Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: JimK on October 29, 2020, 03:38:21 am
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My Nomad is coming up to its tenth anniversary, in about a month. I've got around 23,600 miles on it & I expect it'll do that again without any trouble. The bike has been very much what I wanted when I chose it - tough, reliable, practical. I've had it out camping a few times, but much more often it carries an even heavier load - of groceries!
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/s11mwjpyn7cgtdkn4qszzf4zva85gl0h.jpg)
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What a great photo-endorsement. A full set of Carradice too. Thanks for the share.
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A great picture of a beautiful bike.
Nice hear it is well used.
My own Raven is also a go anywhere/ do anything kinda bike.
I think we have the same pedals?
Lambda?
I'm on my third set.
More pictures and set-up details would be great.
Cheers from Scotland UK.
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Excellent. Well done.
I only have one bike I've kept for 10 years and that's my least ridden bike, I still like it, just not as much as the others and if it had more value I'd probably part with it.
I had my Raven 7 for years and would still have it's custom replacement if the frame hadn't cracked after nine years... or maybe not.
Sometimes it's my cycling and usage that's changed, but sometimes it's just the idea of something different.
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I think we have the same pedals?
Lambda?
I'm on my third set.
I hope that isn't due to problems?
I've recently bought a quick release pair for my folder, not enough mileage yet to decide if I really like them and none in the wet, but they're certainly an improvement on those it had before.
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What a great photo-endorsement. [...] Thanks for the share.
+1
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I'm sure there is a bike somewhere in the photo. ! :)
Great picture !
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I think we have the same pedals?
Lambda?
I'm on my third set.
I hope that isn't due to problems?
I've recently bought a quick release pair for my folder, not enough mileage yet to decide if I really like them and none in the wet, but they're certainly an improvement on those it had before.
Lambda: I'm not sure. They take a lot of hard use. The end spindle covers came off and I don't think the bearings can be replaced.
I usually ride in boots and find the surfaces grip well.
Third set in 7 years. I keep going back so something must be right?
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Good on ya, Jim! Hope that you and your family are all well amidst The Situation, and give my best regards to the Wasatch Front.
Cheers, John
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(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vwu4udszypx05dh6qh7q52cwiot3yt9u.jpg)
A less encumbered photo! Some random details... gearing is 38x16. I've probably had the chainglider on five years, maybe a bit more. I put on the Surly chainring to work with the chainglider. I think I've flipped it once. I haven't been very disciplined about replacing chains... my plan is to put on a new chain when I do the oil maintenance, and then maybe the sprockets will last longer. I have the threaded sprocket... I think I'm on my second and haven't flipped it yet. I think I have one more stashed away, & then will have to get the converter thing. Maybe I should stock up while the stocking is good, I don't know.
Tires are Marathon Plus Tour. Ha, today was a first, I spotted what I thought was the plant where goathead thorns come from, I squatted down and explored, yup, goathead thorns! These tires do very well here. I do get flats occasionally, but not very often. I'm on my second set of blue Swiss brake pads for the CSS Andra 30 rims. Probably the wet weather braking is really rotten by now but it barely rains here in the desert!
You might be able to see, with the wire from the headlight to the tail light, I have it wrapped loosely around the fork through those double plates. I found that the tail light wire would tug and pull itself out of the headlight. Hasn't done that since my loose wrap solution was installed!
That's an ABUS Bordo lock on the back of the seat tube at the bottom. I don't leave the bike for long and it's not a high theft area, plus almost nobody has a clue what this bike is all about. The practicality of storing the lock like that, easy on and off, is hard to beat.
That's a Carradice SQR block on the seatpost. Gotta say that support system weighs a ton! But it works! I like the springs on the Brooks Flyer, they save my sit bones when I hit a pot hole or whatever. Mostly I try to get up off the saddle if I see it coming, but sometimes with traffic etc., I have other things on my mind.
They're Thorn comfort bars. I'm on my second set of grips. The first were the Ergon #1 which don't have bar ends. These are the #5 I think - I like the bar ends a lot.
Yeah MKS Lambda pedals. I started off transferring clipless pedals from my previous bike. It was cold weather that got me switching to platforms. I have warm boots, why not wear them?! I am perfectly happy with the platform pedals. I had some different platforms on at first... I think I switched to these for the better grip. I mostly wear 5.10 shoes unless it gets plenty cold.
Thanks for the good wishes, John... between politics and pandemic, what a mess! Utah hit a new record today for new cases. We're up 4x since early September. Hospitals are pretty much full. A mild state of panic seems to be setting in - they broadcast an alert to pretty much all the cell phones in the state! But of course people don't see why they should be inconvenienced... I'm glad to have a bike, to wheel my worries away!
