No Road Left Unridden
[Excerpt of Review on https://maxthecyclist.wordpress.com -- This review is for an older model.]
Is it a cyclocross bike?
It’s easily shouldered, the geometry is tight, and the handling is aggressively snappy. The hallmark of a good cyclocross frame, in my opinion, is in how it negotiates terrain above its pay grade, and the Double Cross handles effortlessly; singletrack is not just possible, it’s encouraged. This is a race day bike that really thrives in the time spent riding between race days.
Is it a road bike?
Maybe the new buzzword “All-Road” is more appropriate. With skinny rubber, the frame shows its flavor, soaking up road noise and vibration better than most. ‘Smooth’ is cliche, but it’s almost the only word to use. The Double Cross begs to be ridden all day.
Is it a commuter?
In my opinion, your most fun bike should be the one you commute on. Why waste the transitional period between work and home? The Double Cross has all the durability and reliability demanded by the battlefield of potholes between A and B, but handles it with a certain grace and agility the traditionally overbuilt commuter frames can’t emulate.
Ride Quality
As mentioned previously, this bike wore a lot of hats. I used it primarily as my daily rider, taking it all over Western Massachusetts on pleasure rides, missed-my-alarm commutes, grocery runs, and all-day adventures. I almost always rode it fast, hammering through traffic and taking irresponsible lines across my swarming college campus.
The bike is confident through almost everything. It loves standing still in a trackstand as much as it likes hurtling back up to speed during acceleration. It’s extremely maneuverable, and never truly feels out of its element.
I did say “almost.” The bike does get a little bit antsy over 35mph. It’s not the most confident descender ever, although pushing forward in the drops and keeping your seat clenched between your knees in an aero tuck keeps the bike from feeling too squirrely. It’s not unstable, it’s just less stable. It’s the only place where the bike didn’t feel like it was thriving. This seems to be typical of most true CX-geometry frames I’ve tried, and if that’s the “cost” for so much maneuverability during the technical riding I’ve been doing, I’ll pay for it.
The bike didn’t love having a basket. I didn’t really notice until I took my hands off the handlebars, but having the weight up high made the steering feel sloppy and unpredictable. This is pretty typical of bikes with a higher trail in the front wheel, and Soma has other frames that are designed to handle a basket and front rack a little nicer. Despite the convenience, I ended up skipping the basket and sticking to my backpack. If you do intend to use this as a touring bike, I would go with a low-rider front rack and mount your panniers close to the ground.
Edit: I mounted a basket on the much lower Soma Lucas rack and the speed shimmy disappeared. Nice!
... Bottom line: to do better than the Soma Double Cross Disc, you’d better be ready to spend double or triple the value of this complete bike. It is an absolute steal, compared to the rest of the field. There’s a reason I replaced my mountain bike with a Soma, too, and I am super bummed they came out with the Sandworm a week after I got a fatbike.