Have a fabricator install a splitter on the chainstay. Cost me about $150. Instant Gates compatibility for any bike.

Really interesting! Any pictures? An S&S I assume. Or is it something else?

Why are so many people here offended by bicycles that are better than theirs?

Probably a good chance to have it re-powder-coated, and to change the color as well. Surly offers all the decals/labels for replacement.

FWIW, I just changed out the 32T front chainring on my ECR. Coupled with the 45T rear, I was getting like 21.3 gear inches for a low. I installed a 28T and WOW! A solid 18.6 and what a difference. This is using Sheldon Brown's calculator, btw.

Not SKS. Hard to explain without pics. With pics, it's so simple, it becomes self explanatory. I'll upload something tonight.

Nobody is offended. I'm questioning if its truly functionally or logically better for touring? At this point all I can say for sure is it's four times as expensive.

But the food tastes so much better when you rode your Rohloff bike to the grocery store. <Insert chuckle here.>


To the best of my knowledge Rohloff does not have a torque limit but they do have a limit on the ratio of chainring to rear sprocket, riders under 100 kg that ratio is 1.9, heavier rider and tandems have a higher ratio but I am not sure what that currently is. Although setting a ratio like that is a form of torque limiting, it is much less precise than the specification you cited for the pinion.

For touring with a load I use a chainring with a 2.25 ratio. The 2.25 ratio gives me a first gear that has a cadence of 72 at 3.5 mph with a 57mm wide 26 inch tire. I need 3.5 mph to maintain vertical and directional stability, so a lower gear would be lower than I would find useful. For unladen riding around home I change that to 2.75 ratio as I find an unloaded bike does not need the lowest gears for the hills near my home.


I considered the Pangea and Thorn Nomad Mk II which is what I eventually got. Both are 26 inch. I think that 26 inch wheels make a bit more sense for an S&S bike than a 650b wheel as they are a bit smaller diameter and fit better in the case. But the 650b beats the 700c wheel in this regard, so maybe the choice of 650b was a compromise.

I found that the Sinewave does not play well with my Garmin 64, the Sinewave lacks a cache battery that my Garmin appears to require. To make my Garmin 64 work with the Sinewave, I need an external cache battery. Perhaps the other Garmin models work with the Sinewave directly, but not my Garmin 64. My Garmin 64 also works great with the B&M Luxox U because it has a cache battery built in.

Yep.

By the way, someone else had mentioned that after splitting the chainstay, that's a good time to do a new powdercoat. It's not absloutely necessary, but that is in fact exactly what I did. But you can leave it as is for that Mad Max post-apocalyptic welded look.

This.

I watched the video and thought that, if he had been riding a traditionally geared bike it would have appeared much the same.

I can see see the real value of S&S or folding capability for air/bus/train travel and would invest in it if I were doing a lot. But the Pinion system just seems to give more negatives in terms of lack of service support than positives in terms of increased performance at a pretty steep cost.

When my knee gets better (knock on wood) I plan to invest in a faster UL touring/road bike similar to those ridden in the Trans Am race (well, probably a lower tier model anyway) as that is area of touring that interests me and that I want to devote a good chunk of training towards. When I put in the work and begin finding my progress limited by the bike, I'll upgrade in a way that gives measurable benefits.

Also, watch where you are riding. Yesterday on my SS I was looking down at my rear brakes wondering if they were rubbing when..

Wham!

Rode straight into the back of a parked car.

Over the handlebars and onto the ground. Took the stem nut in the thigh. Thank goodness the bike was ok!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4307/...53584a73_c.jpgzzzzzzzzzz20170720_195548[1] by dc460, on Flickr

Dang! Sorry to hear that. Heal well.

Also: Glad to hear the bike's OK :)

I had some serious knee issues about a decade ago. At that point I quit standing on the pedals to accelerate from stops or to stand on the pedals to power up hills. Instead I stay in the saddle and gear down. My knees are much happier. But I still carry a knee brace with me when touring because sometimes I get a bit of knee pain.

The car bike collision - I have no advice.

I'm sure Bilenky would do split dropout. Their prices are fair but not cheap. For folks not happy with production tourers Bilenky offers all sorts of tubing/component/geometry options incl Reynolds/Columbus/Ti.

