# Soma DC Disc finally built.



## ArcticCat500 (Feb 22, 2012)

After several weeks I finally got my ass in the saddle for a test ride, while only 8 miles (bike path with my daughter) the bike felt well planted, offered an excellent ride and shifting was incredibly smooth thanks to the Sram Rival drivetrain, I opted to swap out the Sram cassette for a Shimano Ultegra, the Ultegra just transitions through the gears so much smoother then the Rival.

A full Thomson cockpit, Specialized Phenom saddle and XC Lock on grips, and the light weight feel of the Soma Hellyer pedals rounded everything off. I was a bit weary of the Continental SpeedRides at 700x40, my original plan was to run 33 to 35's but once mounted to Stans IronCross wheels they rolled effortlessly, and I was surprised how quickly I got her up to speed, best of all, it comes to a screeching halt from TRP Spyre SLC Disc's 160/140.

As planned I wanted a sub 20lb (very close at 20.69) steel commuter that can handle the ups and downs of city the traffic commute, run the bike path with my daughter on the weekends and still rip a single track journey with the boys when needed. All in all Im Pleased.

Future plans will be to drop the Tange steel fork for a Whisky No.7, go full tubeless and maybe shave a gram or 2 by swapping out those alloy spacers for carbon. That'll get her under 20lbs for sure, the fork weight savings alone should do the trick. Better photos to follow.


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## ArcticCat500 (Feb 22, 2012)

Typo correction, the Conti's are a 700x42, not the fore mentioned 40's.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

Nice build! I am jealous of the weight. I have the whisky no. 7 fork on my ti cx/commuter bike and love it, but I am pretty sure my bike is at least 21lbs. I will weigh it with my Stans crest wheels and see if I have gotten near 20.


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## ArcticCat500 (Feb 22, 2012)

The Crest's come in at 1610gs, and the IC's are 1510gs, Stans has a new set of Iron Cross Pro's that weight 1400gs, rider weight is 170. I like the IC wheels and wouldn't think twice about going to the Pro's down the road, but it wont be till after the fork.

My frame is a 50 and Soma lists their 54 @ 4.3lbs, when weighting the bare frame it was just at 4. I could probably loose the small ring and go single, that would free up quite a bit considering I wouldn't need a front der, shifter or cables, but having the double is nice on my hilly rides.

The Whisky fork is less then half of the Tange steel so Im really interested to see how much lighter I get.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

Yeah, that makes sense. My Crest wheels are 1530g (28/32 - I built them, so different hubs from what Stans uses). The rims weigh same as iron cross, so I decided that the extra 1mm wide might be nice. Otoh, the iron cross are deeper, which probably means they are stiffer (not that I have any problems).

I suspect my heavy seatpost, stem, and 105 group are big factors here. And avid bb7? My 59cm ti frame should be just under 4lbs. As i replace pieces I am seeing if I can drop a little weight.


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## RRRoubaix (Aug 27, 2008)

Dang, I'd say that's a frickin' stellar weight for a steel disc commuter!
I picked up my titanium Rove last week and it's about a pound *heavier* than yours! I'm running Stan's Alpha 340's and Vittoria Cross XM's, ultegra build, Whisky 7 carbon fork.


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## ArcticCat500 (Feb 22, 2012)

RRRoubaix, what frame size? For the most part the Sram running gear is lighter then the Ultegra, The Soma Hellyer pedals are as light as a Dura-Ace road and its even tougher to find a Mt pedal that light, I went with that style instead of a clipless because I wanted flexibility. Theres alot of lil things that went into it to keep it that light, Im not a total weight weenie but I enjoyed the Roubaix's frame weight on my last commuter, its just that style flat bar wasnt up to the task of my daily commute, which includes a couple miles of dirt/gravel off roads, dodging curbs, rough terrain, and the El Mariachi was just a tank.


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## nonsleepingjon (Oct 18, 2002)

Great build. I'm looking at something like this for my next bike and the Soma DC DC is high on my list.


