Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Our Reader’s Rig of the week comes from Erin and Megan in Colorado, who share the loaded Co-Motion Java tandem they recently pedaled down the Peru Great Divide and the GDMBR. Check out their bike and learn about how it serves as a rolling representation of their relationship here…
Words and photos by Erin and Megan
Hi! We are Erin and Megan, a queer couple living in Boulder, Colorado. Our relationship started on bikes. Erin, who was new to biking at the time, joined Megan on a bikepacking trip through the Dolomites. She rode a rental Trek Madone road bike with skinny gravel tires up and down the chunky, loose, steep Italian roads. You could say it was love at first sight for Megan, watching this girl crush the ride on the wrong bike.
Since then, we have enjoyed riding bikes—tandems and singles, or half bikes—to experience the places and people around us and to connect with each other. We especially like riding our bike(s) uphill! We are both fortunate to have flexible enough work schedules that allow us to prioritize making time for adventure. Erin works as a scientist in the earth sciences, and Megan works as a research coordinator, conducting health research with the disability community.
Our tandem journey started with a spontaneous purchase of a used $250 Burley tandem on Facebook Marketplace. We didn’t know much about tandems when we bought it, but we were sold on the allure of riding together. After joy rides around Boulder and a race up Mount Blue Sky (a 14,000-foot peak in Colorado), we dreamed about what we could accomplish together on the tandem. Could we tandem bike the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR)? We had completed a number of bikepacking trips together on single bikes, and the GDMBR was next on our list. Unfortunately, our old Burley was not up for the task. We needed a new tandem.
We eyed the Co-Motion Java, dubbed the “ultimate off-road adventure tandem.” After months of searching for a used bike, we found an older Java available at a bike shop in San Diego. It was the prettiest light blue color and a fair price. It was ours! It was February 2025, and we had plans to set off on the GDMBR in August. However, the bike wasn’t complete yet. We wanted a way for our queer relationship to be more visible; plus, we needed a way to pack our gear onto the tandem. We reached out to Rogue Panda and designed a custom rainbow frame bag to adorn the bike—our favorite piece of gear!
- Frame: Co-Motion Java
- Fork: Co-Motion Taper Gauge
- Rims: Astral Outback
- Hubs: Co-Motion
- Tires: 29 x 2.1″ Vittoria Mezcal
- Handlebars: FSA Adventure and Co-Motion stoker bar
- Headset: Cane Creek 110
- Crankset: Co-Motion Compact 50/34T, 11-speed
- Pedals: Shimano SPD
- Cassette: 11-40T
- Derailleur(s): Shimano Ultegra R8000 2×11
- Brakes: TRP Spyre with 220mm rotor
- Shifter(s): Shimano Ultegra R8000 2×11
- Saddle: Selle Italia XR/Selle Italia Lady
- Seatpost: Co-Motion/Cirrus Kinekt
- Stem: FSA Gossamer and Co-Motion adjustable stoker stem
- Front bags: Oveja Negra 925 Handlebar Bag, Revelate Designs Pronghorn Handlebar Bag
- Frame bags: Custom Rogue Panda
- Rear bags: Blackburn Rack, Ortlieb Pannier Sport-Packer Plus
- Accessory bags: Oveja Negra Top Tube Bag, Green Guru Top Tube Bag, Assortment of feed bags
However, Erin was soon furloughed from her federally funded science job, and she faced the question of what to do. Look for a new job, or try to make the best of forced time off? We chose the latter and decided to pursue another big dream of ours: the Peru Great Divide. In April 2025, after making a few modifications to our bike (mainly installing larger rotors), we flew with our tandem to Lima, Peru, and soon began our 29-day journey through the Andes. Then, in August, we set off on our 42-day journey from Banff to Antelope Wells along the GDMBR.
We love the tandem for many reasons. First, it’s just plain fun! People don’t expect to see a tandem. Its uniqueness turns heads and makes people smile as you ride past. At the same time, it challenges us to communicate our needs when we are constantly in each other’s space. The tandem has a reputation as the “divorce bike,” and there’s a saying that, “Wherever your relationship is heading, tandem biking will take you there faster.” We embrace the tandem as a tool to strengthen our relationship on and off the bike.
Most importantly, the tandem feels like an external representation of our relationship. People often assume we are just friends, and we’re too shy or scared to correct them. Riding together on the tandem bike, sporting a rainbow frame bag, is a clear way for us to tell society, “No, we are not just friends.” It is a way for us to take up space and be loud without saying a word.
You can follow Erin and Megan on Instagram.
Send Us Your Bikepacking Rig
Use the form below to submit your bikepacking rig. We’ll choose one per week to feature in a Reader’s Rig Dispatch and on Instagram. To enter, email us your best photo of the bike (preferably at a 90° angle), your Instagram username (optional), and a short description of you and your rig. If your bike is selected, we’ll need a total of five photos and a little bit more info.
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