What's a Pescadero Anyway?

The Low Down on the new Pescadero frame set:

• Road sport/Endurance road geometry
• Fits tires up to 700c x 42mm
• Designed for Paul Racer centerpull brakes and 73mm dual pivot caliper brakes
• Coming in late March 2017

A pescadero is a fishmonger if you didn't get that far in your high school Spanish class. It's also the name of a charming town down the coast a bit between SF and Santa Cruz. The town began as a rancho like so many of the historic communities in California did, but nowadays it's one of a number of eclectic little villages along the scenic Highway 1. Since the Fog Cutter was inspired by a trip to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, we wanted our newest all-road bike to go with the theme of NorCal beach destinations.

TIG-welded using Tange Prestige heat-treated double-butted chromoly steel

So what's the deal with this bike anyway? As you may know our ES road sport frame was originally called the Smoothie "Extra Smooth", because it fit wider, more comfortable tires than our Smoothie road race bike. Believe it or not, it was the first Soma I ever bought back when I was first greasing chains and patching tubes at the local bike shop. And it's a great bike. It's been largely unchanged since we launched it aside from a new coat of paint every few years, but I would guess there are probably hundreds of ES that still get ridden every day.

Well we got to thinking, wouldn't it be sweet if the ES could fit the new 42c Supple Vitesse road tires that we make. Unfortunately 57mm road brakes max out at about 33mm wide tires. That was huge only a few years ago, but things change and sometimes you just need more in your life. As it turns out, the brakes were the only thing holding us back so we went ahead and made a frame set that fits 67mm reach brakes and voila! Without changing the geometry or the handling we were able to reinvent this classic Soma.

Designed for Paul Racer centerpull brakes in mind! Fits up to 700 x 42mm tires or 38mm with fenders

And I have to say, it rides great with these tires. If you've never ridden the Grand Randonneur 650b x 42mm tires then you might think a 42 would feel like a beast, but you'd be dead wrong. They're super fast and plenty light (perhaps the lightest tires available in this size).

If you can't afford the splendid Paul Racer brakes, these Rivendell/Tektro 73mm reach caliper brakes work well, too.
We positioned the brake bridge in a way to keep the pads high in the slot to minimize arm flex.

Some people feel that long reach caliper brakes just aren't quite responsive enough. I can't say I agree with that, since I've been riding them for years, but to those people I'd say you have two options to consider.

Option 1 is just go for the disc brake friendly Fog Cutter and embrace the future, man. But if you're the wool wearing, pipe smoking, Robert Burns reading type of cyclist consider...

Option 2. Centerpull brakes! Remember those? Mafac, Weinmann, Dia Compe? Even Shimano used to make them. Anyway, Paul Components up in old Chico, CA makes some and they are just bitchin. Great stopping power, tons of fender clearance, stiff as a metaphor and boy-oh-boy do they look nice. We even included a special cable hanger in the back so you don't have to use one of those dangly ones.

But wait, there's more! We got those rack eyelets, baby! It'll take a front and rear Champs Elysees rack, a Porteur Deluxe up front, a Nitto Mark's rack or one of these new Gamoh jobbies that's in the pictures. Now remember I said it's exactly like the ES, so it isn't low trail. We might do a different fork some day but for now this is it. That said, it rides great. If you want low trail you probably already know all about that stuff, so I won't bother getting into it here.



What else? Uh, Breezer-style hooded dropouts. Groovy fork blades. This sweet blue paint job. What more do you want? These will be coming in March I think. Hopefully. Anyway, if you want one your LBS can pre-order one through Merry Sales and you can just kick back and listen to some Electro Swing or whatever the kids are into these days. Cheers y'all!

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/

Best Bike For A Century

If you've done your share of centuries, you know you get all types of bikes at these events – carbon race bikes, recumbents, hybrids, fixed gears, even cruisers – which goes to show that as long as you are comfortable on the bike, it does not matter what type of bike you use. In long distance riding, everyone seems to be a little different, both physically and mentally. You need something that fits, and something that does what you want it to do, too. Some want to sprint, some want to use a steady cadence, and some change their minds all the time and just ride according to how they feel. If you are fit enough and motivated enough to ride one of Soma Rush track bikes with deep drop bars on a double century, more power to you!

But if you are interested in finishing those 100 miles reasonably fast and also feeling fresh enough at the end to enjoy the after-event festivities, the best bike for centuries from our line is the ES model, because it offers the best balance of benefits for long distance road events. The ES is our "road sport" or "audax"(as the Brits call it) model. It also falls into the recently coined "Endurance Road" category.