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## ArcticCat500 (Feb 22, 2012)




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## danec99 (Nov 18, 2009)

Saw this in MTBR, nice build. I am planning on doing something like this with my Curtlo. I do a lot of mixed terrain style rides right now on a 97 Marin Bear Valley. Seems a waste to let my Curtlo languish when it is fully prepared to serve this function - probably better. I am not comfortable in drops when riding the dirt portions of the route. I have more control and less hand fatigue with the flat bar. Bike will be a blend of Ultegra, XTR and Deore XT. I have that same Soma fork and can run that or modify my CK headset to use a Nashbar 1" carbon fork I have as well. A Carver or Whiskey fork would be nicer, but I spend too much on bikes as it is...


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## crossracer (Jun 21, 2004)

How you like the tires? I have the same tires and have about 5 rides on them and I like them a lot. 

A bit beefy at 42mm wide but rolls really nice and has a great traction. And I rode some steep hills with a loose crush gravel and had a lot of traction. 

Beautiful build 

Bil


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Thread dredge. 

Looking at picking up a Soma DC to serve as my rain bike/maybe some light offroad stuff, and am looking at parts. Curious about the Iron Cross rims, those are fine to run with tubes? I'm a little leary about tubeless and higher pressure road tires, so would probably stick with tubes. Are there any tire restrictions due to the Stan's bead lock technology? Thinking a set of those built on Hope mountain hubs would make a sweet wheelset. 

Actually, looking at the Stan's site, and figuring my weight, maybe the Arches would be a better option.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

I don't have a set of the Iron Cross, but according to research I did before they work fine for CX tubeless, CX tubes, or road tubes -- but NOT road tubeless. I had the impression this was due to difficulty mounting road tubeless tires on those rims, but don't know any more than that. 

I have a set of the Crests that I use primarily as CX wheels, but have also mounted road tires (I think for crest they suggest not smaller than 28c). That works great too. The Arches are also nice -- those are my MTB rims.

Agree that Hope Pro II hubs are a great way to go. Those have been my MTB hubs for years and have survived much abuse. I cheaper out on my commuter/CX wheels, but will rebuild these with Hope hubs eventually.


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## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

pushstart said:


> Agree that Hope Pro II hubs are a great way to go. Those have been my MTB hubs for years and have survived much abuse. I cheaper out on my commuter/CX wheels, but will rebuild these with Hope hubs eventually.


How are they for noise? I was considering using Hope for a Campy build with 135mm and disc brakes.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

headloss said:


> How are they for noise? I was considering using Hope for a Campy build with 135mm and disc brakes.


The trials (single-speed) Hope hubs are kinda loud (not like CK, though), but the regular ones are fine. Not much (if any) louder than my Novatec disc hubs.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

My MTB Hopes are kinda loud, but I like it. Let's people know you're there. It's a bit louder than my Campy hub, but I don't think quite as loud as a King. 

pushstart, what hubs did you use for your CX wheels? I thought about just getting the wheels from Stan's, but they're about the same price as I can get a set of Stan's rims built on Hope hubs, so might as well go for Hopes. I'll have to poke around the Stan's site and see what I can learn about rim and tire recommendations for a CX-type build.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

@rufus, I used the BHS hubs for my wheels -- used same hubs on both a commuter (H+ Son Archetype) and CX wheelset (Crest) to make changes easy (disc rotor alignment). So my results were mixed: my main commuter wheelset has been trouble-free for ~12k miles now, whereas my CX rear hub failed after 500 miles (broken pawl spring). Brandon provided excellent customer service, of course. I had a friend who had the same issue on a MTB wheelset build. Maybe bad batch? Maybe they don't fare well with demands of off-road use? Anyway, after replacing spring, seems like hub still is not quite right (skipping, making pinging noises), so it probably needs to be replaced. I was thinking Hope or DT Swiss 350 -- those seem to be similar price points, so will do some more research. I have been happy with Hope, though, except having to replace freehub body (cut through after a few sram cassettes). Of course, once replaced with steel I don't expect that to happen again.

