Not fussed about paying more for Di2. Might want the bigger cassette option and less flared bars. Might be tempted by a carbon wheel upgrade.
What will I regret?
Sonder Camino Ti GRX1 | Award-winning gravel bike https://share.google/zMlGshX6l2ckpuzpd
Haven’t met anyone yet that has regretted the Camino ti. I’d be on normal bars (no cost option) and wider cassette. If you want fancier wheels, I’d go for hunt in their sale.
So no, I can’t talk you out of it
Depending how much road you want to do on it you may be better served by 2x and/or upgrading to a 13 speed sram groupset (spendy if not in the sale) for smaller gear jumps.
Not sure what the carbon wheels are like, but I've just got one on c2w and the stock alloy wheels seem niceish (based on 1 ride)
Ps I went with the only very slightly flared bars. Ive tried the weird ones in the past and dont like em.
Oh yeah and dont buy one they're shit*
*not really!
I'm not going to be able to talk you out of it either, currently ride an alu version and I'm off to Caernarfon at the weekend to pick up a ti frame only to switch all the parts on to.
I like the geometry of the new model. It seems they took what Nukeproof did with the last Digger, gravelly LLS, and built on it with titanium and better builds options.
I absolutely adore my ti Camino. Tried the flared bars, but settled on PNW coast for a wider, but less flared approach. Have a 170mm dropper on mine and I use it for everything from trail centres, fast road rides to 125mile road rides (I’ve kept the stock wheels for a set of road tyres)
you won’t likely regret it!
Not looking good then is it 🤣
Riding through Hathersage on Saturday with a mate who has been a bad influence on me for 43 years. Might pop in to Alpkit
Another who loves my Camino Ti. I have the 2 x 12 GRX. It's hilly by me, I ride it on the road a fair bit and I'm not the fittest so I thought 2x would offer more flexibility with those over 1x. I've been happy with that choice.
I went for the less flared Spitfire bars. The only time that was an issue was accomodating a 20L bar bag when bike packing as it restricts brifter operation a bit.
It is just a brilliant all round bike and looks stunning in Ti.
I have a ti grx di2 with the double chainset and spitfire bars. It's lovely. The only issue I had with it is that the mudguards are a bit borderline for tyre space as the di2 mech gets in the way a bit.
Enjoying my Camino Ti GRX1. Changes from spec:
- Zone seat
- GRX1 upgraded to 10-51t, wanted the bike for bike packing, LEJOG, C2C, etc.. so steered clear of electronic. I have AXS on my Orange Stage Evo and it works well.
- Mudguards
- Spitfire handlebars
- I asked for the carbon steerer tube not to be cut so I could alter it later to suit me.
- 2 off Sideblade bottle carriers. Some lower lugs on the Downtube would have been useful though, to leave more space for a bit bigger frame bag.
I subsequently bought a pair of Hunt carbon wheels. Did have a bit of an issue with ‘kickback’ from the Alpha freehub, which they replaced. I did a back to back test on Alu and Ti version at Betws-y-Coed which was very helpful. I found the team (Graham, Jules, etc..) at Alpkit Betws-y-Coed very helpful
I’ve done 4,000 miles on it in less than a year and thoroughly enjoying myself.
I'm trying to talk myself out of one to (especially as I already have an all-road & gravel bike, and no room in my garage...). I really want either a 160 or 165mm chainset on the Force spec. though and they're out of stock of the 165s and don't offer the 160s as apparently there's no demand 🙁
If you can stretch the the Rival 1x spec. I'd get that, I have it on my gravel bike and it's at least as good as Ultegra Di2 on my road bike, it works fine for me on road to. I think the only reason I'd look at 2x for a mixed on/off road gravel bike is if I was off-road bike packing and needed silly low gearing or lived in a mountainous area with 30+ minute climbs (1x13 has some big jumps on the lowest 3 gears so I reckon it might be annoying trying to find a nice sit and spin climbing gear, works fine on the shorter climbs where I ride though.
I'm not going to be able to talk you out of it either, currently ride an alu version and I'm off to Caernarfon at the weekend to pick up a ti frame only to switch all the parts on to.
Same and have a similar idea about keeping an eye open for a ti frame to swap my stuff onto... Had "gravel"/cx bikes before and hated them - absolutely love the Camino.
There was a medium Camino Ti demo bike at Hathersage. You can guess how that ended
Grinning
It was the easiest sale they ever made. 0% over 12 months as well. Seemed rude not to get the carbon wheel upgrade.
