I picked up this Soma Competition today at a yard sale. It has full Shimano 600 groupo. The head and dropouts are Kuwahara and the rims are Araya. The saddle is a Brooks B-17. It has received a lot of TLC through the years. I can't figure out if this is a mid level bike or more high end, certainly the components make a statement, but I know nothing about the frame and there are no frame decals. Researching BF indicates Soma frames were made by Kuwahara, which is supported by the dropouts and head.
With the exception of the cranks, I can not find a date code on any of the Shimano components. The crank dates to 1978, but it's the one component that is not original, according to the original owner.
I've searched BF and found very little other than Soma was around for a very short period in the late 70's early 80s.
Does anyone know anything about this bike, or Soma? I did determine this Soma is no relation to the current Soma in the US. The serial number on the frame is "7 7 1562". I'm taking a wild guess, but maybe it's a '78 model built at the end of '77.
If anyone can shed any additional light about this bike or Soma, please post here.
Thanks

you got the saddle from the yard sale? Am I hearing this right. The old 600 has been very nice from all the stuff I have acquired. The old shimano doesn't have the fanatic fans like Campy. Adding a 700C set of wheels to that groupo would be a worthy upgrade.

Those 600 levers are very sharp...I wish I knew were to find hoods for them.

The frame is probably chromoly or better. It could be a better grade of tange tubing.

Yeah! Can you believe it? I answered an ad for a Schwinn being sold at a yard sale. The Schwinn was a World, step through frame and overpriced. I went across the street to another yard sale, and there was the Soma. I was going to try and lower the asking price, but then I noticed the "Brooks" logo and those rivits and couldn't get the cash out of my pocket fast enough. The Brooks is beautiful, with VERY soft leather. The guy relaxed the tension so it's not stretched.

I have a Soma Competition. Looked exactly like your except there were light colored break hoods. Is that handlebar tape original?

Purchased mine in 1978 for $388.00, it is a chro-moly steel frame. If I recall it weighs 29lbs. It was advertised as a semi-professional racing bike and as a professional touring bike. Over the years I have come to understand it is truly a touring bike. It's make, weight and wheel base bare that out. As a touring bike it cannot be beat. By the way I am still riding mine, I have pampered it as much as I could; i've tried not to change anything on it. In fact I just mounted (remounted) racks and panniers on it today in prep for a trip in May...I can't wait.

Ten years ago I had a professional bike builder to indicate that if the bike was built today it would cost about $2,000.00. I shouldn't have told you that because If you were selling it, for far less that is, I would buy it.

I have enjoyed this bike so much that it took me 27-years before I purchased a new bike - a racer - that has sat.

I was looking for info on Soma bikes and came across this forum. I own a Soma Competiton that I bought in 1978/1979 or so for about $350. My recollection is that it was the third most expensive model made by Soma, an entry level race bike say on the order of a current Specialized Allez. I bought it to help me lose some weight. I wanted to drop a weight class (from 198 to 181) to compete in the Maryland/South Atlantic Association AAU weightlifting championships. The previous year I had gone on a crash diet to lose weight and didn't do very well, placing third in the meet. I used the bike to lose weight over a three month period and it worked like a charm. I've kept the bike and ride it to stay in shape and keep my weight down. I still lift weights, but not as heavy as I did when I was competing. (I should add that I only competed in that one meet each year just to give me an idea of how my training was going and to share experiences with the other lifters. None of us were top-level weightlifters, but we enjoyed the friendly annual competiton.)

Back to the bike. Mine looks like the one in the picture except I put black foam covers on the handle bars. The brake hoods are light colored (like gum rubber). The seat is black leather with copper rivets, but it is a Speedic Professional, not a Brooks. I just replaced it, as the leather has cracked with age and is not very comfortable. A few years ago I replaced the rear sprocket, chain, and chain rings due to wear. I now have a 12-speed.

The lugged frame is good quality aluminum with Shimano 600 running gear.

I'm a pack rat and (much to my wife's displeasure) never throw anything out, so I'm pretty sure that I have a brochure somewhere that describes the complete Soma line. I'll try to find it. If I can find it, I'll scan it and post it here. (I was looking for Soma info to spare myself the ordeal of looking for that brochure.)

As far as how much the bike is worth: I have an old cateye velo 1000 bike computer mounted on my Soma. A friend who knows these things tells me that I could get more for the computer than for the bike if I sold them on ebay.