2010(?) Co-Motion Mocha questions - upgradable?
 

I am looking into buying 2010(???) Co-Motion Mocha with couplers as a "travel touring tandem" and perhaps as a "gravel/ easy trails" tandem. Currently have BIkeFriday Twosday for that purpose but thinking that this could be an upgrade. Anyway, here are my questions for those who own or owned a similar model:
1) The bike comes with rim brakes that is why I put a question mark for the seller's claim of the year. Not sure how hard and expensive would it be to change it to disk brakes.
2) While we are at it - are there options to put in the front suspension fork? Not sure if anyone makes decent ones for 26 that would be ok for tandem.
3) For those who had both 6x SS-coupled tandems and BikeFridays - can you comment on how these compare in terms of the packing/unpacking setup?

1) Can't help although the thought has crossed my mind as there seem to be lots of coupled tandems for sale now with dual rim brakes and I'd ideally like a touring tandem with a front disc, rear cantilever and arai drag.

2) MTB tandems sells two suspension forks that indicate they are compatible with 26inch wheels (about a grand each).

3) The Tandem Twosday was much more convenient on the packing and unpacking. We also found the folding and placing in a bag was very nice allowing us to put it in the trunk of a car quickly, or to the side in a cruise stateroom. Also, the cases for the bike friday were essentially normal samsonite suite cases that were easy to travel with. Our current travel bike with 6 couplers takes a lot more time and the cases are bigger and more annoying, but the ride quality is much improved when compared to the bike friday.

We have an older Co-Pilot with rim brakes. We have about 13k miles on it. The brakes work great. I've never wished for disk brakes.

Packing and unpacking a coupled tandem is a big project. It is doable but not quick. Especially if you take care not to scratch the paint. Even if you are practiced I'd guess it is at least a 2 hour project at both ends. For that reason I think a Tandem Tuesday would be much easier.

The disk brake question is primarily one of whether the fork/rear triangle have the mounts for them or not. If yes, then switching to disks would be fairly easy, though you might need a new wheelset as well. If no, then switching to disks would be so expensive as to be really not worth it. I've had a couple of Co-Mos from around that vintage and it would surprise me if it didn't have rear disk mounts. I think that model came with a steel fork, so wouldn't be surprised at all if it has the mounts for the front as well. If it did have a carbon fork, then probably not. There's no particular reason not to use a disk on the rear and rim on the front if only the rear has the mounts.

This 2010 Co-Mo spec sheet says Mocha came standard with disc. Of course, the original buyer might have asked for custom rim brakes. See if it has disc brake mounts on the rear seatstay or chainstay. Our 2005 Speedster came with both disc mounts and V-brake bosses mounts on the rear, so I installed both!
It's doubtful the fork has both, but I once asked Co-Mo and they said they'd build me a fork with both disc and V-brake mounts, so who knows! Post some pix of the rear and fork, and that will help us.
Also, what hub do you have? If it's a Hugi (DT Swiss 540) and has threads on the left side for an Arai drum, Tandemseast sells a thread-on adapter for a 6-hole rotor, which is what we use.
I can't speak for BikeFriday, but by watching the Co-Mo YouTube vids carefully, I was able to take apart and box our S&S Speedster in a little over an hour and pack it--and re-assemble it in about 2 hours. Whether it takes 30 minutes or 2 hours, if you're on a long tour, I'd think you could amortize that time out. Better to decide which bike will be better to tour on, rather than which will save you a bit of time assembling, I'd think, but that's just me. We've had our Speedster apart and back together a number of times, and were always happy with the ride in between.

Our Co-Mo Periscope triplet and our Quad from 2006-2008ish had both disc and V-brake front mounts, so they definitely would built forks that way if asked.

I consider myself pretty good with my hands, but other than the first time, it typically takes me a bit under an hour to pack. I'll bet I could get unpacking under 30 minutes if I tried hard, and I even use a torque wrench on all the fasteners other than the S&S couplers. I wouldn't go buy them just for bike packing, but I already had them and they aren't any bigger than a normal screwdriver or t-handle allen wrench.

Depends on where you ride, but I definitely appreciate my Arai on long steep hills, and wouldn't give it up for a disc on the rear. I have wondered about a front disc though.