Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: gaz46 on July 21, 2013, 02:24:35 PM
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Hi
First poster here.
Having purchased a secondhand RST (thanks Steve if you are there!), I took it out for its first outing yesterday.
In the past I have owned hybrids, single speeds and and hub geared folders and for a while I've been tempted to purchase a Thorn Rohloff for a reliable weekend tourer and commuter.
Yesterday I took the RST for a ride from South East London to Richmond Park and onto Walton-on -Thames via Hampton Court on the Thames Path (in total about 45 miles).
The Rohloff was a revelation in its ease of use and smoothness. Only once did it jump gears on its own whilst going over a speed bump. I easily managed hills that I'd failed to get up on my current ride- a Brompton.
The frame sizing and the comfort bars meant I was free of may of the aches and pains associated with a decent outing on my previous bikes.
All in all.. delighted with the new purchase!
Gareth
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Nice ride Gareth. From the looks of the tires, it seems you found a little bit of gravel for your test run! What are your sprocket and chain ring sizes?
Tom
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Thanks Tom
Yes the whole bike got an fair dusting on the Thames path which is a loose gravel type walkway which ran for a few miles.
The bike came with a 42t x 16t sprocket.
I even saw another Thorn - a Nomad - twice on seperate occasions, probably doing a similar run.
Gareth
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Hi Gareth
Welcome to the forum and glad you like your RST. I owned one for a while and loved it but have moved over to a standard Raven Tour for its carrying capacity.
I dont think it should have ever jumped gear and it may well be worth giving it a check over. I am not an expert on the Rohloff but I know one cause of such occurances is doen to the gear change cables being a bit tight. You should (if there is the need) to be able to slacken them off a bit at the adjusters fastened to the rear brake mount.
If you are a strong rider and you dont plan on carrying any extra baggage the 42/16 gearing may work great for you but remember it is not a big job to change the gearing down (or even up) by just changing either the chainring or sprocket. I run a 38/17 gearing which works well for me and there are many on here that run that or even lower.
Andy
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hi gareth can't comment on rohloff gearing i'm a thorn sherpa man .
but your bike looks great i hope you also bought a lock. ;)
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Hi Andy
I'll give the cables check thanks.
If I do end up changing the chainring or sprocket, is there any adjustment required to the chain length (by adding or losing a link)? Or is this not required because you can adjust the bottom bracket?
Thanks jags- I've got a few locks but don't intend leaving it locked up anywhere in London if at all possible.
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You will most likely need to remove a link or two if you are going down a size on the chainring. You want the bb setup so that you have the majority of the adjustment left for when you need to tighten the chain. Remember when adjusting the bb to take the crank over the top rather than round the bottom so you are always tightening against the thick side of the shell.
Regards
Andy
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Andy is there a video instruction on how to do that. ;)
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Where is Dan when we need him - lol
Not sure if there is a video but sure there wil be more info on the Thorn site
Andy
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Andy i wonder if all Dan's gizmo's are in good working order. ;D i tried to email him but no reply which is to say the least unusual for Dan not to answer. ::)
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Hi Gareth,
Really glad you like it and i hope you have many happy miles together!
Not sure why the gear should slip as it didn't once for me. It could be the gear cables, as Andy says, but I haven't touched them for over a year
so not sure why that would cause you an issue on your first real outing but I hope it doesn't happen again!
Enjoy
Steve
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Looks like pg 9 of
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/thornpdf/ThornBikeOwnerManual2Web.pdf
will explain about adjusting the eccentric bottom bracket.
I can't think of why a Rohloff would shift because of a bump! One idea is maybe it's just you were holding on to the shifter and as the bike hit the bump that could have rotated while you held the shifter in place. Hmmm. I suppose the RST has the internal shifter mechanism so there is some free cable run along the seat stay... I guess if something touched those cables somehow, like a loose pannier swinging or something. Strange.
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just had a good gander at that bike still looking good but it would look a lot better and preform better with a nice set of kojacks slicks or supream tyres man it would fly.
and my pet hat that seat post need to go either change it for black or better carbon. 8)
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Thanks for all your comments (and hi Steve).
Jim- I suspect you are right about the cause of the jumping gear- maybe an errant hand movement on the shifter was to blame.
