Rose Soulfire 3 2016 | Bike Check

May 12th, 2016

Finlay Paton’s Rose Soulfire 3

Direct selling German giant Rose Bikes has steadily been improving their bikes over the last few years, and this long travel beast is one of the best looking bikes yet.

This particular build belongs to Finlay Paton – the UK Director of Rose Bikes. He had quite literally just assembled it when we checked it out…

For 2016, the Rose Soulfire has been updated to 27.5in wheels, and is slightly longer. A size large has a 5mm longer top tube than the 2015 model; is a degree slacker up front; 4mm longer in the chainstay and a whopping 32mm longer in wheelbase. Fin has downsized from a Large to the Medium for 2016.

As with the rest of the Rose Bikes range, to order a Rose Soulfire you simply go to the Rose Bikes website and find the bike you want. You then pick the model with the price point that suits you.

You also have the option of customising your build – swapping things like tyres, brakes, controls etc – there are various options on all models that you can alter on the site. If there is a particular thing you want speccing that isn’t on offer, drop Fin a line to discuss it. They’re really flexible.

Here’s the lowdown on the stock Rose Soulfire 2016:

180mm rear travel (adjustable to 190mm)
Four bar suspension design
180mm front
Pricing from €2299 – €4099
Custom options available – use the configurator on the site to build your preferred spec
Dropper post internal and external cable routing
148mm x 12mm Boost rear end
27.5in wheels
433mm chainstay
64.5deg head angle
74.5deg seat angle
1210mm wheelbase (on this size medium)

Unlike previous models that had much plainer styling, the latest Soulfire looks awesome. The bold paint finish is excellent, and the graphics are clean and minimal.

Although designed as a Freeride bike – for thrashing down hills, hitting gravity biased bike parks and sending off jumps – Rose have included dropper post routing for bot internal stealth routing, and external options.

The underside of the top tube on the Rose Soulfire has a profile that helps hide the cable, should you need to use it.

Although the Rose Soulfire comes with the excellent and proven Rockshox Vivid Air shock that perfectly suits the back end of this frame, Fin will be building his own coil unit for the rear using the Cane Creek Double Barel. He appreciates air shocks, but as an ex-shock technician for TF Tuned just loves tinkering. His 2015 model had a Fox Vanilla RC coil shock too, which had been re-valved and shimmed – it felt amazing!

The Rose Soulfire has 180mm of travel out the box, but flipping the blue chip on the shock mount gives you an extra 10mm travel for heavier duty action.

The cable routing is under the down tube – which is the neatest and most direct place, but it’s also in the firing zone from rocks and other trail debris. Rose has included a custom designed outer cable shroud that protects the cables and down tube. Tidy.

Mud clearance is no issue on the Soulfire, even with heavy duty rubber and surprisingly compact chain stays.

Yep, the main pivot uses a Shimano pattern BB tool for access to the huge bearings. The wide stance is absolutely rock solid – there’s no unwanted waggle or flex in this back end.

Fin’s personal bike had 11 speed Shimano XTR (mech, chain, cassette and shifter) in place of the SRAM kit that is specced as standard on the stock Rose Soulfire 3 model. It was also kitted out with loads of the new e13 kit – the TRS+ wheels (TRSr hubs on LG1 alloy rims) and the new easy access TRS+ chain guide. We love the guide especially – you don’t need any tools to access the chain/cranks.

Fin is a hater of noisy bikes, and the first thing he does on all bikes he rides is get the chainstay and inside of seat stays covered in 3M 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape. If you’ve not tried this stuff, you really should – it’s amazing!

Fin has a pair of the new Gwin spec Onza Citius DH casing tyres, in the very tacky GRP 40 rubber; has opted for the e13 TRS+ cranks and uses the Mavic Crossmax Enduro pedal – which is a Time designed pedal, with Mavic’s touch.

Shimano XTR drive train, and SRAM Guide RSC brakes are the combo Fin likes. You can chop and change options on all Rose bikes, using the configurator on their website.

The Rose Soulfire 3, 2016 model. Looks like a riot, doesn’t it?

Fin runs the Rose Bikes UK office, and has been on the UK MTB scene for years. You’ll often see him blatting around the country doing demo rides with customers, or out on the trails giving it full beans.

If you want to chat about options for Rose Bike builds – Fin is your man. Full contact details are on the UK website.