Small Thorn nomad for sale

[alfie1952]

Small thorn nomad for sale on ebay at reasonable price.

Regards Alfie.

[Danneaux]

Small thorn nomad for sale on ebay at reasonable price.

Perhaps this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thorn-Nomad-small-touring-commuter-bike-Reynolds-725-triple-/171297201896?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item27e21bdee8

  It looks familiar.

Best,

Dan.

[bikerta]

  It looks familiar.

Don't think I have seen it advertised before or do you mean you may have seen it 'in the flesh'. I did consider this one myself for a while and I was expecting this to sell pretty quickly, but at the moment the Sherpas and Nomads don't seem to be selling for very good prices. One went on EBay today with 1 bid for only £350. It was a bit of a mixture of components, but they could be changed. I am busy trying to find bits and pieces I may be able to sell to raise some cash for my next bike. Hopefully I will become a fully fledged member of the site then.

Took my son's Giant mountain bike out today and completed 20 miles trying to incorporate several hills into the ride as well. Felt a lot more confident with the wider bars and bar ends and also the fatter tyres for better stability. Slower ride than usual, but definitely prefer the comfort over the speed and neck and shoulders felt better although still not perfect as the stem is too long for me.

[jags]

is it possible to test ride alfies bike .it might just be perfect for you.......

[alfie1952]

Hi Bikerta,

The small nomad that is on ebay is an older model with a derailleur rather than a rohloff, and I am sure that there would not be too much difference in weight between that and a similar sized Sherpa. It has an "or  best offer" against it and may be worth a punt if the sizes are good for you. It could be beneficial having a talk with the owner. I wish you well in your search for your dream bike, and it may well be that in the end only a new Sherpa will suit.

Regards,Alfie

[Danneaux]

Don't think I have seen it advertised before...

I don't *think* I have either; what I had in mind was I think I've seen it in my regular perusings of eBay and so it looked familiar. I'm so pleased with my Nomad, I don't anticipate buying a new bicycle myself for the next 20 years or so, but I enjoy seeing how older Thorns are equipped and what they sell for and so I look to get a feel for the market and to answer the questions that come my way.

The derailleur-geared Nomads are really nice bikes. I think this is the smaller version of our AndyBG's, a bike he holds in the highest esteem, and rightly so.

That said, Sherpas also come up periodically, sometimes at very good used prices.

I'm so glad the test ride on your son's Giant was helpful in confirming the 'bars, 'bar-ends, and tires for you. Wider road-oriented tires might be just the thing for regaining some speed if the Giant was running knobbies.

All the best,

Dan.

[Andybg]

Yes it is very similar to my Nomad although I think mine is of a slightly older vintage being built from 531 rather than 725.

If the bike is the right size for you it will not be a dissapointment. To all intents and purposes it is a Sherpa built from Reynolds steel rather than Thorn "own" branded steel.

The components are all base level but there is nothing wrong with deore and for a touring bike it probably makes about the best sense (value, reliability versus theft appeal and ease of spares)

With those wheels and tyres it should make a pretty fast tourer. Changing up to 1.75/2" tyres would add a lot of comfort and off road ability for little (if any) loss in speed.

I am running a set of tandem 40h wheels along with Schwalbe marathon kevlar 1.75 tyres which makes the ride very comfy and almost bomb proof wheels.

Weight wise It will be on par with the Sherpa although I am not a weight weenie and mine (with Surly racks) weighs in at a shade of 22kg but that includes a lot of accessory tramal.

Mine is getting long in the tooth now and I have tried to replace it with a number of more modern Thorns but repeatedly go back to my Nomad.

Andy

[bikerta]

[quote  I'm so glad the test ride on your son's Giant was helpful in confirming the 'bars, 'bar-ends, and tires for you. Wider road-oriented tires might be just the thing for regaining some speed if the Giant was running knobbies.
[/quote]

I agree about the wider road tyres as the Giant was on knobbies and what a racket they make too when you are travelling along the flat surfaces. Very comfortable on the potholes though. I found climbing the hills a little easier too, so must have a lower gearing, but I think I just felt more confident on it.

Just wanted to say thank you to you and everyone on this site that has come up with suggestions and information in my quest to purchase a bike for my trip and beyond that. It has been brilliant and I now know what I want, but I am still balancing up the cost of a new bike that comes in my spec and with the fab warranty or purchasing an older bike which will be cheaper at the time, but I may end up spending a fair bit upgrading parts. Soon be there I think

Best wishes.
Jackie

[JWestland]

It may be worth checking historical prices on e-bay if you go the second hand route.
This bike, while lovely, is overpriced at £595 IMHO as I got my XTC with better parts for £450...

For what it's worth second hand Shimano parts are very cheap if they do break (and they rarely do) so the main concern would be the frame giving up. But that's quite rare unless the bike has been treated utterly rotten.

SJS does second hands too with warranty but they charge a lot more than used on e-bay...so you may as well get a new one then I'd say. Or get a shiny new frame from them and put on a lightly used groupset to save £££, that way for the same £££ you can get more bang for your buck too.

