Bill G

Well I will start by saying I love Co-Motion products I have had several Tandems and my Co-Mo Exspresso road bike which I just gave to my son. I decided to replace the Exspresso with a Nor'Wester Tour model set up a little diffrent more towards a long distance bike for Century rides. I set it up with the STI 10 speed Ultegra triple set up and 700x28 tires without any racks so I could take advantage of the more upwright touring position for the longer rides. The Nor'Wester Tour fit the bill for what I wanted. It rides really great and the comfort level is there just like our Co-MoTandem. What can I say I love a good well built steel bike, there hard to beat in my opinion.

Be safe everyone,
Bill G

BengeBoy 

Beautiful bike. I am a huge fan of their bikes; have met them at several bike shows, but never quite pulled the trigger.

Just curious: if you're getting this for centuries, did you consider the Nor'Wester, and how did you choose between the Nor'wester vs. the Nor'wester tour?

Bill G

I have met both owners and been to their plant several times, they are great guys. The reason I chose the Nor'Wester tour is I love the bladed steel fork and wanted the 36 spoke Dyad DT Swiss wheelset and I like the Canti brake set up with the travel agents (a good strong brake set up). The regular Nor'Wester has long reach road bike brakes a carbon fork and the lighter paired spoke Rolf wheelset, good wheels I suppose but not what I wanted. I wanted a wheelset that would support touring if needed and a 700x28 or bigger tire if needed with no problems. The frame geometry is pretty much the same between the two other than the stand over is a hair less on the Tour model and the chain stays are a little longer.

Take Care,
Bill G

BengeBoy 

+1

Thanks for clarifying. I really like their range of bikes -- one could do worse than to own a stable of Co-Motions: an Espresso for fast rides; a Nor'Wester for centuries; a Nor'Wester Tour for light touring; an Americano Rohloff belt drive just for fun, and a Pangea for heavy-duty touring...

Bill G

I forgot and changed my post above. The chain stays are a little longer on the tour model aswell. You are right a stable full of them would be nice or more like Great He He!!!!

Bill G

BigBlueToe

When I win the lottery.........

kayakdiver

I also love the Co-Motions. I see one in my future . I have almost a full bikes worth of components sitting around from my Jamis Aurora now that the insurance Co. has decided that I get to keep the parts. Love me some Americano.

Cyclesafe

I have over 22000 fully loaded touring miles on an Americano, but in retrospect I'm now thinking it might be a bit of overkill. If you're not a clyde and you're not planning to take 50+ pounds of gear, the Norwester Tour might make more sense. Save the superfluous weight.

foamy

Very nice. I thought about the Nor'Wester Tour long and hard. Like-wise a Co-Mo tandem. It turned out that I found a barely used (under 100 miles) two year old Santana Arriva SE at a price that I couldn't refuse and I've kind'a been drinking the Kool-Aid after the fact. Sweet rides you have there—happy, happy.

amazer98

Hi... I wanted to resuscitate this thread with a question. I'm looking for a used Espresso or Norwester and wanted to know: Is the geometry of the Nor'wester that much more comfortable than that of an Espresso? The posted geometry specs don't seem all that much different.

I like to keep my seat about level with my handlebars, maybe an inch higher would be OK. I spoke to someone selling a 56cm Espresso who was about my height (5'11") and he said his seat was about 3 inches above the bars. I've ridden 56cm aluminum Roubaix in the past (my current Salsa Vaya is 57cm and fits well), but am thinking maybe a 58cm in Co-Motion's line would make sense, if only to avoid having to raise the seat that high.

I expect that any bike I find on ebay or Craigslist will be too far away to take for a trial ride. I know I can always raise the bar with an angled stem as another option.

Any feedback will be appreciated! Thanks.