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Archive for October, 2009

The ultimate adventure-touring cycle from REI? It just might be. I have owned this bike now for almost 8 months and I cannot say enough good things about it but before I get started here are the bike specs.

Novara Safari Touring Bike 2009 Specs

First of all you should know that the Safari 15″ and 17″ comes with 26″ tires. The 19″ and 21″ Safari comes with 700c tires. I purchased the 19″ Safari even though the 17″ probably would have been a better fit for me. The choice of going to a larger frame did cause me some problems as I will cover later but, I felt getting 700c wheels was worth it to me.

The Safari is not the greatest road bike nor is it the greatest trail bike but, it does both extremely well and that’s what I needed at a affordable price. On the road the Safari is stable and quick. Going down hill with the wind at my back and peddling like a mad man I can get up to 32 miles an hour for about 5 seconds and feel totally in control. On trails it gets even better. Regardless of the trail conditions and the type of load I’m carrying this bike performs flawlessly. You would think this bike was made for loose gravel, mud, and sand. What fun! I should also mention that when my Safari is fully loaded (35lbs) not including me of course, the bike has enough low gears to handle the toughest hills. Because of the bikes long frame, I have ample clearance from the heel of my foot and my rear panniers. The same goes for the tip of my foot and the front tire fender when sharp turns are made.

Because no bike is perfect right off the shelf the Safari does have some short comings. The most common complaint is that the handle bars are to low and I agree. Some resolved this problem by putting on a Delta stem riser but I resolved this by putting on a different neck that brought the handle bar up and closer to me. The other complaint is that the tires that come standard on the Safari are to fat. My Safari came with Vittoria Randonneur, 700×48 tires. These tires I thought performed extremely well on and off road. The problem comes when these near smooth tires hit mud and then things can get a bit exciting. So, I ditch my Vittoria Randonneur tires for a pair of 700 x 38C Schwalbe Marathon Cross HS 334 Touring Tires. Still a little to fat for some peoples liking but these smooth rolling tires are fantastic in all road and off road conditions. Another complaint is that it’s hard to find a front rack that fits the Safari. With a little effort I found the Cold Springs front rack made by Old Man Mountain. The Cold Springs Front is simply the baddest front rack on the market today. Boasting a 50 lb. dynamic load capacity and a wide top shelf.

I made some personal preference changes to the bike as well. I switch out the Fizik Nisene saddle for the Serfas MX-2 Dorado saddle. I also replaced the rear rack with the Topeak Super Tourist DX Tubular Rack that I had on a previous bike. My trunk bag and panniers work well with the old rack so why change.

A few words about REI in Conshohocken. When I first called REI about the Safari they had every frame size built except for the 19″ which of course was the one I was interested in. I decided to take the 38 mile ride out there anyway. When I arrived at REI I found them building a 19″ Novara Safari just for me to try out. I spent a total of 4 hours there while they built and fit the bike to my needs. That’s why I shop at REI.

I have added a lot of extras on to the bike that I may cover in a later post.