Or treat yourself and splash out...if you can live with the value drop like you get with a new car ^_^

[bikerta]

I have been keeping a close eye on all Thorn bikes for sale over the last 6 months or so and have a reasonable idea of prices now. 2nd hand bikes always look to be a bargain until you try and set the bike up to how you want them for a long tour and suddenly you realise how the price is creeping up. I agree it's the frame that is the main part and you need to know that it is solid, closely followed by a decent set of wheels and tyres as you rely a lot on these on a tour. The Shimano parts etc are a reasonable price and are easily changed/upgraded as and when necessary.

I would consider building up from a new frame, but I have never done that sort of thing before and not sure I could do it by myself. That only then leaves a new bike which is fine as long as you keep it for several years and not try and sell after a year or so. I believe if I have a bike that is fitted to me, there is no reason why I would want to sell especially when I would have 14 days to ride the bike and return if I really hate it. Some of the older Thorns have almost sold for the amount they were bought for new. Not many things you can buy and use for 10 years and then sell for the same price you bought it for.

[JWestland]

The 14 days return is indeed fantastic. I got a used Thorn XTC on Evilbay as I am in Norn Ire. And indeed I had to buy a rack etc. for it, but the gears are all 105/ultegra so bar racks he/she/it was already ready for use with specs I'm happy with. It's a little too long for me but a 6 cm stem resolved that and I refuse to part with it as it rides so well.

It's not actually difficult to build up a bike, for modern frames with a faced/threaded frame a bottom bracket tool/multitool/crank extractor and some ready made cursing to get the derailleurs setup is all you need.

It does take time, so you need to enjoy it. Frequent hunts for lightly used parts/last of the sale, then watch it come together bit by bit, or get annoyed waiting .

But if you want to tour and be ready with it...a visit to SJS and getting fitted there, with the warranty is much easier. Beware though you *will* walk out with a bike from what I've heard...

[geocycle]

I think the cost savings between buying a complete new bike and buying a frame to build up with parts yourself is small.  The bike shop mark up on parts is generally greater than the saving by using your labour.  It would be a good option if you have a lot of parts or an old bike you want to upgrade, or you are prepared to spend a long time scouring the web and second-hand market. 

The good thing about Thorn's is they really hold their value so you will have a saleable asset if times get hard or you get n+1 syndrome in the future!

[bikerta]

Have heard lots about this n+1 syndrome and can fully understand it. If you have a heavy weight tourer, you then want a light weight fast road bike, but then you also want to go off road so need a mountain bike too. I'm afraid my little Sherpa is going to have to do everything including a 5 mile daily commute throughout the year. Since taking up cycling more seriously it has become a more expensive hobby than my other mode of transport which is motorcycling. Mind you that too has n+1 syndrome.

[jags]

the girl in the job i'm in her husband is a motorbike mechanic buys and fixes up vintage bikes bit of a genius love those old bikes

anyway The Sherpa i used mine most of the time even though i had at the time 2 road bikes,the look kx light full carbon was super when i was riding in groups flying machine.my raleigh is just a great all round bike well not loaded touring but still a great bike.the sherpa with a set of slicks on her is with                     doubt a doubt a class bike.mind you its not a great climber i found the front end heavy but other than that i'de buy another one tomorrow.

if your going to be doing light touring the the club tour would be a better choice me thinks, i think you can get 32mm tyres on that bike and its 700c which i prefair.food for thought as the man said.

jags

[bikerta]

Hi Jags,

I like the look of the old classic bikes, especially the Triumphs and the Jap bikes from the 70s (my era I guess), but I don't have the mechanical knowledge to keep them on the road. I have one of the newer style Triumph Bonnevilles (that I hardly ride now) and I have a little Yamaha Serow 250cc trailie style bike that I took on the ferry to France and then rode all through France, down to the Pyrenees and then crossed over into Spain and rode some amazing roads over there. Completed a couple of cols including Tourmalet and that little bike was perfect as long as you kept off the autobahns. Completed 3000 miles in 3 weeks and had fabulous weather the whole time until I got off the channel tunnel and it was raining in Dover. I camped every night and each evening I would look at a map and look for areas I wanted to see that were roughly 200/250 miles away and head there. Look around for a campsite or let the tourist office do that for me. Bit hit and miss sometimes the campsites were, but on the whole great and very cheap too. Whole 3 weeks only cost £600 including ferry/channel tunnel, petrol, food, camping and travel insurance.

Been doing a bit of rough calculation regarding the JOGLE trip in the summer and it is going to be far more expensive. How does that work?       That is without actually buying the bike in the first place.

Did pm alfie regarding what I presume is his bike, but no answers at all and they are away over next few days by look of it. I think I am going to have to fork out for new bike and have spent most of day researching all my option of parts for the bike (wheels, tyres, Tubus or Thorn racks, pedals   aaaaaaahhhhhhh  too many things to think about. I need someone to offer me a ready made bike with all the extras, in my colour, in my size, in my area preferably and for less than a grand    

OK I know it's too much to ask. Will put the order in tomorrow I think. Bit more research to do, but for now I need to make the most of the sunshine and get out on my son's bike to keep up the training. Then I have to get the Dawes clean and sparkly ready to sell. I don't like to ride her now incase I fall off or damage her in any way. Now that would be typical. Was wondering about taking off the Tubus Logo rack that came on that bike, but then the Dawes wouldn't be worth as much.