Thorn bikes purchase

[Cedric]

Dear all,

I am going to purchase one of the models (Raven Tour, Raven Sport Tour, Nomad or Sherpa). But I have some questions:

-         If there any possibility to chose the model and make the purchase outside England?

-         How to chose the model properly? I’ve read all the brochures for these four models but I am not sure yet in right choice

The common sense tells me to choose Raven Tour, but I like Sport Tour and Sherpa more.

-         How to get in touch with sales team? I wrote several e-mails to 'sales@sjscycles.com', 'thorn@sjscycles.com'; 'sales@thorncycles.co.uk', but none responded,
and even registered at http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/, but I'm affraid that I won't be able to make any purchase by myself without any assistance.

Appreciate any advice.

Regards,

Cedric

[beef]

Hi Cedric,

It seems strange that SJS cycles are not replying to your emails as the service I have received has always been very good.  Have you tried phoning them?  With regards to which model to choose, I would say that you need to be very clear on what you intend to do on the bike.  I have a sherpa with full shimano xt and flat bars.  Its taken me on the occasional long tour and I use it for commuting, the majority of my riding is long day rides and weekend trips.  I bought the frame seperately 2 years ago and built it up slowly into a fantastic all round machine.

 I have spent many hours looking at other thorn models and I would say that if I had the money I would now buy a raven sport tour as the sort of load I'm carrying and the need for a bike that is a combination of speed and durable touring is represented in the RST.  I'm in the process of saving money for an RST although as I've said the Sherpa has provided me with fantastic cycling in all conditions on varied terrain and If my priorities change then I would be very happy to keep my Sherpa.

I will be doing a world tour at some stage and my thinking is that I would either take my Sherpa, or if I have an RST I would purchase a nomad MK2 frame for the trip and transfer the bits over. I have always had derailure bikes and the shimano xt works beautifully on the sherpa but I can see the benefits of the Rohloff hub gear and will one day own a bike with one. 

If you have the choice, I would perhaps go with a raven tour or the sport tour to benefit from the Rohloff hub.  If your cycling is based on commuting, occasional short tours and day rides then the RST would provide a quicker slightly lighter machine.  If you are planning to do some long tours or a world tour then the raven tour would be better simply for carrying more weight.  If the Raven tour is of similar weight to the sherpa then its not massively heavy and is a very comfortable machine to ride which is supprisingly quick when unloaded.

If you are looking at cost in terms of value for money and perhaps your looking to buy panniers etc, then a Sherpa is a brilliant purchase and it will mean you can buy the extra kit you need.  The benefit I can see on the Rohloff models is that they are more expensive initially but will not require money spent on replacement gear componants.  If you go for the sherpa then I would suggest the expedition Shimano XT version as you will get the maximum service life.  If you maintain the bike regularly then you will get a lot of miles from the drivetrain before having to replace anything. 

With regards to sizing, I'm 5 ft 11 and I am riding the 560xl size as I wanted to use straight bars.  If I was riding with drop bars I would probably have chosen the 560s size. The main choice to make is the choice of bars first as it suggests on the web sight.

I hope this helps Cedric, I can't recommend a thorn bike enough as they are superb so which ever model you choose you will be happy.   Keep trying with SJS cycles, there normally very good. 

[beef]

Hi Cedric, sorry I've just noticed that I didn't say much about the Nomad! From what i've read I would say that if you are heavy rider wanting a boombproof bike capable of pretty much anything including a world tour or expedition cycling then the nomad would be the one.  If you are a heavy rider and use the bike daily and carry kit regularly then I would say that the nomad Sherpa or raven tour would be better than the RST. I'm 16 stone and my sherpa handles me brilliantly! 

the great thing about all thorn models is the fact that they are made of high quality steel so there all strong enough to cope with anything you might want to do although the RST is a bit lighter and faster which might not provide you with the carrying capability to tour the world or an extended self supported tour.   

[Cedric]

Dear Beef,

Thank you for spending your time for such full and complete explanation.

It was exactly that I expected to hear.
Once again - thank you.

I'm exactly as you started saving money on some of the models.

1. The main issue for me is that I'm from Ukraine which is rather far from England. And my understanding was that for this purchase I must travel to Bridgewater. And this travel will increase my total expenditures.

2. If SJSC (Andy already answered my mail) could export the goods, which I could not imagine for such custom built bicycles, in such case I can order the desired model of guessed size with definite specification. This option is much more preferable for me as in this way I will decrease my total expenditures.

3. For that possibility comes true I need to know exactly which model to chose, The best way to make right choice is to try, to touch, to ride the bike for a half an hour and then buy. But it's hardly possiable for webordering. So i need to balance such a table:

RST                    RT
17 kg                    30 kg
speed                    surprisingly quick when unloaded
durable touring       a very comfortable machine

Up till now I never was on a long tour (only short rides to suburbs on weekends) I live in a city and 80% of riding is on road, but I quite often go riding in parks and forests. This summer I started using my Bianchi more extensively and loaded around 20 kg. Hardly ever I will go to for cross-continental expedition, especially in remote countries, but I already realised that I need something more stable when loaded.

