Sonder goes hardcore STEEL hardtail with the new Signal ST

Sonder has taken the spritely Signal Ti and given it a real steel flavour with the new Sonder Signal ST.

Some months, or was it years back, I tested the Sonder Signal Ti for a feature in Singletrack Magazine (yes, there’s a mag!), I really liked it, but this might be more up my street.

Titanium is cool and all, but it’s a very pricey material and if I’m going to be hitting loam in the woods, perfectly manicured jumps at Farmer Johns or frame shattering natural rocky trails do I really want a pretty Ti quiver? Actually yes, but this steel version of the Signal Ti makes WAY more sense.

Priced at £499 for the frame only, around £800 less than the Ti frame, the Sonder Signal ST is very tempting. Like the Ti version, the Signal ST isn’t aimed squarely at the hardcore hardtail crowd, and will happily transport you across the Peaks for a night or two in a sleeping bag, or spend a few hours snapping at the heels of carbon frames during an XC race.

But it’s when things get rowdy the Signal ST really shines. Sonder has created 4 sizes of the new ST with geometry that’s ‘on trend’ but not ‘nuts’.

Sonder Signal ST Geometry

Size	Small	Medium	Large	X-Large
ST – Seat tube	400	425	465	485
ETT – Effective Top Tube	585	606	634	664
HT – Head tube	100	105	115	125
HA – Head angle	66	66	66	66
SA – Seat tube angle	74	74	74	74
CS – Chainstay	425	425	430	435
BB – BB drop	65	65	65	65
FO – Fork offset	42/51	42/51	42/51	42/51
WB – Wheelbase	1127	1149	1183	1220
SO – Standover	730	738	760	772
RE – Reach	420	440	465	495
SK – Stack	601	606	615	624

Highlights for the Signal ST include a duo of very good colour options, bottle bosses, clearance for a 29 x 2.6in tyre, but above all else that handmade 4130 steel frame.

In addition to the frame only, Alpkit has produced a few off the shelf complete builds starting from just £1199, rising to £2099, which in our book is a pretty good price for a sorted steel hardtail.

For more details visit the Alpkit website, or listen to our mate Neil in the video below:

Andi Sykes

Andi is a gadget guru and mountain biker who has lived and ridden bikes in China and Spain before settling down in the Peak District to become Singletrack's social media expert. He is definitely more big travel fun than XC sufferer but his bike collection does include some rare hardtails - He's a collector and curator as well as a rider. Theory and practice in perfect balance with his inner chi, or something. As well as living life based on what he last read in a fortune cookie Andi likes nothing better than riding big travel bikes.