How 'person specific' are the frames? Is there a general stash of frames for a 6' 1" bloke with a 34" BFSO measurement which are then fine tuned with 'bar and saddle settings, or is the frame hand made to your exact mesurments?
Hi Nigel, and welcome to the forum.
Thorn frames are not person specific at all, but Thorn take pride in supplying enough sizes off the peg to accommodate all riders, including those who need step-through frames. This is why they offer each size with a short and long top tube, which in principle should be used with either straight (long TT) or drop bars (short TT), but if your upper body is, say, shorter than usual, or you want a very relaxed position, then you can opt for short TT with straight bars and thus shorten the reach. Given the variety of the Raven sizes, and multiple stems/bars/saddles you can use, I bet you'll find a suitable size. And by the way, given 587L seems to be the right size, I've just sent you a PM as I have a Raven of this size that I'll be selling.
Several years back Thorn used to make some of their frames on site in Bridgwater, like then rather wonderfully-looking EXP, but even then these machines came in specific sizes (though in some cases you could choose from more than 20 of them). The rationale, as far as I remember, was that Reynolds tubes also come in a limited range of sizes so while it was a custom build, effectively you could only build
N different frames from any given tube set. I'm no expert but understand that holds true for any frame hand made to your exact measurements, they will size you up and then build one of a limited range of sizes they can make from any given tube set (so the advantage is that you can request a specific geometry or tubes to accommodate your riding needs, but you don't need made-to-measure to get a bike that fits; Thorns do!).
One last thing - if I were you, I'd really try and test ride a bike before buying, if Bridgewater is far away maybe there is a Thorn owner near you that can help?
