Jamis Aurora!?!?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

"Talk to you"??? Are you nuts??
I was trying to talk you into trying the Jamis Aurora long ago already!

A great value steel touring bike- not cheapo at all, well made and well thought out with sweet geometry. Jamis are perfectly fine and respected bikes.
Remember- NO bike is for the rest of your life. This could be your real do-it-all bike for the next few years.

Ugly?? The copper and cream scheme is GORGEOUS!

You say it fits like a glove? And the price is hundreds less than what you've been looking at?

um.....what are you waiting for????
Jump on that baby and ride it, girl!

OR....you could go buy a way more expensive bike with a straight top tube that is too long for you and that you'll spend months of time, parts swapping, aching body parts and numb hands, and money trying to get people to help "fit" you to it and it never will quite feel right, but it will be just like everyone else's bike and therefore must be good.


(ok, did I "talk to you" enough now?)

Take it for one more good test ride first. If it feels great, if your weight feels nicely balanced over the center and not forward on your hands, and if it makes you really happy, then buy it fer gosh sakes.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The Jamis Aurora is a touring bike that will go fast on its own if you want it to. It will also haul tons of stuff if you want to tour:
http://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/image/79929962
Here's a gal giving her Aurora a workout:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/travelog...ains_came.html
It will also feel comfortable for long rides because it's steel and because it's semi-upright like most touring bikes (and like Rivendells).

It will go beautifully with your Brooks saddle.

[Zen]

I wonder if I could switch out those Ritchey Biomax handlebars for my Bontragers? Love those Bontragers.
I like the color scheme too, very classy.

Where is Deore in the Shimano pecking order?

[sandra]

I wanted a Jamis Aurora when I bought my Trek and could not find anywhere close that sells them If you get this bike, I'm going to be so jealous.

[sandra]

Oh my gosh. I just looked at the bike. I LOVE IT. It's beautiful. I love the copper and cream!!!

I'll hand it to you Elk, you don't let any grass grow under your feet.

[sandra]

I just like the proportion of color better on the bigger bike

Girl, I'd cut my legs off to fit that bike if I could have just found one anywhere close to here.

[mimitabby]

Girl, I'd cut my legs off to fit that bike if I could have just found one anywhere close to here.

good grief, Sandra, don't do that. Have you looked at a fixie?

[elk]

It looks EXACTLY like that loaded for touring one...

I said: it isn't exactly ugly meaning: it isn't ugly...

I agree the copper/cream is a great combo...I just like the proportion of color better on the bigger bike.. (what can I say...I am nourished by sight...) and given my druthers I alwas go for solids...

BUT!!! I'm not a total fool....and it makes SO much sense doesn't it!?

The I'll have my beloved hybrid AND a road bike for about the same price as a Salsa or even a "custom" LHT (NO ONE has them...but they could build one for me...) and way LESS than a used Riv.

HEY!! I could buy another Ibex switch back!! (I bought the persimmon one on sale and I haven't taken it OFF since I got it...and I don't even LIKE the color!!!)

It did feel very comfortable...and who knows...a year or two from now my needs may be sharpened and shifted...

Lisa you said EXACTLY what I wanted to hear...
Zen... go get one...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

HEY!! I could buy another Ibex switch back!! (I bought the persimmon one on sale and I haven't taken it OFF since I got it...and I don't even LIKE the color!!!)

Ah, but so visible in traffic!

It did feel very comfortable...and who knows...a year or two from now my needs may be sharpened and shifted...

A year or two from now ALL our needs will be sharpened and shifted.

Lisa you said EXACTLY what I wanted to hear...

Yeah, I know.

[sandra]

Elk, check out these reviews. One review is even from a guy in Mississippi that talks about how hard they are to find.

[KnottedYet]

Jamis Aurora are sweet. I rode one last year a couple times and just adored it. Came *very* close to getting one. (there are lots here in Seattle, I had 2 shops within 5 miles to chose from alone!)

