Morning folks. This is my first post, so Hi.
I'm thinking about getting a sonder signal with a pinion. My local riding is mainly hardtail, winters on the north downs are hard on the drive train and I've had enough of keeping things working. I went singlespeed last winter out of frustration with the mud. This was ok, but there are a few rides I can't do without gears. Anyway, pack to the signal.
I will demo one before buying, not sure about the size. To keep the same numbers as my Bfe it looks like I'll have to go Large Signal. Can anyone tell me how much seatpost will fit in either a large or medium frame? I've emailed Alpkit, but for some reason they don't know.
Cheers, Ian.
Cant help but I'm super jealous as this would be at the top of my list for a hardtail. Fancy a regular non pinion one as well but don't come up second hand and full price is a stretch for me.
Sonder might not know as I expect they're made to order. What's the ETA if you order out of interest
Have you tried the sonder owners group on Facebook?
Im not near my signal to this weekend to help unfortunately
It looks like they're available straight away on the website, hopefully that's the case. I'm afraid I don't use Facebook, can you tell me what size frame you have and what length dropper you use?
I have a large Signal Ti, which I am going to sell to get a Pinion version too!
I’m planning a long bikepacking trip next year, so I want the pinion for that.
Just measured the seat tube for you.
It’s 300mm from top of S/T to where the tube bends toward the BB. Can’t guarantee the Pinion version is the same though?
Ah that's great info, cheers.
Based on my rough measurements it looks like a 170mm drop post will fit slammed to the collar in a large frame signal. It also looks like that would put the seat 5mm too high. How barbaric would it be to cut the seat tube down a bit on a brand new to frame?
Some dropper Posts can be lowered by inserting a spacer to reduce available travel. This would lower the saddle height. Which post do you have?
I wouldn’t chop the seat tube, if only not to void the warrantee.
Bear in mind pinion will have the large pinion mounting plate at the bottom of frame, which will reduce the seattube length compared to a standard frame. That said I think the regular seattube has a bend lower down so may not in practice make much difference.
ive got my one up v2 180 slammed to the collar on my medium ti
That's a good point, I wonder where they measure the seat tube from? The crank axle is a fair bit lower than the bottom of the actual seat tube. I think I'd better try to get one of their bike builders on the phone. According to their website the 180mm drop one-up is 267mm totally inserted, s****-s****. That's the non-pinion medium frame I guess?
After a bit of effort I've managed to coax some information out of a chap at Alpkit. Apparently there are no pinion signals to demo. None at all. There are some conventional drivetrain ones, but only medium frames. New bikes are assembled to order, but the frames are already made so there's no long wait if I do buy one.
Not sure if there's much arranging to demo a bike with the wrong type of drivetrain and in a size I'm pretty sure I won't like.
Anyone out there riding a large signal at the bottom end of the size chart? I'm 5'8" so they think a medium would fit, but the large frame geometry is closer to my bfe. The longer seat tube is the only real difference with regard to fit.
im definitely 5'8" and my medium is spot on for an all round bike.. any longer and it would be heading towards being a sled
Signal is shorter reach than the corresponding seat tube length of a bfe I think from memory. At 5’8” I’d say go medium for sure though. My mate is 6” on a large signal ti. It is not too small for him. If you want really long reach and wheelbase and a shorter seat tube and a pinion frame then maybe 18 bikes can help?
Why not demo the medium? You might find it’s a good fit.
Anyone out there riding a large signal at the bottom end of the size chart? I’m 5’8″ so they think a medium would fit, but the large frame geometry is closer to my bfe.
I'm 6'1" on a large Signal, I'd be stunned if it fit you at 5'8"
(You're welcome to try it, I'm in Disley)
have you spoke to neil or anyone at sonder/alpkit.
i asked earlier in the year and its full bike only, if only frame only was an option, my friend has a kingdom ti pinion and it makes sense for winter
Ah cheers, bit of a trek for me though. I'm going on the geometry chart, and comparing it to my current hardtail. I'm sure I could ride a medium, could probably ride a small, but would it be the best size? I remember my first few rides on my cotic, the extra reach over the other bikes I've got was a big improvement. It's not easy to qualify, but it just felt better. Other than the longer seat tube the reach and stack of the large signal are very similar to my medium longshot cotic. This is why I was asking about dropper posts and considering chopping the seat tube down.
the seat goes low enough on the medium signal to be able to shave your ball bag on the rear tyre quite easily
As far as other manufacturers are concerned, I've looked around a bit. I saw a good build thread on here for a Nordest Lacrau, and I've found out that Kingdom will do a custom pinion frame. They just don't look as nice to my eye, the cable routing not being as discrete and the welding (at least in the photos) not being as clean.
Also they take 3 months to get hold of, which wouldn't be fun.
I asked Neil about seatpost insertion on my Large Ti Signal. he said 220mm. I measured, squinted, crossed my fingers and ordered a Fox Transfer 175mm. 270.5mm to the collar, and it went all the way in (though I have it 15mm out)
Things will change from run to run and it's fair that they're conservative. If you were otherwise 99% sure about the purchase, you could ask pretty please with a cherry on top if they could slide a seatpost in the one on the shelf and tell you for sure on the actual frame you'd be buying. Can't see why they'd refuse - 5, 10 min job on a frame costing that much to make sure it fit.
Interesting, and good advice cheers. Also, similar to what Lardlad posted about the seatpost insertion.
It's irritating this information isn't provided with the rest of the measurements. It's a thoroughly first world problem, but something that would make like a lot easier. My closest shop is in Kingston, which is over an hour drive and into London, probably including a congestion charge of some sort, and without knowing they'll have what I want to look at when I get there.
I think I'll try to get in touch with through the custom frame route.
I doubt they'd have a Pinion Signal Ti in the sizes you wanted to look at at the store in Kingston.
I'm about an hour from Kingston too (SW of London). Happy to offer a leg over mine (Large, non pinion) if that's any use.
That would be handy, thanks. I'll message you separately a bit later and go from there.
One in the Alpkit store here (Inverness) which prob not much use to you. I’m 5’10 and had the regular (non pinion) Signal Ti in large and sizing was spot on. Medium would def have felt too small for me.
I skipped the pinion signal and went full custom shortly after 😀
That's lovely. If you don't mind my asking, how many multiples of Signal did it set you back?
I bought frame plus pinion from Curtis and built rest up myself. All relative but from memory £3kplus for the frame plus box. Pinion plus bits half of that. Very happy with it though.
