Visiting Thorn - Thinking of a New Raven - Any tips

[Skipper9999]

Just getting round to buying a new bike and have a fancy for a "New Thorn Raven".
I am visiting them on Monday 4th Feb 2013. Any Tips??
I plan to do the LEJOG (mainly B&B's or YHA) and wondered if any members could share some tips.

• Is it the right bike?
• What goodies should I add (dynamo ??)
• Luggage ( or use existing TOPEAK that I have )
• Tyres?
• Extra strong Rims (Andra 30 CSS 32h costing £85 extra ) worth it?

Any other suggestions/ bikes would be helpful in me decision making, I am quite new to this field having only completed Hadrian’s Cycle Way.

 

[Brains]

No idea, but I bought my Thorn Nomad (old stylee) over a decade and 22,000 miles ago, it's been to a dozen countries since and I still think it's the best touring bike available (other than possibly the old style Thorn Xpd)

 

[MacB]

unless I needed heavy duty touring potential then of the Thorn offerings I like the Mercury Rohloff best

 

[ufkacbln]

Go with an open mind.... and enjoy yourself

They offer a good range of routes to try, so make use of them to assess the machine and its suitability for your riding style, they will also advise on what you can choose.

My only advice is not to get carried away, there is little of the additional stuff that cannot be retro fitted.

Their advice is very good - My wife wanted a Rohlof geared bike, so we went down to try one.

They gave her one that was far too small........ but insisted that it was the right choice. After 5 minutes we had to agree, a smaller frame than she was used to, but it was the most comfortable bike she had ridden

The second problem was giving me one to ride as well. It was a boring ride, solid, dependable, predictable and just what I wanted in a touring bike......... so we left with a Raven Tour and a Nomad... pictured her on the Great Glen

I would not now buy a non-Rohloff bike, and we have two Rohloff recumbent trikes, the two Thorns and a Birdy Grey

 

[Wowbagger]

We have three Rohloff-equipped Thorns, two Raven Sport Tours and a Discovery Tandem. I have yet to experience better touring bikes.

My bike looks ridiculously small for me but it's the most comfortable bike ever: I bought it specifically with carbon bars and seatpost to ward off as much vibration as possible. I bought it shortly after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis so I wanted an "orthopaedic" bike. Yesterday I passed 26000 miles on it and it's been pretty well faultless in that time. I've rebuilt the wheels, changed the tyres, done all sorts of maintenance apart from the BB bearings and headset, which are both as smooth as they were when I bought the bike 7 years ago. I don't think they do the Sport Tour frame any more. It looks as though the Mercury is filling the gap.

We've had trouble with our tandem in that we have broken 3 Rohloffs through spoked breaking chunks off the flange. However, they wheel is now spoked differently (I like to take the credit for this as I mentioned it to Robin Thorn as an improvement, but at the time he poopoohed it) and they have fitted a reinforcing ring around the flange. For the past 3 years we have had no problems with it.

 

[vernon]

You might like to consider a Woodrup Cycles' Chimera.

I'd been deliberating on becoming the owner of a Rohloff hubbed bike and had become more receptive to the notion when I had a long chat with a couple of Raven owners in Switzerland. Then I had a chat with a dutch Rohloff belt driven bike and my interest was increased.

Steve Woodrup invited me to inspect his prototype belt driven bike in his shop's inner sanctum and I immediately started plotting on how to become an owner. The Chimera does have links to Thorn cycles in that Woodrup Cycles frame builder was responsible for the bespoke bike sold by Thorn until they dropped the bespoke option.

Anyhow here's what Woodrup Rohloff hubbed bikes look like:

My bike nearing completion at Woodrup Cycles

My bike out and about in Selby

A Woodrup chain driven Rohloff bike

I've done 1500 miles on my Chimera and so far all I've had to do is adjust the front brake. The belt is unstretched and needs no adjustment or lubrication. The ride is very comfortable and I've ridden 100km audaxes and toured along the Danube with it fully laden. I have no connection with Woodrup Cycles other than being a very satisfied customer.

Woodrup Cycles are in Kirkstall, Leeds. Their web site is here.

 

[vernon]

• Is it the right bike?
• What goodies should I add (dynamo ??)
• Luggage ( or use existing TOPEAK that I have )
• Tyres?
• Extra strong Rims (Andra 30 CSS 32h costing £85 extra ) worth it?

