I looked into VSF a few yeas ago.
In Germany the VSF is a solid, good value steel bike of the highest reputation, bought by people who don't want to lash out for a bike from one of the baukasten, the bespoke custom makers. Sound familiar? The T1000 is at the top of their range of Rohloff bikes, which is itself at the top of all their ranges. A most desirable bike in Germany, ridden by cyclists who know their oats.
However, if forced to choose between two equal-quality bikes with slight geographic differences, at the time I decided that, if I were to buy a welded steel bike (rather than a lugged steel bike which was what I really wanted), a Thorn, for roundabout the same price, was both a better bet from a service viewpoint, and rarer, and an easier community to fit into.
Takng these factors into consideration, for the mainly British-based readership of this forum, a used Rohloff VSF of any of the type numbers made over the years (all that differs is the quality of the trim; the frame is the same) would probably need to cost a few hundred pounds less delivered to your door than a Thorn to be considered equal value. The geographic sense is the only one in which such a bike would be a "poor man's Thorn".
Andre Jute
