I've built up a couple of these frames (one for my niece and one for a friend) and the ride is pretty good. The first frame I bought had all sorts of tweaks that needed to be straightened. The fork blades were drastically out of alignment and the rear dropouts were as well. However, the second one I purchased was pretty straight and the welds looked better. I think they're built by Maxway and actually look like a pretty similar design to the Soma. The ones I bought had cable stops not shifter bosses. I like that they've gone to bosses. I did not pay retail for the frames, so the decision to take a chance on them was a little less risky.