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After a wait for frame sets to land it's finally here, 22.3lb* bike and owners wallet are doing well. Â
Only (minor) irks are that because I didn't pay to have it setup tubeless, the tyres aren't tubeless ready. I assumed it was just a faffage fee to tape them and seat the tyres. But the tyres should be tougher than what I'm used to riding anyway. And the mudguards are on the selfish side. I might re-drill so they sit further back and fit flaps for winter.
It looks much nicer in the flesh than in the website photos.
The spitfire flared bars are a very nice shape. Although they are very skinny so I might re-tape them as my preference is for the cables out front to make them flatter on top.
Stem, seat post and pedals will likely be swapped for something more bling once my CC recovers. But as alpkit let you choose saddle size and bar widths there isn't really any pressing need to do anything really. Since I ordered the nicer stems and Ti seatposts are back in stock so I'd probably have gone with those if I'd waited.
*As shown, Inc full guards, bottle cages and pedals, with TPU tubes.
Almost perfect, maybe 1x 🤔
I ordered tubeless, mudguards and really pleased with the Spitfire bars though I kept the steerer tube uncut.
Regardless, enjoy joining the Camino'istas
Two bikes in one day? You won the lottery?
I wish that was more likely than the forum glitching 😂
Almost perfect, maybe 1x 🤔
.........
Regardless, enjoy joining the Camino'istas
Colibri - which sounds more like a mafia family?
And I've got some hills to climb so need all the gear range I can get. They even let me spec an 11-36 which wasn't in the normal options 😂
That looks very nice. The gravel bike is the one that I'd like to upgrade/replace next, and the Camino is high on the shortlist
Nice- have my eye on the Colibri, what size and type of tyres did you go for please? One concern was max 32mm with guards, was hoping to fit a little bigger.....
Colibri, we all make mistakes 😀Â
Oops🍷 🥂 Friday eve
Aaaarrrrrgghhhh I've been trying not to buy one of those. That's not helping it looks really really nice 👍Â
The spitfire flared bars are a very nice shape.
I tried a set and absolutely loathed them. For me the proportions of the drops are all wrong and I couldn't get them to feel right whatever I tried. Same thing with the missus on a Camino. Couldn't get them to feel 'right' whatever I did. Swapped for some Salsa Cowbells which just work.Â
Nice bike though. What wheels does it come with? I was browsing the Alpkit/Sonder site the other day and was amused to find that, according to the blurb, the 'lightweight' Alpha 700c wheels weigh a claimed 1900g, which is about the same as my bombproof mtb trail wheels. The cheaper Nova sets are 2180g.Â
I've love a Camino Ti. The aluminium one rides very nicely, but...Â
Nice- have my eye on the Colibri, what size and type of tyres did you go for please? One concern was max 32mm with guards, was hoping to fit a little bigger.....
@TomB this is what they fit like.Â
The WTBs measure 33mm and definitely have the full 6mm clearance all-round. You could I think squeeze a 35/36/37 in there without any issues. The closest point is the height of the tyre Vs the front mech band so it just depends on your risk tolerance for something getting jammed under the guard.
What wheels does it come with?
I think the stock option were the alpha wheels you mentioned, I'd agree they don't look light but probably in the same ballpark as any other OEM wheels.
I went for the i21 Black carbon wheel upgrade which looks like a bargain. They measure 30mm externally so the 32's have a nice profile, or could go with proper 30mm slicks and save a few watts.
Nice build,with the bonus that they haven't routed the cables through the EfFin headtube in that frameset*.
Have they left a trapdoor in the BB shell?
* still bugs me that they did it on my Camino.
I was going to say "yes, I presume it's covering the end stop of the front mech cable." But ................
That's going to need re-doing.
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Turned out the cable stop is actually at the headtube, the inner cable then goes through a liner around the BB. Only the rear is a full outer.
Mid week, 2nd ride review, this thing rocks!
Hard to say as it's so different to my previous bike whether it's the Titanium, the bolt through axles, the wide carbon wheels, the 32mm tyres or the geometry but it absolutely rips through corners. I'm a big-ish guy and the CAAD4 and the various lightweight wheels I've bolted to it over the years sometimes felt like I was asking too much of it when pressing it into corners, wobbles in the tarmac would send it shimmying off line, I'd have to brake for corners to feel in control.  This, I had to re-adjust my mental braking points because in most cases there just wasn't any need to brake anymore! It just leans, and leans a bit more, and the chunky rubber laughs at badly done chip seal and cracked repairs.
Took a wrong-ish turn and ended up heading down what we realized would end in a farm track that eventually peters out into gravel track bridleway, which then becomes hardpacked singletrack dirt and cobbles. And it just shrugged it off with no drama. It's not a gravel bike but definitely fits the brief of riding whatever 'road' you choose to go exploring down.
The bars, I like the shape of them, but the top is just too skinny, I might try re-routing the cables and re-taping or double taping but if that doesn't work then I can see some 'aero'/'ergo' bars being the first upgrade to get a bigger flatter top section (with a side order so a bit more compliance).
The saddle is also made from some sort of weirdly grippy synthetic material. I like to move around a lot, standing up, sitting down, shuffling forwards and backwards. The saddle is like flat pedals, once you're on it, you have to get off to reposition yourself. Maybe it'll polish a bit with use, otherwise it'll have to get swapped with one of the MTB's where that grippynness might be more of a virtue.
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