bokes

Vik, does your Thorn fit you ok? That stem looks really short, I hope the steering doesn't feel twitchy.

xcapekey

LHT guy - what's with the fenders?[/QUOTE]

When I ordered fenders for the bike I didn't specify the width so I got sent the widest SKGs ever made They're too wide for the fork so they bow in...

When I put on my adventure turing tires..Pan Paselas 26x1.75 it looks a little more balanced...right now those are my commuting tires..

NoGaBiker

Dude! You stole my avatar!!!

vik 

I run short stems on my LHT, Thorn & Bike Friday Tikit & New World Tourist...none of them feel twitchy.

bored

the only thing that is stopping me from already owning my dream bike is a 48 spoke phil touring wheelset with dyad rims, and a custom vanilla cycles frameset.

badger1

[QUOTE=zowie;8596527]There was a new Thorn Rohloff eXp on ebay a few weeks ago, great set up, almost everything top of the line including SON hub. That's probably my ultimate bike for expedition touring and I almost bought it but barely controlled myself by repeating "you don't DO any expedition touring. . . ."

Oh, man -- sounds exactly like me! I am such a sucker for the Thorn bikes/their advertising. At any rate, my current dream (commuting/touring) bike is in fact a Thorn Raven Sport Tour; 'wild fantasy' bike is a custom version of the same thing built by True North here in Ontario, but with discs. Or, OTOH, there's always this (custom Thorn Mercury) -- oh NOOOOoooo, where will it end?

zoltani

It won't!

Meek

Great. I have gone from getting a LHT to a Rivendell to a Bob Jackson, and now you guys make me look at Thorns. Hmm..more hours are going to be spent reading about the pros and cons of the Thorn and then the Thorn vs BJackson...

zoltani

Hey, we aren't making you do anything

antokelly

yes do think about thorn mine is on here somewhere ,ive added a few things since.but a great touring bike,if i could find the magic tyres i know i would have a super super bike,(as in a bit faster )so how much money are you going to spend,or is that to personal ?why don't you go to the thorn website and check out the reviews,take a look a the build options on the sherpa,

Meek

That's what I've been doing. Thinking of getting a Sherpa F&F and using my XTR stuff and misc road stuff (bars). I'll just need shifters (bar-end), fenders, racks...brake levers (which work with V-brakes?), Brooks...

PolishGuy

I'll second the Alex Singer. PG.

zoltani

Scroll about halfway down....
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/b...vers-drop.html

vosyer

I must say all the bikes I've seen on this post are very pretty like a Sunday car collector who has a special rig that only comes out on special occasion. Don't get me wrong guys, I have some of those in my stable as well. Then I have a couple that get ridden alot - my favorite is Waterford Adventure Cycle, HUGI 40 hole tandem hubs, Tubus front and rear racks, Sugino xd2 cranks, durace bar ends, well broken in B-17, and my famous Marathon Pluses with 10,000 miles on them. It not as pretty as it once was, but it's near and dear to my heart and scheduled for another cross country trip 2010. If there is a perfect tourer what fun would that be - I wouldn't have fun anymore chasing that illusive bike.

antokelly

meek if you do go for the sherpa make sure you get thorn (sjscycles) to face the b/b cup for you,this has to be done before you fit the crankset,otherwise the crankset wont sit flush to frame , or your lbs could do it im sure.as for shifters i have sti tiagra on mine ,they work great ,i've been useing sti for years now, dont intend to go back to leavers.best of irish luck with your choice of frame ,just dont skimp on gear get the very best you can afford and you will have trouble free cycling for years,and if you ever reach this part of the planet look me up and i'll show you some of my part of ireland.ok im rambling on here sorry.

vik 

Have you tried the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires? What sort of width are you looking for?

vik 

My Surly Big Dummy also qualifies for ultimate touring bike status for some types of tours:

- long wheelbase uber strong frame for a stable ride and absorbs bumps great
- Rohloff
- 26" wheels
- disc brakes [can run v-brakes]
- Titec H-bars
- front panniers & OMM rack
- rear takes dry bags & a passenger if necessary!
- 4 bottle cages
- Brooks saddle

Meek

Thoughts on the Rohloff?

tarwheel 

I built up my dream touring bike over the winter, a Bob Jackson World Tour. Since I set it up mainly for commuting, it might not be heavy-duty enough for other people's uses, but it is ideal for my purposes. I probably will eventually buy some 36-spoke wheels for added durability, but have not broken a spoke in two years, 6000+ miles of commuting on my 32-spoke Open Pros. I'm using a Campy Centaur compact crank (34x50) for lower gearing, coupled with a 9-speed DA/Ultegra drivetrain. More photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33353398@N05/

cyccommute 

I've already got 2.

Cannondale T800



While the frame is important for making the parts go, it's the parts that are important

Frame Cannondale T800
Headset Red Chris King
Front Derailer Shimano Tiagra
Rear Derailer Shimano XT
Front wheel Phil Wood/Mavic
Rear wheel Phil Wood/Mavic
Handle bar Salsa Bell lap
Seatpost Race Face
Saddle Brooks B17N
Crank Race Face Turbine
Bottom Bracket Race Face
Pedals Shimano 520
Cassette Sram
Brakes IRC canti
Stem Salsa Moto
Levers/shifter Shimano 105
Rack, rear Tubus Cargo
Rack, front Tubus Tara
Tape Cinelli/Aztec Vibwrap
red bits Purely Custom
Pump Topeak
Headset spacers stock
Computer mount Cateye
Bottle cages King cages

The only thing I might change in the future would be the crank to an external bottom bracket because of the ease of installation.

For off-road touring



Frame Moots
Fork Rock Shox Recon
Headset Chris King
Front Derailer Shimano XT
Rear Derailer Shimano XTR
Front wheel XTR/Mavic rim/Alpine
Rear wheel XTR/mavic rim
Handle bar FSA riser
Seatpost Race Face Deus
Saddle Flite
Crank Race Face Turbine
Bottom Bracket Race Face
Pedals Shimano 520
Cassette Shimano XT
Brakes Avid Arch rivals
Stem Eaton magnesium
Levers/shifter Old shifter
Rack Delta disc rack
Grips Grab-on
Pump Topeak
Headset spacers carbon
Computer mount Cateye

This one is still in a state of flux in terms of equipment. I have an Old Man Mountain rack on it but I'll use a trailer for cargo. The wheels...while good...may be changed to Phils (my third set) later. The XTRs will go on my slop bike

AngrySaki

I don't know what the bike itself would be, but there's a couple of features i'd like.

1. lockable hardshell panniers built into the bike (removable with a key or something like that), which would also be covered with solar cells.
2. A retractable lock built into the frame would also be nice (like vacuum cleaner cords).

antokelly

vik i was going to get the supreams,but there were just to wide for my likeing.i changed from marathon plus to conti city contacts much better trye imo,i might try maxxix slicks next i heard good things about these tyres.that is one hell of a bike your on seen it before on thorn site ,will you ever finish that nomad.

Houston

First off Vik, I have never seen anyone take a big blue garbage can on tour. You are da' man.

Now about this thread. I have a 21 lb. steel road bike on which I love to ride long distances. Thus, it would be my ultimate road touring bike. I would attach an Extrawheel to it. I have plenty of lighting, extralight backpacking stuff and reflective stuff to finish the "build". I dig my bike.

Meek

That's what I was thinking too...

bullwinkle

Got mine. Mercian Vincitore with the long-pointed fancy lugwork. She's heavy (almost 30 lb unloaded), but a dream to ride.