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EB13: Koga BeachRacer – Drop Bar Fat Bike Takes Racing to the Shores

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2014-Koga-BeachRacer-sand-gravel-road-bike

The Koga Beachracer is a purpose built bike for Holland’s beach races, which can draw more than 3,000 competitors. Why such a draw? Well, there aren’t really mountains in Holland since virtually the entire land mass relies on a line of sand dunes and consistent pumping to prevent the ocean from submerging it. Originally, that’s what those trademark windmills were used for.

So, beach races.

The frame is based on (and replaces) their Cross Winner cyclocross bike. But, they tweaked it to make it more effective for the flat, sandy courses. The seat tube got steeper to bring you closer to a time trial position so you can lay down the power through softer sand. The head angle was slackened a bit to provide better stability. All of which sounds a lot like some gravel racers we’ve seen.

It’s a unique concept, and apparently the judges at Eurobike thought so too, bestowing upon it one of the show’s coveted awards.

2014-Koga-Beach-Racer-action-shots02

Koga had race footage video running to show just what beach racing is. Promo video at bottom of post.

2014-Koga-BeachRacer-sand-gravel-road-bike

They added a lot more clearance at the rear for a really fat tire and are spec’ing a slick on the rear since most of the races start on or use segments of pavement. The front uses their own carbon rigid fork but doesn’t have nearly as much clearance. It’s using a Schwalbe Thunder Burt 2.1 tire at the front and a Supermoto 2.3529er tires on 29er mountain bike wheels. You could easily swap rubber and take it off road.

2014-Koga-BeachRacer-sand-gravel-road-bike

Double butted 7005 alloy frame and steel Truvativ chainring help combat salt water. It comes as a 1×10 and e*thirteen chainguide, but there’s room at the chainstay yoke for a double, and the 105 shifters are left unaltered. So, you could use the extra set of cable guides to set up a front derailleur.

2014-Koga-BeachRacer-sand-gravel-road-bike

Complete bike as shown is about 10.3kg (22.7lbs).

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27 Comments
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Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
10 years ago

Sure that’s a fatbike?

brian
brian
10 years ago

i cant believe there arent any comments yet. koga made a bike so subtly weird that all the snarky contributors on bikerumor dont know how to react.

it, um, looks like a hong fu? wait no it doesnt. ive got nothing.

A.
A.
10 years ago

So you chimed in with the first snarky comment. Good job!

Quinn
Quinn
10 years ago

This is Not a fat bike, it’s 29+, and which they have come Late to the party, you are also talking to an American crowd about a European specific bike/racing

satisFACTORYrider
satisFACTORYrider
10 years ago

i dig it.

Papageno
Papageno
10 years ago

Nice bike Koga! In the Netherlands the brand Koga is not known for their new an breakthrough designs. But apparently they are working on it.

Quinn
Quinn
10 years ago

saw someone else make a point, it is not Fat, it is closer to Mostercross, and in That can, they are Really Really late to the party

Ernst
Ernst
10 years ago

I dont think it is a fat bike, but I like the execution of what it is; a beach racer.

Wojtek G
Wojtek G
10 years ago

Very cool! Quite unusual but I like it!

Speedy
Speedy
10 years ago

@Quinn – last I checked the internet is available in Europe too.

Also, isn’t 29+ a segment of the Fat Bike Market…

King County
King County
10 years ago

I don’t see where in the article it states that this is a fat bike.

brian
brian
10 years ago

[deleted]

Volsung
Volsung
10 years ago

the croation bear’s tt machine will crush this aluminum toy.

AlanM
AlanM
10 years ago

I was watching the video, thinking how cool and fun the racing looked. Then I get down to the comments section where it turns into a war of stupid comments. “You are also talking to an American crowd about a European specific bike/racing.” “They are late to the party.” Etc., etc.

Guess what? It’s a bike, it’s riding, it looks like fun!

Felton From the Big D
Felton From the Big D
10 years ago

I ride that rig on Miami Dade Beach and skid on ur towel.

– Flying Dutchman

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

Nice.

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

..but easier just to get one of the numerous carbon mtb frames and put drop bars on it. Had bike just like that, before putting wide flat bars back in to run better brakes and shifter.

caspar
caspar
10 years ago

Coooolest thing Ive seen from Eurobike this yr !!

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

Uber cool.

Lazy Spinner
Lazy Spinner
10 years ago

Sand crit!

Troy Junge
Troy Junge
10 years ago

Something about beach and seeing a chain and cassette…..I would be reaching for an internal geared hub pretty quickly I would think.
Lovely looking bike….stealth black is a winner on the streets…guess it stands out on the sand!

bbb
bbb
10 years ago

What CX bikes should be like…

MGK
MGK
10 years ago

@bbb…i agree, that’s smitten for CX.

cb
cb
10 years ago

salt water – the best thing about it is that one needs to replace parts very often.

wunnspeed
10 years ago

This was my favorite bike at EuroBike… but what I REALLY want are the bars. Where can I get those?

Izzy
Izzy
9 years ago

I don’t see how this is a fat bike. Neither is it a 29+ bike. It’s basically a road/cx bike that can take 29er MTB tires.

Donniboy
Donniboy
9 years ago

What category do you think it is CLOSEST to? It’s not BANG on…just close…

-Fat bikes in the industry are generally regarded as having greater than 3.7″ tires and less than 5″. They are also in the 26″ rim size with 65mm+ wide rims upto 100mm. Think Surly Pugsley.
-29+ is anything generally wider than 2.5″ and less than 3.8″ in the tire. The wheel rim is 700c diameter and mountain wide generally about 50mm +- 10mm. Think Surly Krampus.
-29er tires are actually more about tire DIAMETER, not width. I say this because 29ers came from the idea of using a road rim diameter in addition to a wider than road tire for MTBing. That being said, tires on 29ers are generally in the 1.9-2.5″ range.
-Monstercross blends the ideas of a 29er and combines them with the ideas of a cyclocross bike.
That is, provide a drop bar with an aero position and road shift levers of a cross bike PLUS the tire width of a 29er and some MTB gear ranges. What you get is the terrain abilities of a 29er plus multiple rider hand positions on the handlebar. There are very few of these on the market. One example is the Salsa Fargo.

Koga Beachcruiser is neither of these and one of them LOL. I say that because it has a super short headtube that forces your weight down in the front and makes it harder to climb with as a consequence. It truly is a unique bike. The Koga doesn’t have an MTB tire on the rear, but rather a quality cruiser tire. If you have ridden a race cyclocross bike before with an aggressive geometry, you might find it very monstercrossy after changing the rear tire. Just realize it isn’t meant for climbing steep pitches in comfort, nor is it meant for comfort on longish bike packing trips as the Salsa Fargo would be.

F+*k the myths.

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