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Jamis Aurora

Old 09-03-07, 06:25 PM
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Jamis Aurora

Anyone here uses the Aurora for tournig? Tell me about your ride experiences?

Last edited by Infantryboots; 09-03-07 at 06:48 PM.
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Old 09-03-07, 11:11 PM
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My wife and I each have an Aurora and we love them!

Mine is a 2001, I got it new on e-bay, unbuilt, in the box for $350. I switched the Sora brifters to bar end shifters and aero levers right away, upgraded to a LX rear derailleur. Other than tires, chains, a cassette, a middle ring, and finally the rear hub, it's given me at least 10K miles of trouble free commuting and touring service.

My wife's is a 2003, another e-bay find, new from a shop in Portland, OR for $375. It came with Sora, but I hear the new ones are set up with Tiagra (9spd). After around 5K miles, I noticed some hairline cracks starting around the spoke holes in her Ritchey rims, and I flat wore out my rear hub, so I just built a pair of new rear wheels for us both using Dyads, XT hubs, and Wheelsmith spokes.

The frame is tig-welded Reynolds 520 steel, lots of lugs for racks and fenders, and worthy of upgrading components when they wear out. We have done self supported, week long tours in OR and WA with front and rear panniers and are planning an east to west Trans-Am for 2008. I don't think you could go wrong with this bike, we have been very pleased and would do it all over again. Jamis delivers a lot of bike for the money.
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Old 09-04-07, 12:01 AM
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My wife has one, 'bout the same vintage as hodamike's wife's - the sora shifters gave up the ghost, but the newer ones have Tiagra which are better theoretically (I'm a fan of bar ends these days). We did a week in the San Juans with hers, the only comment being we should have had a front rack to balance it a bit better. The current ones have a threadless headset that some folks are against in a tourer, but overall. If it's too low hookup with an IRD riser stem, & away ya go. If that's not 'nuff get a stem extender, & away ya go. The only complaint my wife's had so far is that the front rack mounts are only on the outside of the for so she can't use the Tubus Duo (she was so annoyed 'bout this she went with just the backs - made things a tetch twitchier then she'd have preferred.) - I think she'd be a bit happier with slightly lower gearing as well. I am planning on swapping her chain rings down a peg at some point before our next trip.

My current ride is the Surly LHT - I traded my Trek 520 (another great touring bike) for it due to a series of remarkable coincidences, & a friendly fella almost exactly my height, but of slightly different geometry. - I recommend all of the above, & for the aforementioned geometry reasons say go ride 'em all :-)
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Old 09-04-07, 03:57 AM
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Originally Posted by hodadmike
Mine is a 2001, I got it new on e-bay, unbuilt, in the box for $350. I switched the Sora brifters to bar end shifters and aero levers right away, upgraded to a LX rear derailleur. Other than tires, chains, a cassette, a middle ring, and finally the rear hub, it's given me at least 10K miles of trouble free commuting and touring service.

My wife's is a 2003, another e-bay find, new from a shop in Portland, OR for $375.
Wow! What's the trick for gettng such prices? Simply lurking on eBay all the time?
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Old 09-05-07, 12:11 AM
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Originally Posted by IronMac
Wow! What's the trick for gettng such prices? Simply lurking on eBay all the time?
Maybe beginners luck. Both were new old stock, bought at least a year after the new models hit the LBS. When shops have old stock that won't move locally, eBay can greatly expand their market.
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Old 09-05-07, 05:11 AM
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Originally Posted by hodadmike
Maybe beginners luck. Both were new old stock, bought at least a year after the new models hit the LBS. When shops have old stock that won't move locally, eBay can greatly expand their market.
I saw a 2006 model recently and it sold for around US$600 or so. I guess I'll just have to keep on lurking.
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Old 09-05-07, 10:54 AM
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Bought mine May 10, 2006.......have two small tours......1 of 440 miles and another of 300 miles....use it primarily for commuting....have 4,915 miles on it as of this am.....
Upsides : fits me "just right"...
What I changed out : went to Brooks B17 saddle, with Thompson set back seatpost, added rear rack by Bruce Gordon, immediately replaced pedals...for trips mount Surly front rack..don't need the front rack for day to day commuting.
Parts failure .... lost 2 spokes on rear wheel within about the first 400 miles.....LBS retrued and tensioned spokes, no further spoke failures, until bearings on rear wheel failed at 4733 miles, no other parts have failed.

Am 6', 208 lbs riding a 59cm frame size

Recommend you consider changing seatpost and saddle and pedals immediately. Plan on upgrading wheels eventually.
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Old 09-05-07, 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by tromper
......The current ones have a threadless headset that some folks are against in a tourer.....
Why is that? I'm thinking of setting up a tourer, and I'm curious as to the preferred headset.
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