Thorn Raven Sport Tour

[Matt2matt2002]

Anyone care to give me a quick run down and oppinion on the difference between a Raven Sport and Raven Tour.
I have my name down for a second hand Tour. Santa running late but I'll forgive him.
I note that the 'Twoonfourwheels' are on Tours and have cover a few miles across the world

[brummie]

Basically: Raven Tour: room for fatter tyres & bigger pannier bags / loads - The Sport Tour has a sportier geometry & lighter gauge tubing ( a great bike - I've got one !  ) & is more suited to lighter loads.. There will be plenty of further comparisons on this forum. Somewhere.... I expect Dan will be along in a minute with more !

[leftpoole]

Thanks for the link In4,
Its on at £1300, a tad too much I think.

Wonder what happened with the previous sale

Ian

Hi,
I made an offer with a proviso due to Hospital and Christmas plus the weather. I told him I would give him a £500 Deposit and collect January around 10th to 14th. He got all 'shirty'  and said he was unable to wait so long! The bike is after all, in Truro which for many is a long way to travel particularly by Train............
Then about half an hour later he removed it from Ebay. I assumed it was then sold.
He lost a genuine buyer. I am not concerned anyhow as it is an old bike worth about £850 in my opinion.
John

[ianshearin]

Thanks for the info John.

Hope your Hospital visit wasnt too serious.

Ian

[Matt2matt2002]

Basically: Raven Tour: room for fatter tyres & bigger pannier bags / loads - The Sport Tour has a sportier geometry & lighter gauge tubing ( a great bike - I've got one !  ) & is more suited to lighter loads.. There will be plenty of further comparisons on this forum. Somewhere.... I expect Dan will be along in a minute with more !

Thanx Brummie
I guess there will be facts and figures somewhere but I was looking forward to riders comments.
A view from the saddle as it were.
Keep on peddling
Matthew

[Danneaux]

I expect Dan will be along in a minute with more !

Thanks, Brummie; I resemble that remark!  

Matt, Brummie is spot-on with his description. I have brochure .PDFs I can offer, but you're asking for owner ride impressions.

I think this may be like the slogan used by the old Packard Motor Car Company -- "Ask the man who owns one".  In this case, it would help to ask the person who owns *two*!

Truly, my best suggestion for ride reports is to go back through the Forum archives and take a look at rider impressions of each. This is what I did when selecting Sherpa, and did later when the Nomad was on offer. By looking at a broad selection of comments, I pieced-together a new composite picture in my mind of how the bike "ought" to ride. Matching that against my own knowledge and experience and the frame specs, I received no surprises from either in terms of ride quality or suitability for purpose.

Having owned two Thorns, I can say this: Just as I would chose a top tube length by first choosing a handlebar, I would also suggest choosing a model by intended purpose. If the bulk of your riding will be unladen and you prefer a sporty nature, then a lighter model will hold more appeal. If you intend to use the bike for expedition touring (as I will), then you'd want a model biased toward the heavier end of things. All Thorns are versatile enough for multiple use, but as with all things, are focused to perform best for a specific purpose.

In my own experience (with each bike setup with drop 'bars and optimized for my heavy touring needs), Sherpa was more like a go-anywhere rally-car; extremely versatile with a (dare I say?) "sporty" ride quality coming from a resilient frame. In comparison, the Nomad is a Kamaz Dakar rally-truck, capable of carrying massive loads 'most anywhere, and ride quality/comfort is very much more dependent on running fat, soft tires. I can and have easily done 200KM day rides on each, and look forward to long 300-400km day rides with the Nomad.

While the comparison is nowhere as extreme, I would imagine you would see echoes of my own Sherpa-Nomad experience in the Raven Sport Tour/Raven Tour.

Of course, the new "Thorn Raven" is sort of a combo of the two older models, meeting somewhere in the middle.

I wrote a little tutorial on getting the most out of the Forum search function and posted it here: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4390.0

To help get started, here are a few links as to "feel" for the bikes you're considering:
• Weight, RT vs RST: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=582.0
• Commute-Which Thorn?: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=826.0
• My New Raven Tour: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=672.0
• Which Thorn Rohloff Model?: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=2643.0
• Off Road with a Raven Sport Tour!: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=789.0
• Thorn Bikes Purchase (RT vs RST): http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=2675.0
• RST or RT?: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=1008.0
• One Thorn to Rule Them All!: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=1113.0
• Thorn Raven Tour OR Raven Sport Tour?: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=1718.0

This is just a sampling, Matt, but I think a read of the responses by owners will give you the information you're seeking.

John...so sorry it didn't work out to get the bike, especially under the circumstances. A better one may be on offer soon, perhaps after Christmas when the timing would be better for you anyway. I hope things improve for you healthwise and you can get back on your steed of choice soonest.

Looking forward to hearing how your selection goes and -- of course! -- some photos in the gallery when it "happens". New-bike excitement is in the air!

Best,

Dan. (...who is typing this on his new little netbook, intended for tour journaling)

[in4]

'stormdog' of this parish has a RST that he rides in preference to his RT; he sold that via these boards I believe. It might be worth your while dropping him a PM for a 'from the saddle view'

[Danneaux]

stormdog' of this parish has a RST that he rides in preference to his RT; he sold that via these boards

Ah! Good memory jog, Ian! He did indeed keep the lighter RST and sold the RT to another Forum member:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=5017.msg26041#msg26041
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=5017.msg26047#msg26047

Looking forward to hearing how the two compared...

All the best,

Dan. (...who is lovin' the new travel'puter)

[Matt2matt2002]

Many thanx Dan, and others. Plenty of reading to be done over the New Year.
Off to Aberdeen Scotland to celebrate.
I may be some time!