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Now that's a serious bike.
How have you found the Abus Bordo, Jim? Handling? Durability? Does it mark the frame?
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To be more specific, it's an ABUS Bordo Granit X-Plus 6500. It probably weighs more than some of those carbon fiber racing bikes! But then, with the Nomad and whatever I carry routinely in my saddlebag and handlebar bag... ha, I should do a photo one day of all that! Anyway, the lock's weight isn't such a large fraction of my total.
The lock folds up and unfolds with delightful ease, and the lock mechanism is trouble-free. The thing is well covered in some rubbery stuff, so there's no threat to paint or anything. The circumference is definitely limited - it can reach a tad more than what a big U-lock can, but just a tad. Generally I use the Sheldon Brown method, i.e. I capture only the rear wheel rim + tire, inside the rear triangle, and tie that with the lock to the bike rack or whatever I can find. Often enough I just lock the wheel to the seat post, so the bike could be carried away... but for a quick dash into here or there, and only someplace I rarely visit - it was the post office and the liquor store, on that trip where I took the first photo at the top of this topic.
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Great picture, again. Can't see enough of a bike like that.
Love the info on the set up.
My rings are 38/17. Spin a bit on the flat but great for loaded inclines.
Your last sentence about your trip to the liquor store reminds me of the guy who cycled to his local store to buy a bottle of vodka. Just as he was about to set off home with it, it occurred to him that if he fell off, he'd break the bottle.
So he decided to drink it.
He proved his concern because, yes, he fell off on the way home!
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I wouldn't mind gearing down a bit from the 38x16. I use the full range, but #14 usually hmmm above about 25mph. We've got some inclines here on the Wasatch Front!
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Thanks for the info on the Bordo, Jim. I have its sibling, the biggest 54 Abus Granit X D-lock, that I used to carry on a quick release just under the saddle so I could use it to threaten SUVs that crowd me in the lanes. But I hardly ever used it as a lock because my n'lock stem has a cable in the handlebar that pulls out, encircles a pole or whatever's available and then locks into the stem -- enough deterrent in a low-crime area without too many trucks that could carry the bike away. So I started leaving it off to save the weight, as you say, heavier than a carbon frame!
Again, your bike really looks the business.
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(https://app.box.com/shared/static/jslaawjhp59nqshjx1bizvf0982syn7r.jpg)
Here's one of my usual short routes, up a nice hill, just 7.1 miles but a tad over 1000 ft of climbing - at about 9% grade. The 17 inch low gear makes it not too much of a struggle, but... I like the bar ends because I can put my hands further forward to lower my torso and help position myself to put some torque on the pedals!
The view from the bottom of the hill:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vqyjn63c6j0cjtf6hjoaxhy9y9a5kjsk.jpg)
There's a pale speck in the center of the photo - that's a big house up at the top of the climb. The view from the top:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/8d5l7rl1x426oyhf6m7fpw8mi5m6pexg.jpg)
That flag is huge. They just put it up this morning, in honor of Veteran's Day. It'll be up a week or so:
https://followtheflag.org/event/unfurling-the-major/ (https://followtheflag.org/event/unfurling-the-major/)
A bit on kit: I've got a couple upgrades in my handlebar bag...
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vsv17nc4z6gnuibu3m0yhh7yvbp9gyft.jpg)
The face mask and hand sanitizer, of course... it's 2020! The pen is a Fisher bullet space pen. I like the toughness of the space pens, but I had been carrying a Fisher capomatic which is very nice but the shaking about would get the thing to unscrew itself and then there is this little spring to find in there lost in the mess... the bullet pen is simpler! And the reading glasses... they have no hinge, it's just bendy metal. The screw in the hinge would shake loose... forget about finding that ever again! And I don't carry a screwdriver that small! I need those glasses not just for jotting notes or reading labels in the shops, but if I need to repair something on the road... helps to be able to see!
I weighed the whole package before leaving on my ride, bike plus water bottle and all the rest: 65 pounds, roughly. I've promised myself, if I can take the 30 pounds of flab off my belly, and keep it off for a year, I'll reward myself with a Thorn Audax! My wallet seems quite safe, though, so far!
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I have a Victorinox Swiss gadget knife which I bought for the temperature or barometer gauge, can't remember which but the thing never worked well, so now I'm out of replacement batteries until the end of the Chinese Black Death; it was relegated to my desk to cut apples and suchlike instead of being carried on the bike. One of the gadgets is a dedicated screwdriver for spectacle earpieces, and presumably other tiny screws. Photos below. The screwdriver handle is shaped to screw into the corkscrew. You can also buy the tiny screwdriver loose for a few dollars as a spare part. I can't see a type number on either the knife or the little screwdriver, but the screwdriver fits almost all the Victorinox knives with corkscrews, so it's pretty common. Amazon sells the tiny screwdriver for $3.46 or a pack of six for under $15. Doesn't solve the problem of not being able to find the screw, though.
