Koga-Miyata Traveler

Choosing a touring bicycle; Koga-Miyata Traveler

We’re going to start out look into the high-end touring bicycles with the Koga Miyata Traveler.  This company offers numerous options for touring, but we’re going to look at their lowest price tourer first.  Please comment if you have ever ridden, owned, or know anyone who owns this bike.  Email photos of your setup to me at recklesscognition@gmail.com and have them posted on this site.

Koga-Miyata Traveler

Before we begin….Check out the links on the left side of the page.  Go to the “About Me” page to the left and read about what this journey is all about.  If you are into it, support my journey by helping others and adding to the donations we will deliver to the Mercy Corps organization. Donate, Sponsor, or Pledge on a per-km/mile basis, anything will help.  Learn more by clicking here…Bike Journey

Frame- Triple butted aluminum frame.

Chainstay Length- 17.71 inches 450mm

Brakes- Shimano Deore LX

Tires- Maxxis Overdrive 37-622 with reflection

Hubs- Shimano Deore LX rear, Shimano Sports hub dynamo DH-3N71 6V/3W (Oooh!)

Components-Complete set of Shimano Deore LX components

Weight- Nearly 38 pounds, loaded with accessories though.

Price- $2,100

Let’s have a look at this impressive bike.

What you get:

• SKS p-50 fenders
• 2 Aluminum Bottles/Holders
• Front/Rear lights (powered by front hub, no batteries required)
• Pump
• Tubus LOGO Blackon the rear, and Tubus ERGO Black on the front
• Saddlebag
• Integrated kickstand

That is quite a package.  The components are good, the gears have a great low range, it is ready to tour on almost all terrains.  This is a serious bike.  But is it worth the price? Check the ratings.

How are ratings calculated?

Overall Rating:

Koga-Miyata Traveler:

Value:  3.8/5

Quality: 4.6/5

Compliance: 5/5

Overall: 13.5/15

Value.  Although the price is much higher than the other models we’ve look at up to now, this bike is fully equipped and has a dynamo hub on the front.  Figuring in the lack of upgrades needed, it is conceivable that this bike, without all the accessories would be worth about $1,600 saying there are about $500 dollars worth of accessories on the bike.  Now we can compare that figure with what you get on the basic bike.  Compared to other bikes in the $1500-1800 range gives us our value rating.  I like the dedicated line of Deore LX components, but wonder if they are worth that extra money.  A LX build kit can be had for about $700, while an XT is about $950.  A regular low-end Deore kit is $625.  That makes the difference in equiptment about 75 dollars between just about every bike we’ve reviewed and this one.  The total price difference is much more than that, making the value rating low. Granted, this is a high quality, hand-crafted frame, but does that matter to you?

Quality.  High quality frame, lifetime warranty as long as it isn’t used professionally.

Compliance.  This bike is a truly dedicate touring bike.  Everything you need to tour is built into the frame, ready to load up and go.  You can see it in the picture, read it in the specs, and feel it on the road.

We’ll be compiling all of the ratings on a new page, look for it to be complete shortly.  Check it out here.

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Choosing a touring bicycle; Option 8 with the Cannondale Touring 1 & 2

Choosing a touring bicycle; Option 8

I’m pretty excited to start moving out of the lower-priced models as they were starting to look very similar.  This is our first look at the mid-level bikes.

At NUMBER 7 is the Touring 1 & 2 from Cannondale.  Please comment if you have ever ridden, owned, or know anyone who owns this bike.  Email photos of your setup to me at recklesscognition@gmail.com and have them posted on this site.

Cannondale Touring 1

Before we begin….Check out the links on the left side of the page.  Go to the “About Me” page to the left and read about what this journey is all about.  If you are into it, support my journey by helping others and adding to the donations we will deliver to the Mercy Corps organization. Donate, Sponsor, or Pledge on a per-km/mile basis, anything will help.  Learn more by here…Bike Journey

We’re going to take care of both of Cannondale’s touring models, starting off with the Cannondale Touring 1.

Frame- Aluminum……hmmm.

Chainstay Length- 18 inches (good)

Brakes- Tektro Oryx cantilever

Tires- Schwalbe Marathon Racer, 700 x 32c

Hubs- Shimano LX, 36h

Trail- 2.5″ (the larger models)

Components- I’m going to make note of this now because the Cannondale Touring 1 takes us into a new level of components.  This bike comes equipped with higher-grade Shimano 105/Ultegra components.  These are mid-high grade components that are reliable, smooth, and pretty lightweight.  Check out the components post here to learn more.

Price- $1800

I’m excited to move onto the more expensive bikes so let’s discuss the first issue with the Cannondale.  The aluminum frame.  There are so many discussions about steel vs. aluminum that it gets a bit sickening.  We’ll keep it simple here.

