This bike started into motion when our customer in Burlingame, CA, first rode his friend's Rohloff-equipped touring bike. He liked the internal gear hub so much that he decided to design a bike of his own around the system. During his research into potential frame options, he found our Monkey Lab blog post about an earlier Co-Motion Klatch project we'd completed, and got in touch with us to discuss building something similar for him.
The rider wanted a low-maintenance bike that was suitable for bike-packing, gravel rides, and mild single track. He knew the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 would meet his drivetrain needs perfectly—especially when combined with a Gates Carbon Drive belt—and he had a top shelf build kit in mind to finish off his dream bike. Once we had all the details in place, we got in touch with Co-Motion to finalize the frame details and set out to make the bike happen.
Co-Motion Cycles specializes in building bikes for touring, commuting, and tandem riders at their factory in Eugene, Oregon. They are a prominent supplier of Rohloff bikes in the US, offering several complete touring bikes equipped with these high-quality gear hubs.
The Klatch model is designed as a gravel road racer, but it is also at home on daily commutes, long road rides, or bike-packing adventures. With a Reynolds 853 tubeset, the Klatch frame is noticeably lighter than the touring models that Co-Motion specs the SPEEDHUB on, and is categorized as one of their race-capable bikes. Stock geometry on the Klatch is more upright and stable than a road racing bike, but remains nimble and quick enough for fast-paced pavement rides. Co-Motion offers custom geometry upon request for all models, and we took advantage of the offer to dial in the perfect fit for this customer.
Since the Klatch is normally sold with derailleurs, we worked with Co-Motion to make this Klatch Rohloff SPEEDHUB and Gates Carbon Drive belt-specific. This entailed adding a two-piece drive side dropout to get the belt into the rear triangle, Rohloff-specific cable guides for clean cable routing, an eccentric bottom bracket for tensioning the belt, and extra stout chain stays to prevent any flex in the drivetrain and ensure max belt performance.
In addition to custom geometry, Co-Motion offers an extensive selection of paint options applied at one of their in-house paint booths. This customer chose their semi-custom "Pewter Grey" color for the base, with slices of “Sunrise Yellow" on the inside of the chain stays and fork for added color accents. This paint job has tiny metallic particles embedded in the paint that reflect light and add depth and shine to the look of the frame. All these highlights and personalized details combined to make this bike just what the rider was looking for; a top-notch build with aesthetics that complement and represent this bike's quality at a glance.
Between time of order and arrival of the frame, Gebla released their Rohbox ratchet box, which makes it possible to shift the SPEEDHUB using modified SRAM or Campagnolo shifters - either integrated drop bar brake/shift levers or flat bar trigger shifters. This was a welcome development for this customer, allowing him to have the same finger-tip shifting he was used to on his road bike. In this case, we used SRAM Rival shift levers and TRP Hy/Rd hydraulic/mechanical disk brakes to get nearly full-hydraulic brake performance while keeping cable set up easy.
To complete this top-shelf build, the bike got carbon cranks, seatpost, and handlebar. A Sella Anatomica X Series saddle provides comfort for long days on the bike, as does Lizard Skins thick DSP bar tape.
This customer wanted a one-off adventure road bike fitted with components that would last and look as smooth as they ride. With the help of Co-Motion, we were able to deliver exactly what he was looking for. If you are interested in building your dream bike with any of these features, give us a call. We'll help you build it and get your own adventure started!
• Frame: Co-Motion Klatch
• Fork: ENVE CX w/Klatch
• Headset: Chris King InSet
• Stem: Easton EA70
• Handlebar: FSA K-Force Light Compact
• Shifter: SRAM Rival STI
• Bar Tape: Lizard Skins DSP
• Seat post: FSA SLK
• Saddle: Selle Anatomica X Series
• Front Hub: Chris King ISO Disk
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim Laser
• Nipples: Sapim Brass
• Rims: ENVE XC MTB Clincher 29"
• Tires: Surly Knard 700c
• Cranks: Race Face Next SL
• Pedals: Shimano XT SPD
• Bottom Bracket: Beer Components
• Chain ring: Gates Carbon Drive
• Rear Sprocket: Gates Carbon Drive
• Chain: Gates Carbon Drive Belt
• Brakes: TRP HY/RD
• Brakes & Levers: SRAM Rival Drop Levers + Gebla Rohbox
• Rotors: Magura 160mm