Today we have another great review of our NS Soda Air bike. This time our enduro/freeride machine got into hands of the MoreDirt.co.uk crew and Angus McIntosh who tested the bike for about 6 weeks. Here are his impressions.
Some bikes I ride are good, some aren’t quite so and then there’s bikes like the NS Soda Air. They fit into a very exclusive group of bikes that are just plain fun. They are by no means perfect but they will leave a grin from ear to ear that you will struggle to shift.
What you see is what you get from the very first pedal stroke and they will leave you simply craving more.
The NS Soda Air arrived with us and straight away from the unboxing it looked like it was the real deal. A slack head angle, short rear end, wide bars, some pretty choice kit and super chunky tubes made for a bombproof short travel bike.
The colour scheme was certainly pretty loud and I’m not sure if I was too keen on the fluorescent yellow Trailmaster 2 rims with the green accents on the frame but after a few hours staring at it in the corner of the office needless to say I’d started to fall in love with it.
I got out for a ride on a sunny evening the day after the bike arrived to a local downhill/freeride spot. I was starting to feel like my riding had slipped into a rut. I used to love nothing more than hitting big gaps and jumps but after a few big crashes my brain wasn’t so keen on the idea. First ride out I hit a gap bigger than I had for a very long time. It takes a pretty special bike for me to feel I could push it that far first time out...
The NS Soda Air comes with a very desirable spec straight from the factory. It’s based entirely on the competition proven Soda frame but was put through a bit of a diet and given a slightly longer seat tube to make it more friendly for longer stints in the saddle.
The Soda Air features Rockshox Lyrik R solo air forks paired with the Monarch Plus R air shock to shed further pounds over its freeriding brother. Both these products form a very capable pair when it comes to dealing with even the gnarliest of terrain.
Truvativ Descendant Cranks combined with an E thirteen LS1+ chain device get the power down through to a 1x10 Sram X5/X7 drivetrain with 180mm rotor’d Avid Elixir 5 Brakes ensure stopping is always cool, calm and collected.
A full NS cockpit with the short and snappy Quark stem paired with the top of the line Evidence bar and the incredibly comfortable Octane One bolt on grips kept things under control up front with a KS Dropzone Remote dropper post and Ti railed Octane One Rocker Pro Saddle taking care of the seating arrangements.
The Soda Air features a wheelset compromising of NS Rotary sealed bearing hubs and the bright yellow Trailmaster 2 rims. I was slightly confused by the choice of tyres supplied with the bike. The super lightweight single ply folding Maxxis Ardent felt like a last ditch attempt to shed some weight at the expense of some rubber that would of really began to shine under the type of riding the Soda Air was aimed at.
Read the rest of the review at MoreDirt.co.uk
