Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: aj on October 19, 2008, 06:03:40 pm
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A few images of my newly built Thorn Sherpa. Its a 560XL in satin black and rides like a dream!
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2954446011_3936ba49d4_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2954445999_a56049437e_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2954445989_1fcedf8af5_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2954446007_72c9be3c35_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2954445983_e759e203b8_o.jpg)
Adrian
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Nice, enjoy it....... ;D
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Nice Photos . Welcome to the list.
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Looks a lot like mine. I'm sure you will have no regrets great bike.
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aj, fantastic bike love the panniers,what light's have you front/back.there's something about the sherpa when you load it up it just looks perfect,but then again i would say that i love mine.so any tour's planned.
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Nice, enjoy it.......
Thanks John, Only built her yesterday and enjoying her already :)
Nice Photos . Welcome to the list.
Thanks for the welcome Stutho.
Looks a lot like mine. I'm sure you will have no regrets great bike.
Thanks Bobs, I think I may have chosen wisely with the Sherpa, does everything I wanted and probably much more.
aj, fantastic bike love the panniers,what light's have you front/back.there's something about the sherpa when you load it up it just looks perfect,but then again i would say that i love mine.so any tour's planned.
Thanks Jags, the Sherpa looks good to me too, unladen or fully loaded. The lights at the rear are Smart 1/2 watt superflash, very bright and conspicuous, on the front there is a Smart Polaris 5 led that I use as a been seen by light and a Fenix LD2 torch fitted to the bars with a Twofish Lockblock, which is very bright light and has an excellent beam for unlit roads (I have the version with the orange peel diffuser). I've no tours planned yet Jags but who knows what next year will bring, for the time being I will be happy exploring the local (and not so local) lanes and byways on two wheels.
Should also say thanks to you John28july, Bobs and Jags for posting pics of your own Sherpas on the web, helped me to make the decision to purchase my Sherpa easier.
Adrian
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Nice bike aj, very sylish. Is that a Tubus Locc rack on the back? If so, is it the 700c or 26" version (it looks too tall for the 26")?
Kevin
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Hi Kevin, thanks for the compliment, I'm very happy with the way the bike looks. Yes it is a Tubus Locc at the back, the invoice says its a 26 inch one but after you mentioned it I had to go and measure, the distance from the top of the carrier to the centre of the bottom securing bolt seems to be approx 378mm and from the lower pannier rail to the centre of the bolt approx 308mm which would, I think, make it a 700c version (the 26" version is about 15mm shorter in these dimensions I think), so, providing my measurements are accurate, you are quite correct in your observation! It does work well in practice though especially on the largish frame size and allows plenty of clearance between the bottom of the panniers and the rear mech.
Adrian
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Yes, I think the 26" version is 362mm which, by the looks of it, would just about clear the mudguard.
I take it those are Marathon Supreme tyres, 50-559? Can you tell me please how wide they actually are and what rims they are mounted on (Schwalbe are known for overstating the width of their tyres). Thanks, Kevin
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aj last question honestly ,have you ridden your bike in the rain. im dead curious to know what you honestly think of the marathon supream tyres.how do they handle wet roads im on the marathon plus and i really hate them on wet tarmac.im going to change the tyres was thinking of getting the supreams but havent heard first hand how they preform in the rain.
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Hi Kevin, yes they are Marathon Supreme 50-599 (26 x 2 ), their actual width seems to be 49mm measured as accurately as I can. The wheels are XT hubs with Mavic 721 rims.
Hi Jags, on the few occasions I've been out in the rain they seem fine and haven't given me any problems so far on wet tarmac, I have nothing to compare them with though, they are the only tyres I have had on the Sherpa so far. The only 'interesting' incident was on dry roads when I hit a patch of dry sand and gravel on a corner at the bottom of a hill, bike went sideways about a foot before I caught her but I think any tyre would have done the same.
I should add that I have had one hawthorn through the tyre too, it got me home without knowing but was flat ten minutes after the ride.
For the winter I have been thinking of fitting some Marathon XR tyres, the roads and lanes round here can turn into a sea of mud in places and I'm not sure how the Supremes will handle that, so I'm looking at tyre reviews as well!