4. For sizes: I'm 5 ft and let's say 7, but I shorter legs in comparison with total height and will certainly take straight bars - which size should I look at?

Regards,

Cedric

[Joatamon]

Well, there are plenty of people in the UK who bought without the visit to Bridgewater and you'll be hard pressed to find anything but a positive report of the experience.    All the Thorn bikes have a vast range of frame sizes and by all accounts I've seen they can fit you perfectly into one of them as long as you give them the full information in the order form.

Like you, I like the Sport Tour more - or at least the brochure told me I did.  Sporty, fun handling and the lure of the 853 steel.  And that's what I bought.  But as my cycling progressed from day rides to include touring, in some ways I've been struggling to stay within the weight criteria.

Elsewhere you'll see I've posted to say it's ok with the full 20kg and four panniers, and that's true, but there are times when I just say to myself, I wish I could pack my stuff in two big rear panniers and not worry.  Or, there are things I leave behind because the handling will start to suffer a bit.  On tour, I find a can easily come out of a shop with 2-3 kg of essential food and as I pedal off I can tell that the ride will improve when I've consumed some of it!

Certainly, if I wanted to do a big tour I think I'd do what beef suggests and equip a Nomad frame with all my RST components just for the absolute security and freedom of loading.

So, the common sense option may well be the Raven Tour (or Sherpa maybe), which I haven't ridden, but I understand is more stable with more weight.

[beef]

Hi Cedric,  Joatamon has written some good observations and some useful comments regarding carrying weight.  SJS cycles send bikes by mail order all over the world so I would say that you can order with confidence.  I would'nt really want to suggest the correct size for you as the sizing guide on the online brochure makes it as accurate as it can be to enable you to buy mail order.  At a guess with what you've said about your hieght then perhaps a 535L for a Sherpa or a 512L on a Raven tour. 

These are a suggestion Cedric but I,m not a trained salesman for thorn so please don't choose these sizes unless you've checked with SJS! I would'nt worry to much Cedric with mail order as SJS cycles do it all the time and they have a very good refund and exchange policy. What you could try is filling in the size sheet on the brochures and e-mail or phone SJS cycles and tell them you are sending them the forms so that they can work out the best size for you.

When I was buying my sherpa frame I compared it to my old road bike.  The road bike had a 575 mm top tube with drop bars.  When I tried the 560s sherpa frame the reach on drop bars was similar.  I chose the 560xl as the top tube is 615mm which meant that the straight bars were a comfortable reach.

Perhaps look at the measurements on your Bianchi,  If it has drop bars, measure the top tube from the centre of the head tube along to the centre of the seat tube, then add about 40mm and it might give you the top tube length you need for the thorn.  Then measure the hieght of the top tube at the middle to give you the measurement for the mid-tube S/O measurement shown on the brochure

This might help you to narrow down the choice of size, the main measurements to be right with cedric are the hieght of the frame and the top tube measurement so that the reach will be ok.  I hope this helps you a bit more Cedric, SJS cycles are very detailed with how to measure the frame on the brochure and I'm sure they will be happy to help you over the telephone or by e-mail and post.  After all you are a customer and they sell to customers all over the world.  It is good for the reputation of thorn cycles that they sell world wide and it is in their interests to make sure you get the right size. I hope this helps , If I can help further Cedric then your welcome to ask.

[julk]

Cedric,
I have had 2 bikes supplied by SJS to the dimensions I put on the order form. A great fit and very comfortable to ride even though bought sight unseen.

If you are looking at fully loaded touring then I would suggest the RT or Nomad are a better bet. If you prefer to go lightweight camping then the RST is very attractive.

SJS are the experts - put your questions to them as well as the forum.
Julian.

[Fred A-M]

Hi Cedric

A couple of links which if you haven't already seen, may contain some useful ref the RST.

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=2197.0

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=775.0

If you are fairly certain that you are going to be doing light camping trips, and not expedition touring, the I think the RST is probably best choice - as stated in the link, I agree that you can take it over the 17Kg limit and the RST will still handle fine if you distribute the load - however if you want to leave yourself the option of really loading up and still handling well, with the possibility of also going off-road as such, then the Raven Tour is probably best!   

[Cedric]

Dera all,

Thank you very much for your answers. I haven't been here for a couple of days, so I will need some time to read it and think it over.

Regards,

Cedric

[Cedric]

to Beef

It seems I saw your Sherpa - absolutely fantastic. Especially the frame and bars.

Dear all,

Now I thoroughly studying the forum (Gallery) for photos and reviews. Saw quite a Lot of pictures of Sherpa (it seems to be popular) RST, Nomad, but very a few of Raven Tour.

Can you send me some links if know any? And reviews also.

Thanks 

[Paulson]

Dear all,

Now I thoroughly studying the forum (Gallery) for photos and reviews. Saw quite a Lot of pictures of Sherpa (it seems to be popular) RST, Nomad, but very a few of Raven Tour.

Can you send me some links if know any? And reviews also.

Thanks 

Cedric, this is a good place to start, a few raven tour reviews on here:

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/reviews.html