It's not come up in conversation with MrsMC yet. Hoping she'll either mistake it for the Laverack, or I'll try the "This old thing...?" routine.
Actually @nickingsley I seem to have gone for the same spec/upgrades that you did
I got the Alu version, just to try out the whole gravel thing and really wish I’d got the ti. Not that the alu version is bad, but the ti is a lovely bike.
I got the Alu version, just to try out the whole gravel thing and really wish I’d got the ti. Not that the alu version is bad, but the ti is a lovely bike.
A few friends have the alu version. All of them love it
Convince me not to buy this Camino Ti...
Ti frames should have stayed in the noughties and frankly is a worst frame material then carbon, alu or steel, and judging by the reach it is just an of the shelf noughties hardtail mtb frame, they have probably just been sat in a Chinese warehouse since then waiting for some conmen to knock them out to gullible mugs. Tan wall tyres look bloody awful and should have stayed in the 1950's. and handlebars with that much flare are for attention whores and provide no practical advantage, FFS if you ride a bike with those handlebars you may as well get a neon sign that says "my other bike is a fatbike!"
Glad I could help.
I'm also looking at these but the roof on the house just been repaired means I'm now having to think twice and will probably wait until the next sale. But it would be a nice wee Christmas present to myself
Great frame, nice safe neutral handling and ideal for beginners or running with bags. If you want an "all road" bike and are sticking to fire roads and cycle paths stick with the road bars and cassette, if you want to ride off road properly get flared bars for the best control on the drops and a wide range cassette. If you never use the drop part of the bars then choose a different style of bike.
Oh and if it's got those god awful Sram road shifters on it do anything to get GRX as they are actually designed for riding off road.
Ti frames should have stayed in the noughties and frankly is a worst frame material then carbon, alu or steel, and judging by the reach it is just an of the shelf noughties hardtail mtb frame, they have probably just been sat in a Chinese warehouse since then waiting for some conmen to knock them out to gullible mugs. Tan wall tyres look bloody awful and should have stayed in the 1950's
Well, its good to see gullable folk enjoying themselves 😊
What the heck is going on with that saggy frame bag? ⬆️
What the heck is going on with that saggy frame bag? ⬆️
That's my bike, I was (am) still experimenting with luggage options. The bottle mounts are a little high so bottles squish the bottom of that particular Alpkit top tube bag. It's not saggy, it just doesn't quite fit all the way back due to the seat tube bottle. I have given myself a stern talking to.
Great frame, nice safe neutral handling and ideal for beginners
Camino Al owner here, not a 'beginner'. The Camino's geometry isn't really 'neutral' in gravel terms, it's towards the slacker, more mountain bike end of things, which is what makes it relatively composed off, and for that matter, on, road. I'd buy a Camino Ti tomorrow, but preferably with someone else's money. Plus whatever for GRX.
The only thing that would stop me from buying a Ti, tbh, is the price premium over the aluminium version given the Al works so well. I'd probably spend money on really light wheels and top-end tyres to replace the mid-market cast-off I'm currently on. I kind of like the basic Camino's relative bargain / punching above its weight vibe.
I just run conventional flared drops on mine, works fine off road in the Peak. I've used the mild-flare Sonder Spitfire bars btw, the proportions and shape just felt wrong to me, like someone had chopped the end off the drops. A dropper might be nice, but would probably get me into trouble. Ditto a RS gravel fork or similar, but at that point you might as well just ride a lightweight hardtail.
But if the Camino Ti was in my price range, I'd happily buy one and change the handlebars 🙂
The only thing that would stop me from buying a Ti, tbh, is the price premium over the aluminium version given the Al works so well.
Get that, as I recall 15+ months ago when I paid for mine, I'm sure the price gap was less and there was more of a spec difference, not just the lighter wheelset. Running through it with the guy at Sonder back then, the step up was more like £400. Which may, or may not, have mattered to some.
Get that, as I recall 15+ months ago when I paid for mine, I'm sure the price gap was less and there was more of a spec difference, not just the lighter wheelset. Running through it with the guy at Sonder back then, the step up was more like £400. Which may, or may not, have mattered to some.
I built mine from a frame, which from memory was very affordable, certainly less than it is now. Currently the Al frame and fork is £649, while the Ti version is £1999. I guess the price difference may be less dramatic on a full build, but I can't really be bothered with looking.
Ooops, wrong post.
Managed to sneak this into the garage before MrsMC got home. Not sure when I'm going to find time to unpack it and set it up though.
Managed to sneak this into the garage
Posh garage, what with the dining room table, chairs 'n' all ...
