Spied: Sonder’s 29er Full Suspension Bike Edges Closer To Production

At the start of this year, we managed to take a trip out to the Peak District with the chaps from Sonder and ride a few of their current bikes. While we were with them we also had the chance to check out a prototype 29er full-suspension bike that they were working on, you can see our exclusive look at that bike here.

Since January we’ve not really heard much about the new model, but that all changed today when a few spy photos landed in our inbox.

The new prototype Sonder 29er full-suspension bike has undergone a bit of a makeover. Gone are the swoopy hydroformed tubes found on the first iteration of the prototype, replaced with a simpler, cleaner looking tubeset.

Visually this cleaner look is more in keeping with the current Sonder range of bikes and actually matches the profile of the Sonder EVOL more closely than the previous version.

We reached out to Sonder to confirm a few details and they tell us that this bike is about 5 months away from being available for pre-order and that it will probably be called the Sonder Cortex.

Sonder also informed us that the final production model might see a few changes to the downtube for improved water bottle clearance, and there might be a few other fine details and tweaks but ultimately this is what the Cortex should look like once on sale.

Current geometry numbers look spot on and positively modern with a medium sized bike sporting a reach of 440mm with a 66º head angle and 74.5º seat angle. Interestingly the chainstay length isn’t the shortest we’ve seen with the numbers being 442mm, with a chance this might increase to 445mm. We’re seeing a few brands spec slightly longer chainstays which usually offers better stability at speed, perfect for those fast, rocky Peak District descents.

Rear wheel travel remains at 120mm with the bike designed for use with a 130mm fork up front. No confirmed details on the final build or pricing, but judging by the current range of Sonder bikes we can assume the Cortex will be available in a number of build options with pricing to suit most budgets.

Thanks to Darren Machen for the spy photos!