Our new 'Koga Worldtraveller-S' rigs
After our last tour in Denmark in 2018 Frank was having problems with her Giant expedition. When we had bought our Giant expeditions back in 2000 we could only get a bike big enough for Frank in a gents frame. Unfortunately with her back problem getting worse she was having problems getting her leg over the saddle. She needed something with a step through frame.
We had always liked the Koga Worldtraveller-S and decided on our way back from Denmark to have a look at some in Holland. Fortunately there is a great place called 'De Fietser' near Ede, Holland. They have over a 100 bikes from Batavus, Sparta, KOGA, Lapierre, Haibike and Van Nicholas. They are not there to sell you a bike so there is no pressure. The idea is that you can test ride various bikes on their test track and then you go to your local dealer and buy them. It was great there as they had the Koga Worldtraveller-S in various sizes with different set ups, with dérailleur and Rohloff gearing, with different handle bar combinations. The guys couldn't have been more helpful and were very good about measuring you and adjusting the bike to suit your size. They even swapped saddles around for us. We easily realised what size we needed and what specification we needed.
July 2019 we went to Cyclesense in Tadcaster as they are the one and only Koga dealer in the UK. David Stainthorpe the owner is a keen cycletourer and he was most hopeful in ordering exactly what we needed. Unfortunately we hadn't picked a good time to order our bikes as they normally take 6 weeks from build to delivery. However Koga shut down in early August for 3 weeks for their works annual holiday. They were therefore due to be delivered for 28th September, unfortunately there was a further delay as although Frank's bike was ready mine was delayed. Koga were out of stock of the 60cm WTS disc frames and new stock was expected in November. That rather curtailed our plans for a tour in October 2019. It wasn't Cyclesnse's fault it was just a combination of things and a problem with a buying a signature bespoke bike.
We eventually picked them up on 3rd December. It was certainly worth the wait as we have just come back from our first tour on them and they are lovely. Frank's riding position is so much better for her and the step through mixed frame is so much easier for her to get on and off the bike.
The 'Koga Worldtraveller-S' specifications
- Frame - Aluminium 6061 frame with Smooth Welded Triple Butted tubes and internal cable routing. With a divisible rear fork to enable the replacement of the Gates belt drive.
- Front Fork - Aluminium fixed front fork with integrated steering angle limiter (to protect frame, cables and headlight) and lowrider attachment points.
- Bottom Bracket - Eccentric bottom bracket for easy belt or chain tensioning.
- Drive train - Gates belt drive
- Gearing - Rohloff 500/14 14 speed hub
- Rims and Spokes - Ryde Andra 210 28"/ Sapim DB Silver
- Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon Almotlon Evo 28" 50mm
- Brakes - Shimano Deore XT Hydraulic Disc
- Handlebars - Koga the Bird
- Grips - Brooks Etgo Leather Black
- Front carrier - Tubus Etgo
- Rear carrier - Tubus Logo
- Dynamo - SON 28
- Front light - SON Edulux II
- Rear light - B&M Toplight Une plus
- Mudguards - SKS Chromoplastics
- Rear Kickstand - Pletscher Comp Aluminium
- Ring Lock - Treloc RS 450
You can find pictures and details of our old Giant Expedition bikes here.