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cookeaa
Full Member
I’ve been eyeing a Camino up, but I’m a little ambivalent about some of the parts spec.
Would sonder change a couple of parts if requested?
Yep.
You can edit a lot of the spec and swap parts out when placing the order online. I just had a look and am not sure why but the bars aren't showing with any other options apart from the standard 'bomber' ones.
Just choose a spec, hit 'buy now' and that will show you all the options you can edit - I think you have to choose 'customise order' or something, but it's pretty obvious once you get there.
You definitely can change stuff - I swapped the FSA crankset that comes with the GRX spec, to a SRAM Rival 1x.
I also asked at one point about changing the cassette - they didn't have the one I wanted available, but said it was fine for me to send it in, they would fit it, and adjust the price accordingly - so if you wanted to fit shorter cranks and they don't have availability of them, I'm sure you could source some & send them in, to be built up with your bike.
Drop them an e-mail. They were really responsive and helpful when I asked a multitude of questions about the options.
GAH! Just seen they now have a really nice sky blue & a bright orange colour option. Pah.....I'd have gone for the orange if it had been available. Balls.
Sonder are great with regards to customising a build.
When I bought my Broken Road they happily fitted Shimano and Hope kit to it for me. Some parts I supplied and the rest they sourced.
I've got the ti version and love it. It came with superstar wheels in 700c. I've just received a dynamo hub front wheel to fit. I like the bars but have fitted a redshift suspension stem and redshift grips and tape.
I got bored with the std colour so changed mine...twice, this is the current colour
I've got a V4 with 1x GRX. I'm on a 40t chainring and an 11-42 cassette. Like lots of others here it's fine for me on the road - I start to spin out at about 45kph but in practice that just means I start coasting earlier on the downhills. It spends most of its time on the road with 700c wheels with 38mm slicks, but I have a second set of 650b wheels with WTB Resolutes on for gravel type stuff. Very happy with it.
I do find 1x with a 40t/42t a bit challenging on technical steep climbs….(so much so that I fell off last weekend at slower than walking pace!!)
On a gravelly steep climb coming out of a tight switchback, so no speed taken into the climb, it’s too hard a gear for seated climbing, standing up can be a bit more difficult to get the balance right so the back wheel doesn’t spin. The back wheel span…zero speed and clipped in….slight camber and over I went…..landing on the derailleur side….ride ruined! Bike needs to go to the bike shop as I can’t get the gear changing back to as it was….being Campag this is likely to be expensive!
(Yep this was due to my lack of ability!!)
New colours in coming, I'd have gone for the blue in the previous scheme... not sure now, maybe the Slate grey
I'm wondering if the standard spec gearing would be too high for some of the climbs I have in mind.... that's comparing to doing them on a slacker, probably heavier MTB though. How small can the GRX front ring go... or how big can the rear cog be?
GRX is 11-42 IIRC - not sure you can do more range than that officially though I’d bet bodges are available.
Front ring can be as small as you like but it depends on the crank. I’m actually on a SRAM MTB crank so I can go down to 28t direct mount or something silly. I’ve got 38t which feels like a good compromise for on / off road mixed.
Gravel bikes are lighter / zippier than MTBs but lack of rear sus means they’re not as capable on really techy climbs. If you’re determined to ride techy steep MTB trails you might find gravel gearing annoying but it’s not really what they’re for IMHO. If you’re trying to make an MTB replacement to exclusively ride MTB trails you are likely to be disappointed all round.
Just changed my bars to Specialized Hover bars with a 1.5cm rise width 46cm. Coming from their Bomber Bars, I've found climbing up steep road climbs much better now.
Also Sonder had fitted Alpha Aero wheels instead of the Alpha Gravel wheels, but changed them after I got in touch so well played Alpkit. Cant believe the difference in the bike since the wheels where changed.
Finally starting to appreciate the bike and how versatile it is.
IMO gearing is also about wanting to carry luggage on moderate or bigger climbs - ones where I want to sit and spin.
Yeah that’s true. Not something I do with mine currently but I could see that being useful if heavily laden going up an alp.
I ordered mine (in that sky blue above) on Wednesday. I went for the tiagra 2x because road miles are unavoidable. The handlebars do look pretty wild but easy enough to swap out. Should be here next week!
If you’re determined to ride techy steep MTB trails you might find gravel gearing annoying but it’s not really what they’re for IMHO.
The climbs I have in mind are gravel and not really techy. They are steep in places though. They are in the Pentlands, south of Edinburgh and mainly roads built by the army.