Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Thorn General => Topic started by: douggiefox on February 27, 2007, 09:10:52 AM
-
Hi All
I'm asking myself the questions that everyone must ask themselves over and over again when faced with the inevitable Thorn purchase.
I'd had my mind set on a Sport Raven Tour. I could commute on it, I could go for light rides on the weekend & the odd tour. I'm sure this would be my mainstay of cycling.
But then I might wanna do something more adventurous. Looking at Cass Gilbert's tours, I quite fancy something like that! http://www.out-there-biking.com So do I choose a Tour or Catalyst??
Of course I'd like them all! But that's not gonna happen. I've got one shot at it....
I'm not really looking for answers..just sharing the agony :-)
Best
DF
-
We feel your pain - we really do.
The good news is that I think you will love any of the bikes you mentioned - but which one to choose?
Best advice I can give you is to separate out the kind of riding you are already doing (or know that you will do) from the aspirational riding that may happen in the future. Pay far more attention to the first group and when you make your choice be happy that it was the best decision at the time.
-
I agree with stutho and john. I bought a Raven Tour expecting to be able to do expedition camping etc., but it has not happenned and is becoming less likely to. In fact, the Tour suits me very well, but I sometimes wonder about a Sport Tour . . . I have absolutely no regrets about going Rohloff.
If I have interpreted the brochures corectly, the great advantage of the Tour, Catalyst and the new Nomad is that they can be fitted with suspension forks, which sounds as though might be needed for you if your plans come to fruition.
Best of luck
-
It might be possible to fit shocks to the sport. It was an option on the old Mk1 Sport but I don't know about the current Mk2.
-
We all share the agony of making the wrong decision. But 100 days is 100 days !
I went for the RST as my Jack of all trades. I'm not disappointed but then I'm not planning any off road adventure tours in the near future. If I could only have one bike then this would be it. [:D]
I'd also consider getting an additional frame and swapping the wheels and tyres if I wanted an adventure tour.
-
Hi Guys
Thanks for all that...
I had my heart set on an RST in stealth black with flat bars and I think I'm gonna stick with that. My mainstay is commuting and out and about at the weekends. If a big adventure looms I'll deal with that at the time. Nice idea from Swision though...
So now onto extras...
Anyone suggest any must haves?
What're your thoughts on the brake upgrades?
And as the geometry is tighter, do I have to give any consideration to the size of panniers?
Best
DF
-
I have a black RST, which I use for commuting and weekends. I upgraded the brakes to XTR and they are very very good, noticably better than the Deore brakes that were on my previous bike, whether it's worth the money tough to decide, but given that my bike was in memory of my in-laws money was not a ocnsideration. One other advantage of the XTR brakes, is that they're cartridge based so changing brake blocks is simple.
I must confess I bought every upgrade I could think of, so I probably went a bit over the top.
The only consideration to panniers I made is I got the lightweight Thorn ones. I don't intend to use the bike for expeditions so those are suitable and lighter.
One thing I wished I'd considerred was the dynamo. I now have a Arc HID, but wish I'd at least thought about a dynamo when I bought the bike as the HID interferes with my computer.
-
Hi Lardy
So did u go for the full carbon stem, seat post and handle bars? If so, do u think they're worth the additional cost?
Best DF
-
Hi douggiefox,
You may have seen this thread already which is where I discussed my proposed spec. http://www.sjscycles.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=959
I now have a stealth black RST 561L, flat bars like you're proposing.
I upgraded brakes to LX, and they are great, no problems stopping. I chose some other small upgrades but didn't go mad as I wanted to be sure this was the bike for me. It is. However I'm happy with my spec and as and when things wear out I will consider what to replace them with. I've just changed the stem out for a 110mm instead of 105mm and I can't believe it but it does make a difference. Now I just want to ride and get more miles under my belt and forget about the bike, which is very easy with a Rohloff.
Happy speccing. [:D]
-
quote:
Originally posted by douggiefox
Hi Lardy
So did u go for the full carbon stem, seat post and handle bars? If so, do u think they're worth the additional cost?
Best DF
Yes I have carbon stem, seat post and handle bars. It's hard to say if they're worth it. I like the look of them and my bike is great to ride, whether it's better than if those components were aluminium or steel I don't really know. What I do know is I'm very happy with it. I have gone from a decent suspension seatpost on my old bike to doing without on the Raven with no noticable lack of comfort, but whether that is the seatpost or the frame is hard to tell.
The only thing I didn't buy were carbon mudguards, because I thought what is the point the plastic is just as light. However my wife when she first saw the bike said "it's really cool looking, but those mudguards look a bit cheap". I took that as carte blanche to spend some more money and keep meaning to drive down and get carbon mudguards fitted.
-
I'd go for the XTR brakes.
Even on the tandem, with the levers on minimum power setting, I can lock the back wheel if I try hard enough.
-
Suck it up and get a standard Raven Tour. Yes, you may have to suffer some slowness on good roads, but think of what I've done twice now (no more though): Ruining a good road bike because you finally wanted to ride that 400-mile greenway or rail trail that was all cinder and mudholes and tree branches.
Twice, I've gone out on road bikes and come back on ruined pieces of trash, so much money down the drain. Suffer the extra effort on good roads and be glad for what you have on gravel, dirt, and frost-heaved pavement. There is no heartbreak like finding yourself 200 miles into a trip and realizing your new French rims and aluminum racks are not going to survive the ride back.
-
The one option I wish that I had is a SON dynamo hub. Some time in the future I may make up a spare wheel around one.
