this is the bike, loaded for non-stop touring

Mate, you're never gonna get on The Fully Loaded Touring Bike Photo Gallery with a skimpy rig like that!

You flogging the Thorn?

Ch

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ha ha, very true. thankfully.

been very interesting spending the last year or so in the bicycle touring world. and realising just how much of the world you miss by whizzing by on a motorbike, all encased in the protective gear and visor/goggles. also realising how that old line 'in a car you are watching tv, on a motorcycle you are part of the scene' (or whatever it is) is just nonsense, when compared to being on a bicycle. everything really is relative.

anyway, roll on the extended tours.

yeah, the thorn audax mk 1 must go. clearing my stuff out. but it's a 58 cm, so too small for your good self. know anyone who'd be interested?

managed to get a decent price for the Cross Check frame and fork. paid for a Big Agnes Horsethief and sleeping mat. Have you seen those back-less sleeping bags? excellent for skimpy touring.

cheers,
Doug

So I guess you had a change of mind then! (or won the lottery)

Nice bike though.

not exactly, I still don't want to spend much money...

all the bikes were second hand. the LHT frame was new, £300. but the second hand bikes I went through left me with a haul of spare parts, which went to make up the complete Surly.

well worth spending the money, to get the experience though. I'd be gutted to have missed out on that, and taken random advice and bought a new Dawes Galaxy with full front and rear panniers; 'cause that is what you absolutely must have to travel'.

all in I've spent less than a pair of Touratech's metal panniers. it's taken a while (a year and a half?), and I've done many 1000's of kms to work out what fits me.

one thing I've noticed, switching from motorbikes to pushies, is the stench of road-kill.

cheers,

Hi D where did you get the frame from?

atb

wiggle, with a good discount.

Dougie, that's a brilliant bike.

I was going to respectfully disagree with you about the availability of steel-framed bicycles. I see many more now than I did 10 or 15 years ago. Once the aluminium/titanium/carbon/thermoplastic (anyone remember TP?) crazes ran their course, people started realizing again just what an excellent frame material steel has always been. I see lots of custom builders using steel again, along with mass-production specialists such as Surly.

I'm just finishing up a Thorn Nomad, myself. Didn't realize I was a geek.

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yeah, to be honest when I first posted I was thinking a mountain bike was the thing to travel on. So, try and find a steel mountain bike and you'd have to agree with me that there are (practically) none :-) at the time custom build (I was/am on a budget) was not something I'd considered.

but then I picked-up and rode up a varying array of bicycles, and realised (as with motos) that what you first think is perfect is often the opposite. So, I no longer think a mountain bike is such a great travel bike. Certainly not 'the' travel bike. but to find that out you really need to try stuff.

I'm just about to fit some fat tyres to the LHT and do some off-road touring up north (Scotland). It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

there are plenty of frame builders here in the UK, using steel. I have discovered around ten to fifteen.

two of the higher end builders:

custom cycle frames, cycle shop derby, campagnolo uk – Mercian Cycles
Roberts Cycles - handbuilt lightweight custom bicycles and frames (the geek in you will want to read About us -> design philosophy)

I saw three Nomad's on my last excursion into west africa, all very happy owners.

here's mine

That appears to be the very scenic location of a crime that's been blocked off with "Police line; do not cross" tape.

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Its actually the bottom of the Maribor world cup downhill course in Slovenia. I had a trip there a few years ago. It was very strange having ridden my bike with my little trailer through the mountains for a few days along some lovely tracks to turn a corner and find myself at a ski resort with people with big downhill rigs flying about. Would have been rude not to try a few sections.

some more pics here if you want to look slovenia pictures by anagallis_arvensis - Photobucket

Just a wee update to this thread -

I have taken my own advice and bought an early '90s mountain bike with a steel frame from 'The Bike Station' (a bicycle recycling place in Edinburgh). I got a Specialized Hardrock - an entry level, fully rigid, steel framed mountain bike with that nice relaxed early 90's geometry. It wasn't that cheap for a bike as old as it is (£150) but the reason for that is that the entire drive train has been replaced with brand new components - and as this is expensive to replace, that presumably accounts for the price. Its also been fitted with Deore v-brakes which is good, as those cantis were always a bit rubbish!

I've fitted the Brooks B17, riser bars, Blackburn rack and Specialised Hemisphere tyres off my old bike (now dead in a ditch) and thats it.

I'm hoping to go to iceland this year and if I do I'll splash out on some new wheels - Mavic XM317s on Deore hubs from Merlin for a little over £100 (good place for wheels!) and follow Dougie's advice and get some Carradice luggage.

The bike rides surprisingly nicely on the road and in general I love it. The simplicity of it means it will be a breeze to maintain and its low value means it is unlikely to get pinched. All in all I am very happy and would recommend this as a way to get a cheap, tough, adventure touring bike.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding and we'll see how I feel after a few tours, but right now I am extremely happy and have hardly spent any money (in cycling terms!).

Cheers,

Matt

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Nice pickup Matt, those bikes from that era are classic. There are plenty for sale as well and over here if person looks around, you can find them very cheap and in some cases barely used.

I recently upgraded to an all mountain heavy bike (it's only up or down around here) but miss the old hard tail for cross country riding. Just did a classic point to point gravel tour on the weekend and a couple of the bikes were hardtails (Kona Pahoehoes) and they looked sleek compared to the heavy bikes.

Might have to scuffle around for a hard tail like you have, although no suspension on the front while navigating rocky descents will take some getting used to again

Definitely. I ride a '98 Norco Team Edition hardtail off-road and recently experimented with a fully rigid set up - it was absolutely knackering on rocky/rooty trails and my arms and shoulders ached for a couple of days afterwards! Was so happy to get some Rockshox fitted!

The Hardrock is going to be a 90% road bike, so the front sus doesn't matter quite so much.

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Too funny, my old hard tail was a Norco Team Edition as well You'll see a few of the Norco's around as they are based here, but I didn't know that they were common over the pond as well.

You'll have to toss the old bike in a box and come over to B.C. Plenty of cross country rides for whatever a person feels like ranging from touring on abandoned rail beds to mountain ridge rides. Here's a couple of examples nearby. And of course, plenty of technical stuff as well. A fridge of cold and spare room always available for fellow bikers (motorized or human powered).

Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway

Seven Summits Trail Epic | International Mountain Bicycling Association