UPDATE: As I was reading through the replies here last night I had the page up for the Novara - Mazama in another tab. I was leaning more and more towards this bike as time went on. When a reopened the page it in another tab, at that exact moment, the bike (magically) went on sale for almost $300 off! So I did the only sensible thing i could do and ordered one up for my self immediately! lol

Novara - Mazama is inbound!

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I'm currently disabled and recovering from a serious and horrific motorcycle collision, but I hope to be able to start riding soon. I've always loved riding bicycles, but haven't really in any serious or consistent way for many years, so now that I'm giving up on motorcycles, I'm shifting my attention and passion for adventure over to bicycling instead.

I plan on purchasing a new bike ASAP, as having it here with me will give me just that much more motivation in my recovery, and something to look forward to with excitement to the time I finally get to ride it. I've learned a lot in my research lately, but of course there is still a whole lot more to learn.

Depending on which bike I get and what bars come stock, I'll be swapping them out to either a Trekking bar or a Jones H-Loop. And I know that will take some additional work and likely swapping out the controls to make them work.

After much and very extensive research and consideration according to my own budget and needs, I've narrowed my choices down to these final three bikes. I have no doubt that I could not go wrong with any one of them, but I'd love to hear some opinions and get some input from others here that may help swing me more towards one than another, in order to help me make the best choice. So in no particular order, here they are,

1.) KHS - TR 101
TR 101 - KHS BicyclesKHS Bicycles

2.) Marin - Four Corners
https://www.marinbikes.com/us/bikes/d...6-four-corners

3.) (REI) Novara - Mazama
https://www.rei.com/product/875003/n...zama-bike-2016

first off hope u have a full recovery sure glad you survived that crash.

anyway the first thing u should consider is to get a proper bike fit done before you part with your hard earned cash.a pro bike fit will tell you exactly your frame size your saddle height your reach your bar width your correct cranks basically everything .if it were me i would be going with a TI frame last forever .i don't like disc brakes no need for them and they only add weight to the bike IMHO.take a look at the Thorn club tour or thorn sherpa cracking touring bike's or just buy frameset and build it yourself.best of luck with whatever u choose oh the Marin would be my pick of the three u listed but as i said Thorn is well worth looking at.

Thanks for the fitting advice, I will be sure to get that done ASAP, and before any final decisions. Those three bikes do have very similar geometry. I think it will just come down to making swaps if and as needed with the bars, seat, cranks and pedals. I did check out Ti frames and the bikes you mentioned, but unfortunately they are beyond my budget. Thanks for the well wishes, I really appreciate it.

Another thing I should have mentioned, and will go back an add to my OP, is that depending on which bike I get and what bars come stock, I'll be swapping them out to either a Trekking bar or a Jones H-Loop. And I know that will take some additional work and likely swapping out the controls to make them work.

Good luck to you on your complete recovery. I just had a crash two weeks ago on my motorcycle . Luckily I wasn't seriously injured but it made me realize the chances I was taking . I've decided to give up motorcycle riding and focus on my bicycle riding . I recently purchased a surly disc trucker . I love it. seems to do everything I need it to do. Looks as though you have some good bikes to choose from .

Thanks, and glad to hear you didn't end up like me from the crash, and I think as tough as it is, walking away while you still can is the right choice. That Surly is a sweet bike for sure, and was among my top pics until I got down to these last three.

quick reply before i hit the cot,looking at all 3 bikes i would favour the one from rei Novera well specced out no need to change anything on it just ride and enjoy it will get u to where ever your going .
i had a couple Thorn bike meself sherpa and audax 853 really good bikes i built them up with quality gear but had o sell them on funds ran out back to being broke once again ah well not to worry i'll rise again.

Their prices are the same, and they look like equivalent bikes. You'll be satisfied with any of them. The KHS comes with fenders and a rack, making it a better value, but those fenders are short. Longer fenders would do a better job. Then again, they're better than nothing, and you can replace them if you decide you want longer fenders.

Test ride them and see what you think.

It's nice that you're not looking at any from the Big Three (Trek, Specialized, and Giant). The Big Three make good bikes, but you have a choice, and it's nice to support smaller companies.

