I bought the same bike twice: Here's why the 2025 Sonder Camino AL is a Game Changer

Okay, let's talk bikes! For a while now, I've had that itch for a new gravel rig. I'm generally very happy with my faithful Sonder Camino AL, but I was considering a tyre upgrade to something a bit wider than 40mm. Also, despite swapping the chainring in my SRAM setup, I was never really fully satisfied, seeing that Shimano offers 1x12 with cassettes going up to 51T.

So I browsed and browsed, and found a few potential candidates, but seeing big, famous brands offering what I needed for nearly £3000 wasn't going to cut it. That's way above my budget.

Then, in mid-August, a booklet from Alpkit arrived at my door: 15% off everything. Without thinking twice, I checked what was available on the Sonder site. And yes, as you might have guessed, I bought another Sonder Camino AL, this time with a slightly different specification and the exact upgrades I was looking for! 🤩

Shimano GRX 610 1x 12-Speed Groupset

Hello, granny gear! This groupset is perfect for bikepacking adventures where a heavy, loaded bike and hills meet my poor legs! I opted for the 10-51 cassette, and the gear range on that beast is fantastic. Seriously, no climb is safe! Shifting feels a lot smoother and snappier than my old SRAM Rival 1 setup. It just feels quicker to change gears, and you know how that fraction of a second can feel like a lifetime on a tough climb.

Tyres: Schwalbe G-One Bite

I opted for a tubeless setup, of course, and Sonder offers Schwalbe G-One Bite 45mm tyres with it—to my delight, with tan walls. I was torn between these and the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M (read review here), which are absolutely fantastic for UK gravel (often muddy) style of riding, but I decided to give the Schwalbe a go. Writing this after a solid ride both on and off-road, I'm very pleased with the decision.

I’ll drop a full tyre review soon—just need to get them properly mucky first. Given the UK weather, I'm sure I won't have to wait long! 😉

What Else Has Changed: Sonder Camino AL 2025 vs. 2022

To my surprise, they've made some other changes to this awesome bike. First of all: the frame. The geometry stays the same, but the seat tube is now thinner and takes a 27.2mm seatpost. This is brilliant, as it allows my Redshift Suspension Seatpost (read review here) to fit without needing any shims.

There are now also mounts added to the top tube—a very nice addition, as many frame bags rely on that these days.

I opted for the Bomber handlebar again—it’s just perfect for bikepacking, and you can easily fit a bag with a complete tent and more on it. I don’t know what they did to it (if anything at all), but it feels better than the old one, and I reach for the drop bars more often. Could be because of slightly different angles the grips are installed, I may be biased here. As before the Bomber combined with the carbon fork, it absorbs minor shocks very well and feels very agile.

Summary

Alpkit continues to deliver quality gear, and especially when it comes to Sonder bikes, they do it at a very affordable price. I couldn't find a match for this bike's spec for less than £2500, and with the discount I had, I paid around £1500. I think it's safe to say that this is a mid-shelf gravel/adventure setup—often more than enough for my needs.

Bottom line? If you're hunting for a new gravel bike that won't require selling a kidney, you absolutely need to check out the Alpkit Sonder bikes. See you out on the trails!