experience with the Soma Grand Rando V3

[David Goldman]

It seems that v1 and v2 of this bike have been sort of shelved by the community as a nice but somewhat failed experiment - and so V3 seems sort of forgotten.

 I'm very curious about the V3 - I want a 650b Low Trail bike and unfortunately the tall seat tube with relatively short stack and reach on the Lightning Bolt just creates a situation where my body will never fit on the right size (I have a long torso and crazy short legs.) So that pretty much leaves the Soma GR V3 as my only production option. 

I'd love to hear from those who own the bike, is it still overbuilt? Is it still plagued with shimmy, how is it as a "zippy" road bike? 

I have a Riv Sam Hillborne thats frankly just not fun to push it on despite its other high points and I have a "fast" Waterford. I don't expect the GR to compare with the get up and go of the Waterford, but I don't want something as "stubborn" and my Riv either.

Anyway, heres wonderwall.

[Tyler Ryan]

I bought a grand rando when they were 50% off a few years ago and had no idea what I was doing. I built it up as a 1x gravel rando bike and put probably 5000 miles on it over two years.

I think it is a great frame. The only reason I sold it is because I didn’t know anything about bicycle fit and the 58 was too small for me, a 6’0 person with about an 89 pbh. 

There aren’t many disc brake TA , 1” threaded frames out there, and the grand Randonneur is relatively lightweight, too.

Shimmy is a thing but it was pretty rare, I wouldn’t worry about it. 

[randal...@gmail.com]

Does the 650b randonneur bike community consider any production 650b randonneur bike a success? 

The Crust Lightning Bolt? Even that had a fair number of complaints...

The V1/V2 Grand Randonneur were plagued by the same issue as every other production randonneur bike of that era - most of the people in a position to review the bike were doing so from the perspective of moving down from custom bicycles - or - the bike as their first experience with low-trail. The weight, ride quality, and build quality issues were real but much less relevant to someone, who was at the time, comparing against other more normal $500 steel framesets. The shimmy and handling issues are more relevant but also more personal. An overabundance of negative feedback for many years from one person has created a perception of the V1/V2 that didn't match most people's experience. The bikes were fine, there were some QC issues but it wasn't a bad design or execution overall. 

The V3 is a much better bike than the V2 but from what I can tell all the randonneur desire was effectively captured by gravel and bikepacking so there isn't really anyone left to champion the much improved bike. Which is a shame. I probably wrote 10,000 words when I put together my low-trail Fog Cutter back in 2018 but wrote practically nothing about the V3 Grand Randonneur despite it being a better design.

[Chris Warland]

I have a V2 that I have used for urban commuting for the last 6 years or so. 

I don't have much to compare it to--I've never had the pleasure of trying a high-end custom bicycle. 

I typically ride with some weight on the front rack--laptop, tool kit, change of clothes, lunch--and have never experienced any shimmy. It doesn't feel particularly "lively" or "zippy" but it is comfortable and feels pretty good (to me) when pushed. 

I have a long torso/short legs as well and it fits me well (I am 5'8 with 30" inseam and ride a size 55 GR)

Chris

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[mcma...@gmail.com]

Don't forget the Kogswell P/R Mk. II.   I have had one since 2009; great rider, no issues...

Mike Mazzie  A2