the new bike

or, "what do I need to click on to get to the next page?"

For those of you who aren't interested in technical stuff... wheel size, components, gear and gearing, just click to the next page.

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I bought a new bike in 1997, a Bruce Gordon. At the time, I thought it was an outrageous amount to pay for a shiny new toy. Especially when you compared it to how much I coughed up for my first touring bike, which, in 1997 was 15 years old (more than $400, mind you!). The Bruce Gordon cost three times that much, and a price tag like that should only be picked up by a serious cyclist, something I didn't, and don't, consider myself to be.

How did I know I wasn't a serious cyclist? That's easy: instead of appearing to be pedaling with the expression of someone with a pelvic fracture and abdominal cramps, I generally had a goofy grin on my face. I still do. Instead of wanting to ride 750 miles on a day when the temperature is hot enough to peel your skin or cold enough to freeze the vitreous humor inside your eyeballs, I just wanted to toddle along at the leisurely pace of a 3-year-old on a tricycle, finish a few miles down the road at someplace I'd never been to before, and camp there if possible. I didn't own any cycling jerseys, and rode in tennis shoes. The bottom line was that I enjoyed bicycling too much to consider myself a serious biker.

No, spending that kind of money on a bike is done by serious cyclists.

But Heather persisted, stating that the goofy smile I have while I ride IS the reason I should purchase that Bruce Gordon, one that will carry me and my dreams for many years to come. How can you not love someone like that?

So, after 26 years of faithful service, I retired my Bruce Gordon. I didn't even give it a watch. It's still in good shape, and will continue to be used for touring (more about that in a different journal), which really helped ease my guilt associated with replacing it, especially since I've always had a hard time buying something new when I have a working whatever-it-is.

I looked at a lot of bikes over the course of a year, and finally settled on a Thorn Nomad Mk3. At 45 lbs without anything on it, it's the bicycling equivalent of a Panzer tank. That’s not a problem, though, because I make up for the extra weight by being a slower, weaker rider than most people.

So, to the specifics....

Thorn Nomad Mk3 26" frame - British racing green
Thorn Nomad Mk3 48 mm steel fork
Rohloff rear hub: 115 x 39 x 20 (very low gearing)
Twistshifter Light
Gates Carbon Belt Drive System
Paul Motolite V brakes with Paul Love levers
Denham Koga handlebars
26-inch Ryde Andra rims, 32 hole
SON 28 dynamo front hub
Kalloy Ahead stem 1-⅛”
Sinewave Cycles Reactor (has a USB plug on the stem)
Brooks B17 saddle
Thorn Expedition rear rack
Thorn Lo-Loaders front rack
SON Edelux II headlamp
Varia tail light/radar
Schwalbe Marathon Almotion HS453 folding tires: 26 x 2.15
Schwalbe SV13 presta tube 26 x 2.15; 55-559
Shimano Single-sided pedals (uses clips on one side and flats on the other)
Ergon GP5 grips with extenders
SteerStopper
Pletscher kickstand
Alloy XL water bottle cages (3, each of which holds 1.5 liters)
SKS Chromoplastic mudguards
Bicycle bell

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For those of you who don't know much about bikes, here's the condensed version of the cool stuff on it:

The front hub is a generator, which powers the headlight but also has a cable which goes to the top of the handlebar stem so I can charge my phone or Garmin.

You can see where the cable plugs into the USB port at the top of the stem, allowing me to charge my cyclocomputer or cellphone while I ride.

Instead of a chain, there's a belt drive like the one that turns the fan belt in your car. That means no grease.

Instead of a rear derailleur and a cassette (the cogs) on the back, the gears are inside the rear hub. That also means no grease, so when the bike gets dirty I just hose it off and don't have to worry about regreasing it (or degreasing me!). The no grease thing is huge.

It has a kickstand. You may not think that's a big deal, but I haven't had one since I was a kid. Touring bikes typically weigh too much for them to be functional. Okay, probably not so cool for you, but very cool for me.

