My first "good" bike is a Jamis Aurora Elite, a light touring bike. I bought it from Velo Cycles in Melbourne.
Apparently, some people like these. I don't - mine seemed to be built badly, and was packed with shonky parts and silly design choices. I bought it for $1600, spent about $350 replacing a couple of things myself, then got a bike shop to do an $800 rebuild ...and finally it is a good bike.
The seat: replaced.
This was astonishingly bad - a faux leather thing with a cutout. Early in my ownership of this bike, I rode 100km in one go, and discovered what a crotch crippler the seat is, it took about 4 days for sensation to return. I threw the seat away and replaced it with a real leather one without the stupid cutout (Brooks). The new (old) one is just fine.
The mudguards: replaced.
These were ass. First a bolt worked its way loose and fell off the back mudguard. After I sorted that out, one of the mounting struts snapped. For a while, the back mudguard was held on with an elasticated strap... then the front guard's strut also snapped under regular use, and I threw it out. The new ones haven't needed any attention at all.
The pannier rack: hacked.
The rack was solid, but the design was retarded. It came with a special mounting point for the special Jamis strap. The strap was really tight, so it could only hold one small item. You could squeeze a rolled-up raincoat or similar object in there. This is not so bad, but the problem was the strap's mounting points prevented me from putting panniers on the bike... and panniers are the whole point of having a touring bike.
My pair of standard Ortlieb panniers (the good / very common ones that you see everyone using) could not be mounted on the Jamis rack. Maybe they want you to buy special Jamis branded panniers? Anyway, I had to hacksaw / file these stupid mounting points off, and throw the strap away.
The brakes: replaced.
It would take me about a week of small adjustments to get these working quietly after I took a wheel off. I had the bike serviced a few times, and every time, the brakes became noisy again after a few days. I had the bike rebuilt / brakes replaced. The new brakes are totally fine.
The gears.
Actually, these are fine, except the original build was shoddy, with odd bits of wire poking out of the levers. These randomly stabbed me and made my fingers bleed. After the rebuild, this is not a problem.
The pedals:
Only kidding, it didn't come with any. I used some I already owned.
So what can I unreservedly recommend about the bike? The frame hasn't snapped, and the handle bar tape is pretty good. I'd say get a Surly instead. They cost about 20% more, but shouldn't require another $1000 and a full rebuild to become a good bike.
Apparently, some people like these. I don't - mine seemed to be built badly, and was packed with shonky parts and silly design choices. I bought it for $1600, spent about $350 replacing a couple of things myself, then got a bike shop to do an $800 rebuild ...and finally it is a good bike.
The seat: replaced.
This was astonishingly bad - a faux leather thing with a cutout. Early in my ownership of this bike, I rode 100km in one go, and discovered what a crotch crippler the seat is, it took about 4 days for sensation to return. I threw the seat away and replaced it with a real leather one without the stupid cutout (Brooks). The new (old) one is just fine.
The mudguards: replaced.
These were ass. First a bolt worked its way loose and fell off the back mudguard. After I sorted that out, one of the mounting struts snapped. For a while, the back mudguard was held on with an elasticated strap... then the front guard's strut also snapped under regular use, and I threw it out. The new ones haven't needed any attention at all.
The pannier rack: hacked.
The rack was solid, but the design was retarded. It came with a special mounting point for the special Jamis strap. The strap was really tight, so it could only hold one small item. You could squeeze a rolled-up raincoat or similar object in there. This is not so bad, but the problem was the strap's mounting points prevented me from putting panniers on the bike... and panniers are the whole point of having a touring bike.
My pair of standard Ortlieb panniers (the good / very common ones that you see everyone using) could not be mounted on the Jamis rack. Maybe they want you to buy special Jamis branded panniers? Anyway, I had to hacksaw / file these stupid mounting points off, and throw the strap away.
The brakes: replaced.
It would take me about a week of small adjustments to get these working quietly after I took a wheel off. I had the bike serviced a few times, and every time, the brakes became noisy again after a few days. I had the bike rebuilt / brakes replaced. The new brakes are totally fine.
The gears.
Actually, these are fine, except the original build was shoddy, with odd bits of wire poking out of the levers. These randomly stabbed me and made my fingers bleed. After the rebuild, this is not a problem.
The pedals:
Only kidding, it didn't come with any. I used some I already owned.
So what can I unreservedly recommend about the bike? The frame hasn't snapped, and the handle bar tape is pretty good. I'd say get a Surly instead. They cost about 20% more, but shouldn't require another $1000 and a full rebuild to become a good bike.