Sonder Camino – Flat bar commuter

For the return to the office (whenever that may be), I’ll need a commuter bike.

I’ve been looking at the Sonder Camino, but the full bike lead times are very long. So building a bike up from the frame would get me a bike a lot quicker. I almost went for the V1 Santiago frame on clearance until I realised it was £50 more and 1.5kg heavier than the Camino frame.

Anyway, to the questions. A flat bar would probably be my preference but I’m slightly wary as the frame is mostly sold with drops. The frame must be optimised for one or the other setup, it can’t do both equally well surely? If I really want a flat bar bike, should I instead look at MTB/Hybrid geometry frames instead?

I’ve rebuilt my drop bar gravel bike with flat bars and had no issues at all. It rides perfectly.
I’m sure some will hate it or point out how you have to change stems and the geometry’s wrong etc but in my experience that’s not the case.

looking at sonder pricing, can you a) get the parts and b) come in at a good price.
GRX1 drivetrain has been £900 the few places i’ve seen it on sale.

and sonder do a flat bar version, so dont see an issue .
https://alpkit.com/products/sonder-camino-al-v3-apex1-flat

I’ve had my camino for three years and before was definitely anti drop bars.

However the bars on the camino are very flared, so they’re somewhere in between and I have to say I’m sold. It’s a joy to ride and well worth a test ride.

As well as trails etc before COVID etc I commuted 3-4 days a week mixing 16k of trails and road each way.

I ended up with a Marin DSX1. Absolutely love it. I can average 16-17mph on fairly flat road routes with sticks. Off road it’s just mega, save for the fairly awful stock brakes.

The Camino is a great frame set, I have had mine since January and an won over by the flared “bomber” bars.

They are as said above great for the job, my riding takes me on mixed trails and big road rides.

Happy Trails

I have a Camino Ti with flared drops and my partner has the Al version with flat bars. I’ve ridden hers a few times and the flat bars work great. No compromise on the riding position at all. It zips along in a very assured and comfortable manner.

I looked at one, and eventually just bought a Cannondale Quick, as 1. It was v cheap by comparison and all it needed was mudguards 2. It was much cheapness, 3. I don’t care enough about the commute to buy anything more than just a cheap functional thing. 4. It was cheap, did I mention that?

i have a Camino, currently my only bike and it does long road rides, off road and commutes pretty flawlessly. they do a flat bar version – so i can’t see an issue, although as others have said, check out the flared drop bars first