Hello everyone.
Im pleased to say that I was the winning bidder on this auction and that I am very pleased with my purchase. The chap who was selling it had it in storage for 2 years and had hardly touched it so had decided to sell. He had built it up himself and shipped it out to New Delhi and cycled over the Himalayas apparently, nice guy. I don't have such grand plans as of yet but it's nice to have it in the shed just in case!
I have been in the market for a Thorn for a while now and was determined to find a Rohloff tourer in my size (587L) but alas they never appear. I came very close to buying a Nomad Mk 2 a couple of years ago, but having been to Bridgwater and getting measured up I had a change of heart. I will use the Ripio primarily for Bridleway bashing in the Staffordshire Moorlands where I live and hopefully some touring in Scotland this summer so I think i've got a good bike for my needs at present.
As it had been it storage I was a little apprehensive about the condition, also the listing itself wasn't the best and only had one grainy photo which I am assuming would have put many people off bidding. All the better for me, I think i've got a good bike here. Strangely enough I was most pleased when I saw that the brakes where the old XT type with the parallell linkages, beautiful brakes and fantastic stopping power akin to the very best XTR. I'm convinced these will be a sought after setup for years to come. I was also pleased to have the Magura Odur forks with lockout, of which I have read good reports.
I took it for a quick spin this morning and then stripped everything back to the frame and gave it a good degrease and replaced all the mismatched mounts with new shiny stainless all round. (remnants of a SJS workshop sweepings bag, what a great buy that was)
It needs a couple of things doing before i'll be happy with it. I'll fit a few new parts - a new chain, cables and outers all round and BB (thinking standard Shimano Deore Hollowtech II external BB?). I'm 6'2" and fairly broad shouldered so i'll also fit a longer stem and wider bars - the current 600mm bars feel quite narrow.
It also looks like the previous owner has let his bar bag rub on the head tube, so some of the powder coat has rubbed away back to the steel. I would like to restore this but it is not something I have done before. Could anyone offer advice about the best way to go about it? Also does anyone know what the RAL colour is, and where I could source some paint? I would like to get a good match but it does not have to be perfect, it is a rough and ready tourer after all.
The Thorn expedition rear rack also has some corrosion in quite a few places so I would like to give a once over too, has anyone restored one of these before? I already have an identical rear rack which I have been using on my Dawes Galaxy for the past few years so I will probably sell this once I have tidied it up.
I have tried to upload some photos but the file size limit has scuppered me for now...
Any comments or advice will be gratefully received!
Jack
