LONGTERMERS
MONTH 11: Sean gets up close and personal with the contact points on the Signal ST
£2,899 • 29in • alpkit.com
THE RIDER
SEAN WHITE
Position Freelance writer/tester
Mostly rides Forest of Dean, Mid Wales
Height 6ft 2in
Weight 87kg
THE BIKE
n Handmade 4130 steel frame with sizespecific chainstays and up-to-date trail geometry
n Cane Creek Helm air fork upgrade comes with 130mm travel – the sweet spot for a 29er trail hardtail?
n Full SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain with a super-wide 10-52t cassette
n Hope Fortus wheelset, an upgrade over Sonder’s housebrand hoops and a solid choice for 12 months of heavy use
It’s been a quiet month on the Sonder, with very few miles covered. That ’s not me shying away from riding in the filth of mid winter though, more the fact that I’ve had a bunch of XC hardtails to test for the March issue of mbr. Jumping on these aluminium hardtails straight from my longtermer was a sharp reminder of, not only how much fettling is needed to dial in a new bike, but also how uncomfortable the stock saddles and grips can be. Granted, contact points are very much a personal choice, but it highlighted that Sonder has done a pretty decent job with those on the Signal ST, even though they don’t quite score high enough to stop me fitting my go-to favourites.
Sonder specs its Clutch lock-on grips on the Signal ST, which use a classic diamond pattern with additional waffle squares below. The softcompound rubber feels great, with or without gloves, but they’re just too slim for my large hands, so I’ve swapped them out for a pair of Deity Knuckledusters, with an increased diameter. It wasn’t long ago that Specialized used two grip diameters on its bikes, with slimmer grips on its S and M size bikes and a larger diameter on size L and upwards. If Sonder adopted this approach and spec’ed slightly plumper Clutch grips on this XL bike I’d have left them in place. The sizing, for me, is the only compromise on an otherwise great grip design, and for riders with smaller hands I reckon they’d be spot on.
Saddle choice can be an even more subjective topic than grips. I’m putting in plenty of highmileage XC rides – and seated for long periods too – so