Impressive mountains...
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We just had a couple F-35s fly low over that flag... and over our house. Shake things up, they do!
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We just had a couple F-35s fly low over that flag... and over our house. Shake things up, they do!
[Comment edited to remove a direct political endorsement. From long years as administrator, I have learned politics can bring down a forum. There are some topics so off-topic and volatile (helmet use for example) they can blow up, dividing membership to such an extent the community can no longer function. I'm even-handed about this: No matter how much I may agree with or oppose the view espoused, it is best to keep politics off a bike forum. -- Dan.]
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It is for you to delete as you find. This Forum is your domain and you are in charge. Only things that you agree with can be posted of course.
Happy day tomorrow 😂😂😂😂
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It is for you to delete as you find. This Forum is your domain and you are in charge. Only things that you agree with can be posted of course.
Happy day tomorrow 😂😂😂😂
Everyone writes these sort of comments when ticked off by the mods!
Now what have we done with our Thorn bikes today?
Mike
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Another loop of my little hill climb, today! Funny thing, most of the mechanicals are essentially maintenance-free. But somehow my rear V-brake decided to cause trouble. It was way off center and rubbing the rim, so I adjusted the spring a couple days ago. By the time I got back from that ride, it was the other side that was rubbing. The arms seem pretty freely moving, so the problem isn't lubrication I don't think. Maybe after today's adjustment it'll settle back down!
I should add - it's no big fuss for F-35s to fly by here - there are two fighter wings based at Hill Air Force Base, maybe 15 miles away. Here's a shot I got in April of another fly-by. They usually head west from the base to get to the training grounds on the other side of the lake. But they'll head north, up by us, on occasion.
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/01nd9nfbemcc6jcddvpcgudbw0dpc4t8.jpg)
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More on Hill AFB, from the local newspaper:
Approximately 45,000 flight operations take place at Hill’s airfield every year, according to an Air Force fact sheet, making it one of the busiest flight lines in the military. Aircraft from all over the United States and internationally fly into Hill’s Ogden Air Logistics Complex, which performs maintenance on dozens of aircraft.
Hill’s UTTR also draws aircraft from all over the world. The west desert training range is the largest contiguous block of supersonic training airspace in the United States. It’s frequently used for the disposal of explosive ordnance, testing of experimental military equipment and ground and air military training exercises. The 388th Range Squadron operates and maintains the range.
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Those are some wonderful shots of moving airplanes, Jim.
They remind me of a tour I took with my now late father when I was in my upper teens. We were cycling up a forest service road near a reservoir when we heard a loud roar we couldn't account for, echoing off the canyon walls. At first we feared the dam had burst but then just overhead above the trees two military jets appeared, flying a NAP (nap-of-the-earth) course through the canyon.
They were there and gone in a blink leaving us much relieved, a little deafened and very impressed by their skills. It became a highlight of our memories for that tour.
Best,
Dan.
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Our house is pretty close to that big flag, and they flew right over our house to get there, maybe 200 feet up, I don't know, but wow. This week we're hearing lots of big rumbling from the AFB - that newspaper article says there are some extra planes in town, including B2 bombers. They must be kicking up the desert out west something fierce! But we get a couple weeks of extra rumbling. How much fuel they must burn to make all that noise, it boggles the mind.
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Sorta in the same vein: raking leaves the other day, I heard a distinctly different engine note high above. Looked up, and it was a Spitfire, warming up for Nov. 11. There are a couple here in Ottawa, restored by fans of old aircraft. They, and a Lancaster, are used v e r y carefully during Remembrance Day flypasts.
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Seeing the planes photo reminds me that I was out cycling last year when a big noise approached me from behind. It wasn't the usual old lorry or piece of farm equipment but a B52! It was quite low and not very fast and I should have stopped and grabbed a photo but didn't, to my retrospective regret as it was my first and probably last certain sighting of this beast which disappeared into the distance followed by a smoky trail. They aren't seen in old England very often but this sighting was during one of their occasional visits to Fairford so they can familiarise themselves with the local landmarks. I used to have the RAF Hercules flying over my house like oversized bumble bees but that stopped when someone thought it a good idea to close RAF Lyneham.
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(https://app.box.com/shared/static/swtohoyds8099dhljcrz9stkz25n28rh.jpg)
I love my bike because it enables me to get out exploring out in some pretty remote territory - I'm the limit, not my bike!
It turns out, if you follow the rail trail far enough, it turns into real rail!
https://www.strava.com/activities/4371592102