RAVEN NOMAD S&S

[julk]

I have Thorn front & rear racks and Tubus Cargo rear, Tara & Ergo front racks  (on different bikes!).

The Thorn racks will mount with either m5 or m6 bolts. The mounting holes in the racks are m6.

The Tubus racks are designed for m5 bolts. In general the fixing holes could safely be enlarged to take m6 bolts as they are holes in steel plates which are welded into the rack. You would need to source the m6 bolts as Tubus only provide the smaller ones.
The only point which would concern me is that the upper fixing on the Tubus rear rack is an aluminium bar which looks a bit narrow for drilling the fixing hole larger. I would look to fabricate a stainless strap in place of the aluminium bar, rather than drilling the bar.

In use both sets of racks are superb.

The Thorn rear rack is my own preference. The top platform on the Thorn rear rack is wider than the Tubus and this is better for carrying top loads and clearing wide mudguards. You can also fix your rear mudguard struts to points on the Thorn rear rack legs, this makes the rear mudguard struts much shorter and firmer. The top fixing straps are impressively strong drilled stainless items.

I have no preference in the front racks, they all have different challenges to get the front pannier hooks fixed in the best way. You will need double sided mid fork brazeons for the Thorn front rack.

[vik]

I have Thorn front & rear racks and Tubus Cargo rear, Tara & Ergo front racks  (on different bikes!).

The Thorn racks will mount with either m5 or m6 bolts. The mounting holes in the racks are m6.

The Tubus racks are designed for m5 bolts. In general the fixing holes could safely be enlarged to take m6 bolts as they are holes in steel plates which are welded into the rack. You would need to source the m6 bolts as Tubus only provide the smaller ones.
The only point which would concern me is that the upper fixing on the Tubus rear rack is an aluminium bar which looks a bit narrow for drilling the fixing hole larger. I would look to fabricate a stainless strap in place of the aluminium bar, rather than drilling the bar.

In use both sets of racks are superb.

The Thorn rear rack is my own preference. The top platform on the Thorn rear rack is wider than the Tubus and this is better for carrying top loads and clearing wide mudguards. You can also fix your rear mudguard struts to points on the Thorn rear rack legs, this makes the rear mudguard struts much shorter and firmer. The top fixing straps are impressively strong drilled stainless items.

I have no preference in the front racks, they all have different challenges to get the front pannier hooks fixed in the best way. You will need double sided mid fork brazeons for the Thorn front rack.

Since you have both racks - I notice the Thorn rear rack doesn't seem to be triangulated the way the Tubus Cargo is.  I've always liked the Cargo because it's so light and stiff.  How is the Thorn rack as far as stiffness side to side?  Most of the triangulated racks I have used are more flexible in this regard.

Thanks for your replies - they are very helpful.

cheers,

Vik

[julk]

Vik,

The Thorn rack is about 13cm wide and about 38cm long in the top load platform with 4 welded/brazed cross supports plus 1 each end bolted. There is a triangulation effect, with a top width of 13cm and a dropout width of about 16.5cms. The welds/brazing looks a lot more sturdy on the Thorn and the tubing sound thicker when tapped.

The Tubus Cargo has a top width of about 12cm and a length of about 31cm with 3 welded/brazed cross supports. The dropout width is about 16.5cms for the 2 support legs, one of which is obviously triangulated. The third (rear) support is tacked on the outside at the dropouts but does not obviously add anything to the triangulation effect, being more of a pannier sway preventer for floppy panniers.

In use both racks are very stiff in all directions, there is no visible deflection in use under load. I tour with some sons and have been able to watch the racks in action. The maximum load any of us have carried on the rear is 20kgs, so not tested to any extreme yet. I have a tall son who uses one of the Thorn rear racks and he has failed to find a fault with it. His riding style will have stressed it, his size 13/14 feet mean that the panniers are as far back as they will go and add leverage when heavily loaded. I doubt he could ride with the Tubus Cargo, he would have to use a Logo and some rear extenders.

You have not said which panniers you plan to use. The back support and clip system may be a consideration in rack choice. I have retrofitted Arkel cam hooks to my Carradice Super Cs and am delighted with them.

In summary, you cannot go wrong with either rack for fully loaded touring, but only you can decide which features best meet your requirements.

Julian

[vik]

Vik,

The Thorn rack is about 13cm wide and about 38cm long in the top load platform with 4 welded/brazed cross supports plus 1 each end bolted. There is a triangulation effect, with a top width of 13cm and a dropout width of about 16.5cms. The welds/brazing looks a lot more sturdy on the Thorn and the tubing sound thicker when tapped.

The Tubus Cargo has a top width of about 12cm and a length of about 31cm with 3 welded/brazed cross supports. The dropout width is about 16.5cms for the 2 support legs, one of which is obviously triangulated. The third (rear) support is tacked on the outside at the dropouts but does not obviously add anything to the triangulation effect, being more of a pannier sway preventer for floppy panniers.

In use both racks are very stiff in all directions, there is no visible deflection in use under load. I tour with some sons and have been able to watch the racks in action. The maximum load any of us have carried on the rear is 20kgs, so not tested to any extreme yet. I have a tall son who uses one of the Thorn rear racks and he has failed to find a fault with it. His riding style will have stressed it, his size 13/14 feet mean that the panniers are as far back as they will go and add leverage when heavily loaded. I doubt he could ride with the Tubus Cargo, he would have to use a Logo and some rear extenders.

You have not said which panniers you plan to use. The back support and clip system may be a consideration in rack choice. I have retrofitted Arkel cam hooks to my Carradice Super Cs and am delighted with them.

In summary, you cannot go wrong with either rack for fully loaded touring, but only you can decide which features best meet your requirements.

Julian

Hi Julian,

I'm prepared to take it on faith that the Thorn rear rack is quite strong.  I do appreciate your feedback though.  I'll be using the rack with some Ortlieb panniers - I've got some with the QL1 and QL2 lower hooks.

I own a Tubus Cargo and looking at it I probably wouldn't want to drill out either set of mounting holes to accept 6mm bolts - just not enough metal around those areas to make me happy.  I'd just get the Thorn carrier if I get a Nomad S&S.

Cheers,

Vik

[vik]

Does anyone know what the threaded hole is for on the bottom of the lower S&S coupler on the Nomad frame?

[julk]

Alternative fixing point for a third bottle cage?

Although I can see from the Thorn pictures that one is normally fitted higher up the tube.

[bobcat]

I was wondering about that extra fitting - it does look to be about the right distance to give an alternate, lower bottle position - about where it is on my Raven Tour.
A bottle cage fixed across the coupling would also make it a bit harder to steal the front end of the bike by undoing the couplings!

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

Just drill the Tubus rack out

[freddered]

I was wondering about that extra fitting - it does look to be about the right distance to give an alternate, lower bottle position - about where it is on my Raven Tour.
A bottle cage fixed across the coupling would also make it a bit harder to steal the front end of the bike by undoing the couplings!

I reckon that if someone is equipped to undo the couplings then they'll have an allen key

[vik]

Just drill the Tubus rack out

Thanks Dave - I ended up ordering a Thorn rear carrier with my Nomad.  I figured I might as well go whole hog if I was going to order a bike from the UK to Canada.  I'll keep the Tubus and use it on another bike.

safe riding,

Vik