Hi Eltel,
Welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forum. Best of luck as you refine your own search for a Thorn. I think you'll find the Forum ready to offer help and suggestions if you need them as you near making a purchase.
You asked...[summarized by me]...
why would someone pay [more] for an 8 year old bike, rather than buy a new...cheaper sherpa with derailleur?...what am I missing
This is a legitimate question and one often asked by those contemplating Thorn's complete model line for the first time. The difference in price can be confusing at first when comparing new bikes and can be for used ones as well.
There are good reasons for the differences in price.
It is the Rohloff hub and a frame specifically designed for it that makes this bike's value -- and asking price -- higher than for a comparable bike with derailleur drivetrain. People shopping for a Rohloff bike will likely already know its advantages and reasons for higher cost and will keep this in mind when comparing prices. Of course, owner/sellers are free to set their own asking price, and the market/buyer will decide if it is fair and make a purchase or not.
The Rohloff 14-sp hub is an expensive piece of kit, alone valued at more than many a complete lesser bike, and it has a number of virtues missing in other internally-geared hubs (IGHs) including Shimano's current offerings, making it ideally suited for loaded touring and demanding use in foul conditions. Among them:
• It has exceptionally wide-range gearing for an IGH hub, equal to a conventional triple-chainring derailleur setup.
• The jumps between gears are all evenly spaced, unlike other IGH hubs or derailleur drivetrains.
• The hub is exceptionally robust and long-lived and its straight chainline and high-quality materials (stainless steel reversible sprocket) result in a long life for the chain and chainring as well.
• The ability to maintain high drive efficiency under truly horrible conditions.
• Exceptionally low maintenance, usually consisting of only an annual oil change.
• Rohloff's warranty is exceptional as well.
• The hub and its attendant components (shifter, etc) are hand-assembled to a very high standard and the parts are all unique to Rohloff and designed in light of the hub's mission. Like any similar piece of specialized kit, this makes it more expensive than a mass-produced item for which economies of scale, mass distribution, interchangability and competition all play a role in reducing prices.
These virtues differ from those in a bicycle with derailleur drivetrain. Whether or not someone needs them will depend on their preference and intended use. I enjoy my Rohloff and derailleur bikes equally but for different reasons.
Thorn's Rohloff-specific frame design is meant to enhance the hub's advantages with direct and well-conceived cable routing, dropouts, and an eccentric bottom bracket for chain tensioning. These features are explained in Thorn's brochures for it's Rohloff offerings and in great detail by Thorn's designer, Andy Blance, in his publication
Living With A Rohloff Hub available for download as a PDF here:
http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornLivingWithARohloff.pdf For owner opinions on the Rohloff hub and what makes it unique, see:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=675.0There is another factor at play in the pricing of this particular bicycle: It is no longer in production, and it is a model with no direct successor in the current line. For the person looking for a cross-country mountain bike -- a type for which the Rohloff's low maintenance, long life, and high efficiency in muddy conditions is a virtue coupled with a short-chainstay frame, with fork and brakes designed for the same kind of use -- this bike may well be worth the premium over a current Thorn model with derailleur drivetrain and a very different focus. For more on the Enduro, see the brochure here in PDF form:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050331180703/http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornEnduroBroHiRes.pdfI hope this answers your question. As for pricing, in this case as in all others, the market will decide what is fair and it will result in a sale -- or not -- at the asking price. Whether this very specialized model is "worth it" will depend on the buyer's needs and interests, as in all sales new or used.
Best,
Dan.