Brakes - I went for the best I could afford - Avid Ultimates – they are excellent I don’t regret the cost.
(NB I built up the bike myself, including the wheels)
-
The Raven Tour is the only one to do it ALL I think.
If you mean Commuting, Audax, Loaded Touring, true off-road, shopping and so on.
The real decider is true off-road. The Raven Tour can take full MTB off-road tyres and suss-forks.
I've yet to off-road mine (I probably never will). I'll be cycle camping in May and I have just completed a 200K Audax on it (soon to do a 300K Audax on it). It can also take bigger panniers without snagging your heels.
I use 1.5" Panaracer Hi-Roads and it coasts down hills as quickly as any other bikes on the Audax. I also don't get impact/pinch punctures the same as the 700C boys either.
I have a perfectly nice 700C 'fast' Tourer in the garage that I haven't sat on in 12 months.
If the Sport Tour is better then it must be some bike.
-
Doesn't the xTc deserve some consideration? Not for off-road in the Himalaya, but mine tours well, descends brilliantly, does easyish off-road as well as my first (rigid) mountain bike and is exceptional in badly surfaced back-lanes. If really big hills are on the agenda, with camping gear, is Rolhoff a good choice? The granny on my bike made easy work of Mt Lozčre and Mont Aigoual. My longest day so far was a hilly 83 miles. The total lack of discomfort at the end of the ride and again next day was amazing. Thorn design comfortable bikes, but they aren't fast.
-
I think Freddered pretty much hits the nail on the head; if you want something that will do heavy off roading in addition to everything else, the Raven Tour is probably the best option. That said, if you're not going to do off-roading and don't feeled compelled to take in excess of 15Kg of luggage, I'm not yet entirely convinced the RST is a better choice given the extra cost. Taking the RST through its paces in Andalucia last year however, it coped admirably well, without throwing the bike around, with 12kg of luggage on some pretty rough trails.
IMO, Rohloff is THE choice for hills, laden or unladen for the simple reason that you know exactly where you are gearing-wise all of the time and the 44X16 ratio was more than adequate to get me up the most gruelling of climbs including Europe's highest mountain pass. What I'm really looking forward to is testing the RST on a "normal" tour (ie Brittany this May, normal roads, absence of continual mountain ascents/descents) to determine whether it's REALLY worthy of the label of a "fast" tourer! That said, the RST really does make an excellent fast commuter, even if I find myself wanting that elusive 15th gear from time to time, so I've no reason to suspect that it won't live up to my touring expecations in Britanny.
-
My Thorn to Rule Them All is completed.
If you are interested in Thorn Raven Tour finished results...
http://www.sjscycles.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=796
-
I can not recommend the Raven tour with suspension fork for loaded touring. The frame is not stiff enough for it, read: not designed for it. In a Place like Lahdak, you realy want a suspension fork (I met Cass there last Summer), so go for a catalyst, better still a Thorn expedition .
Below two of my last builds. It might look good but it doesn't work!
http://www.geocities.com/s_deklerk/bhistory5.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/s_deklerk/DSC01010_25.JPG
Cheers,
Stijn
-
Stijn, can you elaborate on the problems you had? I have a new raven Nomad on order, which seems to me to be basically a raven tour with s&S couplings and braze ons for disc brakes. As I intend to use the bike almost exclusively for expedition touring , like Himalayas, Great Divide etc' over the next few years, I am greatly concerned by your comments.
Andy Blance says that the raven tour,with a suspension fork fitted, can do almost everything that an MTB can do but carry much more weight. The same wording is used for the nomad. Your comments contradict this.
I wonder , has the nomad been field tested or is the sales pitch just a load of guff, after all, the geometry is different from the perfect exxp;s , the tubing is different and the welding is in a different class altogether. It would be good to hear a few words on the subject from Andy Blance before I drop 2000 quid on a potential lemon.
-
I thought long and hard before ordering my Raven Tour, which I took delivery of a few weeks ago. So far it has lived up to expectations both by climbing very steep tracks i.e. 30 deg (in 36x16), and the 10 mile trip to work. It feels almost as fast as the road bike even with 2" Panaracer Tourguard tyres. I will really test it out offroad in the Outback - my present idea for an offroad section in the tour of Oz is to cycle the tracks through the Kimberly, 700km of dust and corrugations, fully laden. I chose the RT especially for such extremes, and this time next year I'll know if it was up to it - by all accounts it should be. I've chosen this very low gear ratio having suffered fully laden in the Alps last year on the steeper climbs, however in the top gear I can still manage about 25 mph - fast enough for me. I've also gone for the SON hub dynamo for those early starts on hot days: The racks are Thorn's own make - they look pretty substantial! (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/daviddd/DSCF1246.jpg)
-
Is there anyone out there who has ridden a wide range of Thorns. Apart from Stiyn, we all seem to be saying how great ours is. Does anyone really know how the different bicycles compare?
After several years' service, the old xTc brochure has been updated. I couldn't say exactly when this happened because I don't visit the site all that often. However, the result of the update was that I bought some new wheels. Now the xTc is about as fast as my Audax used to be. It has re-energised my cycling. I can now pedal past the beaches where I paddle without wanting to be in my kayak. If anyone else is finding CR18s and Pasela Tourguards a bit sluggish, have a look at the new brochure. I love my new wheels.
Thorn replaced the worn out rims on the old wheels, so I also have them for my next tour, but I'm still on the look out for a tyre which is more rough stuff capable than the Paselas, so if anyone has any ideas, please post them. Do Dread Treds fit CR18 rims?