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Thorn Cycles Forum
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32
Thorn General / Re: (News of) New Thorn Mercury 40 prototype, destined for production
« Last post by Danneaux on May 12, 2025, 05:32:17 PM »33
Thorn General / (News of) New Thorn Mercury 40 prototype, destined for production
« Last post by Danneaux on May 12, 2025, 05:28:08 PM »See attached photo for announcement, info culled from Thorn's Instagram page...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJjIJSdsC65/
A kickstand plate included? Well...!
Best, Dan.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJjIJSdsC65/
A kickstand plate included? Well...!
Best, Dan.
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Bikes For Sale / Re: ThornAudax Mk3
« Last post by Danneaux on May 12, 2025, 12:56:27 AM »Quote
Looking forward to all the messages
Me too!
There should be a flood of interest, as this is an astonishing, amazing, wonderful offer! It also typifies all that is good about this Forum and its remarkable membership.Best of luck to all who participate!
Best, Dan.
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Bikes For Sale / Re: ThornAudax Mk3
« Last post by lewis noble on May 11, 2025, 08:43:56 PM »Hello everyone - in order to stimulate interest, I am withdrawing my Audax from sale. It will now be available FREE!!
Not included in the picture is one of the Thorn water bottle I generally use, I'm not sure if they're still available . . . . . The water bottle is for sale for £500 o.n.o., with the bike included for free!! How about that? A real bargain. I've also stuck some pedals on, and the spare cassette will be included with the water bottle and bike. I bought the cassette some while ago, when availability of some good quality kit looked difficult, but the mechanic who last serviced the FREE bike said not needed.
Reason for sale - not as flexible/supple as I was, prefer riding Sherpa or my Ribble e-bike. This bike deserves a good home.
Looking forward to all the messages
Lewis
Not included in the picture is one of the Thorn water bottle I generally use, I'm not sure if they're still available . . . . . The water bottle is for sale for £500 o.n.o., with the bike included for free!! How about that? A real bargain. I've also stuck some pedals on, and the spare cassette will be included with the water bottle and bike. I bought the cassette some while ago, when availability of some good quality kit looked difficult, but the mechanic who last serviced the FREE bike said not needed.
Reason for sale - not as flexible/supple as I was, prefer riding Sherpa or my Ribble e-bike. This bike deserves a good home.
Looking forward to all the messages
Lewis
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Bikes For Sale / Ebay: Mercury 610s, Rohloff hub, Schmidt dynamo hub, low mileage
« Last post by DaveHughes on May 11, 2025, 04:25:55 PM »Hi all, just listed my Thorn Mercury on eBay as its not getting used:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306297616345
Gunmetal grey. Frame size is 610s (I’m a touch under 6 foot). Rohloff hub (recent oil change), Schmidt Son 28 hub and Edelux II light, Tubus titanium rack, set up tubeless on DT Swiss wheels. Less than 1000 km so in really good condition. Just not using it.
Just in case anyone was interested. I’m based in Wiltshire.
Thanks
Dave
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306297616345
Gunmetal grey. Frame size is 610s (I’m a touch under 6 foot). Rohloff hub (recent oil change), Schmidt Son 28 hub and Edelux II light, Tubus titanium rack, set up tubeless on DT Swiss wheels. Less than 1000 km so in really good condition. Just not using it.
Just in case anyone was interested. I’m based in Wiltshire.
Thanks
Dave
37
General Technical / Re: Pannier weight distribution
« Last post by mickeg on May 11, 2025, 01:54:57 PM »...
I've used Amtrak only once with my bike, on the return to upstate NY from Everett, WA, after my 2016 tour through the Rockies & the Pacific NW. ...
I probably have used the same two trains you used.
Amtrak now has the old boxed bike sytem for checking your bike as baggage, but they also have two different options, one is where you take the bike onto the train and the other is the train-side checked luggage option where you wheel your bike to the train baggage car (need reservation) and lift your bike up to the baggage person in the baggage car where they stow it in a rack, this needs a reservation to make sure that the rack will be available. Different train lines have different options available, depending on how their baggage cars are configured.
Last summer I used the train-side checked option, I wheeled my bike to the train baggage car for them to put in the baggage car, and I also checked my four panniers (all in one mesh duffle) as one checked bag, which had to be below 50 pounds, but the size limit was much more generous than an airline size limit. Limit of two checked items, in my case one bike and one duffle with the four panniers in it. Photo attached, my non-Thorn touring bike. The yellow duffle and handlebar bag were carryon luggage.
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General Technical / Re: Pannier weight distribution
« Last post by John Saxby on May 11, 2025, 01:54:22 AM »Thanks, George. I do have a battery-powered luggage scale, and it goes about its job with digital assurance. No quirky traits or fond memories attached to it, though. My "Way Scale" sits on the corner of my workbench, and its 25-lb limit works for mist of my tasks in the shop.
