opinions on the new Soma smoothie HP?

[deluz]

I think that is pretty attractive from a looks, weight and price standpoint. The rear dropouts do look odd.
I like the geometry the 52cm is very close to my custom steel frame with the reach being a little short, but the price is half as much.
Nothing wrong with an aluminum steerer, had one on my Trek 5500.
Only one color but it looks good to me.
I wonder how the ride will be though.

[eephotog]

The ovalized top tube is cool as well, but makes the head tube look even bigger.
Maybe the side view makes it look more front heavy than it would in real life.

Tbh not a fan of red bikes in general, but the candy red is nice.

Did find a complaint about cable routing, the FD cable runs over, and rubs the brake housing/hose.
https://nuxx.net/blog/2022/09/15/som...-safety-issue/

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by eephotog

The ovalized top tube is cool as well, but makes the head tube look even bigger.
Maybe the side view makes it look more front heavy than it would in real life.

Tbh not a fan of red bikes in general, but the candy red is nice.

Did find a complaint about cable routing, the FD cable runs over, and rubs the brake housing/hose.
https://nuxx.net/blog/2022/09/15/som...-safety-issue/
https://nuxx.net/blog/wp-content/upl..._from_soma.png

Good find! What a bizarre change in routing, every or almost every other Soma frame has the housing brazeons on the top of the DT and chainstay. Putting them on the bottom not only creates this issue but also exposes them to rock/debris strikes which is a more serious issue IMO.

[eephotog]

After some looking around, it's very similar to the fairlight strael.
Light tubing, ovalized top tube, 44mm straight head tube, carbon fork, etc.

I think the fairlight does the small details much better though.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...el-3-0-review/

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by eephotog

The ovalized top tube is cool as well, but makes the head tube look even bigger.
Maybe the side view makes it look more front heavy than it would in real life.

Tbh not a fan of red bikes in general, but the candy red is nice.

Did find a complaint about cable routing, the FD cable runs over, and rubs the brake housing/hose.
https://nuxx.net/blog/2022/09/15/som...-safety-issue/

Looking at more pics from that blog, the brake cable routing is just not good.
I wonder if crossing the shift cables would mitigate the issue. So FD goes in the NDS cable stop on the downtube and the RD goes in the DS cable stop on the downtube. Cables then cross to the proper guide hole under the bottom bracket. Not sure if a change in routing angle would be enough.

[stan_p]

I've confirmed replacing the stock BB guide with the Shimano SP18-M (or equivalent) BB guide with two holes shifts the frt der wire just enough to avoid all contact.

Or you could choose to run Jagwire Teflon cable liner over the exposed cables, so rubbing won't occur.

Both are easy and inexpensive fixes.

Cable contact like this is not ideal for sure, but I've seen messier on other frames over the years.

[mstateglfr]

Got an email today- the frameset is $999 and Soma includes a different bb cable guide to avoid the cable issue.

[spoonrobot]

Nice, looks like you can knock off another $200 with the PLP patreon discount. Pretty tempting for $800.

[boomforeal]

Anyone have any actual experience with these frames? Thinking of picking one up with today’s 30% off discount.

[KrispyK]

I have a customer who has one. It has about 8,000 miles on it. He loves it. Built up with onyx hubs to alloy hoops with GRX it comes to about 19 pounds. I have heard the FD routing issues has been fixed on the newest production run. Make sure to locktite the dropout screws

[Baron Blubba]

The new black with gold trim color is really nice, too.

[boomforeal]

Thanks guys. Frame ordered. First road bike in 5+ years. Excited!