Hi All

in the absence of any reviews on Bikeradar etc, looking for some advice on the Sanderson Life.

Have read various personal reviews of the frame but am left confused by the “long top tube” claims which appear on most. Having looked at the Sanderson website, the top tube on the 16″ is 584mm. OK this is long compared to my Cube at 561mm, but only 7mm longer than the Soul, but 5mm less than the Inbred and Scandal, 16mm less than the 456, 17mm less than the Piglet. OK, the Piglet and 456 may not be direct comparisons but you get the idea.

Is it a case of the website info giving actual instead of effective length, thus the effective is actually 600mm+? Or, is the top tube not as long as is being suggested.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated

Cheers

I wouldn’t worry too much about the mm difference between the different frames. I have been riding a Life for the past 2 years and it is an awesome frame.

It is a bit like the Kona’s of old. The top tube is fairly long, but that just gives you more flexibility. I’m using an 18″ frame and i’m 6’2. I do use a layback seatpost tho.

I used to have a large Cotic Soul and would say that was similar, but slightly longer.

Really well made frame, nice detailing and i love the niche appeal.

i’ve a Breath, but it has the same geo as the Life.

i ride a small (i think) and am 5’7″. run it with a short 50mm stem and inline post.

top bike. very capable and versatile. good for long all-day rides as well as alpine riding.

besides, you don’t sit on the saddle when descending, do you?

besides, you don’t sit on the saddle when descending, do you?

That quote is geting to be a bit like the way dingy design went a few years ago, yes it huge fun going downwind/downhill, but at the end of the day, unless you have a tow/uplift you still spend 75%+ of a ride going uphill! It’s an XC bike, not a freeride bike, not every design needs to tear up the rule book and jump on the latest bandwagon, the sanderson works very well on XC and singletrack.

I’m 6ft and ride an 18″ life with a 110mm stem, it’s long, but not much longer than any other steel hardtail like the soul etc, infact IIRC the 18″ is identical to the inbred, certainly feels very similar geometry, the sanderson is much less stiff though (IMO).