Why do so many on here hate Optare Solos?

[Ivo]

Well?

Yes, they're small. But they're intended for awkward routes with tight roads and/or limited loadings. They are nice things to relax on. I had one to Keynsham on Wednesday (can be almost anything; a Lance was next, then a Volvo decker) and it was a joyous ride, especially down the dual-carriageway stretch between the A36 and A39 termini outside my Uni.

I can understand people not liking them on some routes, like the Salisbury X3 as 159jim says, but when they appear on such routes it is more an opportunity for amusement, is it not? I've seen one on the 339 (the Sunday equivalent of the X39, itself descended from the X2) before now, while I've also seen a couple on runs to my Uni (hence the avatar! ).

Seriously though, what is everyone's problem with them? They're much better than most Darts, and infinitely better than Varios.

 

[westcoaster]

All the ones I've been on seam to be badly built, noisy, slow/ underpowered or as someone else put it gutless.

 

[Aictos]

My local council runs them on the council run bus services and they're fairly comfortable, you can always get a seat unlike the Stagecoach run bus services which can all be full and standing at certain times.

 

[anthony263]

I like the optare solo (Well most of them) the really small single door optare solo do take off like a rocket. I admit there are a few which i have driven do seem to be underpowered, strange enough these all seem to be fitted with MAN engines.

I do not however like the solo SR or the versa's however. Optare solo's are ideal for a lot of route where even the mini dennis darts do struggle and they are better to drive.

One problem i have noticed with some optare solso is that the brakes are sometimes too sensitive, ie the press them slightly they slow down gently, press even more slightly and you are praticulary going through the windscreen so to speak.

A lot of OAP's do like the solo's compared to darts etc.

The mercedes-benz engined examples do scream a bit and as for the Mercedes-benz vario, whats wrong with them? i happen to enjoy driving them lol

 

[Ivo]

I'll tell you what's wrong with a Vario...

...nothing in particular. It's just that Bath's second company, Wessex Connect (owned by Rotala), have no respect for them or the passengers on board. They go flat out on every stretch of route possible, to the point that going over the potholes of Whiteway (the far west of Bath south of the Avon) is, quite literally, a pain in the ----. And if you sit at the back and attempt to read something (say the Metro), you will get motion sick!

The whole thing has given me a poor outlook on Varios (well, that and the high number of manual ones that still exist in Bath, even with T-reg plates!). I have however had some good experiences with them; in particular, the first time a girl showed any real interest in me was on one...

 

[anthony263]

A few of the problems with optare solos i have noticed seem to be down to how they are maintained. I have been on 1 of the couple that have arrived at first cymru which sturggled up a small hill with darts flying passt and their drivers laughing their heads off.

I was on 1 yesterday on the Ystrad Rhondda - Maerdy railink bus which stormed up Penrhys hill which is very steep and even the powerful volvo b10m's operated by stagecoach do sometimes struggle.

 

[route101]

I travelled on one between Edinburgh and Dumfries on McEwans . A new 60 plate one but a silly bus to be put on a long route.

 

[anthony263]

I'll tell you what's wrong with a Vario...

...nothing in particular. It's just that Bath's second company, Wessex Connect (owned by Rotala), have no respect for them or the passengers on board. They go flat out on every stretch of route possible, to the point that going over the potholes of Whiteway (the far west of Bath south of the Avon) is, quite literally, a pain in the ----. And if you sit at the back and attempt to read something (say the Metro), you will get motion sick!

The whole thing has given me a poor outlook on Varios (well, that and the high number of manual ones that still exist in Bath, even with T-reg plates!). I have however had some good experiences with them; in particular, the first time a girl showed any real interest in me was on one...

I know what you mean about the vario. I remember one driver actually breaking the suspention on the rear axle because he went over a speed hump at 25mph. After that there were warning signs put in them to tell drivers to not go over speed humps at more than 5mph

I do like driving them as i like thrashing them which you cant really do in a dart. I drove 1 2 years ago when we have snow in south wales which was ok to drive unlike the dart which i had a hard time driving.

 

[WestCoast]

The newer Cummins engined ones with the new style interior are not bad at all. The older Mercedes engined ones are not good!

 

[anthony263]

Most of the problematic solos i have encountered have been those fitted with the MAN engines although i have seen some of the older mercedes engined solo's have a bit of problems recently.

I have yet to drive some of the more recent cummins engine examples although i hope to soon.

 

[sprinterguy]

All the ones I've been on seam to be badly built, noisy, slow/ underpowered or as someone else put it gutless.

Yep, that. They seem to be very poorly put together in the experiences I've had of them, which in turn leads to poor maintenance practices due to the difficulties of keeping them running.

