Thorn Nomad MK2 Sizing trouble

[aage]

HI I´m new here, I live in Iceland and I want to buy a Thorn Nomad bike.

The problem is sizing.

My BSFO inseam is 87cm and according to the Thorn Mega brochure table I should be close to 190cm height.

My Height is 178cm so I have long legs and short body ;-). 

My shoulder height is close to 150cm.

If I choose a Nomad according to my BSFO then I should go with 590L or M ( anyone knows what the difference is btw L and M ?.

If I choose according to Average Height of 178cm then I should choose the 565L or M or 540L.

I dont like the frame to be to long for me.  That will cause neck pain on long trips and to much weight on my hands.

I have been writing to Thorn and asked the same question but still waiting for answer.

Any help and suggestions appreciated.

Aki

[lewis noble]

Hello Aki

Sorry you have been waiting for reply, Thorn are usually very good at replying, or at least explaining why there is a delay on a specific point . . . .

I am not familiar with the Nomad sizing, but if you have a bike at present that you think suits you, and your intended riding style, the measurements off that would help Thorn advise you.  Somewhere in the website is a very comprehensive sizing / measurement table / chart . . . . I took the measurements off my then favourite bike, filled in the form and told them - they worked out that although I use straight bars, my posture, (age?!) and style warranted a short Sherpa frame rather than the long more usually suite to straight bar riders.  The bike is the most comfortable I have ever had. I will try and find the form on the website and post it, though I leave for a short holiday very soon and may not be able to.

We all hope you get sorted.

Lewis

[aage]

Thank you for your advice.  I have a 56cm Road Bike and a Medium Size Hardtail mountain bike 29r. 

I use neither of these for a long distance biking, maximum 60 to 80km in a day So on these bikes I think the sizing is not as important as would be on a long distance multi day touring bike.

I would probably like to sit a little bit more upright on a touring bike than on the bikes I own.  I just want to be sure I have a good fit if buying such a expensive bike like the Nomad ,  I plan on keeping it for a long long time into my retirement ( 9 years from now ).

Aki

[David Simpson]

... I should go with 590L or M ( anyone knows what the difference is btw L and M ?.

Generally, the M is intended for drop handlebars and the L is intended for straight handlebars.

I am 6ft-0in (183cm) tall with longish legs, and I have a 590L Nomad with straight bars (Thorn eXp Flat handlebar). It fits me very well.

- DaveS

[aage]

If I remember correctly then the M is shorter frame than the L.  So maybe I should buy a M frame and put a straight handlebar onto it ?.

I´m gonna wait for reply from Thorn and see what they suggest for me.

[mickeg]

Send another e-mail to Thorn.  When I was trying to buy a Nomad from them several years ago I kept waiting, and waiting, ...   But they had responded to my e-mail but they typed in my e-mail address wrong so it did not get to me.  Fortunately, later the person that they accidently sent it to kindly forwarded it to me.

Do you want flat bars or drop bars.  Thorn recommends flat bars on the Nomad, but I am running drop bars on mine.  You usually want a shorter effective top tube length for a bike with drop bars than you want for a bike with flat bars.

I have bought two Thorns.  The first one, I sent my measurements to Thorn and they suggested a size (for my Sherpa) and that is the size I bought.  It fits quite well.

I have several other bikes that fit well that I could take measurements from.  I tried to get the same general fit for my second Thorn (Nomad), but the key here was that for the Nomad I wanted drop bars, not flat bars.  So I tried to find a size that would fit me well based mostly on effective top tube length of my other bikes that fit well.  And from that I estimated which Nomad size I should get.  That is what I ordered and it fits great.  In this case, I did not rely on Thorn for sizing information since I was going to use drop bars on a bike that they recommend for flat bars.

I think sizing by top tube is more important than by seat tube length, as long as you meet the necessary standover height.

[Danneaux]

Hi Aage!

Another data point or two for your consideration...

I am of average dimensions and stand 180.3cm tall. I could have fit either a 565L or 590M Nomad and chose the 590M to use with drop handlebars. It fits well with a 60mm stem and compact drop handlebars -- to the millimeter the same as my other randonneur/touring bikes and I have found no handling problems with the longish Medium top tube and short stem. The bike also fits the same as my former (2011) Sherpa Mk2 in size 560S with a longer reach stem and longer reach/deeper drop handlebars. My Nomad's 590M frame would probably fit me equally well with straight handlebars and a longer reach (i.e. "more conventionally fitted") stem (I prefer a back angle of 45° when riding atop my brake hoods; same for on the handgrips of straight handlebars).

