I purchased a new Jamis Aurora a few weeks ago and thought I would share some thoughts.

The pros:

The bike itself looks beautiful. Fenders and rear rack are painted to match. The 2014 model comes in something called Forest Black. I really wish bike manufactures would turn out bikes in only, black white and some of the primary colors. It makes touch ups to much easier. And bikes on tour seem to get their share of scratches. But the Forest Black is black enough that a few small scratches can be touched up with a permanent marker and won't be noticed too much.

Over all the bike is fairly well equipped (exceptions below) for the sub $1000 price and that all sits on a 520 steel frame. Wheelset seems to be adequate for factory wheels. The frame is a very comfortable ride and appears to handle well though I have yet to ride it loaded. The spoke holder complete with extra spokes is a nice touch


The cons:

The bike is geared WAY to high to be a touring bike. I had the LBS swap out the small chain ring for a 22T and a 11-32T cassette at no extra cost. They installed a Deore RD for $40 to better accommodate the larger cassette. I got to keep the Tiagra.

The frame needs a set of water bottle bosses on the underside of the down tube as how many other touring bikes are equipped.

The rear rack is too narrow IMHO. Nice that you get the bags closer in to the center of gravity but it is going to be a tight squeeze for a tent and certainly way to narrow for a trunk bag for day trips.

The biggest or most dangerous disappointment is the cool looking strap on the rear rack. The rack is even designed to accommodate the strap. It came loose on me 3 or 4 times even after I made certain it was fastened as securely as possible. It came very close to getting caught in the spokes.

Over all a great bike. I doubt it would please the purists but for those looking at spending sub $1000 on a touring bike i think it would be a difficult search to find something that beats it at that price.

Good looking bike and good to see you are enjoying it. You're right that most of the top end touring bikes run north of $1k.

Is there a photo or a link somewhere ?

JAMIS BICYCLES

I went with the normal Aurora. I think the real bargain is the Elite for just a few hundred more but I have been killed with all kinds of bills lately plus I am planning on buying a new house. It was hard enough ponying up the $1K. But it was nice to spend it on something fun that I really wanted as opposed to dental work and a new sewer line. The sewer line was for my current home not me.

Nice bike and especially for the price, its a great start to touring that leaves some money for purchasing panniers and other camping gear.
The handlebar stem setup is interesting using a threaded headset and the easily adjustable slide up or down actual bar stem section.
Your gearing change certainly gives you a good set of lows, and the stock 48/36/26 is a good crank to begin with (the elite seems to come with a 50 39/30 oddly enough)
Enjoy

Last year, I ordered a 2010 Aurora Elite from Jamis, (it came with an 11-34 cassette). I'm quite pleased with it. The disc brakes are overkill for the dry, flat terrain of Dallas.

I've never had the built-in strap come loose, but it is fairly worthless. It's not adjustable so whatever you want it to hold better be the exact right size.

The Jamis Aurora is a solid value for a touring bike. I probably would own one if they would sell frames/forks separately, but they only sell complete bikes. The Aurora is a great alternative for those of us who don't fit the geometry of the Surley Long Haul Trucker. The LHT has a relatively long top tube and short head tube, which is great for some cyclists but terrible for others. I'm one of the others, and for me the Aurora's geometry is just about right.

Regarding components, I don't think it's unusual to change components on a complete bike, and most local shops will swap parts or make upgreades/changes for reasonable prices. Many cyclists who actually do loaded touring find that the gear is too high on stock bikes and end up changing the cassette and/or chainrings. However, many of the people who buy touring bikes actually never do any loaded touring, so the stock gearing might be just fine for them.

Picks of components are a price choice .. they have the crank with the chainrings they do because the pallet of cases the crank maker ships it like that .



Now that it is Yours , change any component you wish, to better adapt the bike to suit your current needs.

Yeah but it does not fit my neat 2nd stem I have been using with my Ortlieb. It became an easy way to swap bags around. I need to lay my hands on a cheap ATS stem somewhere. Or maybe go to a Klickfix mount (just posted new thread in this forum).