The bar with a ball on the end is a SteerStopper. As one Cycleblazer described it, "it's one of those things I didn't know I needed." When the bike is parked and the kickstand is down, it prevents the front wheel from turning, which prevents the bike from falling over.

The headlight is powered from the dynamo hub (generator).

The Garmin Edge 1040 cyclocomputer is attached to my handlebars and gives me information I want... speed, average speed, mileage, elapsed time, heart rate, grade, battery level for my tail light. It also has my route and the Points of Interest I added, gives me turn-by-turn instructions, and warns me when there's a climb coming up (and how long and how steep). The screen is a solar panel so it charges when it's in the sun.

The bottom left battery level tells how much charge the Garmin has left, and the bottom right battery indicator is the tail light.

The rear tail light uses radar to tell me when there's a car or bike within 150 yards. A blip in the bottom corner of my Garmin moves up the side of the screen as it gets closer.

In short, it's a bike upon which I can comfortably ride all day long, which is fortunate since it's so ridiculously heavy that it's going to take me all day to go any distance. Still, that's kind of the point... going slowly and enjoying the getting there.

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Karen PoretA true “Inspector Gadget” accessory kit for the bike 👍
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1 month ago

Suzanne GibsonWhat a great decision!
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1 month ago

Cat LloydWOW! I think my old 70s Schwinn was at least that heavy, and thankfully had a kickstand. The Garmin Edge 1040 cyclocomputer is in my view, a must have tool for your tour. Your new ride is really cool!! :)
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo Cat LloydThanks!
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1 month ago

George (Buddy) HallMy unsolicited opinion on the bike, which is worth exactly the zero price you paid for it; it's a beauty and overall, you will love it. The heavier weight really isn't that much of a problem, my Surly LHT is also quite heavy, even when compared to my Fuji Tour bike, and yet it's still the bike I take on tour. You will love the dynamo hub and the convenience of always on lights without charging or battery hassles - at least, I do - the small additional drag is so minimal you will never notice it - honestly, I never think about it, even when climbing a steep hill while fully loaded. My Luxos headlight has a small cable attachment that provides a USB charging option; honestly, I have found this to be mostly a gimmick and I don't use it anymore. It's not that it doesn't work; it does, and if you are patient, you can add a small amount of charge to a phone or GPS while riding - but not a lot, and it takes much longer than if you had it plugged in to an outlet. And since the SON hub only puts out limited wattage, you can't run lights and charge a phone at the same time, so you won't have lights in the daytime if you are charging. After using my bike charging option a half-dozen times, I decided it wasn't worth it and instead it was easier to just plug in at a restaurant while having lunch or plug in somewhere at the campground. Perhaps your Sinewave Cycles Reactor will offer better charging. I sometimes carry an Anker charging battery with me to be certain I have backup power - but I use it so rarely that I question it's value. But to be fair; IF you are going to camp for days in a row at campgrounds with no electricity to be had anywhere AND you won't be eating at restaurants where you could get an hour's charge while dining, THEN the dynohub charging could keep your cell phone alive. While I have never experienced it, every cyclist I have encountered with a Rohloff hub has loved it - and the only cyclists I have met who had lower gearing than I do had Rohloff hubs. So this is a bike designed to get you over the Appalachians on the Transam. I have the Shimano pedals with SPD clips on 1 side and flat on the other - I thought the flat side would be convenient for a short ride to the restaurant when I'm in town and wearing sneakers. Honestly, it's not all that helpful - when you aren't clipped in, the pedals tend to rotate by gravity such that the SPD clip is facing downwards, so the downside of these pedals is that all day long while you are on tour and wearing cycling shoes you have to flip the pedal over to the SPD side when you are starting off. So that constant inconvenience is a negative that can outweigh the convenience of having the flat side for non-cycling shoes. Still, they are mounted on my main touring bike and I will probably use them on my next tour - I'm just pointing out that they aren't a perfect solution. I love my clik-stand and it's a real convenient thing when I need to park the bike upright with nothing to lean against, so I think you will be happy with the kickstand. The only non-positive comment I have is somewhat a matter of personal opinion so it isn't intended to be negative; I really like the power and wet weather advantage of disc brakes for a touring bike - but you have powerful V-brakes that I'm sure will also do the trick. I think you have a very worthy steed ready for adventure - I'm looking forward to your assessment after a month or 2 of loaded touring.
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1 month ago

