Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Thorn General => Topic started by: spoon boy on December 16, 2008, 09:41:45 AM
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Hi all and firstly apologies if this is in the wrong section.
A brief outline
Towards the end of January 2009 (a few weeks away) I will be starting a world cycling tour.
I have no definitive must do's but have a route that I will use as guide.
All the injections,finance,tents etc etc have been resolved but the biggest sticking point I have is the main part...the Bike.
I have narrowed it down to two bikes being a Thorn Raven nomad ss with Rohloff and a koga world traveller.
I see much advice about the benefit of a steel frame over an aluminium one due to steel welders being more world widely avaliable and I understand that part.
One thing that raised was that as Rohloff is a much less known gear system than the Derailleur, would I have trouble worldwide should repairs be needed.
Up till now I've used a dawes galaxy but I intend to to much more off the beaten track routes.
Can any one or does anyone have experience of world travelling and using the thorn and did you have any isues around the rohloff and how easy were they to resolve?
I hope I havn't offended anyone by asking it's just at the momment although the koga seems a better price for more equipment the more reviews I read the better thorn becomes the 1st choice.
Incase it helps the trip is planned to last between 6-8 years
Many thanks for any input
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Nice problem to have, both are excellent bikes. I've not done anything like this length of trip but there are a good number of journals by rohloff users on crazyguy on a bike (and also davidd who rode around australia and posts on here). In my view you will have a lot less minor hassles with the rohloff, no chattering gears, bent derailleurs, missed shifts, cleaning sand encrusted clusters etc. For me this is important as it is these that will happen and could wear you down. There are a very small number of folk who have had more major problems with the rohloff eg broken flanges that ultimately required the wheel to be sent to Germany. On a month long tour that could be very irritating, but if you are away for a few years then you just get to spend a week investigating the highlights of Ulam Batour and trust in Thorn/Rohloff's execllent after sales service. You do need to plan for changing sprockets and chains and make sure you have the specific tools.
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Spoon Boy,
Welcome to the list,
Just one little point to add to geocycle's comments. If you do decide to go with a Nomad / Rohloff then get a rear rim that has the specialised drill patten to match the high flange of the Rohloff. Many normal rims have been made into strong wheels with the Rohloff hub, but the correct drill angles can only help to reduces potential spoke breakage.
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Hi Spoon Boy,
Good luck on your tour. Firstly you will only hear good things about Thorn bikes here and they are justified.
Secondly have you not left it a bit late to choose your bike, I would have thought you would need some time to fix everything out because no matter what bike you choose your sure to have some problems.
Bob
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Thank you all for the reply
Possibly yes I've left it till the last minute I think I was hoping the chrimbo sales would extend to the exspensive bike prices
Thanks for the drilling tip, everything is a bonus.
I am leaning ever more to the thorn
Especially as the Koga is Dutch and the Euro/pound rate has seen the world traveller rise from £1,347 to £1,500 within the last few weeks so pound for pound the Thorn is starting to look as a very complete bike that's excellent value for money.
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I've got a Nomad S&S that was built up recently, but haven't put it to the test yet. It is the most rugged touring bike I've ever owned and I'm sold on the Rohloff for many thousands of trouble free miles.
Koga makes some very well regarded bikes as well so I think you can't go wrong, but I would suggest whatever you buy that you do it soon and get some miles on it at home so you can 1) validate you like the bike & find it comfortable 2) find out if any of your components give you problems and have time to repair/replace them.
Leaving on a world bike tour with an untested bike sounds like a bad idea.
safe riding,
Vik
www.thelazyrando.com
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Hi Spoon Boy,
Perhaps try the Nomad first and take advantage of Thorns 100 day money back guarantee - in the very unlikely event that you don't get on with it, return it and then try the Koga. I have owned a Raven Tour for almost a year now and can certainly vouch for the strength and build quality of my particular bike.
Are you planning a website or blog so people can track your progress around the globe? If so, let us know so that we can read with envy!!
Cheers, Gary.
P.s. I would check the build time with Thorn, there can be quite a delay if demand is high.
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Spoon Boy,
what size are you, there 2 Thorn Nomads on Ebay just now, bit expensive but come with some great kit.
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Good idea. Because you are leaving soon you need a bike ASAP. I'd want at least 6 months with a bike before I set off on a trip like yours.
The S&S couplings on some of them would be a terrific boon on your trip, certainly no disadvantage in having them and potentially a huge advantage as you could get your bike in the back of most cars/taxis if required.
Good luck.
PS. In February I will have had mine for 3 years and it hasn't even missed a gear shift yet.
