headasunder

Just looking for a review of sorts from anyone owning the above bike, overall weight, max tyre clearance suitability for multi terrain touring and anything else owners care to mention. thanks in advance..

bikefriday

My wife and I have a Mocha with the 650B wheels. Love the bike, but sad to say we use it mainly for the road, and have since bought a set of 700C wheels. We used the 650B's for about a year and were very happy with the ride, feel, and compliance...again mostly on road use, and paved trail riding. We do plan to do some gravel trail riding this year and will swap back to the 650B wheels for that trip. Our main vehicle for travel is a Prius, so we remove the wheels and the bike fits inside the car with the rear seats folded down - wheels behind the front seats.

Love the bike, responsive, handles well, fairly fast when riding, good geometry for us both - me: 5'7", wife: 5'2" - size small frame. We were lucky when we were interested in purchasing, a local shop had a medium frame size Mocha in stock that we test rode. Based on that we bought the small size with couplers (to break it down into cases for travel) as it would fit us better. We live in Vancouver, BC and have friends in Oregon...so while on a recent visit to see them we dropped by the Co-Motion factory for a tour, and loved it. Great people, passionate about what they do!

If I had it to do all over again...I'd find a dealer who had several models available in the Co-Motion line (Mocha, Primera, etc) , then test ride a few different ones. Hope I've answered some of your questions...feel free to ask here or PM me for anything else you need.

Leisesturm

Our team has extensive tandem experience and the Captain (moi) has extensive roadbike experience. I have recently started researching e-bikes with a road (commuting) focus. The 700c/650b thing comes up often. I'll start this off with an anecdote. Some years ago on a group ride with our tandem club we encountered a section of road that the ride leader didn't realize was gravel! This was long before 'gravel grinding' was a thing. No one had anything bigger than 28mm on their Cannondales, Co-Motions and Santanas. We didn't know that it was actually impossible to ride 5 miles on gravel with small section clinchers so we forged on ahead. It wasn't pleasant but we all made it.

This is as much to riff off of post #2 . Chances are good that 700c x 32 is just fine for any sane tandeming. I know full well what teams get up to, and between consenting adults it's none of my business. They usually use 26" x ?? for that kind of depravity though. I hope the reader(s) realize I am having some fun here. In the single bike world a new kind of 700c/650b is hitting the streets called an 'All Road' bicycle. I suspect that's what this Co-Motion Mocha is. Chances are good that all the data (and more) on max tyre size and etc. is published on their website. In 650 trim these bikes usually run up to 2.4" and in 700c up to maybe 1.9". Not a huge difference. In size anyway. The weight difference between those tires will probably be significant.

I'm just not seeing the interest in 650b for a tandem team interested in all road touring. When you get past ~32mm, 700c becomes 29'er and the tire section goes up to around 2" (51mm) in that diameter. Some hybrid bikes will actually fit 700c tires that big but the weight, oh the weight. There is a reason its mainly e-assist bikes exploring the big rubber. TL;DR: Serious off-road go anywhere capability: 26" x ?? and call it good. Serious road prowess and very, very occasional ventures on poor roads: 700c x 28mm - 32mm.

Matadors

I am glad you asked this question because my wife and I also also looking at the Mocha. My touring bike is 700c and my gravel bike is 650B. Each has its place.

tandem rider

One thing to remember is that as the tire size increases, the chain stays move farther apart, and the pedals move farther apart (q-factor increases.) A wide q-factor can be a problem for some people. On the Co-Motion web site, the Mocha has a different rear bottom bracket for chain stay attachment. This appears to accommodate a wider tire without increasing the q-factor as much. A smaller wheel will make room for a wider tire without increasing the q-factor as much.

I have a 700c tandem and a 2006 Mocha with 26' wheels and a 1.5" tire. We often take the Mocha on trips because it can be ridden on gravel trails. The wider, heavier tires do require a noticeable increase in effort.

Matadors

Anyone ordered a Mocha From CoMotion recently? I emailed the rep and he said they are still working during the pandemic.

OneIsAllYouNeed

Bike shops have been deemed essential most places. Most are still open and practicing social distancing and lots of cleaning. Manufacturers are more variable at the moment. One or two person shops can operate while sheltering in place. Larger manufacturers are subject to local government rules and their own sense of safety.
per Co-Motion’s Facebook page an hour ago:
Staying positive in difficult times and taking care of yourself. If you missed our recent newsletter, please click the link below. As of Monday the state of Oregon has been ordered to stay home, placing tighter restrictions on workplaces. We remain open with a smaller but core crew and continue to work safely and diligently on all the bikes we have in the queue. We thank you for your business and all your support!

justcrankn

Our Mocha weight 42.5 lbs ready to ride, including cages, sensors, pump, frame bag, pedals, and heavy wheels with 51mm tires. We chose durable over light when specing the bike.

51mm/2” is the largest tire the fork will comfortably fit. The rear could take a larger tire. To install fenders the max tire size is 47mm.

We bought this to fill the gap between our road bike and MTB for gravel riding. IDK if that’s kind of what you mean by multi-terrain touring. Compared to our road bike, the Mocha’s tires are comfortable, durable, have good float, but are slow on pavement. Our MTB with + tires takes all of those items to the next level, but it’s slower and only has one hand position on the flat bars. Our road bike handles better on pavement, but maybe the Mocha would be different with smaller 700c tires. The Mocha handles fine on gravel.

rocknrollin

thanks for the information justcrankn!
I've been looking at the mocha for a while and couldn't find any infos on weight and tire clearance.
I assume your bike is without couplers? And which frame size do you have? Any issues with toe clearance in the front with the 51mm tires or w fenders?
Based on stack & reach I'd be in between size M and L, and I was wondering whether toe clearance is tight

Goldrush

We have a CoMotion Carrera with 650B Spinergy wheels for sale. Size Medium/small. Tricked out with Di2, Gates belt, etc.

justcrankn

Our bike is coupled, small. Toe clearance is a problem only when the fenders are on.

Matadors

Got an update from CoMotion: my Mocha is built and waiting for paint. They are behind schedule because of the lockdown. They said it should be shipped in 5 weeks. We ordered in Feb. before the chaos began.

Matadors

Mocha is built, painted and ready to ship.

Matadors

Done!

tandem rider

Great looking tandem. Enjoy!

Msteven 

We have been riding the CoMotion Mocha / 650b for almost 2 years now. Several iterations of equipment thus far, starting with eTap 2x11+ mech disc brakes and now 3x XTR Di2 + saint hydro brakes.
only complaint is the wheel flop when climbing under 5-6 mph (steep grades!) this is hard to control, and certainly a result of CoMotion's desire to have a safer bike while at speed. I would have asked for 60mm fork offset rather than 50mm as is stock.

MarkFrank

Beautiful bike! Can you tell us what you really like about it, what you don't like about it, and maybe a few things you would do differently if you were to do it over?

Matadors

Thank you. We have not found anything that we do not like about the bike. The Shimano 105 derailleurs use Allen heads instead of screwdriver heads for adjustment, which was different but I like better. The BB-7 brakes are amazing! The gearing allows us to climb anything we want. Because of the pandemic we have not been able to load it up and go for a multi-day trip yet, but it has been perfect for exploring the rural roads from our house. We always get comments from other riders about the bike. 37 MPH on one downhill and the bike was very stable. I can sit up and take both hands off the bars and it tracks true. My wife was yelling at me in both cases, but the bike did not complain! Dialing in seat height, handlebar rise and tire pressure have been rewarding, each small adjustment gets better.

MarkFrank

Fantastic! Enjoy it!