Co-motion Americano vs Norwester Tour

[Tourista829]

Update on my Comotion Norwest Tourer. I know it has been some time since I have been on this forum. I now have 2,500 miles on it. It is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden. I still can't wait to ride it. It reminds me of my BMW M3, it handles better at higher speed, this bike handles better when you load it up. I have the Tubus Cargo, in the rear and the Tubus Tara in the front. Great racks!!!! I am using a set of Ortlieb front and back roller classics. They are ok, waterproof, I liked my Basic Nashbar Waterproof ones but they didn"t hold up. Stable with up to 80 pounds on it. I am glad that I got the Norwester Tour vs The Americano. I weigh around 170 lbs and I usually never carry more than 50 lbs of gear. (Unless I carry groceries.) I realize the difference in the frame weight is minimal but unless you you weigh north of 200 pounds and carry 80+ pounds of gear, you don't need the complexity of the tandem rear wheel and the added cost. Maybe if I was going on a world tour, but if that were the case, I would have gone with the Pangea with a 26" wheel, like mosts Europeans. The only other thing I might have changed, and wish it was an option, when I purchased my bike, was a Rohloff rear hub. (I think it is more durable, but a little tougher to align when changing a rear flat) I thank y'all for your input, it was very helpful. The Norwest Tourer is a terrific loaded touring bike. I will write another review at 5000 miles.

[pptouring]

Hello Tourista829! Thanks for the update. Speaking of updates, my wife and I spent a few days touring around in Germany, (mostly) Czech, & Austria this past Aug/Sept on our Nor'Westers.

Here's a little something that I'm working on that I'd like to share and hopefully help promote touring in Czech.  It's still in the works but you'll get the idea.

Czech Touring

I'm hoping to have it linked on this site soon.

http://pragueviennagreenways.org/

[Tourista829]

Robenne, sign us up, the pictures of Prague look great! I sent you an email. How was traveling with your bikes? I remember seeing them at UBC? I believe you have S&S couplers. Did the airlines hit you up for extra charges? Bob

[Tourista829]

Robenne, stopped by UBC, saw Manny, the bike looked great. Saw the Schmidt Dyno Hub and liked the light from BM. I wish I had seen the Busch Muller E Werke Gizmo, sounds interesting. Maybe I will see it at the ACO Tampa Regional gathering. 

[robo]

I just read through all the posts on this thread.  Thanks for all the insightful comments.  Now, what do you think about this?  I tour on a 1985 Trek 620 (steel) with lots of loaded and unloaded miles on it, including a 1500 mile ride on the Great Parks Route a year and a half ago, and a couple weeks in Yellowstone last summer.  My old bike handled admirably.  And fits great.

I weigh about 130, and can get away with about 35 pounds or so on the bike.  I've invested in new 27inch wheels- the bombproof kind- a new crank and BB, and that's about it.  All the old components continue to work just fine.  The bike has lived indoors, except when on the road.

Here's the question- Should I trust that the frame can hold up under additional long tours, or is it time to put my beloved bike out to pasture?  Am I running a risk of having frame failure while bombing down a pass some where?

Thanks for your input.

Joan

[pptouring]

Hello Joan,

Well I'm no expert (but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express ;-) ), but I would say you are always at some risk of frame/fork failure regardless of bike age. Personally, I would stick with your current ride as long as it holds up, unless you're looking for an excuse to buy a new frame/fork. Inspect your frame and fork on a regular basis and look for small cracks starting around the welds. When we purchased our Co-Motions, my mind set was like, "We plan on keeping these bikes for 25+ years!", so I hope they hold up.

Hey Bob,

I plan on attending the Adventure Cycling meeting this Saturday at CBE in Tampa, so you can check out the E-Werk then. I've been running my Garmin eTrex & iTouch off it and I'm digging it. Also the lights (Lumotec IQ Cyo R Senso Plus & Toplight Line Plus) we got from Peter White are very nice. They're much brighter than I thought they'd be.


ron     

[Tourista829]

Ron,

We will see you there. Looking forward to meeting you.

[paddleboy17]

I just read through all the posts on this thread.  Thanks for all the insightful comments.  Now, what do you think about this?  I tour on a 1985 Trek 620 (steel) with lots of loaded and unloaded miles on it, including a 1500 mile ride on the Great Parks Route a year and a half ago, and a couple weeks in Yellowstone last summer.  My old bike handled admirably.  And fits great.

I weigh about 130, and can get away with about 35 pounds or so on the bike.  I've invested in new 27inch wheels- the bombproof kind- a new crank and BB, and that's about it.  All the old components continue to work just fine.  The bike has lived indoors, except when on the road.

Here's the question- Should I trust that the frame can hold up under additional long tours, or is it time to put my beloved bike out to pasture?  Am I running a risk of having frame failure while bombing down a pass some where?

Thanks for your input.

Joan

I would have to agree with robenne.  The duty cycle on steel bike is really high.  Cracks and loss of strength (which would show up as floppiness) are the indicators that your steed is ready for pasture.  I am sure your bike is fine.

[Tourista829]

We met Ron and his lovely wife at the ACO regional meeting with Jim Sayer. I have to give a special thanks to the people at Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, they did a great job as well as the volunteers for the beer and snacks. I also have to thank Jim Sayer, for an excellent presentation and staff for all they do for us.

I got to see Ron's Comotion Norwester Tour with the Schmidt hub, Busch Muller Lumotec IQ Cyo R Senso Plus, & Toplight Line Plus, and his Busch Muller E-Werke. This is an excellent set up. The hub had virtually no resistance, the lights were very bright and Dottye and I were fascinated with the ultra compact E-Werke. As stated above, it converts, electricity, from the Schmidt dyno hub  and allows you to run accessories, ie. GPS, Phone, etc. It has a switch, that you can change the current so you don't fry the device. Thanks again Ron, for hauling your bike to the meeting, if a picture is worth a thousand words, seeing it in person and your explanation is worth 100,000 Bob & Dottye

[fjord]

Hi,

Reviving an old thread, and wondering about the NW Tour.  It the evolution of Co-Motion bikes, is this bike now the Cascadia?  I see the NW on their web site, but not the NW Tour...
Mike