Sonder Bikes
Cycle magazine pits our titanium Camino against the Whyte Friston, praising its lighter off-road handling, tidy welds and threaded bottom bracket.
In Cycle magazine's bike test, editor Dan Joyce lined up our Camino Ti titanium gravel bike against the Whyte Friston to see how the two handled a genuine mix of road and off-road riding.
Dan liked how much lighter the Camino felt to hold onto once the tarmac ran out: its shorter reach let him ride off-road with a lighter grip on the bars, where the longer Whyte frame needed more hand support and transmitted more vibration through to his hands. The Camino's flared drop bar came out ahead too, proving more versatile across both road and gravel than the Whyte's wider standard drop.
He also singled out the build quality, praising the tidy TIG welding on the titanium frame and the threaded bottom bracket: I was pleased to see threaded bottom brackets, perhaps creaky press-fits have finally had their day.
The frame's flexibility extends to wheel size too, running happily on both 700C and 650B setups.
On the downsides, Dan found the fork crown clearance too tight for mudguards, ran into some toe overlap on the size he tested, and preferred the Whyte's hydraulic braking to this builds single-piston mechanical setup, particularly on loose gravel and rougher bridleways. Fair points, and indeed other Camino builds do indeed come with hydraulic disc brakes.
Read the full test on Cycling UK.
Curious how the Camino Ti has developed since? Take a look at the story behind the Camino Ti or browse the full Sonder Camino range.