We've finally settled on two Thorn Nomads — one for me, one for Ilze — which means we officially have bikes for cycling around the world! Well, a piece of paper with a reservation, at least.
Since I want to go over the bikes once they're built, ask the mechanics every question I can think of and tweak any last-minute details in person, we'll be collecting them from the factory in Bridgwater. And because of work commitments and the fact that we want to ride them back "home" — the flat in Manchester that we're temporarily calling home — we'll wait until our holidays to go and pick them up.
That means we won't have the bikes until 20 February! The good news is that we'll start pedalling the same day. We're going travelling again! Two weeks riding around the UK — the route isn't fixed and will depend on the weather, but the starting point is Thorn's factory in Bridgwater and the finish line is Manchester.
Our questions were all answered and we ended up going with two bikes of the same model, though in different sizes and specs — Ilze's is a special version with a slightly lighter frame, for cyclists of smaller dimensions.
My bike will be a Thorn Raven Nomad 565L and Ilze's a Thorn Raven Nomad X540M, both equipped with the Rohloff integrated hub gear I mentioned recently.
Why Thorn Nomad?
We started by looking at different brands with strong reputations among long-distance tourers: Koga, Surly, Santos, Thorn… They all make bikes built for travel — for carrying panniers, for handling every surface and obstacle you can throw at them.
We ended up going with Thorn because of their specialisation in 26" wheels, steel frames, Rohloff hub gears and a range of flat-bar options. Plus, their 100-day return guarantee is genuinely remarkable: if you're not completely satisfied after 100 days and however much use, you can return the bike and get your money back. I imagine a few people have conveniently used this to get a new bike for a three-month summer trip.
Why 26" wheels and not 700c (or 28")?
Size comparison between 700c wheels (left) and 26-inch wheels (right)
Advantages of 26-inch wheels over 700c:
- Smaller wheels are always more robust than larger ones. You can compensate with better components on a 700c, but at equivalent spec, 26" wins.
- There's a wider variety of fat tyres available for 26" than for 700c, which tends to be thinner. Given that we need versatile wheels, 26" comes out ahead.
- Spare parts availability for 26" wheels is far better in remote parts of the world. We can't afford to rely on courier deliveries when we snap something in the middle of Kazakhstan.
Obviously it's not all one-sided. The 700c is more comfortable, handles potholes better and rolls with less resistance — but those weren't reasons enough for us to go with them.
Why flat bars?
Flat (or mountain) handlebars aren't always completely straight — many have a slight curve. The ones we've chosen have a 12-degree sweep.
Most of the touring bikes we looked at were designed around drop handlebars. That was one of the main reasons we ruled out most of what was on the market. Drop bars are practical in an aggressive riding position, in a race, but when you're touring with panniers or riding on rough ground, the position and grip need to be different.
A very tempting alternative is butterfly bars, which offer a huge range of hand positions — the downside is that they flex a bit, which can make rough tracks more dangerous.
In the end we went with what we already knew — flat bars. But we're adding a pair of bar ends to increase the variety of hand positions and give our hands more options over days and days of riding.
Final preparations for cycle touring
Apart from collecting the bikes, we've got almost everything else ready. This week the tent and panniers arrived — now we just need to save up for a few more months.
Cycling in winter through England will be tough, but it'll help us confirm that our kit is up to the worst conditions. Once the winter is behind us and the bikes are at home, we'll try to get out for a couple of days here and there whenever we can — anything to make the waiting more bearable. You can read how the bikes held up in our Thorn Nomad review after 16,000 km.
We're counting the days until we can get on our bikes and say goodbye to Manchester!