(I do occasionally wrap a strap around Freddie's top tube if I want to measure "dry and "loaded" weights. For that, the digital scale works well.)
I've used Amtrak only once with my bike, on the return to upstate NY from Everett, WA, after my 2016 tour through the Rockies & the Pacific NW. Amtrak was very helpful & accommodating: I used two trains, one to Chicago and a second to Utica. I don't recall any concerns about weight, and Amtrak provided the box. One momentary panic when I reached Utica: they couldn't find my bike! Seems it had been put onto the part of the train that, at Albany, would go to Boston rather than NYC. Happily, the fellow in charge of the luggage van was able to locate it for me.
We regularly use Amtrak from Utica to Manhattan & return to visit friends in NYC. It's an easy 3 hours' drive from Ottawa (at least, it has been so in the past...) and parking is free. Makes for an 8 or 9-hour journey to NYC.
Cheers, John
(I do occasionally wrap a strap around Freddie's top tube if I want to measure "dry and "loaded" weights. For that, the digital scale works well.)
I've used Amtrak only once with my bike, on the return to upstate NY from Everett, WA, after my 2016 tour through the Rockies & the Pacific NW. Amtrak was very helpful & accommodating: I used two trains, one to Chicago and a second to Utica. I don't recall any concerns about weight, and Amtrak provided the box. One momentary panic when I reached Utica: they couldn't find my bike! Seems it had been put onto the part of the train that, at Albany, would go to Boston rather than NYC. Happily, the fellow in charge of the luggage van was able to locate it for me.
We regularly use Amtrak from Utica to Manhattan & return to visit friends in NYC. It's an easy 3 hours' drive from Ottawa (at least, it has been so in the past...) and parking is free. Makes for an 8 or 9-hour journey to NYC.
Cheers, John
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General Technical / Re: Pannier weight distribution
« Last post by Andyb1 on May 09, 2025, 08:38:44 PM »Or remove the batteries when the scales are not in use.
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Non-Thorn Related / Re: Interesting piece re tariffs
« Last post by mickeg on May 09, 2025, 01:05:06 PM »John, very good point on the difference between goods and services. It is my understanding that USA buys a lot of goods from Europe, but Europe buys a lot of services from USA. So, Canada is not alone. I am not sure about UK, but I suspect the same with UK.
This past March here in USA when I anticipated the tariffs to come, one thing I considered was tires for my vehicle. They were marginal but still had legally required amount of tread. I had been planning on replacing them this coming fall in about a half year.
The tires I wanted to buy cost $211 (USD) each, before local sales tax and installation fees. I asked the dealer where they came from, since that manufacturer had factories in USA, China, Japan and Europe. Dealer said different sizes from different places, they did not know where they came from until they got them in stock. So, I ordered them and had them installed in middle of March, before tariffs.
Looked at the tires after installed, made in USA.
When a company does not have their costs increase, but their competitors have cost increases that cause the competitor to increase prices, this is a free market world. That means that the company that did not have cost increases has no reason to keep their prices low if their competitors raised their prices. So when I saw my tires were made in USA, I assumed that their prices would rise anyway when the tariffs kicked in. The only question was by how much? I did not regret buying them early.
Today those tires cost $238 (USD), roughly 12.5 percent increase in price.
A lot of petroleum goes into the making of a tire, but the cost of crude oil now when measured in USD is quite a bit lower than it was in March when I bought the tires, so cost of materials to make those tires is probably not the reason for the retail price increase since one of their major costs of production actually went down, not up.
This past March here in USA when I anticipated the tariffs to come, one thing I considered was tires for my vehicle. They were marginal but still had legally required amount of tread. I had been planning on replacing them this coming fall in about a half year.
The tires I wanted to buy cost $211 (USD) each, before local sales tax and installation fees. I asked the dealer where they came from, since that manufacturer had factories in USA, China, Japan and Europe. Dealer said different sizes from different places, they did not know where they came from until they got them in stock. So, I ordered them and had them installed in middle of March, before tariffs.
Looked at the tires after installed, made in USA.
When a company does not have their costs increase, but their competitors have cost increases that cause the competitor to increase prices, this is a free market world. That means that the company that did not have cost increases has no reason to keep their prices low if their competitors raised their prices. So when I saw my tires were made in USA, I assumed that their prices would rise anyway when the tariffs kicked in. The only question was by how much? I did not regret buying them early.
Today those tires cost $238 (USD), roughly 12.5 percent increase in price.
A lot of petroleum goes into the making of a tire, but the cost of crude oil now when measured in USD is quite a bit lower than it was in March when I bought the tires, so cost of materials to make those tires is probably not the reason for the retail price increase since one of their major costs of production actually went down, not up.