EBay Nomad MK 3 58S BRG not long out of the box!

[ourclarioncall]

Got a reply from the bike owner and he explained why he went with the S frame was he didn’t want a super short stem . The S frame must work better for wiggle room /comfort /aesthetics etc

Bike is still for sale . In fact I think I saw it on Facebook marketplace for £2000

Not sure it’s the one for me , but it ticks a lot of boxes

It’s got andra 40 rims on it too, basically a tank

[JohnR]

It would be worthwhile re-reading the Thorn Touring Bike bible, particular page 25 onwards regarding sizing.

[ourclarioncall]

It would be worthwhile re-reading the Thorn Touring Bike bible, particular page 25 onwards regarding sizing.

Absolutely, my memory can’t retain anything lol

I went back and read some of my old posts from the past to dredge up all the info I was hunting down to get it fresh in the old brain

[PH]

Not sure it’s the one for me , but it ticks a lot of boxes

How not sure are you?
IMO the seller has made a mistake by not splitting some of the accessories off for another sale, the luggage and the charging system in particular have a wide market and maybe don't add as much to the bike price.  IMO and it is just that, I appreciate it's easier to spend other peoples money, that bike at that price isn't much of a gamble. As long as you didn't do something drastic (Like paint it black!) you'd get most if not all of your money back if it turned out not to suit. The original buyer has taken the big loss, the depreciation curve now flattens out.

[UKTony]

Just checking specs of this bike again and Sale has ended - sold?

Let’s all go to the pub, it’ll be a lot simpler

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353798033672?hash=item5260019108:g:GY8AAOSwxathrOYS

[ourclarioncall]

If Jagger was a bike tourer

I
See
A
Red
Bike
And
I
Want
To
Paint
It
B L A C K

[UKTony]

🎸🤘

[ourclarioncall]

Not sure it’s the one for me , but it ticks a lot of boxes

How not sure are you?
IMO the seller has made a mistake by not splitting some of the accessories off for another sale, the luggage and the charging system in particular have a wide market and maybe don't add as much to the bike price.  IMO and it is just that, I appreciate it's easier to spend other peoples money, that bike at that price isn't much of a gamble. As long as you didn't do something drastic (Like paint it black!) you'd get most if not all of your money back if it turned out not to suit. The original buyer has taken the big loss, the depreciation curve now flattens out.

How sure am I about being not sure ? Hmmm , I’m not sure lol

Well, looks like it’s sold … or the auction has ended so my mind could be made up for me now

I messaged him today and got a response , then messaged again but no response yet. Or maybe never will if it’s gone .

I’ve been having a really bad day today and your comment cheered me up and gave me a laugh. Thank you

“ As long as you didn't do something drastic (Like paint it black!)

You may be a complete stranger on a bike forum but at least you understand me 😊

[ourclarioncall]

🎸🤘

😃

[martinf]

I agree with André that changing components around can make a wide variety of frame sizes comfortable. As he says, the big exception is that you cannot do this with a frame that is too long or too high.

My Thorn Raven Tour, as advised by Thorn, is a 587S. This gives a good riding position (for me) with a long stem and flat handlebars, or with a much shorter stem and compact drop handlebars, which are my current choice.

Later I bought a 612S Raven Tour frame, which I set up as a utility bike. There is still plenty of stepover height for me on this bike, but I reckon it will be harder to mount than the 587S if age limits my agility.

My Raven Sport Tour 611S is also larger than recommended by Thorn.

All three of the above are easy to use.

During the 1980's I needed a semi-expendable bike to leave at the train station in the town where I was doing long-term professional training while I returned home for the weekend. I found an old, small "ladies" frame twin-lateral bike and adapted that with a long seatpost and a tall stem with a long extension. It wasn't as stiff as my "proper" bikes, but it was comfortable to ride. I ended up doing more than 35,000 kms with that bike, and when the twin laterals finally broke due to the stress of a young, fit and heavy rider I got my local bike shop to braze on a "top tube" so that I could continue riding the bike. I only scrapped it when the bodge-job top tube started cracking at the joints. Then I replaced it with another old (1950's ?) frame, "gents" version this time, that was theoretically a bit too small for me, which I have also used for more than 35,000 kms so far.