Travel West Midlands treated them more as staff transports as required at their Perry Barr depot when I did some work with them, rather than considering them as realistic vehicles for regular bus services (Although, of course, they did have some diagrammed work or they wouldn't have been there in the first place). Go North East in Washington tired of their Solos very quickly as well it seems after getting them new in the late nineties/early 2000s.

Nothing wrong with Darts: Good, solid performers that have been the regular staple on my most regularly used routes in the north east for years.

 

[Anon Mouse]

I prefer Freight Rover Sherpa's and Bristol LH's on the small bus count!

 

[Dennis]

I prefer Freight Rover Sherpa's and Bristol LH's on the small bus count!

You are going to have along wait at the bus stop waiting for one to turn up!

What's wrong with soslos Never forget my first ride on one; a couple of years after they first entered service, had a spin on one out of Bournemouth on a red hot day. Loads of traffic, lot of noise and not much movement - laughable considering they looked so good. Anyway, been quite sucessful avoiding the things, only been on 5. Think I prefer the Metroriders.

Give me a Dart any day - MPD preferred.

 

[Anon Mouse]

I dont really like modern buses, but Optare Solo's are not too bad. I just miss 'real' buses

 

[Ivo]

I dont really like modern buses, but Optare Solo's are not too bad. I just miss 'real' buses

Define "real"! To me, a modern Volvo B7RLE is more of a "real" bus than the cuboid box usually known as a Pointer Dart.

 

[Anon Mouse]

Define "real"! To me, a modern Volvo B7RLE is more of a "real" bus than the cuboid box usually known as a Pointer Dart.

Bristol LH
Leyland Atlantean
Daimler Fleetline
RM Routemaster
Freight Rover Sherpa

 

[martinsh]

Bristol LH
Leyland Atlantean
Daimler Fleetline
RM Routemaster
Freight Rover Sherpa

You forgot

AEC Reliance
Albion Lowlander
Bristol RE
Daimler CVG
Guy Arab
Ikarus 260
LAZ 695N
Leyland Tiger Cub
Optare Delta

PS actually I quite like Optare Solos, provided they are used on suitable routes (i.e. not long distance, or high frequency routes requiring full size vehicles). And Versas are nice buses inside - they just look hideous outside !

 

[Dennis]

Define "real"! To me, a modern Volvo B7RLE is more of a "real" bus than the cuboid box usually known as a Pointer Dart.

I have a real issue with Eclipse bodied B7s - at certain engine revs they seem to set up a resonance in my skull and my vision goes all blurry, so I try and avoid them. Another modern bus I have a problem with is Citaros - never completed a journey awake on one. I guess they are boring.

 

[Ivo]

How?!

Just go on the 507 in London. How you could sleep on it - passing Westminster Cathedral, Lambeth Bridge, St Thomas Hospital, etc - is beyond me.

 

[Dennis]

Hmmm, managed to fall asleep on the 507 around Westminster the only time I did that route. Bring on the Borismaster to cure somnia around the Capital

 

[jon0844]

I don't have anything against them in principle. My route got one back in 2008 (58 plate) for the new service, and it is fine for the usage needs of the route - including getting through some narrow roads (thanks to bad parking). However, at times a full length bus will operate when the Solo has broken down.

Within a matter of weeks of it being delivered for exclusive use on my road, the windows were leaking, and then the engine then started to make terrible noises - which it pretty much has done ever since (so, the fact it still runs suggests it's a 'normal' feature!).

For a long time there was a problem with the electrics so the driver couldn't open or close the doors, and passengers were asked to manually open the door using the buttons above the door. I don't know how they fixed it because they said a load of mechanics had been looking at it - and the button on the driver panel was functioning properly.

The rear LED display for the route number has been broken for ages, but I accept this might be a third party add-on by the bus company.

Now, what's odd is that I've since been on a 55 plated version which has a much newer interior (the interior lights with cut outs and green plastic film to give the illusion that there are loads of LEDs) as well as LED lighting at the back - so unless the bus company has put on a custom plate, I'm having to assume that it's been refurbished, or there were different specs available when ordering!

Why else would a bus that's three years older be so much newer inside?!

 

[causton]

Why else would a bus that's three years older be so much newer inside?!

I assume these are refurbished, as they look so much better than the 'old' (but really new) buses!

The engines can be VERY underpowered on some, for example Arriva use them on the W7 and W9 and there is a (not particularly steep) hill out of Borehamwood. We accelerated from 0 to 30... then slowly fell to 20... then slowed to 15... and I thought we were about to stop and roll back down with how slow we were going, despite the driver flooring it and the engine making all sorts of noise!

