Which Thorn for lightly loaded day/overnight riding.

[in4]

Whilst enjoying my Nomad immensely I’m thinking of buying a fast/er bike for day rides perhaps with an occasional overnighter thrown in (B&B)
Which if any of Thorn’s current offering might be worth considering?
I’ve ridden 250kms over the last five days on my Nomad and reckon a lighter bike might give me a bit extra Oomph!

[PH]

The current range of Thorn solo frames is the Nomad and the Mercury 40.  With mix and match forks, wheel sizes and components to build into a variety of bikes.  There's also some of the Mercury Mk3 framesets still available in some sizes and colours.
I like my Mercury, it zips along at a similar pace to my old Audax bike, with a touch more comfort and slightly more stable steering.  Despite looking quite similar, it rides very different to my Nomad.  I'd say it is at the livelier end of touring bikes, it suits me and is without a doubt my favorite bike, though the Nomad is my most ridden. I haven't ridden a 40 to know the differences. 
Is a sports tourer what you're looking for? Or a different build?  Do you want it to have a Rohloff (The dropouts on both current models take Rohloff or derailleur).  Straight bars or drops?  For a sport tourer with straight bar geometry and Rohloff fittings, the Mercury doesn't have that many competitors. Similar bikes made for drops and derailleurs are a lot more common.
Alternatively, a secondhand Audax may suit you, if you can live with the restrictions of caliper brakes and 28mm tyres. They have fallen out of fashion, to the extent that there's some real bargains available. 
 

[martinf]

I have two bikes for "day rides and lightweight touring". Both these bikes are faster than my Raven, which is a drop-bar "heavy build" with front and rear racks and rather similar to the Nomad, I use my Raven for camping or utility loads and when I know I will be using paths and tracks. 

One "lightweight" is a Raven Sport Tour, which is basically an older version of the Mercury but with 26" wheels. Mine has drops, Rohloff, and lightweight rims. After trying narrower tyres I settled on 42 mm Marathon Supreme tyres which are a good comfort/performance compromise for me and allow mild off-tarmac riding. I started out with just a saddlebag, but added a rear rack for more versatility a few years ago.

The other is my 1977 Woodrup with Reynolds 531 tubing. Geometry is a bit more relaxed than an Audax bike, with space for 32 mm tyres and mudguards. I have Continental Grand Prix 5000 tyres in the 32 mm width, these have very low rolling resistance but are best used on good road surfaces. Derailleurs until I got fed up with cleaning them a few years ago, I now have a 5-speed hub gear. Despite the hub gear, this is still my fastest bike on rides that aren't too hilly, but I don't use it all that often. For a derailleur bike, the Thorn equivalent would probably be a second-hand Club Tour.

Here in France similar second-hand derailleur bikes come up from time to time for 50-100 euros, but Audax-type bikes and outright racing bikes are much more common. I am currently renovating an old Dawes ladies-frame lightweight with mudguard clearance limited to 28 mm tyres - too narrow to be comfortable for me but perhaps OK for a lighter (or younger) rider.

[Peejay]

Mercury all the way.

Pete.

[John Saxby]

Ian,

I've been very happy with my Mercury.  I've  done a number of short tours since I bought it in the spring of 2022 - overnights, and a weeklong tour over mixed terrain.

One consideration for me, which I didn't expect:  My Mercury came with a Ryde Rival rear rim, and a disc brake.  No problem with the disc, but the rim posed a big problem for changing tires -- my arthritic thumbs limit the tires I'm able to mount and remove.  If I'd known in 2022 what I now know, I'd have ordered rim brakes at the rear and a rim better suited to clincher tires.

I tried mounting Panaracer Gravelkings (650B x 48 mm) in late 2024, and it was just doable on the rear rim -- by that time, I'd changed the Ryde Rival to a DT Swiss 540G, recommended by Thorn. (No trouble mounting or removing those at the front -- that rim is a Thorn alloy rim.)  They were lovely tires, BUT in August this year, about to start an overnight, my TPU tube on the rear expired after just 500 kms. I was able to change the tube only with the help of my riding mate.  I realized then that I wouldn't be able to make a roadside repair by myself if I had to -- and that I might not be able to do so in my home workshop, either.

Now, I've shelved the Panaracers, and have my Marathon Supreme back on the front. At the rear, I've switched out the Supreme -- my thumbs prevented me from mounting it, even with the help of the Koolstop Tire Bead jack.    What I have instead is what I was able to mount, despite my thumbs:  On the advice of Andrew, the very experienced owner of my LBS, I now have a Marathon Plus beaded tire on the rear wheel. ("Shocked and appalled!!" readers will say.  I was a bit hesitant, to be sure, but Practical Reality intervened.) Both F & R tires are 650B x 40 mm, 38mm actual inflated.  My Mercury now weighs a couple of hundred grams more than it did with Supremes fore and aft, but on an admittedly short 90-minute ride along the river and into the hills, I couldn't tell difference.

Take this FWIW,

Cheers,  John

A later PS:  Happy to share with you the specifics of my approach to loading the bike, if that's useful.  It's not the usual rearward pattern.