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After a replacement for my Pinnacle Arkose which is getting to the end of it's life (plus I want a new bike). The main use case is for winter road riding/commuting on pretty grubby back roads around newbury, plus my friends and I are probably going to do some bikepacking at some point this year (King Alfreds way or something). What should I get?
I was thinking - "I'll get the Sonder Camino Ti" as that's nice, a bit different etc. But now i've looked at some old threads and the geometry it looks a bit... nuts! I'm 6ft and according to the size chart I should be on the large, which will give it a reach of 420mm which is longer than the arkose (398), my ribble SLR (396) and all the other gravel bikes i've looked at.
Is it any good? Will it work for winter road work? I was going to get the ti + the carbon gravel wheels for what it's worth. I get that it won't be like a road bike, but is it an MTB with bendy bars - is that a problem? Am I over thinking it...
Anything else I should consider? Must have mudguard mounts and ideally rack mounts (for commuting).
I've got it in a size small alu version and use it exactly as you've queried, on the roads in the winter. It's absolutely spot on and doesnt feel like a mtb in the slightest but nor does it feel like a road bike. It's a lot more stable and easy to ride, I run it tubeless and particularly like the flared bars from a comfort perspective. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend one for winter road riding.
You may be better suited to the colibre which is sonders adventure road bike (check eBay seller is alpkitoutlet as they were selling the Ti frame and fork for £1k in the last few weeks )
I love my Camino onto my second Ti one, it’s fun and easy to ride , not as fast as my carbon topstone but far more comfortable and it’s only 1x12 as compared 2x11 gearing
are you near a store you should be able to demo one
@golfchick Thanks for that. What would you compare it to most? Or is it it's own thing? It's normally grim in winter and the roads round here are potholed to hell so i'm not that bothered about it not feeling like my race bike!
Yep, the geometry looks aggressive, so, at 5' 11.5" I tested (recommended) both a medium and large alu versions around Betws-y-Coed and did find the front a tad low on both and the medium felt a bit short. 90% of my riding has been on a Orange Stage Evo large. As a result I asked for the steerer on my Ti version not to be cut whilst I gained more experience and considered if I needed a riser type bar. I've not even thought about it since I bought the Ti in October last year and found it very comfy for 100milers on road/cycle routes and messing about on forest fire trails. I am much more a chilled pootler than a racer!!
I also went for the 1x12 (10-51) option, 46cm Spitfire drop bars, mudguards and just waiting for the Ortleib QuickRack with the Thru axle option as I will then use the Camino Ti for bike packing. Currently I am using RockBros waterproof Top Tube and Frame bags.
I did find the Zone saddle took a while to get used to but now, like the stack, I don't even notice it.
I enjoy plotting an off-road route on OS Maps to a train station, say Lancaster, via Blackpool or Bangor and just heading off for a day's exploring.
Really enjoying the Camino Ti and the Sonder mechanic and staff have been great.
I swapped a Camino ti for the aluminium and noticed absolutely zero difference in ride quality. Aluminium is also slightly lighter.
If going for the Camino, you might want to save yourself a few bob by doing the same or spending the extra on a nicer groupset and bits.
BTW I bought a large titanium and it was way too big in reach. Laughably so. I should’ve read the blurb and bought a medium, hence why I swapped to aluminium.
@nickingsley - what size did you get given you're basically the same size as me.
I'm near reading. Going to try and get a demo from Kingston but the only one they have is a large.
I bought a Camino Ti in November. It's been perfect for hammering the filthy, flooded, potholed lanes around here (Shropshire hills). I also have some bike packing aspirations.
It's my first curly barred bike, so I haven't a lot to compare it to, but I'm absolutely loving it. I'm riding it at every opportunity and my mountain bikes are feeling a little neglected! I'm 5'9" on a medium. It maybe feels very slightly stretched out, but that could just be me getting used to it. I might try a shorter stem.
I bought a Camino Ti in November. It's been perfect for hammering the filthy, flooded, potholed lanes around here (Shropshire hills). I also have some bike packing aspirations.
It's my first curly barred bike, so I haven't a lot to compare it to, but I'm absolutely loving it. I'm riding it at every opportunity and my mountain bikes are feeling a little neglected! I'm 5'9" on a medium. It maybe feels very slightly stretched out, but that could just be me getting used to it. I might try a shorter stem.
5’11 and comfortable on a medium.
@ewan Large with 70mm stem and the laid back seat post it came with.
I'd be v surprised if the Kingston branch couldn't arrange for a medium test bike to be sent to the store for you to test along side the large!! Nothing seemed to be a problem at the ByC store.