COMFORT with EFFICIENCY: It is double butted chromoly steel instead of carbon or aluminum. Carbon at our pricepoint is likely to be overly stiff. Comparably priced aluminum transmits a lot of road vibrations which fatigue the muscles. A quality steel bike smooths out road vibrations. A good  endurance road carbon bike can do a decent job at that, too, but the price tag for one of those will be much higher.
The ES also fits medium width tires. Most road bikes (even entry level) barely fit 26c wide tires, which is lame, since wider tires offer more cushion and shock absorption and handle rougher roads better. Centuries and fondos are not usually on the smoothest tarmac.  The ES fits up to 700x32c tires, which is a size most folks in the know says offer noticeable comfort without compromising rolling efficiency. Cyclocross bikes like our Double Cross can also fit wider tires, but have a taller bottom bracket height, so the ES edges it out in the stability and road handling department.

STABILITY with SPEED: The ES geometry is optimized for non-competitive long distance rides. A bike with race geometry may excel at maneuvering around the competition, but its quick steering makes it more difficult to go in a straight line without more course correction from the rider. (i.e. more difficult to ride in a relaxed manner). The ES has a medium length chainstay and wheelbase for sporty, but not twitchy handling. Still quite fun on a windey descent or drag racing for the county line.

COMFORT + EFFICIENCY + STABILITY + SPEED = A rider who can ride longer, with less fuss and fatigue and with more enjoyment.

The ES comes in sizes 46 to 66cm. Steel fork is optional. A complete bike with SRAM Apex and hill-friendly 11-32t cassette is also available to shops in limited sizes.


Useful Links
• 12 Scenic Century Rides
• Centuries and Endurance Rides in California
• Training for a Century

Steve Wagner's 2010 ES with fenders.

FREE SHIPPING on Soma Bikes!

Our partner shop American Cyclery picked up a bunch of 2015 Soma complete bikes and are offering FREE SHIPPING (UPS Ground within the lower 48 states) now thru December 31st.  You will need to put "Soma Complete Free Shipping" when checking out to get the shipping fee waived!!! http://americancyclery.com/collections/soma-bicycles

Specs for the 2015's are up on www.somafab.com.

The Double Cross Complete for 2015 (not offered in 2014) comes with bar end shifters, Sugino XD crank, SunXCD rear derailleurs, and big 700x38c Kenda tires.  Steerer tubes are cut extra long and bar tape comes uninstalled to give shops more opportunity to fine-tune the builds. Polycarbonate BMX "test" pedals come with each bike.

The ES Complete comes with Sugino Alpina cranks, SRAM Apex shifters/derailleurs, and Soma HwyOne Bars.
Handy and practical SRAM 11-32t 10-speed cassette, because 11-25t on a non-racing bike doesn't make sense.

The 2015 Buena Vista complete comes with the awesome Sycip Wonder Bars. SunXCD rear derailleur and indexed
9-speed thumbshifters,

This is the first time we are offering the Soma Grandonnuer as a complete.

The Double Cross Disc complete comes with Avid BB-7 disc brakes, SRAM Apex, and our
popular HwyOne compact bend road bars.

Ken's Soma ES

Ken's Soma ES Build

The ES can handle some gravel roads thanks to it's above average tire clearance!

Frame packs are perfect for minimal hammock camping time.

Nice work dude! Looks like a fun ride.

Andrew's Soma ES

Evan,

This past July, I sent you some information on my Soma B-side 26" build.  Here is my new Soma ES build.  It too is a bit different.

I have not owned or ridden a traditional road bike for over 20 years.  I was looking to replicate the type of bike I road some thirty years ago, but at the same time, I wanted to allow for a few contemporary updates. Since I already owned two Soma mountain bikes (Groove and B-Side), looking at a Soma Smoothie seemed to be a logical place to start.  I eventually settled on the Soma ES model as it was a better fit for me, and would accommodate the vintage parts I planned to use, as well as providing the possibility of 32c tires.  I love a frame that allows for options. 

 

I tried to keep with silver components for the most part.  In the end component choices were ultimately dictated by what I already had, and what I knew I personally needed.  As I get older, comfort tends to be an ever increasing consideration.  The final result seems to have nailed what I was after: speed and a plush ride.  ES is short for Extra Smooth, I would have to say that is an understatement.  This bike just seems to float over the pavement.  Besides the Prestige steel frame, I have to credit the 23mm H+Son box section rims and 28c Panaracer tires.  I knew from past experience, a good box section rim with a high thread count tire can yield a very plush ride.  

A special thanks to Adrenaline Bikes of Orange, CA for all of their input, and for the great deal on the frame and fork.  This is the second Soma frame I purchased from them, the other being the B-side.