I do plan on riding in whatever weather comes my way as I'm able, and I agree those fenders on the KHS stop short of where they should, so I'd be replacing them ASAP. So them being included on it is of no real advantage for me. I wonder how much weight that rack is rated for? I have no idea what make or model it may be. If anyone her does please let me know.

Sure enough those three bikes are very much alike overall. Almost exactly the same capabilities and equipment, although they all look fairly different from one another. The only dislike I really have with the Novara is the color; I don't really like red on a bike, although the lack of bold branding on it is appreciated.

One the other hand, I really love the blue on the KHS, and the finish on the Marin is beautiful as well. I'm not sure what if any difference this makes at all, but I like the look of the head-tube being a bit longer on the Marin. Also the Marin is a bit more stretched out in the cockpit overall in comparison to the other two, which for a small guy like me may not be a good thing.

I like the way that Marin and KHS routed the cables so cleanly and out of the way. One thing of note about the KHS though is that it has only two bottle-cage mounts instead of three like the other two have.

So in the end, I'm not really sure how much these seemly small differences will actually make for me in real-world use. I feel that if the Marin is a good fit for me body-wise, I'd likely go for it, because I love the look and finish of it, and I like the way the cables are routed and the fact that it has three bottle-cage mounts.

I vote NOT the KHS. Dork BMX frame, short WB and TT. Yuck
The Marin is nice except for the low seat tube joint. Good for tall guys like you say.
The REI is pretty close. Better for short guys.

Two more finds here.

This one looks pretty good, except for some reason even the small's stand-over is too tall for me. Very strange that they wouldn't make a lower stand-over available for this bike,
Masi - Giramondo
Masi Bikes - Steel - Giramondo

Now this looks like a great deal with very nice components. The only thing I'd want to change here would be from the flat-bar to either a Trekking or a Jones H-Bar.
Masi - Strada Vita Tre
https://www.masibikes.com/bikes/strada-vita/strada-vita-tre-2016

Some differences to note:

1. Novara come with bar end shifters, and these can be fitted on thumbies (see Paul's thumbies) on the bar you plan to get so you would not have to change shifters.

2. Novara has better crank gearing for touring in hilly terrain (48/36/26).

3. All come with lower end hubs, but the KHS comes with 36 spoke wheels, the others with 32. A bit stronger wheel on the KHS. Check spoken tension before riding - likely these wheels are machine built.

4. REI has the best warranty of the three - best of most any bike company out there.

5. REI credit card offers 5% return for items purchased at REI, so get their card and save 5%. In addition, get $100 gift card after first purchase. ( REI MasterCard® - Card Benefits )

6. Novara is 10 speed, others are 9 speed. Read about the differences between these - strength, maintenance, replacement, etc. I would prefer 9 speed (or even 8 speed).

7. Marin comes with cassette with lowest gear of 32, other two 34. Nice to have a bit lower, 34, in steep climbs.

8. The rack and fenders on the KHS will work, but look low end.

9. Marin comes with Schwable tires, Novara with Clement, KHS with Kenda. No double many will like Kenda, but I've had poor experiences with Kenda tires. Schwable makes great tires. I don't know the Clement brand.

10. Brakes - Novara come with TSP Spyre which gets good reviews. The others come with Promax or Bengal disc brakes. I don't know much about those.
Review: TRP Spyre SLC Mechanical Disc Brakes | road.cc

11. I think all come with brakes that require short pull levers, which means when you replace your handlebar, you may need old-school mtb brake levers with short pull, or one that can switch between short and long pull. Most new mtb brake levers are long pull. Possible you will need to ebay old-school canti-brake levers - some nice one's out there for cheap now.

12. Cannot find specifications, but it looks like the Novara comes with the most tire clearance in case you wanted wider tires.

13. Novara and Marin use hollowtech, external bottom brackets, KHS uses octalink. I would prefer the hollowtech version.

I would probably go with the REI Novara.

