# Soma Juice Issues?



## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

Bought a 21.5 Soma Juice Brownstone a year ago and have broken 2 frames in the same spot over the last year. the company is most likely going to send me a 3rd frame but I am trying to decide if it's worth building up again.

A little backround on rider weight and how i ride:
I weigh 200lbs fully equipped for a long ride and I run the bike with a 120mm fork plus a dropper post for the descents. I ride colorado trails that are dominated by full suspension bikes and I tend to keep up or pass them on the descents. If any of you are familiar with the front range of colorado, the most recent frame broke somewhere while riding the loop at heil ranch. https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/52119

I bought the juice because i thought it was a slightly more aggressive(fit up to 140mm fork) xc steel ss and i am worried i ride to hard for the frame

That being said in the past I have ridden way less aggressive single speed setups without breaking frames(raliegh talus 4.0,Gary Fisher Rig,Spot Longboard, Karate Monkey)

Just trying to decide if this is this the wrong bike for me and if I should just save up for a new karate monkey, niner SIR or spot rocker

Any other soma juice owners having similar issues?


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## serious1 (Jan 11, 2013)

My roommate has the exact same frame that cracked in that same spot. He just took it to a welder and had it fixed. He never got a response from Soma so count yourself lucky that they are sending you a replacement.


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

You seem to be substituting the term durable with aggressive. They do not necessarily go hand in hand. Sounds like you may need a stronger frame.


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## Black Squirrel (Oct 13, 2016)

That style of dropout (cast one from china, cnc'd ones from paragon, and everything in between) are a poor design, and the further you pull the wheel back, the worse it gets.

The rear axle is located so far behind the seat stay that the seat stay becomes more of a leverage point rather than support for the dropout. All the force that is applied to the rear axle from riding is trying to rip the dropout apart (or off the chainstay).

I would avoid EBB's also, if you are riding that aggressively, the EBB will have issues of its own.

Look for a frame with a better dropout.

Salsa's Alternators
Spot's Kobe's
Paragon Rockers


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

It looks like you had the sliders pushed pretty far back, which would cause a lot of stress. Still, they should be strong enough to not break like that.

The EBB on my ROS 9 was flawless. (but I hated the geometry.)


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## Cotharyus (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm 230 kitted up, and push pretty hard. I haven't had any problems out of my Brownstone, but I suspect my trails at their worst are not quite what your trails are. Most steel frames seem to be more XC like in their geometry (I know that's my impression of the Juice) but there are a few AM frames floating around out there. Maybe it's time to see if you can find something along those lines? In theory, an AM hardtail should be a stronger frame than an XC one.


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

I don't have a Soma but since you're considering other frames that are fun & durable may I suggest you consider Kona's steel Honzo. I've enjoyed abusing mine for 4 years and it has stood up to my 225ish pounds with aplomb. I believe the Honzo is made specifically for the type of riding you do.
=s


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

yea I would love a steel hanzo but it's a little heavy and the titanium hanzo is out of my price range.

I'm going to go with the spot rocker since I can get 35% off with them and I think the frame is a little lighter than the new karate monkey.

Sucks with the Juice since I really enjoyed it while it wasn't broken. 

So far no reply from soma but I am pretty stubborn so they will have a hard time ignoring me. That plus I have my old karate monkey to ride in the meantime


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## Black Squirrel (Oct 13, 2016)

I love my spot rocker. The seat angle is STEEP. It took my a little while to get used to it, but now I am not sure if I could go back to a slack seat tube angle. The Rockers are also really long bikes, they have similar top tube lengths as other bikes, but because of the steep seat angle the reach ends up being 20-30mm longer.

It took a while to get mine dialed in, but zero offset seat post, 60mm stem, and the chainstays set to 435mm, its perfect. By far the best climbing bike I've owned.


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

thanks for your setup info, thats where ill start when I get a frame figured out.

Yea I demoed a large Rocker for the first time 2 years ago in Moab at outer bike. Rode it down Captin Ahab and it's been in the back of my mind since.


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## JMac47 (Apr 23, 2004)

*Warranty bump*



Singletrackd said:


> thanks for your setup info, thats where ill start when I get a frame figured out.
> 
> Yea I demoed a large Rocker for the first time 2 years ago in Moab at outer bike. Rode it down Captin Ahab and it's been in the back of my mind since.


Did SOMA eventually follow thru with a frame?

Inquiring mind(s)....


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## seat_boy (May 16, 2006)

Looks like the new Juice (the light blue one) has those windows on the dropouts filled in. So at least they learned a lesson somewhere.


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## JMac47 (Apr 23, 2004)

seat_boy said:


> Looks like the new Juice (the light blue one) has those windows on the dropouts filled in. So at least they learned a lesson somewhere.