Aluminum frame- We can argue about the ease of repairing an aluminum frame all day, but from what I’ve heard and experienced with Cannondale, it probably won’t be much of an issue.  The frame has a lifetime warranty, so if it goes, you can always ship it to Cannondale and wait for it in a nice cafe on the Mekong or something.  The aluminum frame will also give you a stiffer ride, which will probably be uncomfortable on long rides (touring) because it doesn’t give as easily to bumps as steel does.

Geometry- I like the geometry of the Cannondale, nice wheelbase, chainstay, and trail.

Extras- No pedals here, basic clipless models are going to run you around 40 dollars and you’re going to have to buy some.  Touring 1 comes with a rear rack which is a nice addition, could end up saving you 60-100 dollars.

Components- The Touring 1 comes with a nice mix of Shimano components, Ultegra, XT, and 105.  Check out the  components post below for more information.

Moving on to the Touring 2

Cannondale Touring 2

Frame- Aluminum (Fork is Cro-Moly)

Chainstay Length- 18 inches (good)

Brakes- Tektro Oryx cantilever

Tires- Schwalbe Marathon Racer, 700 x 32c

Hubs- Shimano LX, 36h

Trail- 2.5″ (the larger models)

Components- Shimano Tiagra

Price- $1300

Let’s look at some of the differences between the Cannondale Touring 1 ($1800) and the Cannondale Touring 2 ($1300).

Components- The Touring 1 comes with a nice mix of Shimano components, Ultegra, XT, and 105.  These are entry-level professional components.   The Touring 2 on the other hand, comes with Tiagra components.  Tiagra are the higher-end beginner components.

The only other issue with the Cannondale touring bikes are a little board noise about rear-wheel failure.  Mostly broken spokes and rim failures.

How are ratings calculated?

Overall Rating:

Touring 1:

Value:  3.8/5

Quality: 4.2/5

Compliance: 4.8/5

Overall: 12.8/15

Touring 2:

Value:  3.9/5

Quality: 4.2/5

Compliance: 4.8/5

Overall: 12.9/15

Notes.  I like the value of the Touring 2 and have given it a high rating because of the components and low price.  Also, the lifetime frame warranty is boosting the quality rating on both bikes.

We’ll be compiling all of the ratings on a new page, look for it to be complete shortly.  Check it out here.

Choosing a touring bicycle; Fuji Tourer

For our 6th touring bike option we have for you the Fuji Tourer.  This is our last look at the lower end of the price spectrum before we head up into the mid-range and high priced models.

At NUMBER 6… the Touring from Fuji.  Please comment if you have ever ridden, owned, or know anyone who owns this bike.  Email photos of your setup to me at recklesscognition@gmail.com and have them posted on this site.

Fuji Touring

Before we begin….Check out the links on the left side of the page.  Go to the “About Me” page to the left and read about what this journey is all about.  If you are into it, support my journey by helping others and adding to the donations we will deliver to the Mercy Corps organization. Donate, Sponsor, or Pledge on a per-km/mile basis, anything will help.  Learn more by here…Bike Journey

Frame- Steel.  Fuji Elios 2 custom butted Cro-Moly

Chainstay Length- 440mm or 17.32 inches

Brakes- Tektro Oryx cantilever

Tires- Kenda Eurotrek, 700 x 32c

Hubs- Fuji Sealed Alloy Road, 36H

Weight- 27.75 pounds

Price- $900

Hmmm….this bike is eerily similar in specs to the Jamis Aurora.  Same size, same tires, same brakes, same weight, similar trail.  So I’m not going to harp on the same issues, if you didn’t see them, just click back and check over the Aurora review.  Some other things to add which I forgot on the Aurora post is the issue with these brakes.  It’s quite easy to find bad reviews of them and seems like they require replacement.  Keep that in mind when considering the price of the bike.  I think overall this is more of a commuting and light touring bike than a real cross-country tourer.  Not so say it isn’t possible to use for that purpose.

How are ratings calculated?

Overall Rating:

Fuji Touring:

Value:  4/5

Quality: 3.8/5

Compliance: 4.6/5

Overall: 12.4/15

Notes.  I’ve heard some talk about Fuji Touring frames cracking, not many, but enough to lower the quality rating a bit.  Also a lot of broken rear spokes when under load as well as front brake failures.  Again, not a lot of them, but enough to raise a little concern.  The price is pretty low but the quality of components are as well.  As far as compliance, the bike comes equipped with a rear rack but the gearing is a little higher than I like, so that accounts for the low rating.  The compliance rating is a bit low because of the bike’s shorter wheelbase and gearing issues.

We’ll be compiling all of the ratings on a new page, look for it to be complete shortly.  Check it out here.