They're alright for short hops and town services that need to fit down small streets or past bad parkers, but couldn't imagine them being very good on long distance services. (Perhaps Arriva should get one on the 724 from Harlow to Heathrow! )

 

[BestWestern]

I'd have to say that I still consider a Solo to be one of the nicest buses I've driven, certainly more enjoyable than a Dart. Bags of visibility, comfy driving position, nice and easy to swing around, just a bit of bugger in tight layby bus stops. Admittedly they rattle, but then you'd expect that of anything with Mercedes DNA! And I had regular experience of one which was appalingly gutless, but equally others weren't. The Solo was a ground breaking bus when it was first introduced, and remains pretty much the only serous contender for minibus replacement. The MPD Dart is a compromise, whereas the Solo was purpose designed to do the job. The fact that Optare can still build them to the original design says a lot about just how modern that design was twelve years or so ago. It has taken this long for somebody else (Wright Streetlite) to come up with even a passable copycat design.

 

[Rhydgaled]

I do not however like the solo SR or the versa's however.

I agree, Versas and some Solos (the hump-backed ones like the Versas, I think they're SRs) look hideous outside. The normal Solos, like the extra-mini ones used on the Pembrokeshire coastal buses, look very nice and modern, as do Tempos and the later version of the Excell (eg. YN53ELH). The only problem I've ever had with a Solo was wet seats caused by a leak, which I seem to remember was coming from near the destonation display by the door. The Pembs coast ones, which claim to run on waste veg-oil from catering (they can't really get hold of that much of the stuff can they?), have a supprisingly tight turning circle, they need it too.

PS actually I quite like Optare Solos, provided they are used on suitable routes (i.e. not long distance, or high frequency routes requiring full size vehicles). And Versas are nice buses inside - they just look hideous outside !

Solos are too small to carry enough passengers somtimes (if a 41 seat, 30-odd standees Optare Tempo (total 75 passengers) can't take everyone from Aberystwyth station up to the university the usual Solos don't stand a chance) but they are generally alright so long as they are only used where there aren't going to be very many passengers.

I'm not sure the type of bus you are on matters for distance, it's the interior spec that matters. The TrawsCambria network is a good example of this. YJ55BKE and YJ55BKF (which I tend to call the X50s due to them having the main destonations of the X50 route along their sides) are great because they have enough legroom to make them comfortable. Conversly, all the other TrawsCambria Tempos are far too cramped. The exception is if you are lucky enough to get one of Arriva's Tempos that are meant for the Aberystwyth - Cardiff X40 services AND get one of the 4 seats on these buses that actually have sufficent legroom. A don't think a solo with X50 seat spacing would be that bad on a long-distance route, except that there probablly wouldn't be enough seat to ensure nobody has to stand.

 

[mbonwick]

The Versa look alike Solos are indeed Solo SRs.

Reason I hate them; small, cramped. Poor interior layout.
Engines tend to be underpowered, and the gearboxes are awful. The retarding magnets are the things that fail most up here....

 

[starrymarkb]

Now, what's odd is that I've since been on a 55 plated version which has a much newer interior (the interior lights with cut outs and green plastic film to give the illusion that there are loads of LEDs) as well as LED lighting at the back - so unless the bus company has put on a custom plate, I'm having to assume that it's been refurbished, or there were different specs available when ordering!

Why else would a bus that's three years older be so much newer inside?!

The upgraded interior was an option on the full width models from 2004, Cooks Coaches used to spec their full sized solos that way, but Slim solos still came with the old one.

Actually the local fleets had two firsts for the Solo, Cooks had the first super long solo and Stagecoach had the first Slim Solo.

 

[Whistler40145]

I find some of the early Solos we have on the Fylde Coast run by Blackpool Transport don't give a comfortable ride, their Gearboxes provide at times a jolting feeling!

Mind you, I have heard at least 15 early Solos are going soon.

 

[BrummyBoy]

Travel West Midlands treated them more as staff transports as required at their Perry Barr depot when I did some work with them, rather than considering them as realistic vehicles for regular bus services (Although, of course, they did have some diagrammed work or they wouldn't have been there in the first place). Go North East in Washington tired of their Solos very quickly as well it seems after getting them new in the late nineties/early 2000s.

Nothing wrong with Darts: Good, solid performers that have been the regular staple on my most regularly used routes in the north east for years.

Quite ironically i remember at one point solos appering on nearly ever PB route i used, however they are quite rare these days, also i must say the NXWM solos seem slow and dirty (unlike a Silverline solo i sampled the other week).

 

[Dennis]

Is it true that Stagecoach won't let drivers who weight more than 20 stone drive Solos for fear of the seat collapsing?

 

[mbonwick]

Yes.
Not for fear of it happening - it has actually happened. 20 stone is outside the operating limits of the seats, so Stagecoach would be liable if a driver were to sue.