The frame arrived today as expected. The box got beat up a bit but remained fully intact, while the frame and fork arrived unscathed in a thick sheath of foam, bubble wrap and cardboard. The fork was housed in its own box within the box with an additional blanket of protection.
First impressions: This thing feels light. I don't doubt the 4.79 lb. spec on the SomaFab.com website, but something this big and made of steel should have a heftier feel to it. I almost bit it to confirm it was, in fact, metal. The fork, while lighter (claimed 2.3 lbs.) had that durable steel stout feel to it, perhaps because its smaller. Carbon fiber frames must feel like they are full of helium.
In the box, along with the frame and fork, I found a small bag of c-clips that fit the cable routing braze-ons on the top tube and seat stay, along with frame prep instructions. The frame prep instructions are of no use to me as the frame has already been prep'd. The good folks at AmericanCyclery.com, from whom I bought the frame, performed the necessary frame prep before shipping it. They will prep any frame they sell for the discounted price of $35 ... a no-brainer since I don't have the tools knowledge or skills to do it myself. Also in the box, a printed receipt and Tyson's business card. Tyson is the guy at American Cyclery who does the ordering and customer communication. List American Cyclery under the "Good Guys" heading.
The box, just above the large Soma logo, reads "Durable. Practical. Affordable.". I can't think of three words that best describe my decision to buy this frameset. Steel (durable), sliding dropouts and belt-ready (practical), and priced well below anything else with these features (affordable).
Components so far ...
Frameset: Soma Wolverine with matching lugged fork
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