Bike identification and valuation

[MarkG]

Hi forum,

My name's Mark and I'm new here. Nice to meet you all.

I'm looking for some information and guidance on a Thorn bicycle.

My partner bought this bike a couple of years ago and I'm unsure of exactly of all the details of the model and how much it's valued at. She broke her leg recently so we're looking to sell it on.

As far as I'm aware it's a Thorn Raven Sport small frame (17.5cm) Reynolds 853 Tubing, fitted with Shimano Alfine SG-S501 8-speed internal gear hub and Shimano V-Brakes, in good condition with only little bits of wear here and there.

If anyone has further details or corrections then I'd be extremely grateful.

I can upload more photos if need be.

Kind regards

Mark

[Andyb1]

Hi Mark,
Welcome.
Assuming you are in UK?

I bought a similar Raven Tour with Rohloff last year and they seem to hold around £700 - £1000.   Many are advertised for more but don’t seem to sell.
Yours has Alfine gears so would be cheaper.
I have seen tidy Nomads with derailleur gears at £400 - and I sold my Sherpa for around that last year.  So I would guess £400 to start at if all checked over and tyres, chain etc are good.

Sadly you may get a lot less as the secondhand market is quiet and rim braked bikes are not popular with a lot of people.   If you are prepared to pack the bike up so it can be couriered that can make a big difference to getting a sale.

[in4]

Firstly all good wishes to your partner.
If you look beneath the bottom bracket you should see some numbers and letters stamped into the frame. That’s the frame size so very useful for any future buyer.
Might be worth emailing SJS cycles ( home of Thorn bikes) re realistic value. They do sell some used Thorn bikes on their website so ( for a %) they might sell yours for you.
Best wishes

[MarkG]

Thanks for the replies. Very much appreciated.

Hey, Andyb1. Yeah, I am up in Dundee. I can pack it up if it need be. Thanks for that info regarding the prices. I gave the chain a good clean, but there are little scuffs and wear around the frame and seat.

Thanks for the kind words, in4; I'll pass them on Is that the same number as the one I posted in my photos, or is there another one I've missed? I did get in touch with SJS initially and you're right about them buying for a %.

I was offered £400 to begin with, but when they found out it was an Alfine hub they weren't interested. Apparently the bike is worth in the region of £50 - £100, but I was told from someone on Facebook that it's still worth a lot more.

Tbh, I really have no idea what price I should be aiming for.

[in4]

Its a 486L size. Buyers can see the measurments on the Thorn website
Apologies I didn't see the photos as I was viewing on the phone whilst on the move.
best wishes

[martinf]

I was offered £400 to begin with, but when they found out it was an Alfine hub they weren't interested. Apparently the bike is worth in the region of £50 - £100, but I was told from someone on Facebook that it's still worth a lot more.

I consider that the Raven Sport Tour is a very good frame for a relatively lightweight hub-geared bike for light touring/day rides. My Raven Sport Tour cost about £400 as a frameset as discounted end of line stock in 2016. But it has the disadvantage of using 26 inch tyres that have gone out of fashion.

When selling something, the right price is what someone is willing to pay. The trouble with a hub-gear lightweight is that it is probably a very small market in the UK. A pragmatic approach would be to try and sell the bike for half the purchase price - I suppose that if it was bought a couple of years ago that it was second-hand ?

Where to advertise:

- On this forum.
- A touring bike website, this would have been the CTC when I lived in England, don't know if it is still called the same.
- Maybe EBay or the equivalent ?

As AndyB1 has already said, you will have more chance of selling if you are willing to send the bike, but packing and sending a complete bike is quite a hassle and is expensive.

[JohnR]

Someone must have swapped the rear wheel since the bike was built as there's a sticker saying "Equipped with Rohloff". How many speeds has the Alfine hub, 8 or 11? The latter is worth more but isn't as robust as a Rohloff hub and has a smaller gearing range than the Rohloff so is less suitable for touring anywhere with hills.

[Andyb1]

Parcelforce will courier a bike in a box that is under 30kg total weight for around £25.  Their advice attached.

https://www.parcelforce.com/help-and-advice/sending/bicycle

Many LBS have unwanted cardboard boxes.  Or the buyer could arrange a courier (box probably still needed).
I bought my Raven from the East of England and it was delivered to Somerset like that - all OK.
Obviously it needs to be well packed so that might take an hour or so, and I would only do it when sold, but it broadens your market from around Dundee to the whole of UK.

[martinf]

Someone must have swapped the rear wheel since the bike was built as there's a sticker saying "Equipped with Rohloff".

Not necessarily. My frameset came with that sticker. I bought a Rohloff wheel separately, but could have bought a Shimano hub instead. If I had been a bit younger when I bought it I would probably fitted a Shimano 8, but not an 11 as I didn't trust the first version of the Alfine 11.

How many speeds has the Alfine hub, 8 or 11? The latter is worth more but isn't as robust as a Rohloff hub and has a smaller gearing range than the Rohloff so is less suitable for touring anywhere with hills.

The original poster says 8-speed. I like the Shimano 8-speeds, and have them on several family bikes. But the resale value is obviously much lower than a Rohloff, which seems to keep a high second-hand price.

And in 2026 I doubt that anyone would buy a bike with an 8-speed hub with a range of "only" about 307% for touring in hilly areas.

This is mainly because expectations have changed, my state of the art 15-speed tourer in 1977 had a gear range of 343%, only a little wider than the Shimano 8 hub gear. My fellow riders in 1977 considered it to be overkill, most of them had the popular 40/50 double chainring setup, with an overall range of about 250%.  My "overkill" setup did, however, enable me to cycle up Hardknott pass in the English Lake District, the steepest bit on that hill is supposed to be about 30%.

[Andre Jute]

My "overkill" setup did, however, enable me to cycle up Hardknott pass in the English Lake District, the steepest bit on that hill is supposed to be about 30%.

Alas! We were all younger and fitter c1977. Congratulations.