One Thorn to Rule them All!

[Fred A-M]

I think Freddered pretty much hits the nail on the head; if you want something that will do heavy off roading in addition to everything else, the Raven Tour is probably the best option.  That said, if you're not going to do off-roading and don't feeled compelled to take in excess of 15Kg of luggage, I'm not yet entirely convinced the RST is a better choice given the extra cost.  Taking  the RST through its paces in Andalucia last year however, it coped admirably well, without throwing the bike around, with 12kg of luggage on some pretty rough trails.  

IMO, Rohloff is THE choice for hills, laden or unladen for the simple reason that you know exactly where you are gearing-wise all of the time and the 44X16 ratio was more than adequate to get me up the most gruelling of climbs including Europe's highest mountain pass.  What I'm really looking forward to is testing the RST on a "normal" tour (ie Brittany this May, normal roads, absence of continual mountain ascents/descents) to determine whether it's REALLY worthy of the label of a "fast" tourer!  That said, the RST really does make an excellent fast commuter, even if I find myself wanting that elusive 15th gear from time to time, so I've no reason to suspect that it won't live up to my touring expecations in Britanny.

[freddered]

My Thorn to Rule Them All is completed.

If you are interested in Thorn Raven Tour finished results...

http://www.sjscycles.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=796

[Stijn]

I can not recommend the Raven tour with suspension fork for loaded touring. The frame is not stiff enough for it, read: not designed for it. In a Place like Lahdak, you realy want a suspension fork (I met Cass there last Summer), so go for a catalyst, better still a Thorn expedition .

Below two of my last builds. It might look good but it doesn't work!

http://www.geocities.com/s_deklerk/bhistory5.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/s_deklerk/DSC01010_25.JPG

Cheers,

Stijn

[n/a]

Stijn, can you elaborate on the problems you had? I have a new raven Nomad on order, which seems to me to be basically a raven tour with s&S couplings and braze ons for disc brakes. As I intend to use the bike almost exclusively for expedition touring , like Himalayas, Great Divide etc' over the next few years, I am greatly concerned by your comments.
Andy Blance says that the raven tour,with a suspension fork fitted, can do almost everything that an MTB can do  but carry much more weight. The same wording is used for the nomad. Your comments contradict this.
I wonder , has the nomad been field tested or is the sales pitch just a load of guff, after all, the geometry is different from the perfect exxp;s , the tubing is different and the welding is in a different class altogether. It would be good to hear a few words on the subject from Andy Blance before I drop 2000 quid on a potential lemon.

[daviddd55]

I thought long and hard before ordering my Raven Tour, which I took delivery of a few weeks ago. So far it has lived up to expectations both by climbing very steep tracks i.e. 30 deg (in 36x16), and the 10 mile trip to work. It feels almost as fast as the road bike even with 2" Panaracer Tourguard tyres. I will really test it out offroad in the Outback - my present idea for an offroad section in the tour of Oz is to cycle the tracks through the Kimberly, 700km of dust and corrugations, fully laden. I chose the RT especially for such extremes, and this time next year I'll know if it was up to it - by all accounts it should be. I've chosen this very low gear ratio having suffered fully laden in the Alps last year on the steeper climbs, however in the top gear I can still manage about 25 mph - fast enough for me. I've also gone for the SON hub dynamo for those early starts on hot days: The racks are Thorn's own make - they look pretty substantial!

[piggling bland]

Is there anyone out there who has ridden a wide range of Thorns.  Apart from Stiyn, we all seem to be saying how great ours is.  Does anyone really know how the different bicycles compare?

After several years' service, the old xTc brochure has been updated.  I couldn't say exactly when this happened because I don't visit the site all that often.  However, the result of the update was that I bought some new wheels.  Now the xTc is about as fast as my Audax used to be.  It has re-energised my cycling.  I can now pedal past the beaches where I paddle without wanting to be in my kayak.  If anyone else is finding CR18s and Pasela Tourguards a bit sluggish, have a look at the new brochure.  I love my new wheels.

Thorn replaced the worn out rims on the old wheels, so I also have them for my next tour, but I'm still on the look out for a tyre which is more rough stuff capable than the Paselas, so if anyone has any ideas, please post them.  Do Dread Treds fit CR18 rims?