Dave's Nomad

[Danneaux]

I know of someone who took 20 months to name his Nomad, so I'm not in a rush.  Smiley

All the best,

Dan.

[nztony]

Dave

As a fellow yellow Nomad MK2 owner, I loved seeing your bike, as I don't see a lot of yellow Nomad MK2's here.
As for the Click-Stand - as I think everyone who uses one says, they are one of the best accessories ever, and the
four months I've owned my Nomad and Click-Stand I heartily agree:


Nomad MK2 with Click-Stand rocks.

Best regards from New Zealand
Tony

[jags]

Tony super photo.


jags.

[in4]

Which click stand did your choose Tony? I read that they are available in 4-6 segments.

[RonS]

I finally had a chance to see the bike on the desktop screen. The pics on the iPhone were a wee bit small for my old eyes.

My, what a nice bike you have put together! It looks well suited to all weather commuting, and, in spite of being yellow, doesn't scream "steal me" like a lot of the decal plastered road bikes seen so much around here. Why steal a bike with only ONE cog when the one beside it has TEN.

In the meantime, the bare-metal ends may be good for taking a paint sample if a car comes too close.

Yes, those bars are almost wide enough for that, aren't they? I think I chopped off 45mm from mine before they were the right size for me.

 Has the Clickstand arrived? What a brilliant invention!

All the best

Ron

[David Simpson]

As a fellow yellow Nomad MK2 owner, I loved seeing your bike, as I don't see a lot of yellow Nomad MK2's here.

Thanks, Tony.  You can see why I loved your photos from your Auckland-to-Wellington trip.  I would love to see NZ on my bike.  My parents spent a couple of weeks there about 3 years ago (by car, not bike), and loved it.  For me, with the responsibilities of a young family, those dreams will have to wait.

What Click-Stand did you get?  I've ordered the 5-segment version.  I figured that 4 segments would be a bit long, and 6 segments would be a bit thick.  It will arrive today, so I'll try it out tonight.

I love that photo.  It is so perfect that it almost looks fake.

When I was trying to decide between black or yellow for the bike, my preference was yellow, because I've always liked Tonka Yellow.  The clincher was my 7-year-old daughter, who made it clear to me that yellow was a much nicer colour for a bike.  She was colour-coordinating her clothes when she was 3, so I take her advice on colours.

- Dave

[David Simpson]

Has the Clickstand arrived? What a brilliant invention!

Canada Post says that it will be delivered today.  I'll try it out tonight, and I'll post a photo on the weekend if I get a chance.  My son turns 10 this week, so it's a bit busy.

- Dave

[John Saxby]

Dave,

A note on the click-stand, a fine piece of kit, for sure. There's a detail, however: the elastic bands + tabs used to lock the brake levers & blocks.

1)  I've found that the enclosed elastic band + tabs aren't quite strong enough.  One can shorten the loops, using quality staples & wrapping the shortened part with friction tape (works best near the tab on on the original; OR

2)  Lee Valley Tools sells Quick-Release rubber ties in a range of lengths:  The 4" ones work well, providing more tension on the levers, & lock the brakes firmly.  But, I've found that you can't keep them snugged up beneath the levers on drop bars while riding the bike--they work loose and run away. (Might work better on flat bars, without the effects of gravity...)  The best thing about LVT's QR rubber ties is that you can use them for all sorts of things when bike touring.  The 4" items cost about a quarter apiece, and what else worthwhile can you get for 25¢ these days?

3)  Probably the best device I've found, for just this application, is the Bike Brake.  Here's the link: http://www.bikebrake.com/index.php?main_page=index

Cheers,

John

[Danneaux]

The BikeBrakes bands hold up well, too. I've had mine for several years now and they haven't ever stretched out. They sit flat against the handlebar and have little tabs to easily pull them up when needed. They've even withstood desert sun and heat well.

Best,

Dan.

