Drummerboy1975

I'm seriously considering this bike. Anyone have one?

stdlrf11

I built one up for/with a friend. It is a quality frame for sure, but rather heavy, even for a steel bike.

Abu Mahendra

I am keen on one too. On the weight issue, what do similar frames--Touring Monster-Cross--weigh? There really aren't a lot of alternatives. One is the heavier Surly Straggler.

bikeclub

There's a review of the Soma Wolverine in Bicycle Quarterly, and I think, Bicycle Times. I've seen a couple around Boston and they're very pretty in the pumpkin orange.

How about the monstercross frame by Black Mountain Cycles for about the same price?

I really wish there were away to test these frames built up, other than reading reviews.

gomango

I love mine.

Handles great, super versatile and it's hard to misplace it.

It's pink.

Drummerboy1975

Cool, I love looking into new frames. I'll give them a look. Thanks!

Pendergast

Haven't ridden one, but I was interested in the Wolverine for a while. There's quite a bit of discussion of it at mtbr. Here's one of the longer threads:

https://forums.mtbr.com/custom-builders-other-manufacturers/soma-wolverine-builds-939062.html

There are some others if you search the forums over there.

mstateglfr 

Agreed. I took a risk on buying my black mountain frame sight unseen and untested, but dang it turned out better than hoped.
Excellent quality and level of finish.

I have a 65cm frame built with 105 components and h plus son wheels running tubes. Its right at 25# with heavy pedals. <--- this is just mentioned because weight has been discussed in the thread.

Abu Mahendra

the dealbrakers for me for the BMC Monstercross frame is the 130mm rear spacing and no disk brakes

mstateglfr 

MUSA Frames - Black Mountain Cycles

This has 135mm spacing and disc brakes. Handmade in the US with a bunch of locally machined components.
...local as in US.



Curious how the bike market is by you. Is there much of a cottage industry for local frame building? Are there many bike shops in similar form to the US and Europe? How is the gravel/adventure market?

Abu Mahendra

Yes...they also start at $1,700. Hmmm, let me see...Soma Wolv at under $700, or BMC starting at $1,700....hmmm...

there is a very small cottage industry in Java. Never tried it. Bike shops? there's a fair number of them, again mostly in Java, though Bali has a few decent ones.

mstateglfr 

Ha, well i didnt say it was cheap! Its a neat frame, to me at least. Cool features and attention to detail. Excellent tubing and small batch made.

But $1000 difference is really tough to overcome, agreed. Its one of the reasons why i didnt seriously consider the frame when i bought the Taiwan built frame.

jonpear6

I have had my Wolverine for a 5 months now. Love it. It does anything and everything that I want it to. I built it up with White Industries/Paul/SRAM components and it rolls just perfectly.


I run a Nitto M18 and Tubus Tara rack up front with a Swift Ozette and Ortlieb backrollers. I run a Carradice QR Bagman Support with a Swift Zeitgeist. Held way more than I needed for a two week tour. Way quicker and more fun than my old Fargo I toured on.


You won't regret it at all.

Drummerboy1975

Thank you for the reply everyone!

TomPalmer

I have had a wolverine for a couple of months and it is becoming my favorite bike of the 10 I own. I really like the flexibility. Currently it has 26' wheels and Compass Rat Trap Pass tires and Soma Oxford bars. I ride a lot of mixed roads, chipseal, dirt, gravel, pavement, and 2 tracks in the woods. I also have a 29er wheelset with Rapid Robs for off road, but have not done any single track yet. I really like the way if handles and think it will be fun on the trails.
Very comfortable and feels quick. Rides better than my Kona Rove AL that I haven't ridden since the Wolverine landed.
Not a race bike, but surpisingly snappy riding.
Tom Palmer
Twin Lake, MI

ColonelSanders

From Surly's site for the Straggler they state:


54cm = 4.74 lb (2.27kg) Fork—uncut = 2.3 lb (1050g)



From Soma's site for the Wolverine they state:


- 4.79 lbs (frame); 2.3 lbs. (fork, uncut steerer)


.

vitaly66

Ben's "Milwaukee Bicycle Company" offers some Waterford-built frames in this genre. See the "Fugitive" and the "Mettle" models.

MUSA frames, quality True Temper tubing, loads of paint/finishing options, plus possibilities for extra eyelets, bottle bosses, and S&S couplers. More expensive than the Soma, but less expensive than other custom American builders.

(No personal experience with these frames. Although I was considering them seriously, I ended up going with Co-Motion instead...)

biggus duckus

I recently had my Wolverine stolen, so I had the choice of getting another one or getting what I really wanted. It turns out I want another Wolverine, no doubt about it.

Great bike, I highly recommend. I use it for cyclocross and offroad touring and it serves very well in both.

rzldzl

Any chance of some pics of your Wolverine loaded and unloaded? How much weight weight do you carry when you tour? And do you have any comparisons of the handling of the loaded Wolverine to a dedicated touring bike such as the LHT or Soma Saga?

jonpear6

I will try and get around to posting some photos. It is hard to find a photo fully loaded, but if you look up my username on Instagram you'll see some bare photos of my most recent Wolverine that I own.

SpeedyStein

I have a complicated relationship with my Wolverine. I love the ride quality, that it can fit big tires, and that it rides better loaded than any other bike I've ever had. Makes an excellent tourer for wherever you go. Mine, with a mixed mid-level Shimano group and some heavy i23/XT wheels weighs right at 26#. With lighter bits, this bike could be legitimately light for a steel bike. As mine is set up, it shreds off road. Seriously fun on single track, and perfect for fire road exploring. Without a question, this is the most versatile bike I've ever owned.

