Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: pastafarian on November 09, 2008, 04:37:03 PM
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I took a couple of pictures of my new best friend, in the lovely but somewhat rainy outdoors. One of them did not come out like a ufo shot, so here it is :D
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Looks good, thanks for sharing.
Nice racks, have you tried riding it fully laden?
What brake blocks are you using?
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Some initial thoughts on the bike:
It rides very comfortably on both tarmac and forest roads. My previous point of reference is an aluminium frame mountainbike with a suspension fork. From what I can tell, the Raven rides a lot smoother. I guess that's what people are saying about steel having built in suspension, it seems to soak up vibrations. Because of the stability, I can also go downhill faster with confidence. So that's one important aspect of a do-everything-bike fulfilled.
The Nitto Randonneur handlebars are very comfortable with lots of hand positions. I had never ridden drops before, so I was all set on getting a straight handlebar with a pair of cane creek barends. I've tried those too but since it's just one hand position they don't even compare to the drop handlebar imo. I'm really happy I got talked into trying it. The position of the Rohloff shifter fits well, since I seem to be riding more and more in the drops.
The Rohloff is a no-brainer. As expected, the lower range of gears generates some noise. Doesn't bother me at all, because I know it's normal and doesn't affects the hub. A reason why you notice this sound is because the upper range is dead quiet. It really isn't a problem at all, but perhaps important to be aware of as on a non-Rohloff bike that sound would mean you're doing something wrong or that it's time for maintenance.
The bike is lighter and faster than I expected.
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Looks good, thanks for sharing.
Nice racks, have you tried riding it fully laden?
What brake blocks are you using?
Thank you! :) I just got this bike last weekend so haven't had time to ride it fully laden, but that is the reason I bought it. Hope to be doing some long distance touring on it.
Don't know about the brake blocks, but they are only temporary. The rims are rigida andra 30 so will be getting the special Swisstop brake blocks in a couple of weeks. I hope they last a long time cause I figured this would be a one time expense ;) Today was my first time riding in the rain and there was noticeably less bite, but still possible to bring the bike to a halt.
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The low gears will definitely get quieter with more mileage and an oil change or two.
Enjoy your bike!
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that's a really nice looking bike - I like the Nitto bars - good to see silver/alloy up front for change. What stem is that?
ians
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that's a really nice looking bike - I like the Nitto bars - good to see silver/alloy up front for change. What stem is that?
ians
Thank you! The stem is an IRD (Interloc Racing Design), same brand as the cantilever brakes.
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Some pictures of a recent 2 day tour with some geocaching along the way: http://picasaweb.google.com/frekvenskurva/NewAlbum200903202129?feat=directlink (http://picasaweb.google.com/frekvenskurva/NewAlbum200903202129?feat=directlink)
The Raven did well and I'm happy to say the Rido R2 saddle was comfortable all day. Spring is coming and I hope to be able to do more of these short weekend tours.
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Dia-Compe 287V brake levers & Canti brakes???
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Yes, they work well together with lots of modulation. Initially I wanted V-brakes but my lbs recommended cantis, so I asked him to mount levers that would work with both. He didn't have the Tektro levers with the large comfy-looking hoods and everything, so he put these on instead. This being my first touring bicycle, I didn't know much about brakes, but it's all good so far :)
I got the idea from Peter White's recommendations for the Paul touring canti, which is the really really expensive version of the IRD cafam that I use:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/brakes.asp
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You'll get lots of modulation because the 287V levers pull so much cable but the downside it they don't apply as much pressure as a Canti-specific brake lever.
I'd buy a decent Shimano set of levers if it were mine.
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Dia-Compe 287V brake levers & Canti brakes???
How do you know they're 287V and not 287, I can't see how you'd tell the difference from the photos and I can't see any mention.
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Some pictures of a recent 2 day tour with some geocaching along the way: http://picasaweb.google.com/frekvenskurva/NewAlbum200903202129?feat=directlink (http://picasaweb.google.com/frekvenskurva/NewAlbum200903202129?feat=directlink)
The Raven did well and I'm happy to say the Rido R2 saddle was comfortable all day. Spring is coming and I hope to be able to do more of these short weekend tours.
Good looking bike and interesting tour.
How is your headlamp (E3?) mounted, I could do with raising mine a bit.
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He didn't have the Tektro levers with the large comfy-looking hoods and everything, so he put these on instead.
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Hello,
Do not believe all you are told! The Tekros are not so comfy as Dia Compe, nor are they so good in use. In my opinion as a user of both. The Dia Compe are the best and work well if set up correctly.
John.
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Good looking bike and interesting tour.
How is your headlamp (E3?) mounted, I could do with raising mine a bit.
Cheers :) The headlamp is indeed an E3, but I'm not sure about the bracket. It looks a lot like this:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Busch-and-Muller-B-and-M-Dynamo-Front-Headlamp-Bracket-for-Cantilever-Brakes-BMD5-594.htm (http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Busch-and-Muller-B-and-M-Dynamo-Front-Headlamp-Bracket-for-Cantilever-Brakes-BMD5-594.htm)
Mine is in the attached pictures... Not very sturdy, so I was given a backup just in case. Perhaps it's just an older/newer version of the one above.
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http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AtlfCrER-pVfTlce5WhraA?feat=directlink (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AtlfCrER-pVfTlce5WhraA?feat=directlink)
The weather was superb so I went for a short trip. It was my first time riding the RT with 4 panniers and it felt a lot more stable than last time. I encountered some wildlife that you never get to see in the city. Birds were chatting all night, not like the urban ones that turn quiet after dark. I'm not the best of photographers but hope you enjoy the pictures anyway :)
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Splendid pictures Pasta, beautiful countryside, interesting wildlife, and a fantastic machine from which to enjoy it all!