I really like it. When I first test road one I felt really cramped. But after I purchased one, it was fine. Maybe mine came with a longer stem or maybe it was just a better job of fitting. I have ridden an SR500 for years and I purchased it because if the shorter top tube. I like a more upright positon. When I compare my Aurora to my Cannondale the difference in geometry (as far as the cockpit goes) is negligible.

It's fairly worthless for touring but quite useful for all around use. I just discovered that the U-shaped top portion of the rack near the seatpost holds a U lock perfectly and the included strap clamps it down firmly. It's like it was designed exactly for that purpose.

I think you just solved that mystery for me. Thanks.

After 6 years of pretty steady commuting on my 2008 Aurora (maybe 30k km), I’m pretty happy with it still. No major tours. Here are some misc remarks:
1. The stock rims are quite soft & the rear one wore down so much from braking that I needed to replace it a few months ago. The front rim is on its last few km as well, for the same reason. I think it lasted longer because it’s less exposed to road grime.
2. The frame has cracked where the seat tube meets the seat stays. It’s safe, but I have had the LBS where I bought the bike take a foto of the crack. They sent the foto to Jamis, who agreed within a week to send a replacement frame. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, about 8 weeks later, the new frame has not arrived.
3. I suspect the frame is rusting internally (I do ride in the rain perhaps twice a month). About 6 months after my purchase, I was turning the bike upside down, & some bright red water shot out of 1 of the weep holes. The LBS was kind enough to shoot some frame saver thru there, but still I’m glad a new frame is (supposed to be) on its way.
4. The Tiagra brifters have never worked exactly right. I cannot usually shift directly to the next smaller cassette cog. Usually I need to shift 2 cogs smaller, & then back to the cog I wanted, despite careful lubrication of the entire shifting system. I guess I’d feel comfortable taking the brifters on a tour, though, because they’ve not degraded despite fairly heavy use.
5. I broke about 5 spokes during the bike’s first year, despite my fairly low weight of about 68kg, & light loads evenly distributed between front & rear. However, I think I’ve not broken any for the past 2 years now.
6. On the plus side, I find the seat & h-bars very comfortable. The FSA crank looks like a budget crank, but it’s lasted well. No problems with the headset, BB, hubs or freehub.
7. The double eyelets on the forks are very handy. Unlike on my Cross-Check, I can easily attach both fenders & a front rack to my Aurora, & adjust them with very little hassle.

Update: On 24Jul2014, the new frame arrived. It's a 2014 or 2015 model, nicer than then 2008 model I had, complete with a new fork, installed threadless headset, plenty of fork spacers & even 3 spare spokes in the spoke holder on the port side chainstay. I've installed all the old parts on the new frame; everything is a perfect fit just like they said it would be. Great service, Jamis!

I have a 2009 Aurora, started using it as my regular everyday bike last year, have been pretty happy with it. I have a couple thousand miles on it, wheels are still straight and I swapped the stem out for a 'normal' set of spacers and an adjustable stem to get the fit right. New chain is going on this weekend.

I am a bit annoyed by the front derailleur rub, and have been fiddling to try to improve that, but can't seem to get things just right.

I too have always had the front derailleur rub when on the large front chainring and the smallest rear cog on the cassette on my Jamis Aurora 2010.

Get thee to a nunnery with WiFi and use YouTube for some tutorials on FD adjustment, hi low screws and basic new cable install directions, your rubbing issues are fairly straight forward to fix.

Clearly you guys are candidates for the Rohloff Speedhub conversion.

This should be fixable and isn't about the Jamis bike but the adjustment of the derailleur IMHO. I bought my 2009 Jamis Aurora because the 53 cm frame size fit me well. Many touring bikes don't offer that "in-between" size. No complaints. A bit wobbly under heavy touring load on the back rack. I did swap the stock crankset to a Deore mtn crankset. Got 10,000+ miles on the bike!

Haha
Except the OPs 22/32 is a SLOW hub.