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I have narrow it down to these two bikes. I’m 6.2ft (189cm) and 86kg. Looking for a hardtail 29er forking cross country routes (sustrans routes, badger divide etc) but also nimble. I’m after a bike that’s playful (pops good wheelies, jumps well etc). Which would you choose out of these two ? Budget is around £1,600.
You've been umming and ahhing about the Signal for months. You'd be happy with either of these, have fun on either of them, adapt to them and ride them how you want to pretty quickly.
Go with the one you like the look of best, or the company you like the best, or wait till you can sling a leg over one or both of them. Or till one comes up 2nd hand/ ex-demo.
You're probably not going to learn any more about which one you'll like the best from any more opinions on here!
Demo a Cotic, I have a Soda Max & im not sure its what you are looking for based on the above.
I wouldn't have suggested the Cotic for your brief, not really a playful bike.
No idea on the Sonder.
Maybe I was wrong! 🙂 The Sonder's fun, I've got one. I reckon you'd like it. The Cotic was never really on the list, probably because of the above. I've not ridden one, but I get the impression from reviews that it's less engaging climbing and riding at lower speeds, with the payoff that it's great tanking along downhill with the brakes off.
In Issue 122 the Signal was reviewed and they said how easy it was to wheelie.
I've got a Signal Ti. I go to Leeds Urban Bike Park with it, I'm no Danny Hart but can get it in the air. It's the best bike I've had. I just love it. I'd drifted away from mountain biking before I got it and now I'm fully back!
I have a Signal albeit a custom one (29+ and longer).
I would happily have a Solaris alongside it but that's probably down to the plus nature of the Signal.
You want it for cross country long distance adventures AND playfull?
I'd suggest you probably need to choose which of these two is your priority.
I have a Signal albeit a custom one (29+ and longer).
I never knew they did custom frames, interested in the details, are the chain stays similar length? What fork are you running?
I've got a Solaris Max - It's a great bike but wouldn't class it as a wheelie machine. Stays are reasonably long. But - it's quite neutral in the air and is very quick around singletrack. When I demoed it, I set a load of PRs in foul conditions, on trails I've ridden a lot on Full bouncers. So it a lot of fun...to me.
The Ti - I've read reviews that say how playful and how easy to wheelie/pop it is. I think that was even the STW review.
I never knew they did custom frames,
Yip, full custom or custom tweaks. Neil Sutton (designer/product manager) is riding a Pinion gearboxed Signal Ti at the moment.
I’ve got a signal ti (xl, I’m 6’3, I’d suggest you go xl if you pick signal as it’s not a big xl). I think it’s a great balance between confident handling bit still fun and agile. Not ridden the cotic, but suspect it’s more LLS.
6'1 on xl signal. I too was torn between these two. But if I'd got a cotic it would have been a large. The numbers of l Solaris vs xl signal were very close iirc. If they'd had any dark metal Solaris left, I'd probably have gone for that. But I think they had no stock of large at all. Another thing to consider, my xl signal frame weighed 2.3kg and not the 2.1 advertised. But very happy with my choice, it's fast and fun. It's light. It climbs well. It looks great. 10 year warranty too.
I never knew they did custom frames, interested in the details, are the chain stays similar length? What fork are you running?
So this is based on the Signal Ti but IIRC ( I should really know this ! ) I asked for 1 505mm reach, same ST length as the XL, sliding dropouts and clearance for a 3'' 29er tyre on a 50mm rim - so basically the largest tyre and rim combo at the time.
The plan was that I could run up to a 3'' tyre SS but could drop in some non plus wheels with the dropouts moved forward and have a chain stay length similar/the same as the std Signal - again IITC its 420 and up to 445mm.
To be honest in the time I've had it (about 17 months) all I have changed is the stem!
Fork is a Yari (29 plus) running a Ramp control and a charger 2.1 damper.
As others have said its not a massive XL in standard form. I run a 150mm dropper and I couldn't fit a 170mm due to the kink in the ST. No major gripe as the saddle in its lowest position is well out of the way for shedding the gnar that Suffolk has to offer ......
Yip, full custom or custom tweaks. Neil Sutton (designer/product manager) is riding a Pinion gearboxed Signal Ti at the moment.
Thats a serious consideration as a v2 of the above. The same principle but with a gearbox 🙂
shedding the gnar
You shed the gnar when you moved to Suffolk, didn't you?
I would echo other comments on here, I am 189cm and run a XL Signal. It fits just fine.
I had narrowed my choice of hardtail down to these 2 and went for titanium, more to scratch a long standing shiny metal itch more than anything else. I suspect that the Signal might be more playful and it certainly is the best climbing bike I have ever had. The Cotic would be more versatile however. It depends what you want.
letmetalktomark That sounds awesome, I might have to give Niel a shout one day.
The Cotic would be more versatile however
How do you mean? Better across which uses?
More versatile in that it has 2 bottle cages. The Signal has a small front triangle for its size, with a frame bag of any decent size you might not fit a bottle cage (I should have explained this statement better).
Blimey, never realised there were so many Signal Ti owners on here.
I have a Signal Ti as well. Great for all day xc, but also great heading down gnarly trails. It’s a very forgiving bike. I run mine with a 130mm fork and 2.6” tyres