OH is looking to ditch her barely used road bike and older XC MTB in favour of a non suspension bike of some form. A flat bar 'gravel bike' looks like an ideal choice. Normally would have just gone with whatever Liv option was in budget but given Giants warranty issues would prefer to avoid. Don't really know what else to look at though! Something like a Sonder Camino looks ideal - is there anything else out there?
Take a look at the Marin DSX range. Mrs LJ has the drop bar version (Gestalt) and she loves it, the geo and drivetrain is definitely at the offroad end of the spectrum, her MTB rarely gets used these days. The Boardman TRVL looks great value, but I've not seen one in the metal so can't really comment.
Don't be put off by the tales of poor warranty responses from Giant.
I have had/have 6 or 7 Giant bikes and not had a problem with the couple of warranty issues that have arisen.
Mrs d1 has a Giant Toughroad SLR1 and has been great. She uses it for almost everything - pootling, shopping, bike packing - and rarely touches her Anthem these days. Currently on sale for £1k.
Having said that, the current sale at Alpkit/Sonder makes the Camino a very attractive option.
I've got a Giant Fastroad AR Advanced, and it's great for road, farm track, towpath type stuff, it'll handle a surprising level of bumpiness. I looked at the Sonder, but the flat bar build is pretty basic for the money.
My Cotic cascade has turned into an XC hardtail now its got suspension forks on it but with the carbon rigid foks on it was a lovely fast comfy ride.
I've got it set up with flat bars (Sonder ones with more backsweep) and a 60mm stem and it works fine for me on a medium at 5'8.5"...
More on the off road than road side of gravel though.
Boardman have various new bikes out in Halfords and Tredz.
As it always it depends on the position that you want on the bike. But I'd be looking at the Sonder Camino flat bar
sonder do their camino in a flat bar version, great all rounder
Thanks all, sounds like the Sonder Camino is going to be the right option (I think the Marin DSX looks better on paper but the ‘right colour’ option is double the price of the Camino)
Planet X Whippet with rigid fork? I’ve got one, love it, probably the best bike I have. £900 for the carbon framed one now on PX.
