I have had my Americano for 5 years now and have crossed the USA from sea to sea twice. I have also toured extensively in the UK and European continent. Last year my son Ryan also purchased an Americano and we toured together through the French alps. I continue to be amazed at the bike's durability and reliability. The rock solid tandem construction allows the transport of heavy loads on high speed descents with total confidence. Through many thousands of heavily loaded touring miles, I have never broken a spoke, thanks to the 145mm rear spacing and symetrical spoke design of the rear wheel. The S&S couplers eliminate much of hassle of airline transport.

Yes this bike is top end in terms of price, and it should be! The exeptional craftsmanship and attention to detail make it worth every penny! Thank you for making such a wonderful product available!

Sincerly,

Bob and Ryan T.

My name is Larry, and I live in Jacksonville, Florida. I'll be 61 this year (2005) and I'm recently retired. I retired early so that I could do some of the things that I've always wanted to do but never had the time. One of them is riding my bicycle across the United States. And that is what I'm getting ready to do during the spring/summer of 2005.

Larry is finished with his trip and it's posted on Crazy Guy on a Bike. You may go here to read more about his adventures on a Co-Motion Americano.

Dear Co-Motion:

On the seventh day, God rested. And on the eighth day, God made my Americano Co-Pilot. I just know it. This is the ultimate bicycle in the Universe. Tim Patterson, who sold my wife and I these bikes at Chain Reaction Cycles in Tennessee, was absolutely right when he said that I would never want to get on another bike again, once I rode this one. I bought it for touring, but in the past week or so since it arrived, I've mostly ridden it around Tallahassee on various errands and on a couple of pleasure rides (you know, just to "break it in".) Heaven. Pure heaven. I've already sold my beloved old Raleigh (it went to a good home.)
I don't know if it's those big fat Conti Top Touring tires or the geometry or what, but this bicycle is s-m-o-o-t-h. And it loves to go fast. And turn fast. I've never taken turns so fast, but this bike corners like it's on rails, so why bother slowing down for a little ol' turn?
One more thing about those tires. Yesterday I heard a "clicking" sound and I checked my tires at a red light. I pulled a 1/2" staple out of the rear tire -- it was in far enough that I had to use my pocket knife to pry it loose. So far the tire has as much air in it as ever. Evidently these tires just can't be bothered with little things like road trash.
Riding home tonight from the bookstore under a clear-starred moonlit sky (I'm a little ashamed to put such a magnificent bicycle to such humble use, but I just can't stop myself from riding it at every opportunity), it occurred to me that this is the ultimate bicycle in the Universe. I just thought I'd share that with you. The bicycle is beautiful -- flawless paint and fillet brazing, and the coupler lugs are works of art against the deep green paint. You folks at Co-Motion are true craftsmen. Thanks for doing it right. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, this bike makes me want to be a better bicyclist....

Best wishes, DeWayne
Tallahassee FL

Dwan

Thanks for making 'Max' a reality. Our Co-Motions are the most comfortable rides we've ever had.

Clive was able to join me for 5 1/2 of the 10 weeks of the Northern Tier route.

Wishing you Great Riding and Wonderful Adventures.

Louise R.
Vail CO.

Dwan,

It's been almost a year since you guys built my Americano. I've put about 5000 miles on it since then, although ironically, none of them on tours. However, I did the STP this year in two days on it with an average speed of about 18 miles an hour both days. At the moment, the trusty steed is seeing daily duty getting me the 14 miles each way to and from work. Hands down, it is the most comfortable bike I've owned in 20 years of cycling. Sad to say, I may never have need to buy another bike again.

However, I have serious plans for the bike. I've decided to try combining my loves of mountain climbing and cycling. I'm going to try loading all my stuff onto my bike and riding it to the base of the mountains I intend to climb this year. At the moment, I plan on riding my bike from Portland to the base of Mt. Hood and (later in the year) Mt. Adams, summiting, then riding home. I hope to send you some kick ass photos of me, my beloved bike with all my climbing gear (ice axe, crampons, et al.) hanging off it.