Thanks,

Andrew

Specifications:

· 46cm Soma ES frame with IRD Mosaic 57 Carbon Prestige fork

·  VO Grand Cru headset with carbon and alloy spacers

·  170mm XTR M900 Crank with 46, 36, 24 Race Face chainrings with Shimano UN73 BB

·   Shimano M900 front derailleur, Shimano XT rear derailleur with XTR pulleys

·   Shimano Ultegra 9spd cassette – 12x27

·   Shimano Dura Ace Shifters with Paul Thumbies and custom fabricated cable routing

·    Tektro 737 brakes with Koolstop salmon pads and Tektro brake levers

·    White Industries hubs – 32 hole / 14g butted DT spokes / H+Son TB-14 rims

·   Panaracer Gravel King 700x28c tires

·   Uno carbon seat post with Blackburn saddle

·   Planet X stem with FSA Wing Pro handlebar, double wrapped

Another Gorgeous Saga

When it rains it pours! But that's cool, we've got fenders. Here's another awesome Sage build sent in by Steve.

Hope your wife is stoked dude! That build is wicked!

A better picture of Steve's Smoothie.

And here he is with his ES. Gotta love those fenders!

You can check out his blog here >>> http://singularitas.org

Soma ES Complete Bike

If you follow Soma on Twitter or Facebook you may have heard that we just received our first batch of complete bikes. This is somthing we've been working towards for a long time, so we're very happy to say they're finally in stock and available to order. If you live in the Bay Area, you'll be able to check them out at one of our local dealers such as American Cyclery or A Bicycle Odyssey. If you're somewhere else they'll be available through a few of our distributors via your local bike shop.

We only ordered a small run for this first batch, so if you're interested in getting one for yourself be sure to let your dealer know so they can get one on order before we run out. The next run probably won't come until sometime this summer. So, now that we've got that business out of the way, here's what you really wanted to see.

When we set about designing our complete bike line we really wanted to make the same kind of bikes we would build for ourselves, not a dumbed down, generic, "stock bike", built to hit a price point.

We worked with our suppliers to make sure we could use as many of our favorite parts as possible. That means Soma bars, stem, seatpost, saddles, IRD long reach brakes, Sugino Alpina Cranks, Tange sealed bearing headset and BB, and sealed bearing Suzue wheels.

We like our bikes to look classic, so we went for mostly high polished parts, which provide a nice contrast to the black Sram Apex kit. The IRD B57 dual pivot calipers give you ample clearance for fenders with the 28c Kenda Kwick Tendril tires. Starting this year, the ES fork has an additional 2 eyelets in front of the fork dropouts for mounting a front rack such as the Soma Mini Alloy or the new Champs Elysees stainless racks.

These bikes are set up to provide a good starting point that's not too aggressive until you get a chance to put some miles on the bike and or talk to a bike fitter. For the mechanics out there, the headsets come pre installed, with plenty of spacers so you can get the bikes put together without too much headache. Of course you can always trim the steer tubes later if you want. What you see in the pictures is exactly how the bike looks right out of the box. Just install the bars, front wheel, and seatpost and the bike is ready to go up in the stand for adjustment.

These Suzue wheelsets really bring the builds together. Sealed high flange hubs, with low profile graphics that don't scream "I'm a racer wannabe". High polish, machined rims, without annoying decals for you to peel off. They'll be available aftermarket later this year from what I hear.

Over all, we think these are some of the all around best complete bikes around, and they ride as nice as they look. In addition to the ES, we're also offering the Saga, Double Cross Disc, and the Buena Vista (with 650b wheels!). They're all in stock now, and we should have more pictures as soon as we get them built up. 

2014 is shaping up to be a great year for Soma, and we hope you'll take one of these bikes out for a spin at your local Soma dealer. And of course, we'll continue to offer all our models as frames only if you prefer to go with a custom build kit.

YES! The ES's Are Here!

The ES (formerly the "Smoothie ES") is an awesome multi-purpose road frame. While it may not have as quick moves as our Smoothie, it is plenty fun. And what you may give up in race talent, you gain much in other ways.

• More stability on speedy downhills
  
• Steers straight w/o much rider input, which is why it is a great long distance bike
• Ability to take 32c tires, which really can smooth out rough pavemint and reduce fatigue
  
• More room for fenders
• Enough room for smaller panniers (I use grocery panniers on mine)
  

Please note you are not giving up any raw speed. The ES uses the same gauge tubes as the Smoothie and weighs only slightly more (weight difference comes from geometry differences). The ES is the only frame we make in 11 sizes. We also offer 3 different fork options, a carbon fork, a lugged steel fork, and a more affordable unicrown model.

Distributors should be getting theirs in a couple of weeks.

Read unsolicited reviews of the ES and other Soma frames here.