# REI Mazama?



## The Kopish (Jul 12, 2009)

I am starting to look for an all-day, mixed terrain bike and I came across the REI Novara Mazama in my research. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone that has actually put time in the saddle of one. Any one here with experience or arm-chair observations? For comparison, I'm also interested in the Kona Rove or Sutra, Salsa Vaya, and a few other similar bikes. I gravitate twoards a steel frame and already have a good bike for paved roads and full suspension MTB. This will be used for cruising, crushed gravel paths that can go on for days, and perhaps some light 1-2 day bikepacking.

Thanks for any help.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

While shopping for a "cross" bike I recently took a serous look at the Mazama. I like the tire clearance, steel frame, tubeless rims, and the build spec is actually good for the price. 

The only thing that killed the deal was the fork length. I think it's a 410 axle to crown with a bit more then normal offset. Not being able to run an aftermarket carbon fork is a bummer. Plus, I had parts and just needed a frame.


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## Megashnauzer (Nov 2, 2005)

there's a review of this bike in the new adventure cycling magazine.


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## flumphboy (Jan 15, 2010)

And here is a video review from us:
Video Review: Novara Mazama | Adventure Cycling Association


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## Tinman (Aug 18, 2013)

I rode one last week. Along with a AWOL (again), Fargo & Vaya.

I like it a lot (Mazama). I don't see a need for a "carbon" fork on it.

Looked like there was room for 2" rubber + enough mud clearance. 
I liked the saddle, bar end shifters (surprised me that I would),trip and in particular the flare of the drop bars for dirt, comfort and ease of reach brakes. I felt the bars needed a thicker gel tape. It had nice balance and was faster out of the hole from a dead stop than I expected. The welds all looked tight,accurate and smooth (paint helps !). One color = Red. Less marketing decals than all but the AWOL which I appreciated. Wasn't familiar with the hub brand per memory. Braze on's a plenty ~ its a damn nice bike. Between it and the others above it seemed more like an AWOL in ride feel,geometry with out getting overly technical than the other two listed above.

Seems to me a very good value except one is not supporting a LBS. Good for any terrain tour'in / pack'in , commute, mess'in around on single track.

I found it comfortable, seemingly well built,good value,easy on the eyes and just plain old fun to ride

Urban to Alaska - Swiss Army Knife

Personally, I am just not sold on flared drop dirt bars compared to a low riser,swept XC MTB bar with bars ends and the likes of Ergon or Spesh Body Geometry grips........though I like them better than standard drops. I don't see "more usable hand positions" on the dirt drops, nor any real gain in aerodynamics, I do see a bit less practical use MTB'in ~. The ergonomic grips available for straight/riser bars combined with similar bar ends .........I really like , even better than my former Bullnose bars (taped) just because they are so adjustable in angles and the grips , ergonomically .......just have gotten worlds better,,,,,,,,,in terms of long rides anyways
BTW-Those new for 2015 Ergon G-5 Bio Corks look really nice. I had a chance last week to feel the Ergon G5 standard in large (great) but want the bio cork.......perhaps some day..........my current ones are pretty nice as well - Specialized XC Body Geometry with Ned O bar ends. The Mazama needs a more off road tape job on it, for it's "dirt drops" . The AWOL dirt drops are already there in the tape dept. I liked the slight added flare and bar in general of the Mazama and the Fargo (more flare) over the AWOL (less flare)......

It should meet the rigid specs of the "Monstercross bike Sheriff's" and their little culture club on said thread here,  ...right out of the box.....as does the AWOL


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## Space Robot (Sep 13, 2008)

Anyone else with experience on the Mazama? Can it in fact fit 2" 29er tires? Trying to decide between this and the Awol. The Awol has up to 1.9 tire clearance, but I like the Deore mtn drivetrain and bar end shifters on the Mazama much better.


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## Hcostell (Apr 15, 2015)

cackalacky said:


> Anyone else with experience on the Mazama? Can it in fact fit 2" 29er tires? Trying to decide between this and the Awol. The Awol has up to 1.9 tire clearance, but I like the Deore mtn drivetrain and bar end shifters on the Mazama much better.


I put in 40+ miles on a stock Mazama last Sunday on road, double track, single track, very technical rocky single track, gravel roads with large gravel, paved MUT, and fine gravel paths. I loved the bike over 39 of those 40 miles. The exception was very technical rocky single track. I admit that I lack the technical skills for that kind of riding. Perhaps a full sus bike could compensate for some of my lack of competence. The Mazama did fine over all but the nastiest rock gardens, though I got a bit more of a pounding than I might have liked. Once, I bounced the bottom bracket on something that I would have cleared on a bike with higher clearance. No surprise, really--it's not a mountain bike. It did surprise me, however, in how well it handled all but the gnarliest stuff.

On roads, it felt a little heavy and slow off the mark in comparison to my road bike; again, no surprise. I looked at a few Strava segments and found that my net times were consistent with my road bike over rollers. Descents were really nice and stable and I must have made up some speed there.

Mud-pack and sandy double track were a joy. Swoopy single track was great, though the Mazama is not fantastically agile. It was remarkably stable on a road covered in large-chunk gravel.

The biggest surprise was how fresh I felt the next day despite 4 hours or fairly hard riding (including 30 minutes of shoving the beast over rock gardens). The Mazama is very comfortable (YMMV) and fun to ride.

I didn't try riding loaded. Don't know how it would handle touring.

The Mazama is certainly worth considering if you're in the market for a Fargo/Vaya/920/LHT or anything else in the category of off-roadable all-rounders. Perhaps not as nice as those, but a much better price proposition.


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## niles25 (Mar 3, 2012)

I know this thread is a bit old, but I just came across it. I had the privilege to spend 3 days and 150 miles on this bike last summer. I say privileged because the Mazama was an absolute joy to ride. I did a 3-day tour on gravel and paved roads and this bike handled every second of it with ease, loaded with about 30 pounds of gear via a rear rack/panniers. At first I wasn't too sure about the bars, but they were perfect for everything we encountered; comfortable, multiple hand positions, and the drops were awesome for bombing gravel roads. The only thing I would change about the bike were the brakes, they weren't that bad, just not that awesome. I also come from a mountain biking background and might have unrealistic expectations. They perhaps could have used some adjusting to make them perform a little better as well. 

For the tire size question above, I was able to squeeze 2.1 WTB Nano's in there without any clearance issues (I didn't ride it like this, I was just curious to see if they would fit).


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