Ho ho ho, etc. The Santas at Soma Fabrications have a fresh catch of Pescadero road framesets for all you good girls and boys this Christmas.
The Pescadero is a “road-sport” steed, designed with 35mm rubber in mind but good to 38mm, my personal tire width of choice. And did I mention that it takes rim brakes? Your choice of centerpulls or dual pivots.
This was the frameset I wanted to review Back in the Day® for Adventure Cyclist, but it was out of stock. So I went instead for a first cousin from the Merry Sales family, the New Albion Privateer, which has become one of my favorite bikes for the mean streets of The Duck! City. (You’ll see mine, black with silver rack, in the photo carousel.)
Hm. Decisions, decisions. I need a new MacBook Pro to carry on The Work, but another resident of the San Francisco area has annoyed me by leaping clear across the country to kiss the Pestilence-Erect’s ring (hope you packed plenty mouthwash, Timmy me lad).
Maybe I need to redirect my holiday spending. Some might say I have too many two-wheelers already, but I have plenty of Macs, too. And as we all know, the proper number of bikes for a man is n+1.
Mad Blog Media 
Oh yea. Love me some Soma, but no disc brake mounts nixes that deal. After my last guitar buy, I might have switch back to riding. Cheaper is what.
They have lots of disco options, Paddy me bucko. I think the Privateer and Pescadero are their last rim-brake bikes.
Now and again I check the price of new flutes. !Hijo, madre! Bikes are definitely cheaper. The ones I buy, anyway. …
My last buy. And, I do mean last!
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AMSBNRVS–gibson-acoustic-nathaniel-rateliff-lg-2-western-vintage-sunburst
Their main hq is a few hours from me. Stopped in a few years back and bought some speaker floor stands which likely were one of the only things I could afford. Son in law has dropped some coin there.
If I ever moved from Arizona, I would make Ft. Wayne my new home. I would love to visit the Sweetwater retail shop on their campus. It’s huge! They also have world class customer service.
Nice. My Salsa LaCruz, in the original welded steel version, was sold as a cross bike. It is currently shod with 700-40 Donnelly MSOs with some room to spare. I once ran 700-43’s on it during the winter up in Los Alamos when it was my workday commuter. These all-around bikes are nice.
The Merry Sales people do a nice job of thinking these things through. And I really appreciate that they keep a couple rim-brake options around.
I’ve been kicking myself for not going a size up when I bought the Soma Double Cross Back in the Day®. That’s damn near the perfect do-everything machine. And it’s still pretty a’ight despite being a tad too small for me.
Did the opposite once. I bought a Redline Conquest Pro frame set up for rim brakes or disks and built it up myself with cantis and downtube shifters. But it was a tad large for me due to me not understanding how they sized their seat tube. That was apparent at every stoplight. I bought the Salsa, which is the perfect size for me, from a friend who raced (he said the LaCruz was too heavy to race and I said perfect, I’m too heavy to race) and put the Redline up for adoption at one of the local bike swaps and donated the proceeds to one of the local bike nonprofits.
I still miss that Redline. It was a big harsh a ride but really was fast. The Salsa is just a really nice, comfy all-around bike. I’ve used it for a commuter and for long dirt rides, such as here:
https://labikes.blogspot.com/2020/09/end-of-line.html
Get yer’ a 58 cm. model — that should fit you just fine! I have a 56 in Colonial Blue, but that Slate Gray looks equally pretty (the previous model’s black color did nothing for me). Of course, you will have to put the Paul’s Racer brakes on it; anything else would be apostacy. Ride it in good health! Dale in Mid-MO
Ayuh, a 58 looks like the ticket. And Paul’s Racers, for sure. I have some — maybe most? — of the parts I’d need to build it up scattered around the garage. I have a pretty Ultegra double crank, but sheeeeyit, I ain’t got the legs for 53/39T with 175mm crankarms anymore. I’ve gotten spoiled by 50/34T and 46/30T.
Great news about the Pauls Racers! They cost me almost half as much as the frameset cost. For gears, I have an IRD 46/30 crankset on mine up front, and an 11/34, 9-speed, bar-end setup for the rear end. I could use even lower gears as my BMI continues to go up, while my VO2 goes down. Finally, I can highly recommend the Soma Portola handlebar, but I would guess you already have more spare bars than I have pairs of socks.
You will have great fun building up that bike! Cheers! Dale in Mid-MO
All bikes are equal, but some bikes are more equal than others.
How is it that a a simple frame with zero add-ons can look so gorgeous? It’s the two-wheel corollary to the golden ratio. When it’s right, it looks right.
There’s elegance to be found in the basics, amirite? You don’t immediately start thinking you need electronic this and hydraulic that and tubeless the other.
Lucky you, still being able to hoist a leg over all them there top tubes you young whippersnapper. I’m still getting on and off my 58 CM fleet, albeit not with any form of grace. No it’s not nads on the bar but more getting the hind leg over the saddle since I’m showing anywhere from 5-7 inches of seatpost. Well as I continue losing height (along with all the other fine human athletic features) the seat being lowered won’t be quite as hard to navigate but the nads…..they’ll no doubt find that steel bar. Yup…got my eye on a mixte and IF the Soma version would take a legit 40-42 tire I would’ve had one a few years ago. As is, I can’t quite justify popping for a mixte Riv Platypus which they luckily don’t have anyhoo. That is….until I fall over a few times or you know….the nads come into play.
I always thought a mixte would be the ticket for a commuter and errand bike. Sandy almost got a Terry mixte for her first touring bike, but went for the Classic Model instead. I had my eye on the Soma mixte frame for a long time. I shoulda popped for it and built up a proper Euro townie. Patrick, did you ever build up and ride a mixte?
Now I commute via Corolla hatch or shank’s mare.
Oh, and ah.
https://apnews.com/live/madison-wisconsin-school-shooting-updates#00000193-d142-d2ff-a3fb-f34b29690000
Never did a mixte, gents, but if I were in the market I might look at Rivendell’s Clem Smith Jr., which is being sold as a complete ready-to-ride with 45mm rubber for $2K.
Sorry folks! Wrong link indeed.
https://www.somafab.com/archives/product/buena-vista-disc-frame-set
I have been riding Mike Varley’s Black Mountain MonsterCross rim &ModZero disc brake bikes for a while. They are similar to the SOMA bikes…. Comfy good bikes.