out on some local trails.

While they're not the most aggressive tires for offroad riding, the grippy Japanese rubber compound and ultralight casing make them extremely fast rolling on hardpack and slick rock surfaces.

33mm is a bit narrower that what I normally ride offroad, but for a bike that stays primarily on the road its a good size.

The Supple Vitesse has the advantage of a recessed file tread pattern, which doesn't pick small peices of rock and other debris like many retro tread patterns. The ribbed sections make the rubber softer and allow it more purchase on uneven surfaces, but due to the support provided by the solid areas they don't add much drag when in contact with smooth roads.

We've found that most tires perform better when paired with a rim that opens the casing up a bit. These Pacenti's are just about perfect for this tire.

In case you were wondering, this bike is an early prototype of the Rawland Ravn, which is designed around 26" or 650b wheels. Luckily, since it has disc brakes it's possible to experiment with these 700c wheels as well. The front rack is a Soma Champs Élysées stainless steel mini rack, which mounts to the Nitto standard hourglass eyelets on the front of the fork blades.

Only the Hits

Tomorrow is my last day as the ambassador of all things Soma. It's been almost 3 years since I moved back to California and I've loved every minute of it. But now it's time for me to begin something new and time to bring in some new blood at Soma. If you're interested in joining the team, email your resume to mary (at) merrysales.com and let us know a little bit about yourself and your experience in the bike industry. 

Since this will be my last opprtunity, I thought I would take a moment to share some of my favorite Soma products from my time here.

The new Chrome Rush frameset epitomizes everything I love about track bikes. It's clean, simple, versatile and strong. The threaded fork, s-bend chainstays and side tacked seat stay caps allow it to run wider tires, but still gives you a pure keirin style look.

Before I started at Soma I knew I wanted to make a 650b randonneuring frameset. When I learned we were already developing one with Mike Kone from Rene Herse I was ecstatic. We've made a few improvements since the first run, and I think the new framesets look absolutely fantastic. The Grand Randonneur sets a high bar for the industry.

When we redesigned the Soma B-side I knew we needed to make something that could handle the steep, gnarly Norcal singletrack I grew up riding, and this bike does not disappoint.  By going to an hourglass head tube we made it compatible with a wider range of modern forks, and while the B-Side was one of the earliest 650b mountain frames on the market, it's still the best.

Lauching our sister company New Albion Cycles was one of the most exciting projects I've had the pleasure to be a part of. From designing the head badge, to building the first Homebrew, it's been a real education. I think the Privateer is the very best value in a steel frameset on the market today, and I'm incredibly proud to have had a hand in it's development.

The New Albion Starling is quite a looker, isn't it?

The Soma Wolverine is relatively new, but already it's been making waves in the dirt touring community.  What started out as a belt drive version of the Double Cross has evolved into a completely new beast. Call it Monstercross, Gravel Grinder, Adventure Tourist, or Nouveau Audax if you want. We just call it good fun. The first batch is already sold out, but there are more framesets in production.

One of the most exciting aspects of working at Soma is our strong relationships with our Japanese component vendors. Working with Panasonic to develop new Soma tires has been one of the most rewarding jobs I've had in the bike industry. The Cazadero mixed terrain tires started as a sketch on the back of a piece of scratch paper, and now they're hitting the gravel all over the world. That just blows my mind.

One of first brand new tire designs I worked on was a collaboration between Soma and Ocean Air Cycles. I had already ordered the New Xpress 37c tires and Rob was one of the first people to try them. When he came to visit us on his way back from the Seattle Bike Expo he showed me some of his sample bikes and we chatted about what we liked best about Panaracers tires. He loved the light weight and supple chasing the B-Line tires, and he challenged us to offer up a 700c version. Since there wasn't an existing mold for that size we convinced Panaracer to make a new one especially for this tire. Needles to say, it was a big hit.

When the first batch of Grand Randonneur frames was complete, I knew the next step would be to make the perfect tire to pair with it. We asked our people at Panasonic for the lightest, supplest chasing they could make and designed a brand new tread pattern that would be super light, but with minimal rolling resistance. After 6-7 months of discussions we arrived at the design which became the Soma Grand Randonneur tire. We decided to offer 2 versions and 3 color options. The blue lable touring version is super tough with thicker tread and reinforced sidewalls, while the green lable is the lightest 42mm tire ever made. I knew we had hit the nail on the head the moment I held them. Now there are many new randonneur tires on the market, but the Grand Randonneur is still the benchmark for high volume 650b tires.

