I pride myself on staying up-to-date with the builders that I admire from around the world. I've long had a crush on Nick Neuhaus and his stunning hardtails. Over the years, we've featured Nick's bikes in spotlights and even had a chat focused on his process and direction. So, you can imagine my surprise (and excitement) when I stumbled upon a drop bar bike from Nick and his team, called the Solana. How had I missed this stunning, big-tired gravel bike from one of my favorite builders?!
Immediately, I messaged Nick, and he informed me that the Solana was quietly launched at MADE last year. This was a revelation for me, as Neuhaus is renowned for its steel and titanium MTB hardtails. The idea of them making a drop bar bike, let alone one that can be set up in three different ways—road, all-road, and gravel—was beyond imagination.
The gravel version of the Solana is straight out of my dreams. I spend more time on my 29er gravel bike than any of my other bikes. In my humble opinion, big-tired gravel bikes are the Swiss Army knives of bikes. They allow you to hit long distances comfortably, tackle single track, and even hit the road to tie it all together—perfection. I thought I was content with my current monster gravel machine, but discovering the Neuhaus Solana has me counting my pennies.
A huge thanks to Nick for accepting our potentially naive questions about the Solana. Let's dive in.
How would you classify this machine?
Two of these specific Solana's were built. One for myself personally and one for our trusty “crash test dummy”. They are test bikes to further refine our drop bar offering. They feature sliding dropouts giving a chainstay length range from 420mm to 440mm and eccentric PF30 bottom brackets that allow +6 or -6mm of bb drop or 0mm when used with a traditional PF30 bottom bracket. As gravel bikes have trended towards larger tires, bottom bracket drop hasn't changed much, this raises the rider on the bike and the center of mass. We feel that as tires on drop bar bikes have gotten larger, bottom brackets should be getting lower to retain the positive characteristics of drop bars and bikes designed for them. These bikes will allow us to confirm that by testing varying set ups with different tire sizes ranging from 700 x 35 - 700 x 48.
What prompted a drop bar bike?
Our shop is only 20 miles from the famed PCH and we are surrounded by some of the best gravel riding in the world. At the very least we would be doing ourselves a huge disservice by not building bikes to enjoy those things. As with our other models we build and sell bikes that we like to ride and we really like riding our Solana's.
What are the overarching geo ideas?
The Solana is offered in three models, Road, All Road, and Gravel. Once the use is chosen we work with the customer or use geometry recommended by a fitter to tailor the fit to each rider, this includes the same size specific tubing approach used on our mountain bikes.
What bikes does Solana rival?
We really focus on building bikes for a purpose rather than based on other bikes available. We offer 3 models of Solana based on a rider's intended use. The Solana Road is a smooth and comfortable bike designed for road use, the All Road model allows for a bit more tire clearance but retains the sporty nature and gearing range of the Road model. The Solana Gravel is a bit more adventure oriented and is designed for a large 700x48 and modern 1x drivetrains.
What's the max tire clearance for the three Solanas?
The Solana Gravel is designed for a 700x48 max tire size and 1x gravel drivetrains. The All Road model is designed for 700x38 and the Road model is designed for 700x32.
Was there any conflict or challenges in creating the Solana?
If riders see value in what we offer then we will build it. Our approach to designing and building bikes isn't limited to a specific aspect of riding, we just want to put riders on great fitting and great performing bikes of all types. Our biggest challenges are generally internal and based around the actual fabrication. We have developed a very efficient and refined process for building our current line up. Part of our design process also requires that we establish an equally as efficient process for any new builds that deviate from what we currently offer. By the time a bike reaches the stage where we allow it to be publicly seen, that has all been sorted and it is production ready.
What is an eccentric bottom bracket and how did that help your last Solana build?
The eccentric bottom bracket uses a PF30 bottom bracket shell (68mm wide in the case of this bike) and a bottom bracket that has the spindle bearings offset from the center of the bottom bracket shell. This bike uses a Wheels Manufacturing eccentric bottom bracket for Shimano cranks which provides 12mm of total adjustment. This gives us a +-6mm bb height adjustment. The twin to this bike is using a similar eccentric bottom from Squid Bikes, this offers the same adjustment range for DUB cranks.
Any Ti Solana's planned for the future?
Our Ti drop bar offering is the Epyon and is also currently available in the same configurations as the Solana.
Is there a story behind the Solana name?
Daniel, our Engineer, is from San Diego. Solana Beach is a small Coastal town in the area where he began riding and is known for having some really beautiful road riding and a very laid back vibe. This really embodies what we feel drop bar bikes are all about and the name was just too fitting and a great tribute to where and what drew Daniel to cycling.
How do we get one? Do they come in full builds?
Because the Solana (and Epyon) have more options than our other bikes it is best to send us an email to get started on your Solana. The lead times match that of our other bikes, currently 6-8 weeks. The Solana is $2500 for a frame and fork, the Epyon is $4600 for a frame and fork. We are happy to do complete builds, these are spec on a build by build basis based on rider needs and model chosen.
What's the one thing I cannot get on a new Solana?
As much as we love big tires, the Solana (and Epyon) are not available with clearance greater than 700x48, any more than that and we feel you should be looking at our Hummingbird or HBSL.
Thanks, Nick!