Thanks for making such as bad ass bike.

Sean H.

Thanks to all of you for making our bicycle trip from Seattle to San Francisco such a success. You're a great team. To the folks at Co-Motion, our two Americano-Co-Pilots were superb. No bike problems whatsoever - not even a flat! When we were done with the trip, we rented a car and easily fit the bikes in the trunk for the return drive home. Also, thanks for the tour of your factory when we stopped by on the way back to Seattle.

To Tom and his assistants at B.I. Cycles on Bainbridge Island, Washington, the bikes fit perfectly and your service was outstanding. Without a doubt yours is our favorite bike shop.

To the folks at Arkel, our front and rear panniers worked great. They were easy to get on and off and the pockets made for easy storage. We'll be getting the pannier covers for our next trip, however. We had two days of very wet weather in Oregon.

To the folks at Adventure Cycling routes and maps, your maps were heavenly. We always knew exactly where we were. The tips on the back regarding motels and other services were great.

Again, thanks for your dedication to bicycling. It's a great way to travel.

Harv F. and Margie O'.

Seattle

Greetings to all at Co-Motion:

I just wanted to comment on my new Americano. The bike is,in a word, flawless. It is nice to know that craftsmanship still exists in our world. Thanks for doing such a great job. My only problem is now my wife wants one.

All the best, Paul S. (purchased through Cycles Plus in Huntington, New York)

Hey you Bicycle Building Gods!

The Co-Motion Americano is the gift to all mankind for pleasureable touring, even when the road is 60% climbing in the rain - and hail - uphill through the snow - with bare feet and my brother sitting on my rear rack!! Seriously - the bike handled beautifully over hill and dale. - THANK YOU for the bike of my dreams!!

Renee G.

I have been meaning to send you a note for some time expressing my complete satisfaction with the Custom touring bike you built for me in 1999. I have ridden it about 10,000 miles so far including 900 miles in the UK in the fall of 1999, towing an Ian Schultz trailer and this year I traveled 800 miles across Oregon and Washington and most recently 565 miles and 70,000 feet of elevation over 16 passes along the Route des Grandes Alpes in France from Lake Geneva to Menton on the Mediterranean. The bike drew attention from other cyclists, initially because of its large size, but then they typically commented upon the quality of the construction. The S&S couplers work well and are trouble free. I have broken the bike down three times for airplane flights.

Here is a photo of me with the bike atop Col de Telegraph.

Steve C.

Hi Alan,

I have been riding my Americano for several weeks now and I love it. It is extremely stable and very smooth to operate. I have about 400 miles on it and I am training to take it on a loaded tour from Denver to Lincoln, Ne. on June 15th. About 500 miles. I rode it this evening for 40 miles with about 30 lbs of gear and will increase it to about 50 lbs and I was amazed at how well the bike performed. I think that the Tubus racks are also great. The bike I have used since 1985 is a Trek 720 touring bike. There is no comparison. It never felt stable past 30 mph and quite often the front wheel would start to shimmy bad. I felt extremely comfortable at 40 mph with the Americano. The only problem I had was a flat front tire on the first ride and a flat rear tire on the 2nd ride. I changed the tire and added a tuffy liner because I hate flats and rarely have any. However this was no problem. Pat and Lynn at the Tandem cycle works have been a lot of help and I enjoy doing business with them.

Thanks,

Vern E.

Hi Alan,

I ordered an Americano Co-pilot a few weeks ago and I just picked it up last night. It's freaking beautiful! And it's a great fit. Thanks to everyone at Co-motion for making a great touring bike.

I am really impressed with the bike, it's beautiful, and I can't wait to hit the road with it. Thanks for a great bike.