Awesome day at work today!

After a year of talking about doing it we finally received our Duet bicycle for a therapy program they are letting me head up at work. My employer was pretty supportive of the awareness ride I did last fall and I guess I'm the bicycle guy for the moment. Spent part of my time today assembling it and next week will develop the guidelines for use.

Besides being pretty excited about the opportunity this will allow residents, I thought it was pretty funny seeing as we are talking about expensive bikes and couplers (which it has/is both).

Made in Holland, Nexus 8sp IGH. Drum brakes. The bar behind the wheelchair raises up and you brake and steer from there. The bottom tube pivots under the wheelchair and disconnects with a coupler so you can wheel people to and from the start point. Work just got a whole lot more fun.

Nothing to do with touring, just sharing the happiness of bicycling :)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/...52130b29_c.jpgzzzzzzzzzz20170721_110744[2] by dc460, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4296/...728c9bfc_c.jpgzzzzzzzzzz20170721_111416[1] (2) by dc460, on Flickr

lucky you weren't riding a bike with stem shifters! owies!

Why is there a kickstand on a three wheeler? Or is the plan that you can disconnect the front half and the kickstand is then needed to support the back half?

Weird place to mount the shifter.

If that has a drum brake on each front wheel, you will need to get those balanced so it does not pull to one side.

Thanks for posting, I never saw a bike with a wheel chair up front.

There is a coupler about 2/3 the way up the bottom/down tube where blue turns metallic. The KS keeps the tube from gouging into the ground.

That is a weird place for the shifter but I think that's because it wouldn't fit on the wheelchair rail that is used as a handlebar. The brakes are balanced. The company that built it did a very good job at quality control it appears. Tires inflated to proper psi even.

Even heavier....

250nm = somebody who weighs 145kg standing on a 175mm crank with the wheel locked. I'm guessing the 110kg weight limit is to allow for shock loading.

I think he may have a good rep with Co-Motion and either they offered it to him or gave him one heckuva discount. He did seem rather hesitant to ride on 650B's talking about it in one of his earlier video's. Either way, it is a nice bike.

Interesting. Last week near DC I saw a couple riding a combined upright-recumbent tandem with recumbent seat in front like the Duet except both riders pedaled. Perhaps designed for if one rider has back etc issues that prevent using regular tandem.

I've seen a picture of that set up.

There are videos on YouTube of duets being used in extended care to treat depression in the elderly. That's what we will be doing. Fortunately we also have a large park with bike pathes 1 block from our facility so the set up is almost perfect.

Tall poppy syndrome?? A great touring bike is what fits your needs and budget. We all have different budgets and buy accordingly.
Your bike looks great and Co-motion build great bikes.
We have a Co-motion Mocha S&S which is about to be resprayed after 12 yrs of touring and lots of bumps and bruises. So take lots of pics of yours looking pristine because it wont stay that way :-)
I'm starting to look at a new tandem and 8k won't even buy the frame of what I'm looking at. Half bikes are so cheap :-)

Oh no spending money on a quality product. It always seems to be a point of contention around here and among some other cyclists. I am not saying this product is a great deal or isn't expensive and sure ideally it would come with a dynamo set up but it is a relatively new DT system on a really top notch touring frame from a reputable company who makes their bikes by hand.

This bike might not be for everyone but I am sure it rides like a dream and is a great bike for someone who tours and travels that much. I love my Co-Mo and probably wouldn't go with another touring bike unless it were totally custom built for me to my specific geometry and even then I would probably still get it from Co-Motion. A friend and I are interested in getting a tandem and I am hoping to convince my friend to share in some cost and build up a Co-Motion.

Nothing wrong with buying a quality bike unless it is used to judge the quality of other peoples bikes. Then it becomes a negative. Even worse when a person doesn't even own the bike.

When I think of touring I think of the routes, terrain and length of a tour - not what type of bike someone buys. In that case Tall Poppy Syndrome would apply to knocking those qualities... which I rarely see here. Quite frankly, buying a bike doesn't require anything more than access to credit. It's no measure of the person riding it.