Re: tyres, I've always found there is a choice between a fast lightweight tyre that is prone to punctures and more heavyweight tyre more resistant to punctures. Living in London there is a lot of glass and other nasties in the road so I generally err towards to the latter on all my bikes.
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I've been using Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards on my RST which I think offer a good compromise. Fairly light due to the thin side walls but offer protection where it matters on the road. Had a single puncture in 5000 miles last year and that was a thorn through the sidewall while off road. So far this year no punctures this year and much riding on roads strewn with flints. Great tyre which I will replace with the folding version when they finally ware out.
I might even get a pair for my Carbon road bike (700 x 25) as I've just wrecked a brand new pair of Conti GP4000s on our local lanes. They might be faster but not if you have to fix 3 punctures on one ride, and on the next you find out tyre damage was more significant than you thought when a tube blows through a hole in the tyre.
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I think you may be right re the errant gear change and it may be exasperated by the cables being a bit tight. Slackening them off a bit may give you less precise gear changes but a less touchy controler.
It was one of my slight niggles with the RST I had - I had the track bars with ergon gp5 barends that are excellent but I did not like the rohloff handgrip posiion where a third of your hand was resting on it at all times. I am planning on fitting the same setup to my RT for winter to give me a slightly wider control and better braking position but now have the rohloff hand grip on an accessory bar where it is safely out the way of errant changes
Andy
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Welcome to the RST owners club Andy and interesting to see the life journey of this particular RST - as an RST owner, I spoke to Steve on the phone for about half an hour prior to him buying his (presumably the same), hence the interest! I reckon that the gear jump is probably down to cable tension. Mine used to slip very occasionally, but recently swapped out the cables and housing and now is completely problem free. Given that Steve bought maybe bought his maybe 6 months after my own RST purchase (about 8 years ago), I'd suggest that the cable fatigue cycle is probably petty similar for both, assuming that Steve hadn't swapped them out at any stage.
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Hi Fred
Yes- it's made a move down South.
I'm unsure of whether the cables have been changed since purchase. If it happens again and I know it's not my errant hand I'll change them over. There looks to be a handy video on the Thorn website about how to change the cables.
Gareth
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Sorry Gareth/Andy for the confusion - will teach me to read more closely! :P
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[Catching up, so late to the table...]
Hi Gareth, and welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forum!
All congratulations on your new-to-you RST -- what a terrific photo of a lovely bike!
As for the spontaneous gear-changing, I'd continue to ride the bike a bit and see if it happens again. If it does, then -- yes! -- Andy's suggestion of a cable adjustment or Fred's suggestion to replace cables and housing would be spot-on to address the problem.
Maybe, though, it was a one-time anomaly and won't repeat (fingers crossed for luck).
In any case, a wonderful ride and so glad you have it; may you enjoy years of happy miles riding together. If you run into any problems, give a shout; lots of helpful advice here.
Best,
Dan.
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Danneaux- many thanks for the warm welcome. If the sunshine continues here in the UK I'll post some more pictures.
Fred- no problem!
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A couple of pics from a jaunt out to Hackney Marshes which features an interesting Corten steel building (an award winning sports facility serving about 80-odd pitches).
I recently invested in an Etrex 20, which has been in the main a great asset and use CycleStreets.com to generatet my route to a destination. 80% of the time the route is quiet and off the main roads. However it has can generate some odd routes, taking you down one way streets, ignoring new developments, and taking you down quite long pedestrian sections.
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Apologies for the poor quality pic - I've attached a different better res one of the RST against the Corten steel walls (thanks for the tips Dan!).
Gareth
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Oh, well done, Gareth!
It is hard to take good, uncluttered photos that flatter both bike and background, but you've done a fine job of it here. Very creative and innovative, and the bike! Oh, it looks lovely indeed!
Alert, cleanly assembled, a gorgeous build and the red bags to set it all off -- couldn't look any nicer!
Very much looking forward to more.
All the best,
Dan.
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Hi Gareth!
