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Cycle Tours / Re: Sri Lanka 2026
« Last post by Andre Jute on February 11, 2026, 03:27:22 PM »Bless you for the reports, Andy. Good reading and excellent photos, especially that domed train station.
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72
Cycle Tours / Re: Sri Lanka 2026
« Last post by Andyb1 on February 11, 2026, 02:13:05 PM »Now in SL. My Raven arrived safely. Great cycling roads and a level coastline. Hot as expected so early morning starts.
My CycleBlaze Journal is now up and running, in their Asia section.
My CycleBlaze Journal is now up and running, in their Asia section.
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Changing gear during heavy rain
« Last post by Matt2matt2002 on February 11, 2026, 09:57:52 AM »Many thanks to everyone who has made a suggestion.
So I can now think of myself as being in a win-win situation.
- If it's not raining heavily, that will be good, because the problem won't arise.
- If it is raining heavily, that will now be sort-of good, because I'll be able to try one of the suggestions!
I had this grip problem as well. It happened in hot countries. Sweaty palms. Gloves helped but to be honest I think its a design fault. It should work in all conditions; never mind having to wear gloves with pimples! I am using the triangle type changer. And also..... the numbers wear off after a year or so. And I'm not gripping the number section.
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Bikes For Sale / Sherpa Wanted
« Last post by robbieonthenet on February 10, 2026, 11:37:38 PM »I am looking to buy a Sherpa 969 9 speed medium/large size.
I am 6ft tall living in Bournemouth but willing to travel to collect.
Message me if you have a Sherpa for sale.
I am 6ft tall living in Bournemouth but willing to travel to collect.
Message me if you have a Sherpa for sale.
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Changing gear during heavy rain
« Last post by DGR on February 10, 2026, 06:37:29 PM »Many thanks to everyone who has made a suggestion.
So I can now think of myself as being in a win-win situation.
So I can now think of myself as being in a win-win situation.
- If it's not raining heavily, that will be good, because the problem won't arise.
- If it is raining heavily, that will now be sort-of good, because I'll be able to try one of the suggestions!
76
Thorn General / Re: Early Club Tour rims
« Last post by Mike Ayling on February 09, 2026, 05:00:27 AM »Crikey, postage/ freight costs a lot these days!
77
Thorn General / Re: Early Club Tour rims
« Last post by B cereus on February 08, 2026, 01:10:10 PM »Thinking some more about this, I’m wondering if a Shimano STX-RC V brake would work. They’re full-sized Vs and they use the same type of unthreaded brake pads that the OP is currently using. Would they allow more adjustment on the pads to accommodate the narrow bosses?
A quick search on eBay turned up several hits.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=STX-RC+V+brakes&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313
A quick search on eBay turned up several hits.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=STX-RC+V+brakes&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313
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Thorn General / Re: Early Club Tour rims
« Last post by B cereus on February 07, 2026, 07:13:58 PM »I sympathise with your dilemma. Your problems arise from the previous owner’s botched conversion. The bike probably previously had drops with bar end shifters and drop bar levers. If the vendor still has the bar end shifters you could claim them and mount them on thumb mounts. You would need to buy the thumb mounts and a pair of short pull flat bar levers.
There are other ways around your problem but firstly I think I’d be inclined to try V brakes. It’s the simplest option and well worth a try. The spacing on the rear will likely be OK and on the front, as Martin suggests, swapping around the spherical washers will gain you extra millimetres, it might even work without the need for the rather expensive Thinline pads.
Club Tours of that vintage were also available with flat bars and the same Cantilever brakes that you have. So that option would certainly work. but would need both new flat bar short pull levers and new shifters.
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Thorn General / Re: Early Club Tour rims
« Last post by PH on February 07, 2026, 06:03:56 PM »Thank you - that was what I was trying to do, but on checking the brake bosses on the forks, they are @67mm centre to centre, from my reading around I think any V-brake needs something closer to 80mm apart, I assume they would fit after a fashion, but the arms not be parallel to the forks?That's generally considered too close, you can sometimes get them to fit, but you won't get good braking,
Quote
it might just be easier to remove the combined brake/shifters and fit separate brake levers and shiftersThat's what I'd do, it needn't be expensive. You could probably find some secondhand.
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Thorn General / Re: Early Club Tour rims
« Last post by martinf on February 07, 2026, 12:03:33 PM »Thank you - that was what I was trying to do, but on checking the brake bosses on the forks, they are @67mm centre to centre, from my reading around I think any V-brake needs something closer to 80mm apart, I assume they would fit after a fashion, but the arms not be parallel to the forks?
With the brake pads and holders I use there is quite a lot of scope for adjustment by changing the order of the concave washers on the pad holder. See attached image file.
I generally use standard brake pads, they have the same stack of washers. But that image shows "thinline" pads that might work better with relatively narrow forks. Link to Thinline pads here :
https://www.koolstop.eu/rim-brake-pads/cantilever-v-brake/thinline-threaded/t2-thinline-salmon-ks-tltsa-re-335/