GammaJammer
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or you could just get fitter and pedal harder you big girl.
montmorencyt2w
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I/we bought two Thorn "Club Tours" when they first came out. They were about £500 each then. Maybe a little bit more. (Frames built then by the last of the Claud Butler frame-builders, who had been made redundant and set up their own co-op; Thorn got them to make these under license or whatever). Can't remember what year this was.
I went down to St John Street Cycles (Thorn) in Bridgewater earlier this year to have some repairs done to one of these bikes, and picked up their catalogue. They are still doing the "Club Tour", slightly different spec. and I think they build the frame in-house these days. I think the price is about £1500 nowadays! And I think that's just on the standard jobbie. I think there is a custom-built option which costs real money!
My first ever bike had derailleur gears(Benelux ... was quite common at the time for people who couldn't afford Campag; this was before Shimano dominated) and I looked with derision on the then standard SA 3-speed hub-gears, and always tended to avoid them.
Of course, the world of hub-gears has changed over the years and these Rohloffs do seem to be the business. Makes a hell of a lot of sense for the gears to be protected from the elements. Just so long as they don't have that sort of sloppiness that the old Sturmey Archers always seemed to have (as well as being heavy and completely unsexy and unchic). (Admittedly the bikes with SA hub-gears that I would ever have ridden were probably knackered to begin with).
I'm still riding my Club Tours. One was actually the wife's but she decided she didn't like it and gave it to me (Fortunately same size as mine) (She got an Orbit 26" wheel hybrid instead). Good to have (at least one...) backup bike
montmorencyt2w
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You aren't one of those fixie poseurs I notice around London a lot these days?
Not that there's anything wrong with single-fixed. Used to ride one myself at one time and hope to again one day.
But these blokes, honestly ....
glyder
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The staff in a City bike shop told me these fixies are a passing fad.
But they';re selling well for the time being.
the 3 gears on the brommie are enough for city riding, and OK
for up to around 20 miles, so long as its fairly flat.
Thing with Shimanos is each gear has such a narrow range always
needing to change up. The hubs seem to have a wider range for each gear,
helps get some rythm.
GammaJammer
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Good lord no - couldn't have me more wrong mate. I hate those fools with a passion. Actually, I am going to clarify; there's basically two camps of people who ride those things as far as I can see;
1) Couriers who want something fast, uncomplicated and robust. Those guys (and girls) are ok, primarily because they usually actually know how to ride
2) F*cking Hoxton poseurs who have 'all the gear and no idea'. They all think they're Lance Armstrong and ride like idiots endangering not only themselves but also other cyclists in traffic. And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to riding in heavy traffic, but I absolutely guarantee you I have a healthy self preservation streak and manage the maximum speed for the minimum risk.
Oh - and at lights, none of the mal-coordinated fkers can track-stand properly, and as they've all got those stupid shoes on that they don't really strictly need for the 2 mile ride back from their accounting jobs (sorry Aaron - not intended at you necessarily) they are invariably pointing at 90 degrees to the road when the lights go green, leaving the rest of us, who have sensibly actually changed down gears to get away quickly before we get run over by either a white van man, a bendy bus or a pr1ck in a Kawasaki 900, waiting like lemons while they straighten up and pretend they're Chris F*cking Hoy.
Right - rant over. and very cathartic it was too
GJ
GammaJammer
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True enough - but firstly it also clears out 99.9% of the lycra clad female eye-candy, and also, when it rains the drivers of the cars are far more dangerous.
Me and winter really have never mixed. But I still cycle - I find it wakes me up a treat by the time I get to my desk.
i start work too early for the proper eye candy, have to get my fill on the journey home. :-D
glyder
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Its true when its dark, the motorists can't tell the difference between their car radio / dash lights and flashing
bike lights after staring at a PC screen all day.
Shame about the less eye candy too, can really brighten the day. Although there;s plenty of scary sights out there too! lol
GammaJammer
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I think the signal / noise ratio is often pretty favourable actually on the candy front. Not that I look like much of a prospect meself when I'm cycling I have to say.
glyder
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I/we bought two Thorn "Club Tours" when they first came out. They were about £500 each then. Maybe a little bit more. (Frames built then by the last of the Claud Butler frame-builders, who had been made redundant and set up their own co-op; Thorn got them to make these under license or whatever). Can't remember what year this was.
I went down to St John Street Cycles (Thorn) in Bridgewater earlier this year to have some repairs done to one of these bikes, and picked up their catalogue. They are still doing the "Club Tour", slightly different spec. and I think they build the frame in-house these days. I think the price is about £1500 nowadays! And I think that's just on the standard jobbie. I think there is a custom-built option which costs real money!
My first ever bike had derailleur gears(Benelux ... was quite common at the time for people who couldn't afford Campag; this was before Shimano dominated) and I looked with derision on the then standard SA 3-speed hub-gears, and always tended to avoid them.
Of course, the world of hub-gears has changed over the years and these Rohloffs do seem to be the business. Makes a hell of a lot of sense for the gears to be protected from the elements. Just so long as they don't have that sort of sloppiness that the old Sturmey Archers always seemed to have (as well as being heavy and completely unsexy and unchic). (Admittedly the bikes with SA hub-gears that I would ever have ridden were probably knackered to begin with).