Any other suggestions/ bikes would be helpful in me decision making, I am quite new to this field having only completed Hadrian’s Cycle Way.

The choice of bike is yours alone to make. The Raven will meet your needs and so will many other alternatives.

A dynamo is useful. I use mine to charge my mobile phone as well as provide lighting.

Wear your existing luggage out first before replacing it.

Tyres - I used Specialized Nimbus Armadillos and can not fault them.

Extra strong rims - unless you are very porky or plan to do some rough stuff off road cycling there's no need for heavy duty rimes.

 

[Wowbagger]

I'm very interested in your belt drive, Vernon. Rohloffs invariably leak a little oil (I think Thorn describe it as a "mist") and I wonder what this oil will do to a belt over time.

 

[vernon]

I'm very interested in your belt drive, Vernon. Rohloffs invariably leak a little oil (I think Thorn describe it as a "mist") and I wonder what this oil will do to a belt over time.

You'll be able to see it in the flesh on the York-Hull FNRttC.

There's no sign of any oil mist as yet.

 

[dellzeqq]

Just getting round to buying a new bike and have a fancy for a "New Thorn Raven".
I am visiting them on Monday 4th Feb 2013. Any Tips??
I plan to do the LEJOG (mainly B&B's or YHA) and wondered if any members could share some tips.

• Is it the right bike?
• What goodies should I add (dynamo ??)
• Luggage ( or use existing TOPEAK that I have )
• Tyres?
• Extra strong Rims (Andra 30 CSS 32h costing £85 extra ) worth it?

Any other suggestions/ bikes would be helpful in me decision making, I am quite new to this field having only completed Hadrian’s Cycle Way.

Any tips? Don't get in to an argument with Robin Thorn
Is it the right bike? For the Himalayas, maybe. For roads in the UK - never
What goodies should you add? None
Luggage? No
Tyres? Probably
Extra Strong Rims? Not unless you're an enormously heavy stunt rider.

 

[Wowbagger]

I have the tungsten carbide rims on mine. I understand they have been discontinued.

I found that the standard rims lasted about 10000 miles. I would imagine that would be less in a hillier area - I live in Essex. I rebuilt the wheels with the Rigida Andra Carbide. It looks to me as though they will never wear out. Having said that, we broke one on our tandem. I think I know where it was too: descending at >40mph, we left bright sunshine and found ourselves in woodland and I was riding blind momentarily. We hit a bit of uneven road surface and were lucky to stay on the bike.

 

[Yellow7]

Mornin’ Skipper. Here's my tuppence worth;

1. DRT MT19 rims - Still good after 17,000 miles.
2. Brooks sprung saddle, like the B67 - dampens out bumps without the need for suspension.
3. Schmidt dynamo - useful on long remote tours for battery charging (having made different chargers for different cell sizes / chemistries), so this depends on where you intend to go.
4. Tyres; Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Marathon Plus Tour.
5. Having seen Thorn's racks I’d suggest the ones Surly make, expensive but strong & the front one also has the top rack.
Mark.

 

[P.H]

I had a Thorn Raven for seven years, I found it pretty much perfect as a fully loaded tourer, but never really liked it unloaded, hard to define why, but other than it's reliability it never felt better to ride than the £300 hybrid it replaced. Despite that, it covered 30,000+ comutting miles without a hiccup, so basically paid for itself several times over so I've no complaints.
Three years ago I moved the hub into a lighter 700c wheeled bike, which is a lot better unloaded and not quite as stable loaded, as the vast majority of my miles isn't loaded it's the right way round for me.
If you're not planning on camping with four panniers, I'd suggest one of the other models might suit you better. Maybe test ride a few and Thorn's 100 day money back deal takes most of the risk out of choosing.
Upgrades - I have carbide rims on two bikes and they've proved to be the economical option in the long run, though mine are the lighter Grizzlys. Hub dynamo, if you're likely to use it get it now.

 

[Skipper9999]

24 hours as a newbie I am well impressed by all the replies ..

Thanks to you all , keep them coming .

Counting down the days !!! Will I won't I ??

 

[srw]

I'm very interested in your belt drive, Vernon. Rohloffs invariably leak a little oil (I think Thorn describe it as a "mist") and I wonder what this oil will do to a belt over time.

They do? I've never noticed. Compared with the amount of greasy crud that any bike inevitably attracts, I suspect a little light misting is always going to be minor.