Thorn RST

[sweats]

Thought I would share some pics of my newly rebuilt stealth Sport Tour now with drops. Bike was originally bought as a box of parts off ebay several years ago.
I always struggle to upload pics so follow the link and scroll to left and right.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/noddingdonkey/12695475903/

Happy viewing.
Regards
Chris

[geocycle]

Nice colour!

Looks a classy bike, I am loving my RST.  It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the shifter mounted perpendicular to the bars.  I also like the look of those middleburn cranks.

[Andre Jute]

Those Middleburn cranks are so classically beautiful.

[Danneaux]

Aw, Chris...what a fantastic build; one to make you proud!

All the details look terrific, every hair in place so to speak...even to your very unique ornament on the headset spacer.

You can bet I'll be back for some re-views of this one; very, very nice job!

EDIT: Oh, yes; I remember your beautifully engineered Dawes Sardar Rohloff conversion with the sublime cable routing and bar-forward shifter mount from the "Drop 'bars and Rohloff" discussions. I see you've set the RST up similarly. Always good to see other placements with drop 'bars, and this one looks really clean.

Best,

Dan.

[Swislon]

Lovely build Chris.
Enjoy.

Steve

[sweats]

Thanks for all the comments. Glad you like her.
Think the "donkey's ear" shifter is more functional than an accessory bar but not as good as an inline shifter, but its a lot cheaper. Planning on making a few up, so if any one wants one let me know.
I am presently building up a Patria Ranger Rohloff bike for my girlfriend (frame bought 2nd hand off German ebay!). Will post some pics when it is finished.
Chris

[sg37409]

Nice.  You have no problems mounting the pump there ?   I had the pump there on my XTC but on the RST there isnt the little stays especially for it.  I carry a mini-pump in my saddle bag but its not as good as as a zefal

[sweats]

Hi sg
Pump fits seems to fit very securely in that spot.
Think you have the black 587s Sport Tour that inspired me to get some drop bars. Ideally I really need a similar sized frame but cannot justify the money at present. I see Thorn are discounting the last few ST frames. I will see how I get on with the new setup.
How do you find the accessory bar mounted shifter?
Regards
Chris

[sg37409]

hi chris - I like the acc. bar mounted shifter fine. I hit my knee on it maybe twice to begin with when out the saddle but never again in the last few years.  Today my hands were numb-er that they've been in years on a ride and i found changing do-able, but its a bit close to the bars for a good grip with numb hands.  99.99% of the time it works for me just great. 'course, its not as ergonomic as some solutions, but works great  for me. 

I did an oil change ad new chain last night. Last could of rides on it, its gone into neutral when selecting 11th until i'd done some back-pedalling.  After this maintenance, it was so sweet, smooth and free running this morning, fantastic.  But the weather got steadily worse until I was soaked to the skin and totally freezing so couldn't enjoy it any more. If its dry tomorrow i'll nip out the glen for another wee hit.