I have a road wheelset with Novatec hubs (D712SB rear) that seem great, but I think the pawl spring design is same as BHS which seems maybe not the best?


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

ArcticCat500 said:


> Typo correction, the Conti's are a 700x42, not the fore mentioned 40's.


Reviving this old thread. 

I thought Soma says the Dc can only fit 38mm tires without fenders. But you're not having any issues with 42's? And I know, one co.'s 42 may not be as wide as another's 38. 

I'm thinking 32mm myself, as it will double as a rain bike with fenders. Probably going to go with the Stan's Grail wheelset now.


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## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

rufus said:


> Reviving this old thread.
> 
> I thought Soma says the Dc can only fit 38mm tires without fenders. But you're not having any issues with 42's? And I know, one co.'s 42 may not be as wide as another's 38.
> 
> I'm thinking 32mm myself, as it will double as a rain bike with fenders. Probably going to go with the Stan's Grail wheelset now.



If those are Conti Speed Rides, the 42C is in real life a 37-8mm tire.


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## pushstart (Feb 5, 2012)

rufus said:


> Probably going to go with the Stan's Grail wheelset now.


+1 on the Grail rims. They are really nice. That is what I am running now on my CX/commuter for off-road (2 wheelsets). I built them up with mixed hubs -- Hope Pro II Evo rear and DT Swiss 240S front. The rims built up evenly and are really nice quality. I run them with 38/42mm Specialized Trigger tires now, but they would work great for road too. If I were to choose one wheelset for everything, that would be it.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Was considering the Grails, and a set of those built with Stan's hubs would have been about $650 plus shipping. A set built with Hopes would have been closer to $800, although I didn't shop around to find the best deal. Not sure I'm really sold on the Stan's hubs as far as quality and longevity goes. 

Merlin had a 10% off deal on their factory wheelsets, and another 10% off Hope products, so I ordered a set of Hope Hoops built with their ProII hubs and new Hope XC rims for just a bit over $400, plus free shipping. Interested in seeing how these Hope rims are.


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## big_papa_nuts (Feb 11, 2009)

Posting for reference purposes.



rufus said:


> Reviving this old thread.
> 
> I thought Soma says the Dc can only fit 38mm tires without fenders. But you're not having any issues with 42's? And I know, one co.'s 42 may not be as wide as another's 38.
> 
> I'm thinking 32mm myself, as it will double as a rain bike with fenders. Probably going to go with the Stan's Grail wheelset now.


Just started building a DCD the other day and am running a Conti Speed Ride on a Crest and have 6mm clearance at all four stays. The new frames are listed as clearance for 41s without fenders.


robt57 said:


> If those are Conti Speed Rides, the 42C is in real life a 37-8mm tire.


41.16 on a Stan's Crest.


rufus said:


> Thread dredge.
> 
> Looking at picking up a Soma DC to serve as my rain bike/maybe some light offroad stuff, and am looking at parts. Curious about the Iron Cross rims, those are fine to run with tubes? I'm a little leary about tubeless and higher pressure road tires, so would probably stick with tubes. Are there any tire restrictions due to the Stan's bead lock technology? Thinking a set of those built on Hope mountain hubs would make a sweet wheelset.
> 
> Actually, looking at the Stan's site, and figuring my weight, maybe the Arches would be a better option.


Some tires are too tight to fit on Stan's rims. They have a "recommended tires" page on their site. I recently built two Crests and an Arch and have had problems with all three of them. Turns out the pressure ratings listed on the rims is incorrect. According to Stan's warranty guy their MTB and cross rims are limited to 45psi tubeless and only 65psi with tubes. I have had 3 tires blow off at 40 on all my new rims and was very disappointed. If you want to run higher pressures try the Grails, though still limited when run tubeless, they can run tubes at rode pressures. Personally I'm going to switch to WTB rims.

Will repost with build weights when the bike is finished.


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