My new Thorn Raven Nomad

[jonnystv]

Hi Stephen

I've had my Nomad since October and, like you're doing, made sure I had the stem height just right before cutting the steerer tube.

I just received my Click Stand last week and am very impressed. It holds the bike up securely even when fully loaded. For the princely sum of 25 quid including postage from the US, I'd strongly recommend you get one. Great service from Tom, who's one man operation it is.

Cheers
Jonny

 

[al_yrpal]

....or you could use a bit of lateral thinking and use a fishing rod rest and an elastic band for a fiver like I did on my Notathorn:-



rodrest1 by Alyrpal, on Flickr

Al

 

[Angelfishsolo]

You can remove spacers by getting the steerer cut down. You can experiment with bar height before getting the steerer cut by sliding the stem down the steerer, first taking spacers from below and placing them above. But more than one or two spacers above looks ugly imo

Agreed. They are the one thing spoiling a delightful bike.

 

[pkeenan]

I am totally with you all on the spacers issue. I intend to cut it down at some point, though being only a few days old, I'll wait a wee while.

However, yes - they're not visually appealing, but I literally pulled the bike out of the box, tightened up the headset - and that was it. What I'm getting at here is that Thorn had the saddle and bars perfect in the shop - I've not adjusted that at all since receiving it here at home, which is pretty amazing. So in that sense, I don't mind the visual thing of the spacers, if it means the bike fits me as perfectly as it does. But they will be coming off when I'm confident about doing it.

Spacers aside, I'm delighted with the bike. Coming from a racing/road bike to this I'm pretty blown away by the comfortable ride! I love the Brooks, and from what I hear that'll just get better over time. The Rohloff is living up to its reputation too. I went night riding the other day, testing out the Schmidt hub and SON light - WOW!! Amazing light, powered by my dynamo.
The frame is just gorgeously welded too. All in all, this bike should last well beyond my life, and should do everything I want to do. In the near future, everything will be in Britain and Europe on tarmac, so the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes are perfect. But all I'll have to do is fit a more heavy duty tyre on (XR, perhaps), and the bike would be just as happy on the dirt tracks of South America.

I was nervous about spending this amount on a bike - but having got the ride now, I couldn't be more happy than I am. The ordering procedure at Thorn was straight forward and friendly, and the bike is pretty much 'bomb-proof'.
I read all sorts of reviews saying that this was a heavy bike, and that it didn't have much life unloaded - I can safely say I disagree strongly. This is really not a heavy bike (compared to my second hand Giant mountain bike, which is what I've had since I was 15).

I can't wait to get touring on it now!!

 

[just jim]

Having fallen foul of the spacer debate after showing a few off myself, i know that Thorn tend to send you an uncut steerer and just as you suggest, let you cut it down when you are sure. like my Hewitt and Kaffenback, the geometry of the design ends up with quite a short head tube, hence the spacers. So not only have I learned to live with them, I make a virtue of them by having the stack in various anodised colours. PEACE OUT!

 

[Nigeyy]

I think it looks like a lovely bike! Personally, I think the front brake placement is where the brake should go -while it's never happened, the thought of a front brake being ripped out due to braking forces doesn't bear thinking about... Really, doesn't it make more sense where the calipres are effectively forced towards the fork instead of away when braking?

Spacers... yeah, got to say they look ugly. While you can cut the steerer easily if you are handy (done plenty myself) you have to be careful. Measure twice, cut once sort of thing, and err on the cautious side (don't forget it's better the steerer tube be too long than too short -also keep in mind if you ever consider changing the fork to another bike). The only thing I don't like about Thorns is that they seem to need quite a few spacers -can't understand why they can't just lengthen the head tube and increase the angle of the top tube?

 

[stephenjubb]

....or you could use a bit of lateral thinking and use a fishing rod rest and an elastic band for a fiver like I did on my Notathorn:-



rodrest1 by Alyrpal, on Flickr

Al

tried the above the end broke off after 5 uses. good idea if it work reliably

 

[pkeenan]

I think it looks like a lovely bike!

Thanks!! I'm very happy

Spacers... yeah, got to say they look ugly. While you can cut the steerer easily if you are handy (done plenty myself) you have to be careful.

Thanks for the advice. I've decided that I'm going to wait until I've done my tour this summer (a 28 day jaunt around Britain). This is basically going to be me trialling the bike in its 100-day-return-no-questions-asked period. If, when I get back from the tour, I am as happy with the bike as I am now, the spacers will get the snip (or saw...). That way, in the unlikely event of me returning the bike for whatever reason, it'll still have the spacers and such.

 

[ufkacbln]

The Thorn Nomads are boring, predictable, safe and reliable rides. No surprises in handling - loaded or unloaded
But then again that is how I like my tourers

 

[benb]

The Thorn Nomads are boring, predictable, safe and reliable rides. No surprises in handling - loaded or unloaded
But then again that is how I like my tourers

And how I like my women.