Review: Koga Signature (based on ‘Grandtourer-S Shimano XT discbrake’) 2019

After ten years and 45000km with the same bicycle and after one expensive and bad purchase, I decided I needed a new bicycle.

I decided to buy a Koga for the following reasons:

What follows is my review of this bicycle I designed for myself.

frame type	GrandTourer-S Discbrake
frame geometry	suspension corrected (bottom end of the head tube higher up to make room for a suspension fork's travel, though in my configuration the forks are rigid); frame size 57cm
frame & fork material	triple butted and triple hardened 6061 aluminium
front hub with dynamo	Shimano DH-T8000
rear hub	Shimano FH-M8000
tyres	Schwalbe Marathon Plus 28" 37mm
brake calipers	Shimano BR-T????
brake rotors	Shimano SM-RT81
brake levers	Shimano BL-T8000
rims	Ryde Andra 210 28" / Sapim DB Silver
mudguards	SKS Chromoplastics
gears	Shimano Deore XT T8000
gear shifter	Shimano XT Deore SL-T8000 left and right
chainset	Shimano XT Deore FC-T8000
handlebars	KOGA Riser
stem	KOGA Signature Alloy
grips	Ergon GP3
headset	???
pedals	???
saddle	Selle Royal Optica
seatpost	KOGA Signature Alloy
front light	B&M Lumotec lQ-QS (with standlight) (same as IQ-X?)
rear light	B&M Toplight Line Plus (with standlight)
rear carrier	Tubus Logo Classic
low rider	none
stand	Pletscher Comp 18
weight	13.3Kg (excluding saddle and pedals)

MAJOR: you get no components that you don’t want (e.g. I ordered without saddle and pedals as I didn’t like the options available from Koga and sourced these components elsewhere)
MAJOR: disc brakes will hopefully mean I don’t replace the wheels every five years

Read Wikipedia’s description of touring bicycle specifications and then choose a bicycle with those characteristics (i.e. don’t put the cart before the horse!).
Play with Koga’s bicycle designer even if you don’t want a Koga bicycle; it forces you to consider what you really want and why.
If you intend to use the Koga-specific vendors in your area for repair work, then visit them. Did they seem competent?