Sad news about the end of the Nomad. I just listened to an interviewed cyclist gush about how much choice people have today when buying a new frame: no matter what you need in terms of geometry, tire clearance, sliding dropouts/EBB, etc., there are now multiple companies offering a frame that is good for you. Some of those companies operate on economies of scale where frames can be much cheaper than Thorn’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an unviable market for SJS.
Another thing I’ve repeatedly heard from UK cyclists who were familiar with SJS firsthand, is that the staff aside from Andy seemed to know little about long-haul bicycle travel in general, let alone the bikepacking developments that have made traditional touring bikes less attractive to younger consumers.
As I’ve said before here, I treasure my Nomad Mk3, but things move fast in the industry and a lot of riders I meet find Rohloff hubs superseded by Pinion gearboxes. (Two of the expedition cyclists that rode Nomads a decade ago and thus inspired me to do so, have retired or sold their Thorns and are riding Tout Terrains now.) If your company no longer has a frame designer, you can’t come up with something new to meet that demand.