The biggest project I took on during my time at Soma was speccing out the Soma complete bike line. I'm proud to say they are the very best stock complete bikes available today. We worked with our favorite component makers like Sugino, Tange and Suzue to put together my dream build kit, and offer it at a price that's impossible to beat. I can't wait for the 2015 bikes to arrive. They're even better than before.

In addition to bikes and tires I got to design a number of interesting small parts as well. The Soma Stainless Porteur racks were so popular we decided to expand the line with a number of other models. For the Champs Elysees mini racks we used Japanese standard mounting dimentions so they would work on forks designed to accept Nitto racks. Accordingly, many of the Soma forks now feature mini rack eyelets as well.

After working in bike shops for years, I know exactly how frustrating it is to try to mount racks to bikes without the proper braze ons. That's why I made sure the Champs Elysses racks had adjustable tabs and axle adapters so they could be use with practically any bikes. I think they look really terrific.

One of my favorite Soma products is our super affordable alloy front racks. I used to sell lots of them to people that wanted a front basket, but needed something sturdier. The new version has a longer tombstone to support a Wald basket and mounting points for zip ties to secure it.

Because Soma has such a close relationship with our component makers, we're able to come up with some off the wall product ideas and they'll make them for us. The Tanaka Decaleur was one such item. I wanted something that was sturdy enough for trail riding, but would allow me to attach my Ostrich handlebar bag without lowering my bars. The result was delightfully elegant, and I'm still using my original sample unit on my personal commuter bike. 

The most time consuming project I undertook was the Soma Champs Elysees low trail fork line. We went through many prototype samples before we arrived at a curved shape that lived up to our vision.

I've always been a single speeder at heart, and when IRD decided to introduce a mountain crankset I knew exactly what I wanted. The Mjolnir crankset combines the style of retro square taper mountain cranks with the strength of modern manufacturing techniques, for a result that's both super stiff and beautiful to look at. So far exactly 1 person has picked up on the comic book reference, but don't feel bad if you're not that nerdy. It's Mee-yool-neer. Not Majolner.

So many people asked whether the Mjolnir would work as a double that we went back to the drawing board and designed a 94mm version of the Defiant double as well. So far it's been very popular with randonneurs, tourists and even some roadies.

I'm excited to say there are a lot of really cool new products in the pipeline that will be coming out in the next year, including new compete bike models and the forthcoming Soma fatbike.

If you want to keep up with the stuff that I'm working on you can find it all at www.therubbishbin.net

New Soma Saga Framsets and Classic Curve Forks

We've been sold out of Saga framesets for a while, but I'm happy to announce that the first batch of 2015 Sagas has arrived!

Pictured with this frameset are the new Suzue aftermarket touring wheels. These are the same wheels we use with the Saga Complete bikes, and feature sealed bearing high flange hubs and polished, eyeleted rims. 700c disc, 700c road and 650b road options are also in stock as of this posting.

The only major change we've made this years was to include our V2 Classic Curve forks in matching british racing green. These are now standard with all Saga Framesets.

The other dimensions, and braze ons remain the same as previous years.

If you can't tell from the logo, these tires are the new Soma Cazadero Mixed Terrain tires. We have both 700c and 650b options in black or skinwall in stock now.

The Classic Curve forks are similar to our new Champs Elysees forks, however they feature the same amount of offset as the original Saga forks, so the handling will not be affected by this change.

For those waiting on the next run of complete bikes, we expect them to arrive in late October.

We also have some new Classic Curve Canti aftermarket forks that just arrived. These feature the mini rack eyelets we've been adding to many of our other fork models.

For the first time we're also offering the Classic Curve in a black version. This will look really good with the New Albion Privateers, as well as many other bikes that are out there.

 These will all be available via the Soma Store soon, but if you can't wait just call your local Soma Dealer and ask them to place a special order with our distributor in SF.