That said, the geometry is pretty low and long, leading to either a stack of spacers, a high angle stem, or really low handlebars. I have a high angle Ritchey stem with about 30mm of spacers, and my bars are still lower than my saddle. I guess it would be better for someone with long arms? I'm 5'11 and normally ride a 56 on road/cross bikes, and I got a 54 because the top tube was so long, which is double edged sword because the head tube is lower on smaller sizes. A square frame usually fits me well, and this is a departure from that, so maybe I just need more adjustment to it.

The steering is super quick at low speeds without a load on the front - I can't ride mine hands free. A front load slows this down, but then once it goes, it feels like it wants to go all the way. I think a lower rake fork would help this, and I saw on instagram that soma is testing a through axle fork for it - hopefully available with less than 50mm rake, and maybe a little longer axle to crown to lift the front a little. It does handle a load on both ends pretty well though, I carry my daughter on the back and a basket on the front sometimes, and it feels pretty stable and predictable.

My other big gripe about it is the attachment points for racks and fenders. The sliding rear drops make it necessary to have the rack mounts pretty far forward - I can't ride with rear panniers using a standard rear rack, my feet hit the bags. A rack like the axiom streamliner would fix this problem. The front drop out rack/fender mount holes are lined up perfectly with the rotor bolts, and are only about 4 threads thick, so if you use a nut for extra security, the rotor bolts will scrape when leaning into it during hard turns or acceleration. There are ways around this, but still a valid observation.

The rear stays are pretty flexy, and I can get it to ghost shift pulling away from every stoplight, but most steel frames I have ridden are like that. The sliding dropouts are cool, but useless with bigger tires, cause they need to be all way back to fit. And unless they are all the way forward or all the way back, they are a pain to get lined up perfectly - but I am pretty OCD about that kind of thing. It takes me a couple rides to get my stem and bars straight too.

All in all, I love this bike, but probably would have loved a Fog Cutter more, just to get a more traditional geometry, lose the sliding dropouts, and get the rear rack mounts a little further back. Sure, the tire clearance isn't there on that frame, but it still fits a 42ish tire, which run tubeless gives a pretty good ride and tons of grip for a drop bar bike.

manicmike

The rear stays are pretty flexy, and I can get it to ghost shift pulling away from every stoplight, but most steel frames I have ridden are like that. The sliding dropouts are cool, but useless with bigger tires, cause they need to be all way back to fit. And unless they are all the way forward or all the way back, they are a pain to get lined up perfectly - but I am pretty OCD about that kind of thing. It takes me a couple rides to get my stem and bars straight too.


Ghost shifting? That explains a lot! I have really been wondering why that happens and keep looking at my derailluer adjustment, so now I get it.I also agree about the necessity of having to slide the dropouts all the way back with 2.1 tires. Kind of ruins that snappy handling. I generally run 42mm tires on it with the dropout pretty far forward and it handles really nice. To me the answer to that is that I am waiting for some 650b wheels to come into my local bike collective so I can ride the 700 by 42 wheels mostly (Which still does well on most trails) and keep some 2.1s on the other wheelset and swap them out when i trail ride. Might be a lot of trouble and expense to some people, but I can get a good deal on some wheels.
When I first bought this frame and built it up, i thought i had made a horrible purchase. I was ready to sell it. But my non cycling girlfriend told me to just ride it for a couple of months and see how I felt. I fell in love with the comfort and versatility of this bike.I will probably keep it forever!
Also Speedystein, As soon as I ordered my frame they started talking about the Fog Cutter! I probably would have bought that frame instead. But like I said, I love my Wolverine!

SpeedyStein

Ghost shifting is definitely a thing, especially for stronger riders on steel bikes with long chain stays running 10 or 11 speeds. Just a lot of flex over a long stay with close spacing between cogs, most often when taking off or climbing in a higher gear. I kind of expected this frame to do it, and I think as long as I make sure I am in a lower gear, it seems to not be so bad. The trade off is the ride quality of steel, comfort and stability of long stays, and gearing range possible with 10 or 11 cogs - which I will gladly take a ghost shift once in a while for that.

I was about 8 months early for that frame. I probably would have waited though, if I knew it was coming soon.

I was really on the fence about getting a set of 650b and some 2.1 or 2.2 tires for mine, but figured I already have a decent 29er wheelset for mine, so just went with those. I might still do a 650b set eventually, especially if I do get a Fog Cutter or Saga, cause then I would need a wheelset anyway....

I followed Johnny The Boy's lead and am rocking Nine Line 2.25s on mine right now - and oh the cush factor! There isn't much space between the stays, but they look great on the bike, and that's a pretty fast rollling tire, so I didn't notice a whole lot of penalty going to something so much bigger.

biggus duckus

Here's a pic of my Wolverine fully loaded for tour. My new build is a bit different though: 27.5" wheels, a Tubus Tara front rack, and a dynamo setup.

Scarbo

This whole discussion on ghost shifting is interesting to me. I've also been considering building up a Wolverine.

I've only ridden road on titanium/CF and I don't remember ever experiencing ghost shifting at all. I think it would drive me crazy. Off the saddle on really steep climbs you pretty much have to depend on securing your gear (on steep, narrow roads on which there is a lot of traffic it is a matter of survival!). I do now have an old steel bike (1972) with long stays, but it only has a 5-speed flywheel. So, I take it that an essential contributor to this phenomenon on steel frames is the greater number of cassette cogs.

Are some steel frames more susceptible to this than others?