Club Tour mark 4

[aggs]

Had this bike a few years now and gob smacked how comfortable and versatile it is.
I have done some camping Touring with it , which I bought it for and it coped as can be expected. We travel fairly light , I have most of the heavier  kit with my wife travelling a bit lighter. We carry 2 panniers each and I also have the tent on the rear rack and a alpkit bag under the cross bar.
Bike handles well with rear weight bias.

But the most astonishing thing about the bike was how it rides gravel roads. I have trained for done a couple of events , and living here in the Scottish  Borders  I have discovered that exploring tarmac roads , tracks and forest roads has become my most enjoyable form of cycling. Depending on your mood the bike can go anywhere so my routes can do too!
I started on a cx bike with a carbon frame, lovely bike , fun, but really harsh to ride which is ok for an hour or so but one event I was doing was 200km on gravel. 
The remedy was that I stripped my Club Tour down , i.e no mud guards , racks etc, and used that for the longer training rides and the Event. So comfortable compared to the Carbon bike.
The steel frame and geometry is amazing , to dampen down the bumps that little bit more.
Its still not suspension, but 35mm or 40mm tyres help a lot too.
So most of the time now my Club Tour goes out on mixed road and off road adventures.
I may upgrade to a rear disc brake in the future as it will be better in wet conditions, but not really sure as rear wheel does not do much braking on a steep descent. Possible avid cantilever brakes are better than the Shimano ones.

Tonight I sold my carbon cx bike, a cracking bike , really fun, but the Thorn is by far the more versatile bike , if not a bit heavier too! 

So that's my update on the Club Tour  Mk 4

[David Simpson]

But the most astonishing thing about the bike was how it rides gravel roads. ... Its still not suspension, but 35mm or 40mm tyres help a lot too.

Yes, the tyre size makes a huge difference. I have a Nomad with 50mm tyres, and I forgotten about the difference until I recently rode an older bike with skinny (25mm?)  tyres.

I may upgrade to a rear disc brake in the future as it will be better in wet conditions, but not really sure as rear wheel does not do much braking on a steep descent. Possible avid cantilever brakes are better than the Shimano ones.

I commute in wet weather (Vancouver, Canada) on my Nomad, and I have a rear disc brake. It really does make a difference in the wet, even though it is the rear brake. In a panic stop, you will undoubtedly use mainly the front brake, but in wet conditions, your front wheel will probably skid anyway in a panic stop. In normal stopping in wet conditions, I intentionally use the rear brake more, simply because I can feel the rear brake gripping better.

I don't know if you have a rear rack, but I have the TRP Spyke mechanical (cable) disc brake. I recommend it. It is narrow enough to fit with a rear rack.

- DaveS

[aggs]

Rack is off at the moment as in "gravel spec"  , will go back on for Touring.  Thanks for your thought on rear disc.

[aggs]

In Gravel Spec

[Pavel]

how wide are those tires?  Do you find the mudguard setup as you have it working well?

[aggs]

The tyres in the picture are 40mm on Mavic A719 rims

Until I sold the cx bike recently I have using 35 mm tyres as the 40 mm were on the cx bike , both good. Theses tyres now discontinued so could not get 40mm at the time. I think I may have got the last of the 35mm. 40mm ones now in the shed , may put them on still a few miles left in them.

Tyre pressures typically 50 psi , long fast down hills could produce pinch flats on the rocky sections and roll ok on the road.
Tubeless is really the way to go, but I run tubes!!
Schwalbe Marathon Extreme a tough tyre, good in the mud too.

Rear mud guard fits to seat post and easy to take on and off and swap with Mountain Bike , very effective.
Front one too is good, and stops chipping of paint and me getting my glasses covered in mud!

For those interested another pic attached , high up in the Border Hills looking back towards St Marys Loch