It was April before I was finally able to get out on dirt. This winter has seen heavy snow across the front range and I was starting to wonder if there would be dry trails anytime soon. This finally happened the first week of April, but after getting riding again I started to think I needed to make adjustments to the Cotic Solaris Max.
Getting back on the Solaris finally after a long winter was great. But I didn’t feel as comfortable on it as I had at the end of last year. Having spent a lot of the winter on the trainer on Zwift I think I was lacking some handling practice.
Changing things up on the Solaris Max
I was finding it hard to control the front through the turns. I was getting over steer and loss of traction combined with a twitchy feeling. At first I thought it was just being rusty, until I remembered experiencing the twitchy front end last fall.
I have been playing around with the stem height and right now I have got it slammed (all the way down on the steerer). This has massively improved the handling. The steering is more stable now, the grip is far better entering corners and I can commit more to the corners.
The added grip comes with the bonus of improving the braking too. This has really added to faster times around my local trails and improved my confidence on it. Many more smiles!
I had always felt I wasn’t getting the best from the position and this change has made a huge difference. I didn’t feel I was having the same experience as some of the reviewers were having with the Solaris Max.
One had said that he felt it was easy to go too fast into corners because the stability was so good. With the stem lower I have started to get that feeling and it’s awesome. But I am also getting that extra grip to help through the corner.
Rock Shox Pike
I’ve been using the 140 mm travel version of the Rock Shox Pike, with the DebonAir air spring and Charge damper.
I decided to play around more with the settings to try and get better performance from the fork. Using the online set up guide on the Rock Shox Trailhead app I was able to get a suggested air pressure and rebound setting. I found this to be far too high for me.
I carried out the lower leg service because I had heard that RS can sometimes come a little light on oil and that can have an effect on the small bump sensitivity. And after the service I made a few changes to my set up.
The Trailhead app suggests around 90 PSI in the fork. By using the sag to set my pressure I found that around 75 PSI gave me the sag I was looking for. If you have someone in your house to help you set the sag it makes things easier.
There was a fair bit of wobbling, some light cursing and mild frustration at getting the rubber o-ring down without pushing the fork down. Thankfully I was in my garage. My neighbors already think I’m odd and seeing me in my riding gear getting on and off the bike and fiddling with the fork would probably have got them talking!
The Test
When I went out for a ride after tuning the fork I could instantly tell the difference. The performance over smaller bumps was greatly improved. I was using much more of the forks travel too. I’m not sure why the suggested air pressure was so much higher than what I eventually chose.
The Solaris Max has a head angle of 65.4 deg. As a result I have less weight over the front than a steeper head angle. I’m guessing that the Rock Shox app doesn’t base it’s set up on the 65deg head angle.
Overall I’m really enjoying the changes I’ve made. I’ve felt much better on the bike and I’ve been getting a lot of enjoyment from it. If you can find one to test ride I’d recommend it. Its a really fun bike.