Thorn Sterling

[Bollo]

If you want ugly, hows this?:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/redcogs/thorn001.jpg

i like it though

Tis a Thorn Raven sports tour, its a self build from eBay parts, including the Rohloff.

Its maintenance free (virtually!), just drag it from the sheddy and away you go.


Get one is my advice.

Christ (on a bike)! What have you done to that poor thing. It's the LBS of Dr Moreau!

Also, can I ask what is going on with those cranks?

And finally, your lawn needs reseeding.

 

[punkypossum]

That is WEIRD!!!

 

[redcogs]

Christ (on a bike)! What have you done to that poor thing. It's the LBS of Dr Moreau!

Also, can I ask what is going on with those cranks?

And finally, your lawn needs reseeding.

On the cranks Bollo - i'm a disabled cyclist - a RTA in 1966 left me with a right knee which has only 15% bend. Thus, cycling was impossible until i discovered someone on the internet in 2001 who could fashion an appropriate 'hinged crank'. Initially i used derailer gears, but that didn't work out well because i dont have much power on the right hand side, which seemed to affect efficient shifting. The Rohloff eliminated the problem - because it allows gear shifting easily at all stages - uphill, down dale and stationary..

The "lawn" is fine, but the veg section of the garden (which you have identified) needs digging - which it will get when spring finally hits these northern shores!

As for Dr Moreau, have you not realised that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

 

[Bollo]

Redcogs

With the way my knees are going, I might be contacting you about the hinged cranks.

I bought a racing green Sport Tour a few months ago as a bomb-proof commuter/day out tourer and I think its quite handsome in a fifties throwback kinda-way.

If you want to see an ugly Thorn, I think the late great Sheldon Brown holds the record....

http://sheldonbrown.com/org/thorn/index.html

And my lawn is full of moss.

 

[redcogs]

That is a very aesthetically challenged Thorn Bollo - the seat-post must be unique.

Next time you make a lawn ensure its placed on at least one rolling stone..

 

[GaryA]

If you want ugly, hows this?:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/redcogs/thorn001.jpg

i like it though

Tis a Thorn Raven sports tour, its a self build from eBay parts, including the Rohloff.

Its maintenance free (virtually!), just drag it from the sheddy and away you go.


Get one is my advice.

Ah-ha at last we get to see redders steed

Actually its not too bad- apart from those upright butterfly bars-looks like your flying a kite from the stem

Must express my admiration for anyone disabled still having the drive to get out there cycling rather than giving up and slobbing in front of the idiots lantern (like my dad)

Have personal experience of recovery from a RTA- i had a horrendous 2 broken legs in 1990 but i was a young fit runner so it 'only' took 3 years for a near full recovery (GNR 93)... i was lucky (haha) in that it was the femurs and not the knee or hip joints

 

[redcogs]

Ah-ha at last we get to see redders steed

Actually its not too bad- apart from those upright butterfly bars-looks like your flying a kite from the stem

Must express my admiration for anyone disabled still having the drive to get out there cycling rather than giving up and slobbing in front of the idiots lantern (like my dad)

Have personal experience of recovery from a RTA- i had a horrendous 2 broken legs in 1990 but i was a young fit runner so it 'only' took 3 years for a near full recovery (GNR 93)... i was lucky (haha) in that it was the femurs and not the knee or hip joints

Thanks for the kind remarks Gaz.

i was on a motorcycle when i did my leg. Kickstart through ankle, which is completely f ucked, tib, fib and femur multiply damaged. In those days the medical ability to rectify such injuries was only just beginning to come on stream (one 'positive' from the Vietnam war?). They patched me up as best they could, but i suspect today they would have the skills to allow a better outcome.

Still, i hobble about pretty well all considered, but, unfortunately i was never able to exercise properly thereafter, until i discovered (via the www) the wonderful bike shop 'Longstaffs' (Staffordshire) who design bikes (using a jig thing) for people with lower limb (and other) mobility problems etc.

The butterfly bars came with the first Rohloffed bike i got from ePay Germany, and i sort of got used to em. i have often consider swapping to something a bit less ostentatious, but you know how it is - getting a roundtuit

 

[Graham Wallace]

reinventing the wheel

The Thorn 'Sterling' is trying to solve the same problem that Geoff Apps solved over 30 years ago with his Cleland Cross Country Cycle design.

Here's a link to the Cleland website.

http://www.james-walters.net/cleland/index.html

If Thorn really want to produce a totally reliable off-road tourer they should copy the the Cleland design. Or better still copy one of the modern versions and so benefit from 30 years of research, development and testing.

 

[GeoffApps]

Well, judging by the general views expressed in this thread, this picture may well result in a few hospital admissions. This machine has been developed and refined over many years; based ENTIRELY on practice and function ~ no heed whatsoever given to fashion (like the original Land Rover). It is used more or less everyday for everything from a trip to the shops to technical singletrack. Maintenance is virtually zero, and it spends most of its time covered in shite, since this has no effect on its performance. Panniers are carried on a QR rack, not shown. More details can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38236150@N06/4522859004/
Perhaps this thread could develop discussion on functionality, as opposed to appearance. What principles do you base your bicycle purchases on?

Mine is definitely function first, anything that doesn't work for me is modified or ditched.

 

[GeoffApps]

Does it matter when the encounter with the buses occurred? However, I thank you for your interest in the factors that produced this design.

The crushing effect of the aforementioned public service vehicles produced a short wheelbase with a high centre of gravity, which, it turns out, in contradiction to the mainstream view, provides a highly manoeuvrable machine, characteristics that I really appreciate.

I can't actually give you a precise date for the fortuitous collision, but it was very early on in the design and testing process, about 35 years ago.

 

[psmiffy]

Thorns are not pretty - For my sins I have one and even I would not describe it as pretty - however, it always a subject of much admiration when I am anywhere in the civilised world

 

[GeoffApps]

Ah, yes, the civilised world... been there, and I don't feel quite so eccentric when pootling about.