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Sorry to start a new thread on this, but i can't find much useful since the original 'first ride' reviews of the Sonder Evol back in 2020ish, which were mostly on the Cane Creek spec and criticised for being too harsh and then commended for being flexible to set-up. In particular, none of the old reviews really discuss different fork or shock set-ups.
I currently have a Norco Range with 160mm and I have tried short-travel trail bikes and not really enjoyed them so much on the West Yorks muddy, rocky and rutty trails that i try and find (Stainburn is an extreme example of my local stuff), so a bike designed an built relatively locally for this type of trail instead of curated trail centres looks really interesting.
Does anyone own one of these of have experience with different set-ups? Thanks.
Just a heads up that their socials keep showing prototypes of a new model if that makes a difference to you (may mean the current one becomes even cheaper).
Neil the designer seems to do everything on his hot pink custom one, trips abroad, XC racing etc.
Haven’t ridden one but would definitely consider it. May be worth joining the Sonder group on FB albeit most of it centres around the Camino!
Thanks for the heads-up - I'm not on the Facebook after it all got a bit too toxic and unhealthy. I'll see if i can get any rumours from the folk in the shop about a new model, although if the current ones get any cheaper (plus the 10% cashback store credit) it might be worth getting anyway!
I've got one and I really like it, very confidence inspiring.
I'm not one for messing with settings or set-up once I've got it how I like it.
I've got it set up as a winch and plummet/bike park bike
I took it out to Switchbacks (Bubion) this year and it was fantastic on the loose rocky trails out there.
I recently took it to BPW where it was also brilliant.
I used to ride it around Bedfordshire a bit (Woburn, Chicksands etc), it climbs surprisingly well but wasn't fast up or on the flat but that was mostly down to the tyres (and the rider).
What is your set-up? The reviews were very mixed wrt the Cane Creek kit, although I'd prb prefer the Rockshox set-up with Deore or SLX. I like the rocky and rooty stuff up and down, so a simple bike built for British mud is sounding increasingly interesting.
If only it had external cable routing it might be ideal - how rattly is the cabling inside the frame?
I’ve got one and I really like it, very confidence inspiring.
I’m not one for messing with settings or set-up once I’ve got it how I like it.
+1
Mine's an all day trail bike and I find it a great ride. My spec is the SX build with the Deluxe Select+ shock and I upgraded the forks at purchase to Lyric Ultimate then swapped the drivetrain for XT that I already had when I got it home.
I've seen all of the stuff in the reviews about the rear suspension, but from the perspective from my saddle it works as I want it to both pointing up and down around the Peaks.
I get bored easily and swap things around on my bikes quite a lot but the Evol has remained pretty much untouched and I've no plans to swap out the frame any time soon.
Oh, and I haven't noticed any noise from the cables.
I bought Neil Sutton's old test frame via their ebay outlet store without a shock, i asked them whether i could run a coil shock on it and Sonder came back saying they wouldn't, but I put one on anyway, Cane Creek double barrel, and it works really well, the only issue now is the back end is a lot more lively than the Rockshox fork up front.
I don't get to ride anything too tech because of where i live, so wanted a cheap frame for a trip to Slovakia, and for trips to Bike Park Wales and the like, and it has been faultless bar trying to get gear cable, rear brake and internal dropper cable all down and out of the little hatch below BB...that was a fight, but runs well now.