My Thorn Cyclosportif

[WindyRob]

this is my Thorn Cyclosportif.

i knew i'd never race but wanted a ride that would take me on good day rides, Audax and the like and that i could even do a short tour (C2C?) but that would still be light enough to let me enjoy the core of my riding, i.e. approx 2 hours out on the lanes of the southdowns east of Winchester. I was loooking at the Giant SCR1 as that could take a rack and dreaming of a Van Nicolas or a Thorn, both about the same price. i saw on the Thorn Website that they had a shop soiled cyclosportif about £400 cheaper than list. Went over to Bridgewater 'just to have a look' and brought it on the spot. It was my 40th Birthday present to myself. The bike had never been ridden. it's been ridden alot now though

Windy

 

[WindyRob]

Oh and this the bike i started riding on last year commuting 15 miles round trip to work, loved it so much started to ride for fun

Windy

 

[ash68]

smart bikes windyrob,which one you using for commuting now. thorn would be good as it has guards on, but would you rather keep it for good?See you chose a triple chainset,must admit I'd have done the same, gives a good selection of gears and a few bail outs for those extra steep climbs or when the miles start to catch up with you.Couldn't see what groupset you have on, is it 105?

 

[WindyRob]

9 speed 105. when the weather is nice i use it to commute especially if i fancy coming home the long way via Old Winchester Hill. The guards came off once the summer was over and we got some nice weather. And i have race blades on the Orbea.

The triple has been great. The first Audax ride i did was on the Orbea and i was riding with a small group all on triples, i kept running out of gears whilst they always seemed to have at least three in hand, that did it for me when I started thinking of a new bike.

the difference in ride between the two bikes is amazing, the orbea was ok up to about two hours and after that it all started to go a bit numb, two weekends ago i spent about 6 hours on the Thorn and still felt relatively fresh, save for some tired legs, 5 hours round the Isle of Wight plus the ride to and from the ferry in southampton. glad i had the triple - lots of short but very sharp hills.

Windy

 

[stevenb]

Nice bikes..
I love the Orbea....very nice indeed.