SONDER CAMINO AL
THREE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT THE...
£999 It’s limitless
Sonder is the bike brand of UK outdoor and bikepacking equipment specialist Alpkit, so the aluminium-framed Camino AL SRAM Apex 1 Hydraulic, to give it its full title, is all about exploring your limits. It’s got mounts for front and rear racks and the steady, handling to deal with a load in hairy conditions. The high-volume, trailtread 40mm WTB Nano tyres on wide rims are faster than they look, but love a turn off the road into the wild, while the feather-light fingertip control of disc brakes stop things from getting too out of hand, whatever the weather.
It’s fantastic value
Sonder sells direct so your bike comes in a box after being built to order in the UK. Skipping the shop gets you a quality frame and carbon fork, with SRAM Apex 1x11 stop and go gear that would be good value at £1500.
The weirdness works
The odd-shaped, flared Bomber bar from Sonder’s Love Mud range gives a secure hand position for descending as well as extra steering leverage. The 11-speed sequential shifting across the super-wide range 11-42 cassette is intuitive and immediate. The angled lever hoods with tall ‘forehead’ give comfortable and supportive hand placement too. There’s room for 650x48mm Road Plus tyres if you want to get totally on trend.
ONE THING WE’D CHANGE It’s even better with lighter wheels
The Love Mud equipment is impressively cost effective and that includes the 24mm-wide, tubeless rim Orbit wheels. At 1.8kg front and 2.43kg rear even with the big Nano tyres and heavy 545g PC1130 cassette they’re a good weight for the overall price of the bike. Switching in lighter wheels and turning the tyres tubeless would take the good ride quality up a level in terms of smoothness and easy speed.