Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Muppets Threads! (And Anything Else) => Topic started by: jags on December 31, 2017, 01:40:22 pm
-
Happy new year folks hope 2018 is a great cycling year for everyone stay healthy and keep those bikes running well .
all the very best.
Anto.
-
Thanks, Anto, and the best to you and your bikes for the coming year.
(Hard for me to think of cycling right now, as life has moved indoors: temp was -28 last night, wind chill of -36 :( But this too will pass, I keep telling myself -- there's a bike box in my basement with my name on it, and our son's address in Queensland.)
Cheers, John
-
if i could afford it John i'd move to spain for the winter feckin hate this weather 7 weeks since i thrown a leg over me bike. >:(
still hopefully i'll get out real soon ,need to get the miles in i'm as fat as a fool..
anto.
-
Slightly belated Happiest of New Year greetings to all. I've been out on my bike, about to go again. I had to return home to take care of some things, so two shorter rides are better when a single longer one is not possible.
Freezing fog outside today and the face surfaces of all my clothing is soaked and frozen.
All the best to one and all,
Dan.
-
Happy new year one and all. Got the party food and drinks ready here and waiting for the guests to arrive, feel free to drop in if your are passing. Good cycling in 2018!
-
Happy New Year to all. Pouring down here, though that hasn't put off the fireworks. The cats are all under the sofas, the explosions sounded so close.
-
This year my Nomad will have it's seventh birthday. How long is that in dog years? Is there any sort of appropriate ceremony. Maybe a BeerMitzva or a 14 click salute?
-
Happy New Year to you all. Did 32 miles yesterday which gave me a total of 10.001 miles for 2017.
-
Well done that's a lotta miles in anyone's book. how many did Pauline do bet she wasn't far behind you. ;)
i have no idea the miles i done probably around 3000 ,God only knows what this year will bring.
anto.
-
Pauline did over 6000 miles but remember she also did 3 long distance walks during the year.
-
no bother to either one of you. 8) 8)
-
Happy new year.... I am new on the forum, but heading down to Bridgewater tomorrow to try out a new Nomad..... so excited.
-
The beast (nomad that is) ;)
Welcome to the forum ,you must have big plans for touring if your going for the nomad , ;) friend of mine has one old type he traveled the world a few years back on one not a bother.
anyway happy new year and hope things work out for you.
jags
better known as
Anto.
-
Welcome to the Forum, Repeat! All best wishes on your time with Thorn at Bridgwater. Please let us know how you come out.
Best,
Dan.
-
Welcome from me too! There are quite a few of us here who have Nomads, so if you have any questions or want advice, feel free to ask. We are a friendly bunch.
- DaveS
-
Thanks for the warm welcome... not sure about big plans, but I do like the idea of having a bike that can do everything (ok not anything fast) and I want to do some off road cycle touring - planning for the pennine bridleway this year and the something longer next year but less off-road. I have a very light carbon MTB but don’t think it will be up to dragging a trailer around and my other bike is a doi it all titanium road bike. So I think the Nomad will do all I need (slowly) and will last a lifetime. I’m sure there are other options but having done some research I keep coming back to the Nomad. Feel free to dissuade me though.
-
well the boys at sjs will certainly put you right
your going to find the bikes old school (i did) im used to riding road bikes i also rise a Terry Dolan Le tape little cracker of a bike ,my other bike is the Thorn Audax i ride it all the time class bike does everything i want it to do including touring,but i try to go as light as possible 2 rear panniers barbag usually does me fine.
theres a lot of lads here do adventure stuff so i reckon you enjoy the chat with them .
anyway this old bird is off to his cot best of luck with the new baby .
anto.
-
So I think the Nomad will do all I need (slowly) and will last a lifetime. I’m sure there are other options but having done some research I keep coming back to the Nomad. Feel free to dissuade me though.
As a happy owner of a 2012 Nomad Mk2, I'd never put you off one! ;)
If you'd like to see what I have done with mine, most entries are in the Forum's gallery under "Danneaux's Nomad" here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4523.0
It is my go-to expedition bike and has proven ideal for everything from pavement to goat tracks and happily carries all I need for extended self-supported solo touring including up to 26.5l of water for desert transits. I find its unladen on-pavement limit is practically about 200km/day simply because its capability off-road tempts me to detour from pavement to slower and steeper gravel logging roads and the odd dirt track, so overall speed and therefore daily distance tends to be less rather than due to any shortcoming of the bike.
That said, the Nomad is a "lot" of bike and unless one needs the true expedition/heavy cargo capacity/rugged road capability it offers, a Raven might well make a better "all-rounder" simply because it is lighter (equipped as I prefer, my Nomad weighs 20kg dry and unladen) and more lively but lacks the cargo payload capacity of the much more robust Nomad.
I only found one easily addressed shortcoming to mine: Equipped with a rigid seatpost, the bike rode wonderfully fully laden but the same frame that made it perfect for heavy loads was uncomfortably stiff when ridden fast and unladen on really rough logging roads, causing some neck problems. Fitting a Thudbuster LT completely addressed this problem for me and made the bike a joy to ride both unladen on the worst roads and fully laden on any road.