Great info there bwgride, thanks for that. I think maybe I just need to go see the Mazama in person. Maybe the red won't look bad to me then. All in all, besides the color, I really like that bike. Since I'm just getting started, I don't really know what percentage I will be riding on paved vs. unpaved roads, but what I do know is that my main goal is "touring", something I've never done before, but am very excited to do. I know I will have to get well recovered and build myself up to it. The Mazama looks to be setup at least a bit more for off-road than on, but maybe it's just the fatter tires giving me that impression. If I do end up doing more on-road than off, which I think is most likely, couldn't I just put some thinner more road oriented tires on those rims and make it bit quicker rolling and more road-bike(ish) in that regard?

And as I was getting caught up here, I went ahead and reloaded the tab I had open with the Novara - Mazama on it, and when I did I could hardly believe it! The bike went from $1,099 to on sale for only $823.93 !

Yes, I will have it in my possession in a few days!

Pic One - Before Sale, Pic Two - On Sale!

happy days are here again best of luck with the new baby your sure to enjoy.
mind those fellas on motor bikes there headers.

That is a seriously sexy bike and is a pretty good weight for the kind of bike it is too.

Thanks guys. I went ahead and made it my avy here.

Before switching handlebars, do give the drop bars a month or two try. I was a flat bar rider for 20 years, but could never get a great comfort from them so I tried Salsa Woodchipper, which is similar to the bar on the Novara, and have found it to be great for me. Now I have Woodchippers or Cowchippers (also from Salsa) on my main bikes.

P.S. If you are certain to use flat bars, did you consider the Novara Safari? It is basically the Mazama but with flat bars and longer top tube. Also on sale now for $823. If you plan to buy a Novara, don't wait because the sale won't last long.

https://www.rei.com/product/874998/n...fari-bike-2016

You could, but you may find wider road tires are a good option. I use Schwalbe Big Ben (2.15" tire) and they roll very well and are comfortable.

the schwalble supreams are excellent tyres sure u might as well treat yourself seen as you saved 200 bucks.

This is good advice. Whether a handlebar suits you has a lot to do with fit. A good experiment in fit sometimes involves buying and installing several stems to get the height and reach right. It's expensive, but it's worth it if you're going to spend a lot of time on the bike.

Got a Dealer and an REI in your town to test ride all 3? .. or 5?

Thanks again for all of the help here from you all. I'm really glad I found this forum, now you're stuck with me! lol

I just updated my OP to try and prevent any more confusion as to the status of my decision, so in case you missed it, go ahead and have a look to get caught up.

As for the handlebars, my old bike had flatbars, and what I found was, at least for me they put a strange pressure on my shoulders that hurt after a while, so I'm looking forward to giving these new ones a try. If they don't work out for me then I'll be trying out either some trekking bars or a Jones H-Bar Loop.

Once I've been riding for awhile and it's going well, then I'll be adding fenders, racks, bottle cages, and getting some luggage for it. I've got a nice seat-bag sitting on my old bike, so I'll be bringing that over onto the new one right away. It's a pretty good one from what I remember. It's waterproof, and it's big enough for plenty of tools and such, and even a few spare tubes and more if needed. I've also got a little taillight here from my old bike, and a basic computer as well. I also have a frame bag, but that one's not very good quality from what I remember, so I'll be looking to find a better one. Preferably one that's waterproof if there is one.

Also it looks like this new bike does not come with pedals, which to me is a good thing, because everyone has their own wants and needs. For me, I do not want the kind where you have to use special riding shoes that clip onto the pedals. I just want some grippy pedals with toe-cages and that's it.

Trekking bars are a good idea if you don't like drop bars. They're versatile.

get that bike fit done it will sort out your neck pain.

I have Clement XPlor MSO 40mm tires on a bike that is set up just like the Mazama and love them. They arent lightweight road tires, but they are fast rolling and light relative to their size.
The bike doubles duty for gravel riding and pulling one of my kids when we do family rides, and the tires are excellent on pavement. They arent slow and are smooth rolling.

Just saying- take time with what comes stock as you may find they are excellent and dont need to be swapped out for something thinner.
Added benefit- 40s are a lot more comfortable in terms of absorbing road vibration.