If you do go for the Supremes let us know how they compare, I and I'm sure many others would find the comparison of great interest.
Adrian
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Very nice photos - thanks for sharing... ;D
cheers,
Vik
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Thank you Vik, she looks even better in real life! Only thing left to do now is decide where to trim the steerer once I finalise the bars position. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your Nomad as you build it up.
Adrian
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aj just having another look at your georgous sherpa hope your still enjoying the bike,as for myself just to update the tyre saga.i went and bought the conti city contact's and i find them a much better tyre on wet road's and they roll pretty well,i was going with the supreams but they were just to wide for me, it will be interesting to see how puncutre proof they are.
cheers jags.
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Thanks for the update Jags, pleased you got the tyres sorted :-) . I haven't had much chance to use the Sherpa in the last week or so, the roads have been sheet ice a lot of the time once you get off the main routes, not my idea of fun.
I'm thinking of trying the new Schwalbe Marathon Extremes once they become more widely available and a few more reviews have been posted on the net, personally I like the wide tyres on the Sherpa, makes for an extremely comfortable ride and don't find they slow me down, but then I'm never in a hurry to get anywhere, much preferring to take my time and enjoy the scenery!
Adrian
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Nice bike and nice pictures too!
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Thank you Raucous AUK, the bike just seems to get better and better, just wish I could say the same for the weather, was bored today and couldn't get out so another photo was taken to pass the time.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/3215891178_cc4335f4e0_o.jpg)
Adrian
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aj ,just noticed no spd pedals what's the story there.
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For the winter I have been thinking of fitting some Marathon XR tyres, the roads and lanes round here can turn into a sea of mud in places and I'm not sure how the Supremes will handle that, so I'm looking at tyre reviews as well!
Adrian, how did you get on with the Supreme's over winter? Did you change to XR's in the end? I've just fitted Supreme's to my Sherpa but am unsure how they'll fare as the weather get worse. Kevin
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Adrian, how did you get on with the Supreme's over winter? Did you change to XR's in the end? I've just fitted Supreme's to my Sherpa but am unsure how they'll fare as the weather get worse. Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I stayed on the Supreme's over last winter and didn't have any real problems. The worst surfaces seemed to be muddy, grassy tracks, wheel-spin then could become irritating but apart from that they were fine as long as due attention to the road surface was given. I always take it easy on mud strewn lanes and am probably overcautious but I get there, eventually! This year I keep looking at the new Extremes, they sound good and lighter than the XR's with better rolling resistance on tarmac, I'm tempted but skint so I'll probably go through this winter on the Supreme's again.
If I had the spare readies I think I would give the Extremes a try, they seem a good tyre in the few reviews I've read but would be interested to hear from anyone who has used both Supremes and Extremes and could give a real world comparison of how they both cope relatively with winter conditions, especially on muddy tarmac lanes, I have a feeling that with either tyre caution is going to be the byword in such conditions.
Adrian
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Thanks for the update Adrian. I've taken the Supreme's off road (gravel and forest roads) and found them okay so long as I dropped the pressure, so I reckoned they'd be okay in winter. I have Marathon Winter tyres for ice and snow and intend to experiment with swapping just the front tyre out (on the basis that if the rear goes one can normally recover, but if the front goes that's it).
On the road Marathon Supreme's they are terrific tyres, by far the best I've ever used.
Yesterday I felt a lump in the rear tyre, stopped and found a sharp piece of glass embedded in the tyre. It didn't get through the outer layer and left only a short shallow impression in the tyre. I was very Impressed!
Kevin
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I have had a few looks at this magnificent machine. It almost seems too good to ride - Is it really a bike or a work of art?
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I have had a few looks at this magnificent machine. It almost seems too good to ride - Is it really a bike or a work of art?
Bump ... just so this work of art is easier to find :D
An update on the bike would be nice too.
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Your photographic skills are to be admired. Thanks for posting this .... because, certainly, it is inspiring. The bike looks somehow Elegant and a bit aristocratic, more that brochures would suggest.
I find the talk of the tires interesting. I wonder how much the tires change the character of a bike on smooth pavement, one tire to the next and I imagine it is quite a lot.
Post more photos when you can (after the museum mounts it! :D) and keep us up to date.