First ride out on the RST....

[gaz46]

Hi
First poster here.
Having purchased a secondhand RST (thanks Steve if you are there!), I took it out for its first outing yesterday.
In the past I have owned hybrids, single speeds and and hub geared folders and for a while I've been tempted to purchase a Thorn Rohloff for a reliable weekend tourer and commuter.
Yesterday I took the RST for a ride from South East London to Richmond Park and onto Walton-on -Thames via Hampton Court on the Thames Path (in total about 45 miles).
The Rohloff was a revelation in its ease of use and smoothness. Only once did it jump gears on its own whilst going over a speed bump. I easily managed hills that I'd failed to get up on my current ride- a Brompton.
The frame sizing and the comfort bars meant I was free of may of the aches and pains associated with a decent outing on my previous bikes.
All in all.. delighted with the new purchase!
Gareth

[moodymac]

Nice ride Gareth.  From the looks of the tires, it seems you found a little bit of gravel for your test run!  What are your sprocket and chain ring sizes?

Tom

[gaz46]

Thanks Tom
Yes the whole bike got an fair dusting on the Thames path which is a loose gravel type walkway which ran for a few miles.
The bike came with a 42t x 16t sprocket.
I even saw another Thorn - a Nomad - twice on seperate occasions, probably doing a similar run.
Gareth

[Andybg]

Hi Gareth

Welcome to the forum and glad you like your RST. I owned one for a while and loved it but have moved over to a standard Raven Tour for its carrying capacity.

I dont think it should have ever jumped gear and it may well be worth giving it a check over. I am not an expert on the Rohloff but I know one cause of such occurances is doen to the gear change cables being a bit tight. You should (if there is the need) to be able to slacken them off a bit at the adjusters fastened to the rear brake mount.

If you are a strong rider and you dont plan on carrying any extra baggage the 42/16 gearing may work great for you but remember it is not a big job to change the gearing down (or even up) by just changing either the chainring or sprocket. I run a 38/17 gearing which works well for me and there are many on here that run that or even lower.

Andy

[jags]

hi gareth  can't comment on rohloff gearing i'm a thorn sherpa man .
but your bike looks great i hope you also bought a lock.

[gaz46]

Hi Andy
I'll give the cables check thanks.
If I do end up changing the chainring or sprocket, is there any adjustment required to the chain length (by adding or losing a link)? Or is this not required because you can adjust the bottom bracket?
Thanks jags- I've got a few locks but don't intend leaving it locked up anywhere in London if at all possible.

[Andybg]

You will most likely need to remove a link or two if you are going down a size on the chainring. You want the bb setup so that you have the majority of the adjustment left for when you need to tighten the chain. Remember when adjusting the bb to take the crank over the top rather than round the bottom so you are always tightening against the thick side of the shell.

Regards

Andy

[jags]

Andy is there a video instruction on how to do that.

[Andybg]

Where is Dan when we need him - lol

Not sure if there is a video but sure there wil be more info on the Thorn site

Andy

[jags]

Andy i wonder if all Dan's gizmo's are in good working order. i tried to email him but no reply which is to say the least unusual for Dan not to answer.

[Swislon]

Hi Gareth,

Really glad you like it and i hope you have many happy miles together!

Not sure why the gear should slip as it didn't once for me. It could be the gear cables, as Andy says, but I haven't touched them for over a year
so not sure why that would cause you an issue on your first real outing but I hope it doesn't happen again!

Enjoy
Steve

[JimK]

Looks like pg 9 of

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/thornpdf/ThornBikeOwnerManual2Web.pdf

will explain about adjusting the eccentric bottom bracket.

I can't think of why a Rohloff would shift because of a bump! One idea is maybe it's just you were holding on to the shifter and as the bike hit the bump that could have rotated while you held the shifter in place. Hmmm. I suppose the RST has the internal shifter mechanism so there is some free cable run along the seat stay... I guess if something touched those cables somehow, like a loose pannier swinging or something. Strange.

[jags]

just had a good gander at that bike still looking good but it would look a lot better and preform better with  a nice set of  kojacks slicks or supream tyres man it would fly.
and my pet hat that seat post need to go either change it for black or better carbon.

[gaz46]

Thanks for all your comments (and hi Steve).
Jim- I suspect you are right about the cause of the jumping gear- maybe an errant hand movement on the shifter was to blame.
Re: tyres, I've always found there is a choice between a fast lightweight tyre that is prone to punctures and more heavyweight tyre more resistant to punctures. Living in London there is a lot of glass and other nasties in the road so I generally err towards to the latter on all my bikes.

[Cambirder]

I've been using Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards on my RST which I think offer a good compromise. Fairly light due to the thin side walls but offer protection where it matters on the road. Had a single puncture in 5000 miles last year and that was a thorn through the sidewall while off road. So far this year no punctures this year and much riding on roads strewn with flints. Great tyre which I will replace with the folding version when they finally ware out.

I might even get a pair for my Carbon road bike (700 x 25) as I've just wrecked a brand new pair of Conti GP4000s on our local lanes. They might be faster but not if you have to fix 3 punctures on one ride, and on the next you find out tyre damage was more significant than you thought when a tube blows through a hole in the tyre.