Soma Smoothie frameset and bike build review

LCRC Cyclist Laurence Foley Reviews his New Soma Bike (Custom Built in Stagg Cycles)

Soma Fabrications (www.somafab.com) state that they base their frame design around practicality, durability, comfort and affordability.

Practicality comes from a large range of sizes and a host of braze on mounts for attaching mudguards and racks, and the obvious tyre clearance.

Even their “race” fame has the bosses and clearance for 28mm tyres with mudguards. Durability comes from the steel used in the frames.

The excellent quality Tange Prestige is exceptionally well welded and finished. Soma offers a range of geometry in different frames from race to touring to city to mtb meaning that rider comfort is easy to achieve through both positioning and through the steel itself. The steel absorbs a lot of the road buzz and is just flexible enough to take the sting out of most of the bumps without sacrificing performance or grip.

The Smoothie, purchased as a frameset and built up with a groupset and finishing kit of your choice results in a unique, highly customised one off bike and one that can be built to accommodate a wide variety of uses and budgets.

Why steel?

Choosing a steel frame in the age of carbon and aluminium is a tough one especially since the cost of steel is slightly more. In terms of durability, steel has always been renowned, and the demand for classic steel frames with quality tubing means their price has remained high. Aluminium on the other hand is lighter and its use is widespread on racing bikes so why choose steel at all? Half of the reason is affordability. Soma has packaged a good quality steel frameset at a price point where mass market aluminium frames generally reside. The other half is looks.Form over function?

The Soma frame is elegantly welded and the paint is simple. This results in a very under stated bike that accomplishes a great deal without any fuss. Thanks to the mudguard bosses, it makes a perfect alternative to the aluminium winter trainer. Thanks to the pannier rack bosses, it makes a perfect commuter. Thanks to the smooth feel from the frame removing the road buzz it makes long distance sportifs comfortable, and thanks to the geometry it remains stable at high and low speed allowing racing, touring and anything in between.

Initial impressions as a race bike

I specified my bike with a SRAM Rival groupset, Mavic Ksyrium/Askium wheels and a decent ITM finishing kit. The weight on the shop scales was just over 8.5kg which is a decent enough weight for a race bike never mind a steel one.

My initial cycles on the bike were supposed to be a direct comparison to the bike it was to replace - my 10 year old aluminium race bike that had been my commuter and winter trainer for the last couple of years. However my initial impression was that the new bike was much closer to my carbon race bike than the aluminium bike it was to replace. In terms of handling and comfort the old and new were poles apart, and the only differentiating factors between the Smoothie and my race bike were weight and a little more flex, as was to be expected from the steel compared to race carbon, yet was less than my old aluminium bike. Comfort and smoothness were the outstanding initial impressions.

Commuting

Not long after the initial test rides, it was time to deck the bike out in what was to be its normal everyday attire - mudguards and panniers. Full length mudguards were easy to fit thanks to the frame bosses and clearance. Equipped with panniers on a rack, the Smoothie easily carries the weight low enough down not to impact handling out of the ordinary. The ride remains smooth and the commute is covered as easily in the rain as the dry.

The Smoothie as a winter trainer

In its guise as a winter trainer, the bike performs well. The handling is race-like enough to handle the pace of group rides, and comfortable enough to allow the body recover from the cycle rather than any jarring from the road surface.

Overall opinion

One word predominantly occurs when talking about the Soma Smoothie, and that is smooth. The bike performs perfectly well in so many areas that when you are out on the bike what you notice is its smoothness.

It is a word that makes such sense for the bike, so much so that any fears about the heaviness of steel, or any concern about power transfer due to the small bit more flex from steel than carbon pale to insignificance. Soma have come up with a frame that is nice to look at, nice to ride and can be tailored to suit users’ requirements at a price that is extremely competitive.

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