[ourclarioncall]

I can confirm it’s sold

[ourclarioncall]

Martinf

Have you ever tried a long Thorn frame ? Just wondering how you found it compared to your short frames if you have

[Danneaux]

Though I have never ridden a Thorn with a long top tube, I owned a size 560S Sherpa Mk2, my Nomad Mk2 is a 590M and the bike so kindly loaned to me by a Forum member for my 2014 tour was a size 587S Raven Tour.

By adjusting cockpit length via different reach stems and drop handlebars with different reach/drop (in my case, Thorn-supplied Zoom Anatomic vs Bontrager compact) all these bikes were made to fit me within 1mm variance, essentially identical. My preferred back angle of 45° with hands atop the brake hoods and elbows slightly bent for shock absorption is the same as well All were fitted with 26 x 2.0 tires.

Although my contact points on the three bikes were the same, the Nomad's top tube is longest. It gives a feel of riding "in" rather than "on" the bike and I like it very much. My body, butt to hands, is wholly and equally within the wheelbase of the frame and it handles and steers very well.It also handles extreme loads easily the best of the three. While my camping gear is light, my extra weight comes from carrying a lot of food and water for my solo, self-supported desert tours, away from resupply. The bike handles well with or without a load. The Nomad has the shortest stem but the widest handlebars, so the moment arm/distance between my hands on the brake hoods and the center of the steerer is nearly the same as with narrower 'bars and a longer stem so steering and leverage are nearly the same as well.

My Sherpa did not have the Nomad's ultimate luggage capacity, and had the shortest top tube and longest stem of the three. It is a bit hard to compare due to variations in frame geometry including chainstay length and of course weight, but the Sherpa felt nipper in handling and the shorter top tube felt -- in contrast to my Nomad -- as if I were riding atop the bike and the longer reach stem felt more like a tiller.

The Raven Tour slotted in between in terms of feel...again hard to judge in terms of top tube length alone because there are many other variables at play that contribute to the overall feel and "flavor" of the bikes.

Of the three bikes, I appreciate the Nomad's more steeply sloped, lower top tube for the extra standover clearance it provides, of great value for me on deeply pothole roads, logging roads, and cross-country where I sometimes find myself dismounting into a hole in the road surface or ground and clearance becomes less generous.

Best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Dan made a good point about different bars have different reach.  When I built up my rando bike, I did not look hard at the bars as a variable, but the bars I put on that bike have about 1-2 cm more reach to the hoods than the other bikes I was using as my base for measurements.   I could not find a good stem to make that adjustment, in the end moved my saddle a bit more forward to reduce but not eliminate the extra reach.

My folding bike has a geometry that is equivalent to a much shorter top tube, but on that bike I lower my handlebars, thus I can have my back at about the same lean angle as on my other bikes, but my arms are angled down more.

That said, for me to find a good fit on a bike, the top tube length reach to the bars is much more critical than the seat tube height where I can easily adjust the seatpost up and down.

The Nomad Mk II has a high bottom bracket, or at least it is high when I use 57mm tires.  Thus, standover height would be a more important issue if the top tube was not as sloped as it is.  Historically when top tubes were all horizontal, stand over height was a more important measure than it is on the sloping top tubes we have today.  But if you had an unusually long torso and shorter legs, standover height might be a much more important factor to consider.

[martinf]

>Have you ever tried a long Thorn frame ? Just wondering how you found it compared to your short frames if you have

No. But the old mountain bike I used as a heavy tourer before I got my first Thorn Raven Tour had a long top tube, very nearly the same length as the Nomad I was considering before being persuaded by Andy Blance at Thorn that a Raven Tour would be more suitable for my needs.

With drop bars I needed quite a short stem on that mountain bike. It performed OK, and was comfortable. The drawbacks compared to my Raven Tour were :

- the old racks I used were much less stiff than the Thorn racks on the Raven Tour,
- the mountain bike had a U-brake, strategically placed to spray water and sand onto the chain,
- the derailleur gearing. Partly due to the U-brake, but chain life was very short.

Big advantage was that it wasn't worth very much, so I didn't worry too much about theft when I locked it up somewhere.