I've been looking into getting a budget touring bike and have narrowed my choices down to:

1) 2015 Kona Rove AL ($899)
KONA BIKES | 2015 BIKES | FREERANGE | ROVE AL

2) 2014 Norco India Drop 2 ($750)
Norco Bicycles

Both bikes ride really nicely. I really like how much lighter the Kona Rove is, but the Norco Drop is a great deal and has better components. Since I will be using the bike as a commuter as well, the weight of the Drop is a little concerning for lifting it up stairs and such, so I'm a bit torn.

Anyone have any experience with these bikes? Can you comment on either?

Thanks.

You can always Change things once its yours , new bike in a Shop the dealer can do that for You, at Point Of Sale..

Even change the Double for a triple , but people tiur thru town here every year on that kind/ though maybe not exact bike.

Are they geared low enough for your intended applications?

So would you go with the lighter Rove and upgrade parts?

Never been in the same room as either.
Neither are touring bikes, in the classic sense- the gearing isn't great on either.

How much heavier is the North? If its only a couple pounds, its cheaper and that weight is negligible.

Oops. It's a Norco (silly autocorrect...) Neither have published weights, but i wouldn't want to put the Norco on my shoulder. It's probably 27-29 lbs

Forget those Two..Neither bike has gearing for touring.

Look for something used in your area.

Where is your area?

Funny- I went to the website and never even looked at the brand, just the model that was linked. I even had to enter my country.
I just assumed it was North and it was a company id never heard of!

27# isn't light, but its certainly not heavy if you are looking for a touring bike.
I have seen LHTs weigh 28# before racks and fenders.
The Trek 520, new, is apparently a little over 25# Trek 520 Review | riding against the grain
Novara Randonee is just over 28# Novara Randonee Bike - 2014 - REI.com

Dedicated touring bikes just aren't lightweight, typically. It seems that you need weight to carry weight.


You will probably commute more often than tour, correct? If so, then focus on getting something that fits what you do the majority of the time. A commuter will, typically, work fine for short tours as they usually can handle panniers and have a heavier duty wheelset.

This is a relatively inexpensive touring bike to consider.

Save Up to 60% Off Touring Bikes | Commuting | Commuter Bikes | Motobecane Bikes - Gran Turismo for touring the country there is nothing better

Absolutely no experience with either one but if you're light to medium weight, young and fit they could serve you well for light to medium weight load touring and fast commutting. They fit the description of a sport touring road bike. The gearing can be good enough with a 11-34 rear cassette but I'd suggest replacing the 50tooth front chainring with a 46 tooth. I wouldn't pick them if you need to have the bars higher than the saddle or plan on carrying large rear panniers.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. As a lot of you pointed out, they're not quite touring bikes, which is fine with me as I'll be commuting a lot more than touring. I think I'll play around with the gears and see how it rides with loaded panniers. With that said, it seems like heavier and sturdier is the way to go, so I'll be going with the Norco.

"Heavier and sturdier" doesn't mean it can handle loaded panniers on the rear wheel well. Sport Tour bikes are more closely related to racing bikes than loaded touring bikes, ie they're designed primarily for the load to be a rider with fittings for fenders or racks but that doesn't mean they are designed for heavy rear loads.

Besides tubing type and diameter what matters a LOT is geometry. So you can have a stiff frame but if you put a lot of weight on the rear wheel you can get a very light front end that feels very unstable or unrideable with only one hand on the bars. Being able to move around on the bars helps to relieve stress on hands but if you have to be leaning forward and clamped on all the time it detracts from comfort. Unfortunately this isn't something you can get from comparing numbers or unloaded riding, you have to set the bike up with the load. You may have some luck finding someone who has experience loading those bikes.

This isnt to say these bikes aren't perfect for you, just that heavy rear panniers may not be the optimum way to carry a particular load compared to front low riders or a better distributed load.
A good way to distribute weight on sport tour bikes is small front panniers, frame bags(check out Revelate designs) and top mounted rear rack load.


I have found very narrow rear racks are better on my CrossCheck than wide racks that extend out far to the sides for carrying panniers but it carries panniers better on the front than the rear. Putting heavy panniers far back to clear feet really messes up handling. In the same way you'd like to ride your road bike fast and be in control going down hills you'd want the same with a loaded bike and not be bothered by shimmying or the tail wagging the dog effect when making quick line/direction changes.

make sure the shop goes over the wheels before you leave with it and make sure to bring it back for a tuneup. If you're light a marginally built rearwheel won't show problems until you load it up. If you're heavy you could find yourself needing a complete wheel rebuild in half a year once you put a heavy load on the rear. I looked at some similar bikes (32 spoke 700c disc touring wheels) at a local REI and was surprised how much the spoke tension varied on the ones on display.

I have a 2009 Kona Dew Drop, very similar to the Rove. My Kona is a commuter and does centuries, gravel centuries, and some hauling with BOB. My Dew Drop is my go-to bike, with 12,000 miles on it, I have no complaints. Kona builds a very good bike. Two things I think are amazing, I'm still on the original grip tap (it's worn, but still functional) and I replace the original saddle last summer after a fall ripped up the original.



BTW - this picture was April 16, 2014... Gotta love Minneapolis spring!