SEAN'S SONDER SIGNAL ST GX

MONTH 13: Sean bucks the trend for short stems on XL bikes, and not only does it look right, it feels right...

£2,899 • 29 in • alpkit.com

For the first time in almost 10 years I’ve fitted a longer stem to my bike. Yes, you read that right, a move that goes against the grain in 2023, where short stems and wide bars rule. But don’t lynch me just yet, I’ve got good reasoning behind it. It all started when I was deep in the mix of a recent XC hardtail test. The bikes were all size XL, just like my Sonder Signal, and the surprise came when I parked it next to them. The cross-country hardtails looked huge, a textbook example of how sizing is not a precise science. With longer seat tubes and higher top tubes they dwarfed the Signal on height alone, but it was the fit when seated (from saddle to bars) that was the most noticeable difference. A stretched-out riding position, with a focus on banging out the miles… It was a riding position that I got to like.

Taking the biggest bike from that XC test, the Giant XTC 29, I drilled down on the numbers and was surprised to find just 5mm difference in top tube length and 3mm in reach, with the Sonder being the longest in both measurements. Both bikes share a 74.5° effective seat tube angle, so it’s the Giant’s hardware that is the major contributor to the difference in fit.