Sonder Camino AL

[haydenw]

Afternoon all,

I'm looking at getting myself the Sonder Camino AL and wanted to gauge your collective opinions, i'm thinking either the:

Sonder Camino Al Apex1 Mechanical [V2] - https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/son ... hanical-V2

or the

Sonder Camino Al Apex1 Hydraulic [V2] - https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/son ... draulic-V2

As i can see the spec is identical apart from the breaks (Mechanical vs Hydraulic). The Mechanical one comes in (currently) at £749 and the Hydraulic at £949.

Having only used hydraulic brakes on my mountain bike, will there be a significant difference between one and the other? Would you say its worth investing the extra £200 on the Hydraulics?

I'm leaning towards the Mechanical option at the minute (due to cost) and plan on using the bike as a lightweight tourer / commuter / bridleway beater so it will take a bit of a hammering (so wondering if the extra £200 upfront now will work out better in the long run).

What would you choose & why?

Cheers.

[padonbike]

£200 seems a hell of a big difference just for brakes. Are you sure there aren't other technical/spec differences too?

I've always had XT hydraulics on MTB, but my Genesis road has TRP Spyre wire actuated. I would say wire is about 20% of performance of hydraulic - and that's after I pimped the blocks to a softer compound!
So, my answer is hydraulics are worth the money, even if the money in this case seems disproportionate.

[haydenw]

Reckon the differences are due to the fact the mechanical bike is a little more discounted in their sale looking at it.

Plumped for the hydraulic version in any case, I think for stopping power and relative lack of maintenance re cable stretch it'll pan out better for me.

Should be here within 10 days now.

[Ray Young]

Mechanical need adjusting more regularly and don't have the same feel in my opinion. Why not buy the mechanical, fit a pair of discounted hydraulics then sell the bb5's. Sure to save a bit there.

[redefined_cycles]

I could be wrong. But for the hydraulics, dont forgrt that you are paying for the hydraulic integrated shifter (unlike mtb where the shifter is seperate). Personally from experience of loving my bb7s before going to hydraulics (avid juicy 3s and 7s back in the day) and then using mechanicals again briefly. The difference really is night/day.

Get the hydraulics I'd say (but I don't think ypu should be restricting yourself to the Sonder as there's plenty more appropriate bikes out there if you look carefully.. Maybr I'm just moaning that the Transmitter frame I bought for around 700, is now over 1k!!!). On longer distances your hands will be happier and no need to fiddle about with cables and pad adjuster thingies!

[johnnystorm]

Coming at it from another angle having a mix of BB7s and Slx/Xt hydraulics in the garage I don't find the difference to be that great. Certainly not night/day or only 20% of the power!

The adjustments to cable brakes involve just using a torx key or twiddling a barrel, easily less faff than bleeding brakes. Changing pads is easier and I don't need a pad spreader, just wind out the piston.

I haven't got any BB5s so they might be different of course. I'm borrowing a bike with Spyres at the moment and they are also really good.

I probably would rather have hydraulic brakes but not sure I'd spend 200+ extra for them over spare wheels, full set luggage, three tanks diesel getting me somewhere nice to ride it or loads of service bits!

[ScotRoutes]

Coming at it from another angle having a mix of BB7s and Slx/Xt hydraulics in the garage I don't find the difference to be that great. Certainly not night/day or only 20% of the power

That's my experience too. BB7s on my gravel/tourer and my fatbike for several years and never felt the need to replace them. I guess that if I was buying a new bike now then I might consider whether it was worth paying the extra.

FWIW I only ever use the Avid sintered pads.

[johnnystorm]

Coming at it from another angle having a mix of BB7s and Slx/Xt hydraulics in the garage I don't find the difference to be that great. Certainly not night/day or only 20% of the power

That's my experience too. BB7s on my gravel/tourer and my fatbike for several years and never felt the need to replace them. I guess that if I was buying a new bike now then I might consider whether it was worth paying the extra.

FWIW I only ever use the Avid sintered pads.

I've also been impressed with Alligator pads. I've used lifeline/superstar/uber sintered and they do last ages but are wooden & noisy!

[jameso]

What would you choose & why?

The hydro, or an upgrade on the cable ideally, because BB5s are a PITA to set up and keep within a narrow range of good function. Single pad adjust and single pad actuation is maybe just too simple when pad to rotor alignment is so critical on a cable disc. I used them for a while and since then went for BB7s or Spyres, ignored the BB5 as a compromise that wasn't worth the cost saving. A Spyre can work very well (90% of a hydro ime) if aligned and set up properly. BB7s can also work very well, just need a little more set-up technique and frequency than Spyres.

If SRAM made a BB7 with the Spyre's dual pad movement I'd be very happy : )

[redefined_cycles]

Coming at it from another angle having a mix of BB7s and Slx/Xt hydraulics in the garage I don't find the difference to be that great. Certainly not night/day or only 20% of the power!

The adjustments to cable brakes involve just using a torx key or twiddling a barrel, easily less faff than bleeding brakes. Changing pads is easier and I don't need a pad spreader, just wind out the piston.

I haven't got any BB5s so they might be different of course. I'm borrowing a bike with Spyres at the moment and they are also really good.

I probably would rather have hydraulic brakes but not sure I'd spend 200+ extra for them over spare wheels, full set luggage, three tanks diesel getting me somewhere nice to ride it or loads of service bits!

Ok... slight exaggeration.. lol.