Rose’s successful freeriding Soul Fire gets a big update in 2016 with the move to 27.5 inch wheels for better roll-over and to handle more technical terrain. With the shift to bigger wheels comes wider axle Boost tech to add stability and stiffness to both the wheels and the rear stays. We test rode the protoype of Rose’s upcoming adjustable carbon 27.5 Enduro bike earlier this summer, but this new Soul Fire aims to be even more capable shredding down the mountain.
Jump past the break for more details…
Debuted just two years ago the Soul Fire has become a very popular bike for Rose, offering a lot of bike park capable value. But for 2016 the bike gets completely revamped to the point that its chief designer Max Sistenich call is a totally new model. Several key elements are upgraded in order to improve performance, not the least of which is the switch to 27.5 inch wheels, which led to the extensively frame revisions and upgrades.
With geometry adaption to the new wheel size, the Soul Fire gets a lacker head angle and slightly longer toptube.
Then with a wider Boost rear axle, and the ability to the add wider tire compatibility as well, Rose decided to drop the front derailleur entirely and rework the suspension performance around 1x drivetrains. All that widening also allowed Rose to use larger main pivot bearings, a larger pivot axle, and overall wider chainstay support, together having a big boost in rear end stiffness and stability. Of course the 148 x 12mm Boost rear end also increases spoke bracing angles for a noticeable improvement in wheel rigidity, a big plus with the move to bigger diameter wheels.
The Soul Fire’s rocker link also got re-designed, now offering either 180 or 190mm of travel by flipping the lower mount position. Lastly cable routing was optimized, moving external so that everything is easier to reach, but protected on the downtube by a guard developed for Rose’s The Unchained DH bike.
