Next week we're going to test-ride our main candidates to become our long-term travel companions: Thorn bikes.
This British manufacturer's shop is in a small town in the south of England, in Bridgwater. It's a relatively small company, but with an excellent reputation in the niche world of cycle touring. Every model they make is designed to take serious punishment — these are all expedition and touring bikes built to last.
We started out looking at their Sherpa model given its reputation and load-carrying capacity, but then we got interested in Rohloff integrated gearing, which led us towards the Raven Tour and Nomad models. This type of hub gear is completely sealed and requires almost no maintenance. The upfront cost is much higher, but over thousands of kilometres it ends up paying for itself.
What is a Rohloff hub gear?
German engineering. These hubs use a gear-tooth mechanism, machined to precise tolerances and enclosed in a sealed hub that sits permanently bathed in oil. Gear changes are instant — even when stationary — and give you 14 different ratios.
Maintenance is minimal: an oil change every 5,000 kilometres, and reliability is extraordinary: not a single one has ever broken, even on bikes that have clocked over 50,000 kilometres. The obvious downside: if something does go wrong, however minor, you're not going to be able to fix it yourself unless you find a specialist mechanic or send the hub back to Germany.
There's another bonus too: because of the way a Rohloff wheel is built, the rear wheel ends up being significantly more robust — which reduces problems when you're carrying heavy panniers.
When and how?
Next week we hope to get all our questions answered and see how these bikes feel in person.
The plan is to travel to Bristol on Tuesday 13 November, spend the night with a local Couchsurfer, and visit the Thorn shop in Bridgwater the following day.
Has anyone been to Bristol? Anything we shouldn't miss during our short stay?
Gear: new acquisitions
Among our latest "big" purchases, the highlights are:
- Two sleeping bags — Alpkit Pipedream 600s, which we're trusting to keep us warm even in the worst conditions.
- A four-season tent — Hilleberg Nammatj 3 GT, which will be our home for years. It's spacious, with an enormous porch that'll give us living space and — why not — the option to host other travellers via Couchsurfing! It's astronomically priced in Europe, but buying it in the United States brought it down to something slightly more reasonable.
- An action camera — Sony Action Cam. Thanks to this new little companion I'll be able to film our adventures on the bike and share them with you.
- Merino wool clothing with anti-odour properties that, in theory, will reduce the stench we give off when we can't wash for several days.
- The splurge: a Nexus 7 tablet that will serve as GPS, entertainment and blogging device throughout our trip.
Life in England
Life in England is becoming rather monotonous. The weather doesn't help. Not much to do but work, save up for our upcoming adventure of cycling around the world, and keep acquiring the right equipment.
Next week we'll have news about the bikes — whether we decide to buy them or go with another option.