A couple more factors to keep in mind:
1) The weight-carrying capacity varies by frame size. This was also a consideration for me because while I don't always carry a lot of weight, I surely do load up on extended solo, self-supported expeditions in the back of beyond (especially so in the desert, when I must carry a lot of water -- up to ~26.5l/kg).

2) The top tube's actual slope will vary in steepness (degrees) by frame size as well, so if your standover clearance is marginal on one, it may be better on another. One factor for me in going for the larger frame is it helped put the handlebars up where I wanted them and there would be less exposed, unsupported seatpost than on the shorter frame (but enough to allow me to fit a Thuduster LT suspension seatpost, which proved to be very important to me). As it happens, the standover on the 590M is more than adequate for use on really rough logging roads and cross-country and has been most welcome as I would likely have bottomed out when stepping off the pedals onto a pothole if it had been any less. My other bikes with horizontal top tubes have sometimes been problematic in this regard, though never a problem on conventional pavement.

I'm in the field at the moment -- actually roadside astride the bike -- so don't have access to the charts in Thorn's Mega Brochure, but in the back of my mind, I seem to recall some possible variation in chainstay length between frame sizes as well. It might be worth checking if you have unusually large feet and need extra pannier/heel clearance, but it is unlikely you would have problems even then, as the Nomad has very long chainstays to ensure more of the load stays within the wheelbase.

As others have suggested, try asking Thorn again. In high season, they can get a little backed up and may have simply overlooked your initial email in the press of so many orders/support requests. I've found them to be extremely responsive on the second go -- with nice apologies, even! -- if they miss it on the first.

All the best,

Dan.

[aage]

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. Many things to consider and  I´m gonna wait a few day´s for answer and I might even go visit SJS in person to get these things right the first time over if needed.

Aki

[mickeg]

I do not recall the details for the Thorn return policy for complete bikes, but I think if you bought one of the wrong size, you could return it within a limited amount of time to get a different size. 

Both of my Thorns were bought as frames, not complete bikes.  And one of those was bought used from another private party.  Thus, I never looked closely at the return policy because I was not eligible under that policy.

I visited your country last summer with my Nomad.  I documented it here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=11917.0

I found that the Nomad is a very good bike for a place like Iceland.

[aage]

Mickeg nice travel you had in Iceland, loved reading your travel story.  The worst about travelling here today is that the roads as you mentioned are to narrow and to much traffic.   Iceland is also becoming very expensive , people are getting to greedy up here.

I used to go every summer up to the highland both winter and summer and enjoyed it a lot.  You could go on to the highland and stay there without seeing anyone for days.  Thats nomore ,  there are so many tourists every where.  But I guess I got spoiled :-).

[martinf]

I'm about 180 cm tall.

I visited SJS cycles when I wanted to buy a Nomad. SJS recommended either the 590M or the 565L for me, and strongly recommended flat bars.

I wasn't sure about flat bars, so I tried them, with bar-ends, on one of my existing bikes for several months, but decided I wanted drop bars for better hand comfort on a long-distance bike. I then contacted SJS again.

After taking the advice given by Andy Blance at SJS cycles I ended up with a Raven Tour 587S, similar to the Nomad 590M in height but shorter, to better suit drop bars. The discontinued Raven Tour has less carrying capacity and smaller tyre clearances than the Nomad, but slightly more of both than the current Raven model. Andy Blance thought the Raven Tour would be better suited than the Nomad for my intended use - loaded tours mainly on roads, with occasional use of tracks and paths, in Western Europe, so no need for me to pack huge quantities of food or water. For Iceland a Nomad would be better.

I later bought a Raven Tour 612S clearance frame that I set up as a utility bike. With the taller frame I have less standover clearance on this bike, but it hasn't been a problem.

I tend to have taller frames than would be usual for my height, because I prefer to use short 150 mm cranks, which puts me about 2cms higher than with 150 mm cranks.

I think that the choice of handlebar type (straight, comfort-style or drops) and top-tube length are probably more important than height when ordering a Thorn frame.