[David Simpson]

John and Dan --

Thanks for the tip about the BikeBands.  I received my Click-Stand today, and installed the holding bracket (the Click-Stand Side-Bracket) on the left side of the water-bottle mount on the seat-post.  It fits perfectly there, and the metal parts of the Click-Stand are well away from the frame, so no danger of marking the paint.

The brake elastics that come with the Click-Stand appear to be fine for me so far.  I have only tried it in my basement, so perhaps I'll need something stronger in real usage.  I do have a hydraulic disc brake on the rear, and with the brake elastic pulling the lever, that wheel isn't turning.

General question for those who have a Click-Stand:  Where do you normally carry it?  In a frame mount?  Panniers?  Handlebar bag?  Other bag?

I have a trunk bag, and may end up putting it there.  For now, I want to try the frame mount.  However, the Velcro strap is tricky to pull apart, and if I use the stand a lot I suspect that the novelty of the frame mount will wear off, and I'll just put it in my trunk bag, next to my mini pump.

- Dave

[RonS]

General question for those who have a Click-Stand:  Where do you normally carry it?  In a frame mount?  Panniers?  Handlebar bag?  Other bag?

I just put mine in the trunk bag

[nztony]

Anton, thanks for the kind comment regarding the photo. I hadn't realised, but I haven't shown this one before, as it was from my four day/three night "shake down" tour before my Auckland to Wellington tour. I'll add that tour to the forum soon.

Dave, many thanks for the kind words, I don't even mind you though my photo was fake - it was taken at the end of a very long day, only 80km but 7 hours into gale headwinds all day, one of my worst days ever on a bicycle. I was reaching my destination, and the winds were abating, and the sun was showing a nice golden glow, so I forced myself to stop and take this picture, as I knew if I didn't I'd have regretted the next day. And as for choosing Yellow for my Nomad, that took me over a year decided while mulling over the Nomad PDF - I loved the brightness of the Yellow but thought commonsense should prevail and I should choose the more understated Black, but as I have had black frames in the past, I thought I should "just do it" and choose what my heart really liked and I haven't regretted it for a second. The other thing I took a long time to choose was flat bars as I am a hard core drop bar fan - I think in hindsight I did choose the right bars (flat) for the Nomad but I do miss my drop bars.


As for the Bike Bands that come with the Click-Stand, I found them fine on my 4 day and 9 day tours (plus my other riding in between.) I ordered some extras with my initial order. I find I only need one for the front brake and it holds the bike up well. I'm on my second band now, as I did snap one, but it took me 3 months of use to do so and I found that fair enough.

I bought the 5 section Click-Stand, as I thought the 6 would end up being too many sections to unfold and fold up each time, and the 4 section would be too long to fit into my Handle Bar Bag, which the 5 section does easily. On day rides it lives in my Arkel Tail Rider (which I highly recommend for day rides.) When I'm touring it lives in the Handle Bar Bag, or more often then not under the bungee cord that holds my 31 litre Ortleib Rack Pack to my rear rack.


Thorn Nomad Mk2 with Arkel Tailrider


Click-Stand held under Bungee Cord

Tony from NZ

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Dave.  Good to know your Click-stand arrived in good order & that the brake-lever-elastics work well.

A holding bracket is handy, too -- when I bought my 'stand a couple of years ago, that wasn't available (or maybe I missed it.)

Where to put it?  I use my Click-stand mostly when travelling with a loaded bike.  So, I just slip it under the bungee holding my tent/etc drybag on my rear rack (parallel to the axis of the bike.)  Similar to the Arkel Tailrider location.  My 4-segment 'stand also fits in my Arkel small h'bar bag. Reckon that I could also easily strap it to my rear rack, or the underside of my top tube, using a Lee valley Tools QR tie, 8" version -- just a couple of loops around the lot.

Cheers,

J.

[Andybg]

I have my click stand on my saddle post using the holder supplied by Them. It has been there about 2 years (with uses in between lol) and has worked well.

You can see it in the pictures on the link below:

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=5269.30

Andy