Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Soma Vegan Straps don't last

I bought a set of Soma Vegans About a month ago. The first one broke in within a week. I replaced that strap with a generic one from LBS. Today the other one broke while I was climbing a hill.
Considering the lifespan of these straps, I will not hesitate to use leather straps in the future.

mine have been holding up just fine since november.

nothing soma last ...maybe frames and handle bars

and my everwear (no sidewalk crackling yet)

and my everwear (no sidewalk crackling yet)

Those tires are so gnarly good. So nice.

I'm running everwear / vegan single strap combination for several months. Riding everyday breakless :-p, but the straps are holding up quite good. But then, I'm really light.

Everwear is holding up really good, too. At least much longer than other tires I've tried. Then again, my setup gives me 34 skid patches and I skid at different foot positions with either legs forward.

From what I hear, it seems like the Soma vegan straps are either holding up OK or failing almost immediately. I don't hear much about any middle ground, but then there's nothing compelling about what's average so people don't really talk about it. Also, they haven't really been out long enough to learn much about truly long-term durability.

I find Serfas Seca's last as long as Everwears, cost half the price, and the sidewall doesn't crack on me. I did kill one when a nasty piece of glass completely punctured the tire, though.

Booo SOma.... I broke a some fixed cog within three months. Boo...

And booo VEGANS.... Im in the food industry....

Soo boooo vegans...

you broke the soma cog? I've been running mine for maybe a year, no problems.

And booo VEGANS.... Im in the food industry....

Soo boooo vegans...

yeah because vegans don't eat food right.
you're a joke.

soma straps are a joke. u get what you pay for..

Booo SOma.... I broke a some fixed cog within three months. Boo...

And booo VEGANS.... Im in the food industry....

Soo boooo vegans...why boo vegans? i'm not vegan, but it doesnt bother me that someone doesnt eat meat or dairy (thus eats more of other products). i admire vegans on principle. they walk the walk and actually change their behavior to match their beliefs. think about all the fake environment-lecturing liberals out there who still drive gas guzzling landrovers or other SUVs. vegans are real.

If straps are breaking it can be the pedal not just poor quality straps. Check the holes the straps go through for sharp edges and file them down if they exist. This generally isn't likely but my roommate was eating through straps until he realized they were all breaking in the same spot because of a pedal manufacturing defect.

Vegans are the Straight Edge crowd of the food world. I love heading into town and seeing the dood with the "Vegan 4 Life!" neck tattoo ordering a meat-lover's pizza, same way it's fun to see the double Xs on the back of hands that are rolling a joint.

And booo VEGANS.... Im in the food industry....

Soo boooo vegans...

i can never understand this.. wtf is wrong with being vegan and why are so many people so viciously against it?.. i love animals and dont want to cause them any harm, so i am vegan.. what is wrong with that?.. seriously, i cant even begin to understand why someone would hate someone else for not eating animals..

btw i eat food, i LOVE to cook, and if you had something delicious and vegan i would totally buy it from you.. that is, if you werent a dick..

oh and thanks 666pack and iluvhooters :D.. yer nice and make me believe there are a few reasonable people left in the world..

i respect the choices people make. with that said my best friend is vegan / straight edge, doesn't consume chocolate, caffiene, refined sugar or take any medicine. it nearly killed him twice.
and i puff mad blunts, swill fourties, and drain handles. but i've considered going veg before.

ive been riding these pake straps (also vegan) for about 3 weeks and like them a lot so far.

http://store.somafab.com/paketoestraps.html

soma stopped making the vegan straps........if that's any indication of their quality. i'm bummed/relieved. i wanted to try them because i really want doubles but i'm glad i didn't waste my bills.

those pake ones look tight though. i'ma get on those!

"No returns if you can't figure out how to color coordinate these with something."

wow

"No returns if you can't figure out how to color coordinate these with something."

wow


I don't blame them.

I don't blame them.

Nor do I. As much as I hate ****ty products, I maintain that ****ty consumers are worse.

I've been riding the soma's for 3 months or so. The pieces seperated pretty much instantly, but besides that they've been good so far. Im definately gonna go check over them now and make sure they're not starting to tear or anything after hearing how many problems people are having with them.

What's wrong with cheap and super durable nylon straps? They certainly don't break easily.

no joke, i'm still surprised my campy nylons are still truckin'...

I just dont like vegans. Deal with it. If this was veganforums.net id express my opinion but you all dont matter.

ok

nothing soma last ...maybe frames and handle bars



cog magazine (Milwaukee Bicycle Co.) did a skids test with the specialized armadillo, the michelin erilium and the soma everwear.
http://www.cogmag.com/index.html


the erilium lasted only 60 skids, the armadillo just over 100, and the testers gave up after 160+ skids on the everwear.


yeah, "nothing soma last",..if you were referring to the dollars in your wallet after buying soma gear, then that would be correct.

but dem tires LAST

the erilium lasted only 60 skids, the armadillo just over 100, and the testers gave up after 160+ skids on the everwear.