I'm still riding my Club Tours. One was actually the wife's but she decided she didn't like it and gave it to me (Fortunately same size as mine) (She got an Orbit 26" wheel hybrid instead). Good to have (at least one...) backup bike
Hi Mont,
I had a look at the club tour, I like it, and I agree with Thorn's preference for steel frames.
I;d stuck with the old 5 gear deralleur for a long time, when I bought the shimano geared hybrid, it was a real advance. Its totally necessary for long or hilly rides but in town the brommie with the 3 speed hub does the job. As its the highly geared version, I still get a good speed up...I ride it up to 18 miles per day and its ok for that. I know they look a bit strange but once you are up and riding it feels quite OK.
Still , I'm glad to hear you are pleased with the Thorn bikes and that they last...the Thorn with Rohloff is my aim in the long run. I saw the round the world cycle record broken on TV by Mark Beaumont, he used a rohloff for the 18,000 odd miles and it seemed to give no trouble, so far as I can make out.
http://www.pedallingaround.com/equipment/?page_id=5
glyder
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Oh No !!! this really cuts the cred out of Brommies
If they ever had any cred....its on the way out.
I might have to wear a mask when I ride mine now
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223266/Lord-Mandelson-does-Cameron-goes-cycle-ride.html
If they ever had any cred....its on the way out.
I might have to wear a mask when I ride mine now
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223266/Lord-Mandelson-does-Cameron-goes-cycle-ride.html
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glyder
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oiltanker
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i thought broms had spongy brakes?
i prefer dahons. taken mine on buses and tube.
yes the penny had big wheels to cope with the holes but anyone with any skill is ok on a 20 incher
with the collapse of the gbpjpy bike costs have gone through the roof. which would probably make a uk built bike competitive. i suppose bike shops could have hedged.
i prefer dahons. taken mine on buses and tube.
yes the penny had big wheels to cope with the holes but anyone with any skill is ok on a 20 incher
with the collapse of the gbpjpy bike costs have gone through the roof. which would probably make a uk built bike competitive. i suppose bike shops could have hedged.
montmorencyt2w
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Good lord no - couldn't have me more wrong mate. I hate those fools with a passion. Actually, I am going to clarify; there's basically two camps of people who ride those things as far as I can see;
1) Couriers who want something fast, uncomplicated and robust. Those guys (and girls) are ok, primarily because they usually actually know how to ride
2) F*cking Hoxton poseurs who have 'all the gear and no idea'. They all think they're Lance Armstrong and ride like idiots endangering not only themselves but also other cyclists in traffic. And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to riding in heavy traffic, but I absolutely guarantee you I have a healthy self preservation streak and manage the maximum speed for the minimum risk.
Oh - and at lights, none of the mal-coordinated fkers can track-stand properly, and as they've all got those stupid shoes on that they don't really strictly need for the 2 mile ride back from their accounting jobs (sorry Aaron - not intended at you necessarily) they are invariably pointing at 90 degrees to the road when the lights go green, leaving the rest of us, who have sensibly actually changed down gears to get away quickly before we get run over by either a white van man, a bendy bus or a pr1ck in a Kawasaki 900, waiting like lemons while they straighten up and pretend they're Chris F*cking Hoy.
Right - rant over. and very cathartic it was too
GJ
Yes, it was type 2) I had in mind (Hackney variety in particular). Yes, type 1) is ok. Endangered species for obvious reasons, but good luck to them.montmorencyt2w
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Steel: that would be a bit of a religion with me I must admit. As well as drops and a (cheap) derailleur, my first ever bike had Reynolds 531 tubing. This was just a lucky choice as far as I was concerned as I didn't know that from a drainage pipe at the time, although maybe my Dad steered me towards it as he'd ridden bikes in his youth (he had an original pre-war Claud Butler; I later got (a very non-original) CB purely out of sentiment, and was glad that my two Thorns (purely by chance really) were made by the last of the then CB people). Anyway, it was only later that I realised what a little gem (at least for the money) I'd got. (Elswick Lincoln Imp I think it was).
I don't have a problem with the looks and have actually coveted a Brommie for years (mainly for public transport use) but just never thought I could afford one as well as keep my other bikes. One day....yes, pity about blessed Mandy! I'm old enough to remember when the likes of Lord Hailsham and even Ernest Marples (who brought us the first motorways) would be photographed turning up to cabinet meetings on their (sit-up-and-beg) bikes (in suits and trouser-clips). No nonsense about security, etc in those days...
Yes I can just imagine that Rohloff gears are just the thing for that kind of trip. Years ago I'd read about some female round-the-world cyclist who'd had a derailleur gear snap as it got frozen solid somewhere! Very nasty.
Gear ratios on Shimano: well, I don't know about the ones they sell on new bikes nowadays, but in principle, one should be able to mix and match the rear cogs to get whatever ratios and range one wants (subject to the limitations of the gear). Not that I've ever bothered with this; the most I do is change the rear cogs when they wear out, usually to the same sizes as I had before or as near as dammit. I could be an equipment freak if I had the money and no missus to watch what I spend it on - I like bike porn as much as the next right-thinking-bloke
but in practice, I'm a bit behind the times with what's on the market, etc. As I said, good bikes last "too long". Although as a former colleague and bike mate said to me "you can never have too many bikes" (he had loads). Other than space limitations, I don't disagree with this ....I do like spongy things...!...
On serious note though, with Brompton and a typical speed one will achieve, brakes do appear adequate....I get the bike serviced every 3 months and it comes back as almost new....!