If you choose to fit drop handlebars to yours, you will likely need an M (Medium) frame and a shorter reach stem and compact-reach/shallow-drop handlebars to compensate for the longer top tube. Equipped this way, mine fits identically to my drop-bar randonneur and touring bikes and I have had no handling problems.
Where you already have other bikes of different sorts, I think a Nomad will nicely fit your intended brief and will prove satisfactory and then some for your needs. I have a number of bikes in my fleet and still find myself coming back to the Nomad again and again as a "favorite ride" among them -- for almost any purpose because it works so very well and I still really like it after 5.5 years of ownership.
Best,
Dan.
-
I have a very light carbon MTB but don’t think it will be up to dragging a trailer around.
Nomad if you want to do expedition touring.
A slightly lighter Raven would be sufficient for most heavy touring, and will happily pull a heavy trailer.
I wanted a Nomad originally, SJS persuaded me that a "heavy build" Raven Tour (predecessor to the Raven) would be better for my needs, adequate for cycle-camping in Europe and more fun to ride when moderately loaded. So far, no regrets about getting a Raven Tour rather than a Nomad.
My trailer tow bike is another Raven Tour frame built up as a utility bike, with a Shimano 8-speed hub gear instead of a Rohloff. I use this with 4 panniers for supermarket shopping. It also copes with my heavy two-wheel trailer and trailer loads of up to 70 kg (so far). My record trailer load was 130 kg of builder's sand, but that was with my old utility bike, less stable than the Raven Tour with a heavy load.
I don't tour with the trailer, it is used for heavy or bulky loads that won't fit in four panniers. As I don't own a motor vehicle, when I need a bag of cement or a few breezeblocks for work around the house I use my trailer to fetch them, or when I go to the fruit farm for two crates of apples.
I hire a van if I need a really big load (example a ton of breezeblocks for a big project).
-
Well thanks for the feedback and the link to danneaux’s bike was very nice. At SJS I was taken very good care of by Stephen and we quickly concluded that the Nomad was what I needed. I was actually surprised by how light it was.... probably because I had prepared my mind in advance for a much heavier feeling bike. 20 minutes riding around the park to try out the Rohloff Hub and I’m happy. Order placed. I feel that I may have disrupted the happy new year thread... but all I can say in defence is that this should be my kick start for a happy year!
-
I consider it to be that when a new Nomad is bought, it is day zero, a new year, no matter whichever day of a year it falls on.
January first is a day of hope. We hope that pleasant adventures will bring new adventures, perhaps a new "me" and more meaning to our lives. We wish good things for ourselves and for those we love. Sometimes it comes true, sometimes not. The idealism of new hope is a good step in the right direction.
So it is, exactly that same way, the moment we first sit on our Thorns, spin the cranks and move ourselves forward.
New Thorn. New Year. Bon voyage. Don't forget a sip of your favorite beverage, and some of us believe in the power of a well considered name to animate the machine, to breathe spirit into it. :)
-
That very profound and lovely sentiment. Can I ask where you are from Pavel - only I am often in Czech Republic and I know Pavel as a fairly common name there.
-
As for the name - I’m thinking of “SAMSON” on account of the load bearing capabilities
-
Happy New Thorn repeat, look forward to seeing the first pics.
-
As for the name - I’m thinking of “SAMSON” on account of the load bearing capabilities
Excellent. My Nomad is "Seymour" (See-More) because his superior load-carrying capacity and overall capability do indeed allow me to see more.
Best,
Dan. (...echoing the call for photos in the Gallery board so we can see Samson soonest ;) )
-
That very profound and lovely sentiment. Can I ask where you are from Pavel - only I am often in Czech Republic and I know Pavel as a fairly common name there.
Bingo! Born in the Czech Republic, living and cycling in the hot, swampy South Eastern United States. :)
My Nomad is named "Atlas" I sense a theme here. :D
My Raven RST has the moniker "Rocinante" and I'd love to forced to search out an appropriate name for either a Audax or a Club tour one day.
-
Nice to meet you Pave - I’m travelling to Brno on Monday, but via Ryanair rather than Samson. I hope your tour goes well.
-
Has the new baby arrived yet ;)
anto.
-
No not yet.... expected in early February. Can’t wait!
-
Am i hijacking this thread by chipping in with my bike name?
A second hand Raven, so The Old Bird.
May e someone could/ should start a name your bike thread?
-
giddy up horse.
-
Am i hijacking this thread by chipping in with my bike name?
A second hand Raven, so The Old Bird.
May e someone could/ should start a name your bike thread?
There was one, quite a while ago. I think it's disappeared to where old threads sit and wait for a second life. It's great to see peoples creativity.
-
[Regarding threads on bike naming...]
There was one, quite a while ago.
Several, Actually. The two with the most entries are here:
Does Your Bike Have A Name?
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=143.0
...and...
What Shall I Name Her?
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=12243.0
Best,
Dan.