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Even with regular riding I still seem to be 18 stone , 6ft 3 but with an inside leg of 31 inches
I've seen the ebay ones and am monitoring them but I suspect some are too small.
I have ridden both on test rides and found the thorn more solid with the koga more flexible but as my main need is strength the thorn is starting to show it's obvious pace as the leader.
I didn't know what the s&s couplings were so I looked it up..what a brilliant piece of kit!
I agree that in an ideal situation I would have loved to have "broken it in" as such but as the trip is 6-8 years...predicted, I'm sure it will be a bit settled within a short ish time
Living in Norfolk a trip down to Thorn would be a day/night and day thing so cost of fuel and nights b&b would be pennies from the fund but as the thorn edges ahead I think it will be money well spent.
Blogs...I am trying to work these out as all I've ever used a p.c. for is emails,google and ebay
I will within the next few days had a definitive answer on the bike front and the trip will not start until the bike is ready
leaving to do a world trip on an untested bike may sound not the best way forward but many of the things on this trip that have needed to be planned have been but for most of it, it really is "as it comes" to truly make it a life adventure. I often find to much planning removes the humaness of the experience.
Again thanks to all the advice is very much appreciated
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I ride regularly, my height and inside leg are also unchanged.
Get the Thorn, fit some big old Marathon tyres,a SON dynohub, some dynamo lights (Schmidt edeluxe or B&M Cyo) Ortleib panniers and go.
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Tee hee hee, let's throw a spanner in the works...
I am a very happy Rohloff owner and use it to do loads and loads of miles all over the place, though never around the world. Despite this I would say go for a Thorn Sherpa with derailer gears. Thorn do a build for the Sherpa with tasty and everything-proof thumbshifters, though I would be inclined to go for 8-speed (I was an early, brain-washed 9-speed convert and many of my bikes ran 9-speed, but it proves quite pricey over time - 8-speed bits are much cheaper and easier to find so my mountain bike is back to good ol' 8-speed).
As you're not new to bikes, there's nothing on the Sherpa you couldn't fix.
I ride regularly, my height and inside leg are also unchanged.
Really??? Oh shoot, I was really hoping that riding my bike regularly would make me grow and give me model's legs... A dream shattered. ;-)
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I have to agree with Jawj, I have a Sherpa and there is nothing on it I couldn't fix/replace or get someone to do it very quickly.
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bob's you forgot to mention how good the sherpa is to ride over any kind of surface,you can always carry a spare rear derailer ,you cant do that with the rohloff,if the rohloff breaks down your in big troble.so yeah i would certainly go with the xt shimano groopset plus the sherpa..
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Damn, I've just read the Sherpa brochure again and now I'M tempted to get one! I have no need for one at all, but they're so beautiful and well-made and thought out...
Stop me everyone!
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jawj,
(tongue in cheek mode on)
Stop me everyone!
Think of all the extra cleaning that you have to do with a derailer - do you REALLY want to go back to that?
(tongue in cheek mode off)
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Living in Norfolk a trip down to Thorn would be a day/night and day thing so cost of fuel and nights b&b would be pennies from the fund but as the thorn edges ahead I think it will be money well spent.
A humble suggestion: Take the bus/train/hitch a ride, then ride your new Nomad S&S on the way home ;D
Has anyone actually had a Rohloff "break down", except for spokes tearing the hub flange? Not having much experience of my own, I thought the whole point of the Rohloff hub is less maintenance. In the (unlikely) case of a total hub breakdown on a Rohloff specific bike, would it not be possible to use any internal hub found nearby or go singlespeed while the hub is in RMA?
Also, less risk of mud clogging, as Stutho pointed out just now.
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Think of all the extra cleaning that you have to do with a derailer - do you REALLY want to go back to that?
Aah, but Stu, cleaning the black gunk off idler wheels is my raisin d'etre!
And it wouldn't really be a case of going back to it, as I have a couple of derailer-equipped bikes knocking about already, it would just be a case of having another very shiny bike that I lust over but gets used far less than my Thorn (Raven).
Actually, that says a lot about what bike you should go for, Spoon Boy...
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I am leaning ever more to the thorn
Especially as the Koga is Dutch and the Euro/pound rate has seen the world traveller rise from £1,347 to £1,500 within the last few weeks so pound for pound the Thorn is starting to look as a very complete bike that's excellent value for money.
I also noticed. I have been keeping an eye on Koga Signature. The price last month was about a little bit under 1600GBP, now it is 1790GBP. I will keep looking, but I am keen on Koga at the moment.
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My friend fell off on ice last weekend and rendered his rear derailleur unusable. It really doesn't take that much to wreck one. On long distance rides I regularly see people putting their chain back on and I hear the clunking and rattling of derailleurs as they climb under load (which is what annoys me slightly when they comment on the whirring of my hub).