For another hundred bucks I got a Surly Cross Check. It just felt so good, and called out to me, and it was love. Can't argue with bike love, eh?

The Surly is made in Taiwan, the Jamis is made in China (if that kind of thing matters to you.) There is a little difference in weld quality and paint that makes the Surly look a little sleeker, but in all honesty what matters most is that gut level bike love! (the Surly top tube won't slant downward, so fit matters too, but I always vote bike love first and foremost!)

Believe me, that copper and cream will grow on you. And if it doesn't, you can get it repainted later!

Put the picture on your computer desk top. (I did!)
Ride it again.

Don't restrain yourself, be free! Feel the bikey-love!

Knot-the-enabler

[elk]

Love the pix and the reviews... love to be validated!!

Oh...Sandra...don't you remember after you bought your Lotus Blossom but before you got yr hands on it to make it yours..you were testing the waters of your convictions?!

I have ridden almost all the bikes on my list ...Surly Cross Check, Salsa Caseroll, Bianchi Volpe, Trek 520, Jamis Coda, and each one had a fit issue....in fact, before I went over to try the Jamis again, I talked to a woman at yet another BS who sugested that for a bike that small, I should consider spending 1200 for a fit and "custom" build.... (Not a bad price I'd say...)

so when I got on I just went whoa...it fits.... and I was kind of surprised... and it really was my first thought (after I went back and had the seat raised)...it actually fits. I maybe don't know what fit really is...but this one felt pretty true...

oh yeah....and maybe I 'll get another Brooks..!!! without springs...the B68 is it? I'll just have to do more research... The shop with the Jamis sells the Brooks too.....hmmm brown? black? honey...with copper...cream...hmmmm
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PS
I just looked at ALL those loaded touring bikes Lisa linked to...they almost ALL have that sloping tube and when I got back to "my" bike... I thought...sexy...now I'm getting stoked...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Where is Deore in the Shimano pecking order?

Deore is Shimano's line of "mountain/touring" components.

Way back before mountain bikes were invented, or hybrid bikes even....there were racing bikes, there were casual/errand/delivery/working bikes, and there were touring bikes built for long distance rides over varied terrain and steep hills.

Touring bikes, unlike casual/working or racing bikes, have a wider range of gears to get up big hills. They often have special deraillers and big cassettes in back and triple rings up front.
When mountain bikes were invented, they too needed super low gears to get up steep hills. Manufacturers put touring rear deraillers on them to handle the gear spread. They started calling the touring deraillers "mountain deraillers"....but they are the same parts as the original touring deraillers.
Nowadays, because of the multitude of mountain bikes around as opposed to touring bikes, these parts are usually called mountain parts. Oh, the irony.

My Rivendell is made like a semi-touring bike. It has some really low gears in a wide spread, and to accommodate them it has a rear touring derailler- a Shimano Deore LX (also known as a "mountain derailler" now). It didn't come stock with this extra wide gear range and "mountain" derailler- we asked for it. The other components on my bike are mostly Shimano 105, but the rear derailler is a Shimano Deore LX. If I gave up some low gears I could go back to a 105 rear derailler. No way, love my low gears!

My next bike is going to be similar- basically a road bike with semi-touring geometry and wide range gears. I'm going to move up on it a bit from Shimano 105 to Shimano Ultegra components....but I'll still have a Deore rear derailler to handle the gear spread.

Oh- and Shimano Deore components have their own pecking order- the "LX" is in the middle somewhere I think, but I'm sure someone else has that information better than I.

[sandra]

I wonder how Elk is enjoying her new Jamis. I bet she went back to try and buy it first thing this morning

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hopefully she'll take another test ride before buying it! It's on hold already, so it won't get sold out from under her.
I wonder what kind of tires they have on it?- she could make them swap a few parts before buying it.
Kind of like buying a car...at the last moment you say- "If you throw some mud flaps and fog lights in at no charge, I'll sit down right this minute and write you a check."