Thorn Nomad was the best bike I ever owned. I used it for short road based tours, off adventures, riding with a kids trailer and commuting. Never for a full expedition sadly. It was HEAVY but due to the disc compatible front fork it was STIFF. I loved the fact it needed so little looking after due to the drive train. I road it with v brakes, changed the pads a few times and the chain once. Bought in 2008 for around £2100 and after ten years I sold it for £1500. I wish I hadn't, it's a brilliant bike.
The v-brake mounts are on the back of the fork to make adjustments and pad replacement easier when the bike is loaded with front panniers, etc on the front fork. Excellent engineering from Thorn. BTW, I am having Marino Bike in Peru make me a bespoke frame to a geometry of my choice, and I used the Nomad Mk3 as my inspiration.
Thorn say that the brake is mounted on the rear of the fork so that the same brakes are used at the front and back and they can be interchanged if there are problems
Hey thanks ! my mistake, I'm correcting it, Rohloff gear range is indeed 526% . About the tubeless, the rims aren't TLC and anyways my friend (the bike's owner) doesn't like tubeless, from all the multiday trips we've done together in the last 5 years I only remember him having a flat once, the same as myself on tubeless ! I personally prefer tubeless on my own dirt tourer (Surly Bridge Club), it's great for when you need to put the tire pressure really low, it has probably saved me from a few small punctures and the tires feel more supple BUT it does require more maintenance (I have to put liquide every 4 months more or less) and any big puncture will leak anyways so you still need to carry an inner tube.
@@bicyclepicnic Thank you very much for taking the time to reply , I have a Thorn Nomad & a Surly Ogre ,I've hardly used the Thorn as it's even heavier than the Ogre ,I don't notice the difference when ridding it but when I have to lift it over gates etc it hurts my back ,a lot of the weight difference is in the wheels I've noticed .I'm looking into using another make of rim that will allow me to go tubeless .
Oh my dude, their website - it's a rabbit hole!!! Looking for availability of the bikes on the continent. I've also stumbled upon not only their material but even deeper, even some more on kinda obscure Dutch site :D Beautiful ride for the connoisseurs !
Absolutely, and combined with other bikepacking bags no racks are necessary, except for long expedition trips where I think racks and panniers are unavoidable
Thorn Nomad was the best bike I ever owned. I used it for short road based tours, off adventures, riding with a kids trailer and commuting. Never for a full expedition sadly. It was HEAVY but due to the disc compatible front fork it was STIFF. I loved the fact it needed so little looking after due to the drive train. I road it with v brakes, changed the pads a few times and the chain once. Bought in 2008 for around £2100 and after ten years I sold it for £1500. I wish I hadn't, it's a brilliant bike.
The v-brake mounts are on the back of the fork to make adjustments and pad replacement easier when the bike is loaded with front panniers, etc on the front fork. Excellent engineering from Thorn.
BTW, I am having Marino Bike in Peru make me a bespoke frame to a geometry of my choice, and I used the Nomad Mk3 as my inspiration.
Thorn say that the brake is mounted on the rear of the fork so that the same brakes are used at the front and back and they can be interchanged if there are problems
That makes sense, thanks man 👍🏽
I thought it was because of the direction of the wheel ,The calipers can take a lot more stress .
The brakes are at the back of the fork to provide more stiffness.
The Rohloff gear range is 526% according to their website . Everyone seems to be going tubeless these days ,Did you have many oroblems with flats ?
Hey thanks ! my mistake, I'm correcting it, Rohloff gear range is indeed 526% . About the tubeless, the rims aren't TLC and anyways my friend (the bike's owner) doesn't like tubeless, from all the multiday trips we've done together in the last 5 years I only remember him having a flat once, the same as myself on tubeless ! I personally prefer tubeless on my own dirt tourer (Surly Bridge Club), it's great for when you need to put the tire pressure really low, it has probably saved me from a few small punctures and the tires feel more supple BUT it does require more maintenance (I have to put liquide every 4 months more or less) and any big puncture will leak anyways so you still need to carry an inner tube.
@@bicyclepicnic Thank you very much for taking the time to reply , I have a Thorn Nomad & a Surly Ogre ,I've hardly used the Thorn as it's even heavier than the Ogre ,I don't notice the difference when ridding it but when I have to lift it over gates etc it hurts my back ,a lot of the weight difference is in the wheels I've noticed .I'm looking into using another make of rim that will allow me to go tubeless .
Wish they did the mk 3 in yellow...
Thanks for the review ,what tyres are these please ?
Hi, it’s Maxxis Ikon at the front and Maxxis Ardent at the back
Such a cool colour! RAL Yellow?
Oh my dude, their website - it's a rabbit hole!!! Looking for availability of the bikes on the continent. I've also stumbled upon not only their material but even deeper, even some more on kinda obscure Dutch site :D Beautiful ride for the connoisseurs !
Yeah ! Excellent source of technical info 🤓
What is the Dutch website?
Where you get the bag from for the frame
It’s a Stingray from Alpkit (custom) they’re based in the UK
@@bicyclepicnic thank you
Thorn 969 and Rholoff you say? Yum...
That bag gives a decent aero boost. You should add a top tube slim bag and a rear saddle long bag
Absolutely, and combined with other bikepacking bags no racks are necessary, except for long expedition trips where I think racks and panniers are unavoidable