My chain has never fallen off (even when I've let it get very slack). I've never missed a shift. my hub is unlikely to get damaged in a fall. It will continue to work in muddy, sandy, dusty conditions without any cleaning required.
In 3 years I have spent a couple of hours servicing it (most of which is allowing time for the old oil to drain thoroughly).
It's quite conceivable that, during 5 years of travel, you may only really need to adjust/replace a chain and add a tiny amount of oil a few times. You could be talking about 5 hours of gear maintenance in 5 years.
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what fred said plus ... if the Rolhoff should fail then spares will be sent to you where ever you happen to be (if I read the guarantee correctly). If you're taking 6-8 years then a week spent waiting for a fedex delivery is neither here nor there. I'm so impressed with Rohloff that I now have 2.
Of course they are expensive but over the trip of a lifetime such as the one you're planning it's money well spent (in my view). You cannot afford to compromise. If you're concerned about value for money, then go round again. As my old grand daddy said "always buy the best you can't quite afford'. Unless it's a house. Then you're really in trouble.
ians
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Well that went well
I went to a official koga dealer in London just to have a look ...They actually had a display model in, right size but some bits missing, I asked about it, they had taken some bits off for a bike that had similar bits missing. So asked if they had the bits to replace it they said yes, I asked how much it would be as it's clearly been a display model? 1,599 came back the answer!
I pointed out it had bits missing and it was clearly a display model...still 1,599!!! I said that I may as well order a BRAND NEW one for the same money!
The shop bloke then said suprisingly, that Koga are telling thier dealers that in the new year due to the exchange rate the bike will be 2,000!!
Guess koga's well off the list now.
Buy british...clearly cheaper and far less hassle
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Well that went well
I went to a official koga dealer in London just to have a look ...They actually had a display model in, right size but some bits missing, I asked about it, they had taken some bits off for a bike that had similar bits missing. So asked if they had the bits to replace it they said yes, I asked how much it would be as it's clearly been a display model? 1,599 came back the answer!
I pointed out it had bits missing and it was clearly a display model...still 1,599!!! I said that I may as well order a BRAND NEW one for the same money!
The shop bloke then said suprisingly, that Koga are telling thier dealers that in the new year due to the exchange rate the bike will be 2,000!!
Guess koga's well off the list now.
Buy british...clearly cheaper and far less hassle
Sterling is weak so I guess 2000 is not unthinkable. You can check the signature model (koga-signature.com???) It is not 2000 euro yet but certainly less competitive with Thorn these days.
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I think this may lead into the other post of sherpa vs
Pound for pound I think the sherpa looks brilliant value for money
My main worry is that I over buy, i.e. that I spend more than I need too on the bike leaving my travellling budget short by a few hundred when the cheaper model would have done
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Hi, just to let you know that I paid a visit to Thorn yesterday (30/12/08) and have just put down a deposit on two EXP spec Sherpas for myself and the wife! (lovely bike) and they said that they will be going up by £100 in January due to the weakness of sterling, so just got in in time.
By the way in 30 years of various types of cycling I've never seriously damaged a rear mech and as you will be carrying a chain tool you can always put it in a fixed gear until you can get a replacement.
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Well done, we will all be looking forward to seeing some photo's when you get your Sherpas. Have to agree about the rear mech, done a lot of mountain biking in Scotland over the years and yet to damage a rear mech. In fact still have the origional mech off my 90's Cannondale somewhere and it still works.
Bob.
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Haven't damaged a rear mech as such but I have had my derailleur hanger bent a couple of times on public transport, easy enough to bend it back on a steel frame if you notice it in time, but the first time it happened to me I didn't notice and after cycling about a mile after getting off a bus in Australia I changed down gears and put the derailleur into the spokes and came to an abrupt halt with several broken spokes! Luckily I was only about two miles walk from my cousin's house and there was a bike shop reasonably nearby but it could have been a disaster. I now always check my hanger after public transport journeys.
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Hi, just to let you know that I paid a visit to Thorn yesterday (30/12/08) and have just put down a deposit on two EXP spec Sherpas for myself and the wife! (lovely bike) and they said that they will be going up by £100 in January due to the weakness of sterling, so just got in in time.
Impressive.
I also wonder if the EXP frame is worth extra grand. The default frame is nice enough. Just wondering why you want EXP?
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Sorry, when I said EXP spec I meant the standard frame with all the goodies, XT, XTR Kit Rigida Rims, racks etc, not the custom built frame, as you say the standard frame is very good.