I know the tires last crazy long and are pretty much the best tires, but that test they did is hardly quantifiable. They should have put the EXACT same amount of weight on the tire and then pull it on the exact same surface and see which one goes a longer distance before loosing all of its tread. THEN you gotta repeat the process several times. You cant say that tire A lasted x skids longer than tire B, because skids vary too much.

Oh and on another thought. Soma toe clips are holdin up great and so is their thick and zesty bar tape (best tape I have ever used.) Toe straps are kinda fallin apart.

whats a vegan

Oh and on another thought. Soma toe clips are holdin up great and so is their thick and zesty bar tape (best tape I have ever used.) Toe straps are kinda fallin apart.

I still stand by the fact that Salsa should have made the Thick and Zesty bar tape.

soma stopped making the vegan straps........if that's any indication of their quality. i'm bummed/relieved. i wanted to try them because i really want doubles but i'm glad i didn't waste my bills.

those pake ones look tight though. i'ma get on those!

why not just save up for toshi's, or better yet, run to the bike co-op and find some cheap used time atacs and whatever shoe you can fit? i don't think there's going to be a good double strap in the lower than $80 bracket for quite awhile. hell, i'm sure you could DIY or find someone skilled with leather to do a DIY job that would be much better than a cheap soma too.

cog magazine (Milwaukee Bicycle Co.) did a skids test with the specialized armadillo, the michelin erilium and the soma everwear.
http://www.cogmag.com/index.html


the erilium lasted only 60 skids, the armadillo just over 100, and the testers gave up after 160+ skids on the everwear.


yeah, "nothing soma last",..if you were referring to the dollars in your wallet after buying soma gear, then that would be correct.

but dem tires LAST

they should have added gatorskins and serfas seca to that list.

my everwears failed at the sidewall before i could skid them out. they also didn't have as good of "road feel" as most other tires i ride (although armadillos feel like **** too).

If straps are breaking it can be the pedal not just poor quality straps. Check the holes the straps go through for sharp edges and file them down if they exist. This generally isn't likely but my roommate was eating through straps until he realized they were all breaking in the same spot because of a pedal manufacturing defect.

BAM!

uh,.....yeah +1

the word here is "DE-BURR"

I know the tires last crazy long and are pretty much the best tires, but that test they did is hardly quantifiable. They should have put the EXACT same amount of weight on the tire and then pull it on the exact same surface and see which one goes a longer distance before loosing all of its tread. THEN you gotta repeat the process several times. You cant say that tire A lasted x skids longer than tire B, because skids vary too much.

Oh and on another thought. Soma toe clips are holdin up great and so is their thick and zesty bar tape (best tape I have ever used.) Toe straps are kinda fallin apart.


i agree with you on this. i thought the exact same thing when i read that. also they were using different gear ratios for each tire.

armadillo 47/18 = 18 skid patches

Everwear 46/17 = 17 skid patches

Erilium 47/16 = 16 skid patches

Not that it makes that big of difference but dont you think they should have had the exact same gearing for each tire?

i agree with you on this. i thought the exact same thing when i read that. also they were using different gear ratios for each tire.

armadillo 47/18 = 18 skid patches

Everwear 46/17 = 17 skid patches

Erilium 47/16 = 16 skid patches

Not that it makes that big of difference but dont you think they should have had the exact same gearing for each tire?

bam, absolutely no credibility to it for me now. i'd hope they did same foot forward every time, or equal amount of ambidextrious skids as well. i'm all about the scientific method haha.

No, they actually should have had the same rider,on the same bike doing it the same way each time. But really, it doesn't make that much the difference. The Somas lasted.... the others didn't.

why not just save up for toshi's, or better yet, run to the bike co-op and find some cheap used time atacs and whatever shoe you can fit? i don't think there's going to be a good double strap in the lower than $80 bracket for quite awhile. hell, i'm sure you could DIY or find someone skilled with leather to do a DIY job that would be much better than a cheap soma too.

i'm not really into buying new leather is all. i mean, if someone is like "hey here's these old toshi straps, they're not tore up, you want 'em?" i'd say sure. maybe i'll feel different about this later in life, maybe not.

i wasn't going to assume the $40 somas would hold up, i was just kinda stoked to see a double specifically not made of leather and wanted to try them out. i know their real leather ones were/are **** but was hoping the synthetics might be a little better.



ohhhh welllll.

Thanks for mentioning those Serfas Seca, I never heard of them...they're really inexpensive to boot. (http://www.rei.com/product/724618)

BAM!

uh,.....yeah +1

the word here is "DE-BURR"
I'll add another +1 to that, I had a few sets of straps (both nylon and leather) break in the same exact spot before I realized I needed to file my pedals down, it makes a huge difference and it makes it way easier to get the straps threaded through