Yeah that's the one I'm contemplating. Just curious on their CS response on this OP.


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

they already did that on the second brownstone they sent me and you can see it in the 3rd picture..didnt add any strength to the area

oh and customer service it horrible....i sent my frame out 4 weeks ago and am still waiting on the new one to come. they now will only deal with the bike shop that sold it to you which is a pain and if you order it online that means you have to mail it to the shop so they can send it to soma. On top of that they don't pay for shipping in either direction(they billed my PayPal account)

not a pleasurable experience but there is a new frame on the way. but it's a pain to keep having to pay a shop to prep the frame and for shipping


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## N+1=1 (Nov 23, 2017)

Singletrackd said:


> they already did that on the second brownstone they sent me and you can see it in the 3rd picture..didnt add any strength to the area
> 
> oh and customer service it horrible....i sent my frame out 4 weeks ago and am still waiting on the new one to come. they now will only deal with the bike shop that sold it to you which is a pain and if you order it online that means you have to mail it to the shop so they can send it to soma. On top of that they don't pay for shipping in either direction(they billed my PayPal account)
> 
> not a pleasurable experience but there is a new frame on the way. but it's a pain to keep having to pay a shop to prep the frame and for shipping


Do you know anyone who can weld halfway decent? They could put a gusset on top of the dropout and seat tubes, probably fix your problem.


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## iowamtb (May 17, 2014)

Singletrackd said:


> yea I would love a steel hanzo but it's a little heavy and the titanium hanzo is out of my price range.
> 
> I'm going to go with the spot rocker since I can get 35% off with them and I think the frame is a little lighter than the new karate monkey.
> 
> ...


Call them *+1 (650) 871-8870

Don't rely on an email when all you got to do is pick up the phone ? I have called them many times with questions on my b side and Wolvie and they never dodged me. One time took my number and called me back within 5 minutes.

They have always been helpful to me.


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## cooljames (Jan 22, 2018)

The pictures on the somafab.com website show close-ups of the dropouts. The new model definitely does have more material around the dopouts.

Brown == 2014-2016 model








Pale blue == 2017 model.


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

cooljames said:


> The pictures on the somafab.com website show close-ups of the dropouts. The new model definitely does have more material around the dopouts.
> 
> Brown == 2014-2016 model
> View attachment 1179196
> ...


yes but please look at the third picture.....the second brownstone they gave me already had the spaces filled in and it still cracked.

In the end soma did send me a new bike and it was the 2017 pale blue edition which was almost identical to the brownstone except it has a slightly larger clearance thanks to a modification to the drive side chain stay close to the chain ring.

In the end it's a good 500 frame but I sold it on eBay for half that when I got the frame returned and I think I got a great deal. the bike rides great but I would never recommend the bike to someone because I think that 500$ can get a way nicer used frame on eBay that is truly built to ride.

All said and done, i bought 2 used frames for 600$(2015 el mariachi and 2010 Niner SIR 9)

can people still see the original pictures because I think your the second person to bring that up


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

iowamtb said:


> Call them *+1 (650) 871-8870
> 
> Don't rely on an email when all you got to do is pick up the phone ? I have called them many times with questions on my b side and Wolvie and they never dodged me. One time took my number and called me back within 5 minutes.
> 
> They have always been helpful to me.


I did and after a few emails they connected me to Mary Sales, their wholesale distributer that procces their warranties and more serious customer service issues

The Merry Sales Co. 1-800-245-9959


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## iowamtb (May 17, 2014)

Singletrackd said:


> I did and after a few emails they connected me to Mary Sales, their wholesale distributer that procces their warranties and more serious customer service issues
> 
> The Merry Sales Co. 1-800-245-9959


 That's exactly what I mean. The phone number that I put in there is to Merry sales. If you google merry sales San Francisco then you will get their info and when you click on "call" the number I posted will come up. I bet over the years I have called them a dozen times.


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## Singletrackd (May 3, 2015)

iowamtb said:


> I bet over the years I have called them a dozen times.


that's why I bought a frame from a different company.....so far I haven't had to call salsa or niner once because everything works perfectly and all of the bike specs are easily accessible

I feel like we are beating a dead horse here


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## iowamtb (May 17, 2014)

Singletrackd said:


> that's why I bought a frame from a different company.....so far I haven't had to call salsa or niner once because everything works perfectly and all of the bike specs are easily accessible
> 
> I feel like we are beating a dead horse here


Ummmm I haven't called them once due to any issues. Once was to talk about installing a rear rack on my wolverine and then I ordered one. Other times were just to talk about their bikes. I like to talk lol


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