RECENT NEWS:
(No links...just scroll down)

> 2008 Frame News

> Why the 'Walker Racer' is not named the 'Lawon' Racer

> Picture of 650b frame painted

> New Hellyer Crank and Pedal
Plus more product updates

> 650b MTB concept bike in progress

> Soma Morning Rush Selected "Best of SF"

> Track Grips in Pink and Clear!

11-05-07
Soma Launches a Blog

It is just easier to update a blog than this standard HTML web page. We will no longer be updating this page. When we get the time, we will update the NEWS link above. For now just follow this link: somafab.blogspot
Readers can post

10-29-07
New November Arrivals

• Our 29er, the Juice, gets some improvements. Frame brake bosses will be removable. A new box section gusset strengthens the frame and clears any suspension fork knob. This new production will also move to 135mm hub spacing, which will make it easier to install the rear wheel. These will be available early next month in 18" and 20" sizes. Colors: Midnight Silver and Spice Red


• Oppy-X Double Toe Clips will be available soon in powder coat black, pink and white. The pink will coordinate decently with our hot pink track grips or rose pink bar tape.

• Our Hemp Bags will be available in khaki green.

10-2-07
2008 Frame News

• Our Kamisori and Ensho saddles hit the warehouse today. In October, just as we said! That's a first. These are slick looking colored saddles with a CrMo rail price instead of a Ti rail price that most colored race saddles have.

• We have a Flickr page: It is mainly for posting older frame pix and Soma owner pix, but we did post a a pic of the new 650b MTB concept bike over there.

• 2008 Soma Rush: We will be phasing out the Fiery Red color and introducing a Pearl White. If you think white is a little 'played out', you can still get it in black. But our new Japanese distributor, Tokyo San Esu, really wanted to see white Rushes. Downtube decals will be removable on the new stock.

• 2008 Double Cross DC (i.e. "disc/canti"): We will finally be releasing a Double Cross with disc mounts. Cantilever bosses will be removable. Some of you are probably saying, "It's about time." It will be in the matte Midnight Silver that's been popular on our Juice frames. For the time being, this model will be offered in only 50 to 58cm.

There will still be cantilever-only Double Crosses in 2008 --for those who don't see the need-- in a full size range.

• There is a brand new road frame that we plan to release mid-2008. We will release more details after evaluating our prototypes.


9-26-07
Why the 'Walker Racer' is not named the 'Lawson Racer'

When we were looking at names for bars last year, we began looking at names the Torrington company had used. 'Lawson' and 'Kramer' were names we were looking at. Upon further research into the names, we found out the two were contemporaries of Major Taylor. Andrew Ritchie's biography 'Major Taylor' painted talented American racers, Iver Lawson and Frank Kramer as the bitterest of rivals to Major Taylor. Supposedly there was a time Kramer, Lawson, and a third racer named McFarland tried going after him after a race. So you can see how we could not have a bar named 'Lawson Racer' in the same stable as a bar named 'Major Taylor'.

Major Taylor gave racing in Australia a try because it gave him a break from his American rivals and being a deeply religious man, he didn't want to race on Sundays. Australia didn't have races on Sundays. Don Walker, an Australian champion, also a Christian, hit it off with Taylor.

What struck us at Soma was Walker's strong disgust for the racist sentiment in America at that time. In order to get served in a restaurant in San Francisco, Walker went into a restaurant where Taylor and his wife had already been refused service and ordered lunch for three, saying that his companions would be coming shortly. The food came. He paid the bill...then he brought the Taylors in. Great story. That's why our last track bar is named the 'Walker Racer.'

9-19-07
Picture of 650b MTB concept bike painted

Here is a sneak peek of the B-Side with paint on.
We will post a pic of the complete bike after the Interbike show. To see it before you need to go to BTI's booth (#4745)at Interbike. Soma will not have a booth at Interbike this year.
If you want to read about the first on-trail test of a 650b MTB wheelset, head over to the blog of Haro's brand mgr. Jill. She put a set of 650b wheels/tires onto a frame made for 26" wheels. They barely fit, but she was able to get a good ride on them. bikebizbabe.blogspot.com

Also in Issue #131 of Dirt Rag, the editors review Pacenti's prototype 650b ti hardtail.

9-15-07
New Hellyer Crank and Pedal

• We have released a new track crank and track pedal. Named after the velodrome in San Jose, CA. The cranks are cold forged and shiny silver. The pedals have sealed cartridge bearings and a CNC'd cage.
• Also check out our new Oxford handlebar, which is the third bar we have released this year. Our Kamisori and Ensho saddles are up on the site but not yet available.

8-24-07
650b MTB concept bike in progress

As you may have heard some builders are unveiling 650b (27.5" tires) MTB prototype/concept bikes at this year's Interbike.
Here is ours–currently codenamed the "B-Side". It is a steel single speed hardtail. We chose a single-speed format, because we think SS folks are a little more stoked to try something different. This was built locally and will be used for testing as well as showing at Interbike. We plan to have it displayed at premier distributor BTI's booth. No production frames are planned yet. It really depends on public response.

The opportunity to explore the new platform was too easy to pass up. Tires, rims, suspension forks are being made available as we publish this. Pacenti's Neo-Moto 2.3's tires and Velocity's Blunt rims both look like winners. White Brothers forks are a proven design. Certain 26" suspension forks like Mavericks already work. If you can't find 650b tubes, 26" tubes will suffice. If we decided to pump out 50 frames, we know there will be parts to build them with.

While we acknowledge most big wheel enthusiasts are too still in love with their 29ers to consider a third wheel size, from a frame designer's standpoint 650b is territory definitely worth exploring. When designing the Juice 29er frame we did notice we had to make certain 'compromises' to get things like standover height and bar height to come out reasonable. Builders will continue to have to deal with design issues as customers demand more travel. Though the 650b size is roughly in the middle between 26" and 29", we found we could use proven 26" wheel geometries, which is sweet. Chainstay length is very close to 26" wheel bikes.

The 650b platform also promises stronger, lighter wheels, and other theoretical advantages over the 29er platform, but we won't open our mouth too much here until after we get in some rides on our B-Side.