I as reading the Rohloff website this evening when I came across a passage that might explain the spontaneous shift you mentioned in your initial post. From: http://www.rohloff.de/en/service/faq/faq_detail/archive/2005/03/november/article/Changing_gears/index.html Changing gear with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 with pressure on the pedals is not necessary when being used appropriately. However due to the robust construction of the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 changing gear under pressure is possible and is not harmful to the hub. It is however possible that when changing gears under high pressure the hub could accidentally fall into a neutral gear, this is due to the coupling elements not seating correctly into the next elements and therefore rebounding back.
I'm not sure if this describes your situation, but if it has not recurred, perhaps something similar occurred and is indeed an isolated instance
I hope you've had no problems; all should be working fine except in that odd rare instance when there can be the slight hiccup as described above.
All the best,
Dan. (...who sometimes reads product manuals for fun)
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Hi Dan
Thanks for the insight.
What does a 'neutral' gear refer to? Is it when no cogs are engaged and the drivetrain has no effect on the rear wheel motion?
I have noticed, like a Sturmey Archer hub, any positive pressure on the pedals whilst shifting on the flat or uphill results in a less smooth gear change (compared to easing off the pressure slightly). Going downhill is fine and no 'pressure release' seems required.
Gareth
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I have managed to get a 'neutral' gear shift on a couple of occasions when I have been a bit sloppy with the shift. It sounds 'orrible with a nasty gnashing of gears and no drive. A quick flick back into the old gear then a correct change fixes it quickly. It is nothing like what you seem to be describing as an impromptu 'automatic' gear shift due to riding over a bump. This has never happened with mine.
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Me too. I had this happen during a 71 mile ride up here in Aberdeenshire. Not sure if location makes a difference?
;)
I have managed to get a 'neutral' gear shift on a couple of occasions when I have been a bit sloppy with the shift. It sounds 'orrible with a nasty gnashing of gears and no drive. A quick flick back into the old gear then a correct change fixes it quickly. It is nothing like what you seem to be describing as an impromptu 'automatic' gear shift due to riding over a bump. This has never happened with mine.
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Gareth,
I haven't posted on here for years, but welcome and the bike looks great. What prompted me to post was that it is the same size/frame colour as mine, shown below.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5257/5438915884_e8b4f1eb9a_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_o/5438915884/)
Mine now has silver mudguards as well which I think look much better.
I run a 48 tooth front chainring [!] which is great for the relative flatness of Suffolk; the bike, when purchased new, had a smaller frame and a 38 tooth ring because the owner lived on the fringes of the Lake District. That soon went, as did the smaller frame.
I've never had automatic gear shifts, though I have crunched the change many times due to not releasing the pressure on the pedals enough. Personally I find that the shifter is so lovely and smooth that I can simply judge my shifts by feeling now!
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Thanks for sharing Paul....it's nice to see a parallel build. Great looking set-up you have there.
What sort of front dynamo have you got? Presently I couldn't justify the expense, as the RST really only gets daytime airings. I have a SON on my other bike as I use it daily and in the dark, paired with a B & M Lumoteq (which I have had a few problems with - namely a sheared metal bracket and a sheared plastic bracket on the unit itself).
Gareth
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Awfully nice to see you back again with a picture-post, Paul. Any chance "Flammerouge" will be back? I spent many happy times looking at it. Simply a lovely bike there.
All the best,
Dan.
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Thanks for sharing Paul....it's nice to see a parallel build. Great looking set-up you have there.
What sort of front dynamo have you got? Presently I couldn't justify the expense, as the RST really only gets daytime airings. I have a SON on my other bike as I use it daily and in the dark, paired with a B & M Lumoteq (which I have had a few problems with - namely a sheared metal bracket and a sheared plastic bracket on the unit itself).
Gareth
Gareth, It is a cheap and cheerful shimano one. That said, it produced enough power to light the absolutely awesome B&M IQ Cyo front light to the extent that cars regularly dip their lights when they see me coming! I got the wheel [Mavic rim and shimano hub] from bike24 in Germany, and even with delivery it was cheaper than anybody in the UK.
Oh, and I also removed the Thorn stick on badge on the headtube, so mine is completely stealthy now!!!
Danneaux, I haven't done anything with FR for about 2 years now, but if you are a wordpress member, send me a request and you should be able to get access.