Koga World Traveller 2008

Antonius

Has anyone done any miles on the Koga World Traveller 2008 (or previous models)? I'm tossing up between this and the Dawes Sardar, and a few from the Thorn Range - although nearly all prove allusive when it comes to having a test ride. Basically, im after a good load carrier to do considerable distances, with some off-road capabilities. My old bike was a converted Giant Yukon - but alas, it rides no more - so ive decided to go for a purpose built tourer.

Any comments welcome!!

TorugartTim

The Sardar is a good value bike, but at about half the price isn't quite in the same league as the Koga or Thorn. You'd probably want to upgrade the racks and tyres, before setting off on a big trip.
The Koga is a very well proven and very well equipped expedition bike - you can basically take it out of the box and set off round the world. In the back of beyond, you probably see more Koga's than any other single brand of bike.
The Thorn Nomad and Exp are also excellent bikes. But if you go with one of these you have to decide whether you are happy with a Rohloff hub. Rohloff's are excellent in just about all respects, but there have been a small number of failures (spoke hole cracking on the flange). I
I believe, Thorn do some sort of 30 day money "back if you are not entirely happy" deal.[/url]

amaferanga

Koga are overpriced IMO and Thorn are bloody expensive if you want a bike with decent bits. If you're talking about the old steel Sardar then its good, but the wheels are terrible and need replacing before any significant tour.

For what you'd pay for a Koga or a Thorn you could build yourself a superb expedition tourer to your exact specification (XT spec at least, not the Deore drivel on the £1200 Thron) based on something like an On One Inbred.

As for Rohloffs, well I've heard of a good few people recently that have had problems with the hub shell cracking.

By far the most common bikes to be found on BIG tours are old steel mtbs and with good reason....

xilios

I second the mountain bike option and there are many obvious reasons for this.
You can put one together with half of what a Koga would cost, and use the rest of the money for your tour. A thousand euros would get you a long way.
Don't go for the Rohloffs, they might be good but if they breakdown thats it, but with conventional gearing you can still ride. Also parts availability in most areas.
In case of demage or theft it wont break the bank to repair or replace.
You get to sleep a little easyer knowing you don't have 2 thousand euros parked outside the tent at night.

Antonius

Thanks for all those comments. I have taken a look at buying a frame and components but i find it hard to see how it's a cheap option. Seperate components appear to be quite expensive to me. Bit i'll take another look!!

Thanks again,
Antony.

nwallace

Having just looked at the Dawes website, why do I get the idea the current Sardar is only there to keep the name going. (The current Galaxy doesnt' look much different from my Sardar, and i'm disturbed at the length of the stems Dawes appear to be using in the photos!)

geocycle

You seem to be considering a pretty broad range of bikes and prices. If I was considering a Dawes sardar I'd probably look very closely at the Edinburgh range which look better value to me. I'd also agree that the modified rigid steel mountain bike is a good way to build a rough stuff tourer.

I think the commment about rohloff is a bit unfair. After 4500 miles touring on all surfaces on a thorn raven tour I'm absolutely delighted never to have to clean gunk from a derailleur, tweak chain lines, put the chain back on, change two up and one down to get a gear, remember to change before stopping etc etc.... I broke a wheel skewer on the last trip but the rohloff still gave me all the gears even though the wheel was held in by gravity! It is a fantastic bike and the service from thorn with the 100 day trial is superb. It is expensive and the handful of widely reported hub flange breakages might give me pause if buying a tandem, but the incidence of problems with a solo is very low indeed. So if you are thinking of paying for a Koga and want to do some rough stuff touring then I'd certainly consider the rohloff option.

iga

Another one to throw into the mix, and a little different, is the Kona Sutra ( http://www.konabikes.co.uk/2008/sutra/sutra.php ). Not sure how parts for disc brakes fare in the back of beyond but the frame has canti fittings on it as well. Doesn't appear to have mudguard eys though, which seems a bit of an oversight, unless I just can't spot them. But steel frame, bar end shifters etc... should all be reliable kit.