Best,

--John

I was in the bike business in CA for 17 years and had built my own touring bike in 1959 as their were none on the market at that time. That bike, now worn out, needed to be replaced and I surfed the markets for a long time and couldn't find, what I considered, the perfect tourer. After seeing an ad in Adventure Cycling's Mag about Co-Motion's Americano I deciced to check it out. I contacted the factory in Oregon, talked with some of the staff there and after learning what I needed, they refered me to Charlie Wade of Sun Coast bikes here in Central Florida. I went to his shop and was really impressed with his operation and knowledge of cycling and finally found what I considered to be the perfect touring bike. I do a fully loaded self contained type of touring and needed a powerfully built bike as I carry 80 to 100 lbs. of equiptment on my bike and I HATE things that break!

The Americano, built with tandem construction, components & wheels that come with your choice of 40 or 48 spokes gives the bike all the strength needed to carry any amount of weight, and with a real gear range that will get you over anything in your path, it handles and gives a ride that's second to none. I ordered my Americano with 48 spokers and was very glad that I did as my first tour on this bike was the summer of 2001 and was a very rough and tough ride covering every type of road surface and non surface in existance. 7,841 miles of a grueling gut busting ride from Fairbanks, AK to Key West, FL I put this bike over, under, around, through and in and out of every imaginable condition you can think of and other than 3 flats I had zero problems. I put 1200 miles on the bike, fully loaded, before departing on my tour then I then pulled the wheels and trued them to within .0025" using a dial indicator on my trueing stand. Using 48 spoke wheels and really top quality rims this degree of trueness is not hard to achieve. Also I find by using 48 spoke wheels the spokes do not need to be tensioned as tight, as lesser spoked wheels, and this helps eliminate the problem of both rim and spoke breakage.

I never had to adjust or replace anything on the bike the whole way and on returning home I rechecked the wheels and found that the front was unchanged and the rear was now out of true to only .0045" That relates to the thickness of a razorblade folks. I met 4 other riders on this tour who were also riding Americano's and we discussed our bikes at length and I found that they were having the same great expierence as I was. Only one fellow had a complaint about his Americano, seems he was riding with a group of 6 others and after bragging so much about his bike everyone else wanted to try it out to see what all the hipe was about, then after letting each of them ride it for a day he had to almost fight to get it back. I can understand his delema as I have loaned mine out a couple of times and have had a hard time getting it back. The only thing I did to my Americano on the whole tour, was every 2 weeks I would clean and service the drive train. Temps from freezing to 105 deg., downhills to almost 60 mph and climbs of 18% thru rain, hail and snow NOT ONE thing broke or needed adjustment. And to top all this off I purchased my Americano with frame couplings and for the first time in my life I took my bike, broke down in a suitcase, and it flew as regular luggage and didn't cost me a dime extra.
Am I now a very happy peddle pusher? You can bet on it!!

What a ride, what a bike and what a great bunch of bike builders we have at Co-Motion. My hats off to all of you out there in Oregon for seeing to it that those of us out here in the touring world now have a real choice to purchase exactly what's needed to get the job done and get it done right. So thanks again for a great bike and keep doing it right.

Yours in the world of cycling .......... Jerry C.

Greetings to all at Co-Motion:

I just wanted to comment on my new Americano. The bike is,in a word, flawless. It is nice to know that craftsmanship still exists in our world. Thanks for doing such a great job. My only problem is now my wife wants one.

All the best, Paul S. (purchased through Cycles Plus in Huntington, New York)

I just thought I'd show you that I found the time to take my new Co-Motion bike on a relatively short but worthy trip up the Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies. Great experience. No problems, of course.

I almost found out how well the Americano would hold up in a broadside collision with an enormous black bear. He didn't look both ways before crossing the road. I was enjoying the solitude of a quiet side road and studying my map case while pedaling. Fortunately I looked up to see the wall of fur before the point of impact. The brakes worked. The bear freaked and headed for the woods.

Bruce S.