Choosing a steel hardtail... Sanderson Breath/Life or Kinesis Decade Virsa?

McPete

McPete

Likes Dirt
G'day all,

I've finally admitted that my lovely little Merida Matts 18 inch frame is too small for me, after almost a year of ownership... In my travels, I'd seen the Sanderson Breath, and thought that was a pretty nifty little bike, so I asked my LBS to track down a large frame for me... However, they've come back to me with another option, a Kinesis Decade Virsa, a nice hardtail made of Tange Prestige tubing.

I've looked at geometry and weights, and between them there isn't much- the Life is a few hundred grams lighter than the Breath and Virsa, but I'll undoubtedly pay more for it.

The only frame I've got a quote on so far is the Virsa, at $640... I'm expecting the Sandersons to fall somewhere around $500 for the Breath and $1000 for the Life.

My question to you all then is; Have you had experiences, good or bad with any of these frames? I know several people very happy with their Sandersons, but I'd like a broader perspective on them. For reference, I'm not a especially interested in short course XC races, I'm more interested in 24Hr and Marathon events.

If I can get this rig ready for the Mont, I'll be quite stoked about that :p

Thanks,
Peter
 
DW-1

DW-1

Dirt Works
well since I sell the Virsa... I'll stay away from offering actual "comments".

But the Virsa is named such, because it is convertible from singlespeed to geared. (swopout dropouts - both options included with the frame)

some weights for ya:

Life (18") - 2085g
Breath (18") - 2177g
Virsa (18") - 2200g

Don't know if that helps at all...

Elvis.
 
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McPete

McPete

Likes Dirt
Thanks Elvis- You or someone else should be getting a call today from a certain shop regarding lead time on the Virsa(in black, 20' frame)... Although I really like the Sandersons, as soon as I saw the Virsa was made of Tange Prestige, I was half-sold there and then.

A question for you; What is the cable routing on the Virsa like? I liked the Sanderson designs because they had full-length enclosed cabling.

Thanks,
P.
 
crank1979

crank1979

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I owned a Sanderson Life for a while but then decided i should get a FS XC bike instead. I've regretted selling the Life since. It was a very nice frame. Much nicer looking than the Kinesis.

I set mine up with a tubeless wheelset, 100mm Rebas, titanium seat post, carbon bars and it was very comfortable for a hardtail. But it was still a hardtail and my other bike at the time was a Nomad so the difference was too great and i was too soft! The full length housing was a great feature. There was plenty of room for the rear tyre around the stays. It was just a nicely made frame, i thought it was pretty with the flared head tube, Breezer style dropouts, curved stays and understated colour.
 
McPete

McPete

Likes Dirt
Well, I've had a bit of back and forth with the shop... Wait times on the Sanderson, Charge and Decade were longer than I wanted, and I've been offered an XTC Carbon frame that struck me as very reasonable... I've said yes to the XTC.
This thing will be lighter than my road bike 0_0

Thankyou all, for your input on this! Maybe my next XC bike...
 
M

mtb_kris

Squid
+1 for the charge duster. tange prestige as well. rides very nicely, great geometry. cant help with a price though as i bought the complete.
 
Bjorn

Bjorn

Likes Dirt
I noticed the Virsa was built to use a 100-130mm fork, hardly what I would choose for an XC bike. Anybody know the specced fork length for Sanderson frames? I could email them, but I'm not currently in the market and don't like to waste peoples time just to satisfy my curiosity.
 
McPete

McPete

Likes Dirt
Bjorn said:
I noticed the Virsa was built to use a 100-130mm fork, hardly what I would choose for an XC bike. Anybody know the specced fork length for Sanderson frames? I could email them, but I'm not currently in the market and don't like to waste peoples time just to satisfy my curiosity.
Click to expand...
Depends what sort of final head angle you are chasing- 100 would be the mid point, you could go 80mm for a great climber, or 120ish for a nice trail/AM-light bike.
 
Bjorn

Bjorn

Likes Dirt
McPete said:
Depends what sort of final head angle you are chasing- 100 would be the mid point, you could go 80mm for a great climber, or 120ish for a nice trail/AM-light bike.
Click to expand...
So the Sanderson sounds like more of an XC bike than the Virsa.

I had an ATX (predecessor of the XTC) team issue as my SS frame for years. That bike with a 80mm fork was an absolute weapon, climbed like a goat, descended like the Devil was chasing it. I nearly cried when it cracked. With a zero set back seat post, it was a lot like being repeatedly kicked in the arse.
 
crank1979

crank1979

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Bjorn said:
So the Sanderson sounds like more of an XC bike than the Virsa.
Click to expand...
The Sanderson is more of an XC hardtail. I ran a 100mm travel Reba on mine and it handled very nicely. I'm not a great XCer though, just an average punter.:)
 
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