I did try a Ti with Ekar 13 speed but didn't get on with.
Cheers. Theres a bike to work window closing at work so would be good to sort it asap. Will try it on sat and see how it goes...
The colibre might be a bit close to my normal road bike I suspect - duno maybe not? Would it cope with bike packing off-road?
From @airvent 's comment it's a personal thing so good to test both sizes.
Think it was the lowish stack compared to reach was the bigger issue for me. May yet put a Specialized Hover riser or equivalent bar on yet, though I've rather forgotten about the issue.
Bit cluttered but ..
+1 @airvent 5ft11 and medium Camino Ti , perfect fit for me. i tend to ride Large size MTBs
and yep the alu version can be lighter than Ti, my friends was. it doesnt make that lovely 'Ting' sound when a pebble pops up though..
I ride an alu camino (V3 though) on those very same roads! It's not like a regular road bike, bit it's versatile and does a good job. It won't be as fast as your regular road bikes. But it would be excellent for touring/bikepacking duties, and if you do the KAW or any byways/bridleways near Newbury, then something like the colibri wouldn't be suitable at all.
It's basically a progressive gravel bike, so inspired by mtb, hence the reach and HA. But, don't compare it to your other drop bar bikes, the camino runs a much shorter stem. It's longer in reach for off road stability and the short stem is for fast/controlled off road steering. So it's set up well for it's intended purposes, and is good value. I'd trust the size guides, but test if you can.
I'm in a sort of similar boat OP, I have retired my summer road bike and taken to using my old London Road as both a Gravel and winter road bike as the geometry was pretty similar.
Basically I like a more roadie Gravel bike (and two wheel sets makes for a very adaptable machine).
And a new bike with newer things like through axles, flat mount and barnacles was a bit overdue. And I was pouring over geometry as it looked increasingly like I was going to have to rustle up thousands for a new "summer Road/Gravel" bike...
So instead I'm now assembled a £220 Aluminium frame off AliExpress as it ticked most of the boxes and is so cheap that if it really doesn't meet the requirements, it's easy and cheap to replace. Initial build will be 80% parts transfer from the old bike, plus a couple of other bits, and go from there.
Part of me is thinking I'll refine my ideas about what geometry I want and eventually order a frame to my own numbers from Marino in a year or two...
The London road might live on as a parts bin rebuild winter road only option but it's being decommissioned soon.
OP - have you considered a PX Tempest?
I bought the Colibri Ti for winter roadbike / summer roadbike (nicer wheels / mudguards removed) / bikepacking road based (with luggage - not embarked on this yet.) duties.
Really like it. Considered the Camino Ti but for me the bike was is going to be predominately road based so the Colibri swung it.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExIkEf m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This one, it's gone up a wee bit since.
It had the sort of Geometry I wanted, with minimal 'branding' I went for the Yellow. Finish is about what you'd expect I'd say, I've still got to finish building it.
What about the Sedona. Its supposed to be at the racier end of gravel, rather than carrying stuff.
When I was considering this I also looked at the Planet X tempest, Ribble CGR Ti and the Dolan Ti gravel bike.
Ended up getting an enduro bike so can't offer anything practical in terms of choices.
Update. Took the Camino on a 50k test ride - mixture of gravel and road. Really liked it, even quite liked the weird bars off road but were a bit annoying on a full gas effort round Richmond park at the end of the ride. Haved ordered a ti one with the less crazy bars (spitfires?). Thanks for all the input!
Enjoy!
Haved ordered a ti one with the less crazy bars (spitfires?).
I have the Spitfires on mine. I sat on a couple of bikes in the Hathersage shop with the really flared "bomber" bars on and really didn't like the way my wrists were cocked to the side on the drops. It just felt uncomfortable even stationary. The Spitfires feel much more comfortable to me.
Update. Took the Camino on a 50k test ride – mixture of gravel and road. Really liked it, even quite liked the weird bars off road but were a bit annoying on a full gas effort round Richmond park at the end of the ride. Haved ordered a ti one with the less crazy bars (spitfires?). Thanks for all the input!
Posted 10 hours ago
Fwiw, I found the Spitfires just slightly 'wrong', I found it impossible to position them so the hoods and drops were both right, still using some old Salsa Cowbells, which just do what they're supposed to do. I don't think Sonder is great at drop bars, but maybe it's just me.
I ride a medium Camino Al, lovely, slackish gravel bike and the mtb-ish head angle makes it super stable on beaten-up UK roads. I think it would be wasted used just as a road bike as it's so good on easy to moderate off-road stuff, Anyway, really nice bikes, enjoy 🙂