Posh garage, what with the dining room table, chairs 'n' all ...
That was the before pic, obviously
Nice, I have one on order but they’ve now just announced another 10% off discount code, have asked if they’ll apply to existing orders otherwise I’ll have to cancel and reorder I guess
Nice. I've had my Camino for a couple of years now and was very excited when the giant box turned up at home!!
Well done on getting that ordered and delivered Steve; do you remember that my Mrs absolutely loves her Ti Camino? GRX1, 650b Hunt wheels, semi-flared bars..
We're not long back from a cross-Andalucia bikepacking trip where she dealt with all the roads and the gravel, including some 'caminos blanco'; the heat, the vultures, the food, wine... Even the traffic and tourists of Sevilla.
Happy adventures buddy. Let me know when you're planning a Scottish trip.
Alpkit replied this morning saying they'll refund the 10% on my order, worth checking if they'll do it for bikes that have already been delivered.
This thread is not helping my itch that needs/doesn't need scratching. Visited the local store recently and the Camino does look the business, then this mornings email with another 10% off.
screaming face emoji
This thread is not helping my itch that needs/doesn't need scratching. Visited the local store recently and the Camino does look the business, then this mornings email with another 10% off.
screaming face emoji
Do it! Do it!
Happy adventures buddy. Let me know when you're planning a Scottish trip.
Not quite so far up next year, Tour o' the Borders at Peebles.
MrsMC obviously not been in the garage yet. Hope the washing dries on the line and doesn't need the tumble dryer.
handlebars with that much flare are for attention whores and provide no practical advantage
Until you do some more off roady mtb xc type rides and then they are a revelation.
FYI, absolutely blaming you lot for the Camino frame order I’ve just put in! Just the alu version, but at under £500 it was getting rude not to
Got it out the box this afternoon - needs a test ride to tweak the position but we're away tomorrow, so will have to wait.
Feels very light, but I'll soon attach things to it to weigh it down. Me, mostly.
Photo posting fail
Not a Camino, but a Colibri Ti, and I love it.
My caveats to that would be:
Sonder bar tape, is singularly the worst bar tape I've ever used. It's too soft so you can literal feel the bars through it.
The Sonder Spitfire bars, I loved the shape, but they were too thin and to stiff. I really wanted to like them but just couldn't ride more than about 50miles (on road) before losing feeling in parts of my palms (or worse it getting painful). Swapped to my Favourite Ritchey WCS Evocurve bars and some nice thick soft Selle Italia tape and it's a comfy bike for well over 100miles a day.
The seat post is pretty solid and unforgiving. I know Ti is supposed to be a nice ride on it's own, but really it's still the seat post that's doing the work. Fit a nice carbon one.
The saddle, why does it have a grippy logo on one side? Gave me an awful saddle sore, swapped it for a very similar shape Selle Italia and back to having no issues at all.
I assumed the tyres would be tubeless ready, but they weren't, so bought some TPU tubes.
Some of that (the bars, bar tape and saddle) I was miffed at because it's just poor design (or parts catalogue buying), those bits could easily have been fine if the product manager made better choices. The seatpost is just one of those cost cuttings you expect to need to correct on most bikes I guess.
Like you I went with the carbon wheels and mechanical gears. I thought about it and asked around the club and the consensus was 12s 105 is basically perfect shifting in either guise (it's not missed a shift or needed adjustment in thousands of miles) but there was some discussion around the shimano buttons being a bit vague under winter gloves and this was intended to be a proper ALL year round bike. bling enough to supersede my current road bike in summer, tough, reliable and comfortable enough to deal with being ridden all winter.
Sonder bar tape, is singularly the worst bar tape I've ever used. It's too soft so you can literal feel the bars through it.
Now understanding why it’s old £6. Might grab a backup option too
I assumed the tyres would be tubeless ready, but they weren't, so bought some TPU tubes.
£45 upgrade option. It’s the one part of the spec that seemed a bit cheeky/mean to me
£45 upgrade option. It’s the one part of the spec that seemed a bit cheeky/mean to me
Yea, I assumed that was just a faff fee to set up tubeless, I didn't realise it meant the stock ones weren't. I would probably have paid it if it had been more obvious rather than just the same tyre with the TCS missing.
On the one hand those WTB Exposures are probably doing my fitness some good and hopefully I'll rocket forward when I eventually get some GP5000's for it. On the other hand, so far I'm 2000miles in and I reckon there is probably 18,000 to go 😂 there's a lot of rubber on those tyres!