Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: RobertL on February 27, 2013, 05:59:57 PM
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Arrived safe and sound - fit somewhat sportier, but then there is an S in RST - may need to investigate an easier bar. The Alfine is quiet and smooth, brakes were upgraded to Deore, and the frame and wheel build is excellent. Colour is not a pefect match to the 60's/70's VW cobalt blue, but a nice reasonably deep blue. Fitted a chainstay guard (redundant on IHG?) in part as it still came with Rohloff decals.
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Very nice looking bike - enjoy your ride.
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Class and my favourate colour enjoy. ;)
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Nice looker Rob, glad you like the Alfine as im waiting on my bike which has an alfine setup.......
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Robert!
Oh, what a lovely new machine (and the older one beside it as well!)! I'm so glad it has arrived and is working well for you. It seems to me the Alfine is a viable alternative for some uses, having many of the advantages of an IGH without the higher cost of a Rohloff. The silent operation is nice, and you still have an "upgrade path" if you decide later on another sort of IGH.
It looks fantastic and I love the color. Sporty yet sophisticated, I'd say! Looking forward to more photos of this beauty in future.
Best,
Dan.
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I understand the convention of naming is a tradition at Thorn. The RST is somewhat refined to have a reference to the Pampero or Zonda (the winds where ripio rules), and I am too slow - so perhaps with a post ideological nod to workers' utopias it should be be Hub Geared Commuter No 1.
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I understand the convention of naming is a tradition at Thorn. The RST is somewhat refined to have a reference to the Pampero or Zonda (the winds where ripio rules), and I am too slow - so perhaps with a post ideological nod to workers' utopias it should be be Hub Geared Commuter No 1.
The origins of the Rohloff were romantic, in that it was designed to ride in the waves along the beach on one's honeymoon without being wrecked. The price is plutocratic. I think your sub-Bauhaus name could easily be mistaken for sarcasm, which is what the general public readily assumes when they hear sardonic witticisms. Just my opinion, of course; please don't hit the little old bespectacled intellectual when he's sitting down.
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No intention of sarcasm! ...lack of romantic imagination, and respect for 'industrial' type nomenclature...
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No intention of sarcasm! ...lack of romantic imagination, and respect for 'industrial' type nomenclature...
Then again, a certain "footplate romance" in "Hub Geared Commuter No 1".
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...and here I thought that maybe RST was put into CAPS to hide the modest shortform slang of "ravin' stumpy" (odd, when it's a very attractive boike, but one never knows how Intended Naming gets reworked, eh?); then again for old Zambia hands, RST always stood for Roan Selection Trust, Yankee counterpart to Safrican mining giant Anglo-American and about as unromantic a tag as one could possibly have, although certainly one with a heavy-duty industrial undertone; as for me, in my Canajan parochialism deep-down I just assumed that "Raven" (esp in the basic black colour) was a nod to the squawking boids of da Yukon, their presence celebrated by Robert Service's poetry and further back still by original peoples' mythology & imagery, the name hence evoking sufficient reliability & power to get you just about anywhere, including to Yukon, the only place I've ever been where people referred to The Rest Of The World as "The Outside". (Far too long, dense & complicated a sentence, this--Andre will shudder if he reads it.)
Oi oi oi, so much baggage in a just a word, or less still, in just 3 CAPS.
Enjoy your bike, Robert, and don't worry about too much background noise, it's almost certainly not your hub...
J.
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John thanks for the post, enjoyed re reading it - the RST had a shakedown cruise today with a 20 mile each way journey across NE London and into Essex. Very agile, very strong and comfortable and made the ride to work something to look forward to. The gears are excellent and I like the range, I thought they might be on the easy side, but as it lives mainly in traffic the range is very good, with occassional use of 8th gear and living mainly in 4th through 7th. Will have to look up Service, Raven being linked to Edgar Allen Poe and Nevermore. In terms of a more whimsical name, and given the speed the RST can deliver and still feel surefooted, might throw out Little Wing with an affectionate nod to Hendrix.
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Thanks, Robert -- envy you your ride in March! Your bike sounds as if it's just the item. Nice too, that a ride to work can be such an enjoyable start to the day. Will welcome any feedback you may have on your Alfine hub in the coming months. A friend is looking for a recreational and light touring bike, and I suggested she consider an 8- or 11-spd Alfine hub. My LBS in Ottawa builds them into their own frame.
Robert Service is enjoyable, though my daughter, who lived in Yukon for a while & puts up with my campfire renditions of "Sam McGee" and "Dan McGrew", say, "But Dad! He's sooo Euro-centric!" There's a Yukon artist, Ted Harrison (originally from Yorkshire, I believe) who has done the artwork for illustrated versions of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" -- these are the ones to look for.
The Naming of Bikes might be worth a thread in itself--riders' names as well as makers'. For sure Poe and his boid have their place in it all; Thorn Cycles would be honoured by the connection to Hendrix, I trust; and that musical reference just put "Bird on a Wire" into my brain.
J.
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The Naming of Bikes might be worth a thread in itself--riders' names as well as makers'.
Absolutely, John!
See...
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=143.msg684#msg684
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3703.0
...that musical reference just put "Bird on a Wire" into my brain.
Awfully hard to beat anything by Leonard Cohen. ;D
Best,
Dan. (...who went with "Sherpa" for the Sherpa, but needs something better than "The Nomad" for the uh, Nomad)
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I am estimating the bike has now done somewhere around 500~600 miles - it developed a bit of noise but with Danneaux's patient assistance and a visit to the LBS this now seems resolved. I would suggest a better set out checklist to be included as part of the delivery, for the mechanically challenged, to ensure all assembly points are checked for tightness etc. No component was at issue, although have upgraded the chain to the KMC X1. The original bar needed to be flipped, and this allowed a Carradice zip roll to be fitted.
Remarkably the bike has cut ca.30 minutes off the commute and is getting pretty close to typical car commute time. I am also able to commute with work clothes/shoes so in terms of doing what it says on the tin, the bike is more than delivering, it also is very enjoyable, comfortable to ride. At some point will try a longer ride (the commute is 3 hours plus but not daily - average 3 days a week), but see no issue in living with the bike on typical touring days.
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I would suggest a better set out checklist to be included as part of the delivery, for the mechanically challenged, to ensure all assembly points are checked for tightness etc.
Sounds like a good suggestion, Robert. Some Thorns travel the world at delivery, and shops in some locales might not be wholly familiar with internally-geared hubs of this sort.
So glad the bike is settling into the groove for your needs with teething issues resolved. It surely is a lovely example, and am looking forward to any future photos of it.Remarkably the bike has cut ca.30 minutes off the commute
Wow! ;D Outstanding! It is amazing what a new bike can do, especially one that is comfortable *and* sprightly.
May you have many happy miles together.
Best,
Dan.
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Now somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 miles the RST continues to be an excellent commuter. Changes from spec include Deore brakes, San Marco Rolls saddle, Shimano Saints pedals and KMC X1 chain. Also has a Carradice Zip Roll bag.
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Oh, I was hoping to see more of this!
A right and proper commuter, Robert, and beautifully set up for the task. That Carradice ZipRoll bag snuggles into the cable loops as if made for the bike, and the bike looks purposeful, lean, and ready for action!
Best,
Dan.