Gregory GarceauThat is one good looking bike with some features that seem almost futuristic to a rube like me. It looks like the kind of bike George Jetson might ride if he was a bike tourist.
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1 month ago

Mike AylingWe got a Thorn tandem with Rohloff in 2012 and I got a Thorn Mercury single also with Rohloff in 2016. Thorns are great touring bikes and I would never go back to a derailleur bike!
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo George (Buddy) HallHi Buddy,
Just some responses to your comments:
1. "If you are patient, you can add a small amount of charge to a phone or GPS while riding - but not a lot, and it takes much longer than if you had it plugged into an outlet."
Since I attempt to stay on backroads and trails I don't run with headlights during the daytime, and have found that I *can* charge my phone while riding. The trick is to turn down the screen's brightness to the point where you can still see it, but it's not using up your battery because it's in direct sunlight. I carry a 20,000 mAh power bank for when I camp, and it's more than enough to charge all of my electronics so I don't have to hassle with finding an outlet at a restaurant.
2. "Every cyclist I have encountered with a Rohloff hub has loved it."
Count me in the "Loving It Club." My only issue with it was that I went riding over some rollers last summer which required a lot of shifting. Because it has a grip shifter, I developed lateral epicondylitis, aka tennis elbow, and had a real problem with it for a while. I don't know if that's a real issue, or just an old man thing, but otherwise I love it.
3. "You have to flip the pedal over to the SPD side."
I've been using these pedals for the past 17 years and am so used to them that I flip them to whichever side I'm using without even thinking about it. It's like how you run through the gears as you approach and climb a hill - you've been doing it so long that it's second nature.
4. "I really like the power and wet weather advantage of disc brakes for a touring bike." I seriously considered disc brakes because of the benefit in inclement weather but decided on some really good V-brakes instead for several reasons: (a) I want something I can repair in the field... literally, in a field. (b) It seems like everyone I know with disc brakes has a problem with squealing, and that would seriously annoy me. (Heather has them and we've tried everything, even a torch) (c) I don't plan to do much riding in the rain, but if I do I'll be extremely careful about downhills. When you ride as slow as me, you hardly need brakes at all. :-)
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1 month ago

George (Buddy) HallTo Mark BinghamMark - a few responses to your responses on my comments; 1.) re: flipping the pedals over, I agree with that - it's not a big deal once you are used to it, it just sometimes slows me down a bit when starting off, usually when I have pulled out onto a road with oncoming traffic and need to hurry on across and can't seem to hit the pedal flip just right :>), 2.) yeah, the squealing disc brakes thing can be rather annoying - even when I have disc pads that don't squeak in the dry, they always scream at me when they are wet and I brake hard. If I'm going down a steep hill with wet brakes, they will squeal loudly at first and then the squeal goes away (or lessens) as the braking continues and the friction dries them out, 3.) regarding the ability to repair brakes in the field, I was concerned about that too - when I built my touring bike, my mechanic recommended hydraulic disc brakes, and that really frightened me cause you aren't going to repair a broken hydraulic line in the field - but he convinced me, and I've been happy so far - hydraulics perform much better than mechanical (cable) disc brakes (I have hydraulics on my main touring bike and cable-actuated on the other bike) - so far I have 20,000+ miles on the hydraulic brakes and have shipped the bike cross-country 4 times, and the brakes have never had an issue - the only maintenance I have done is to change out worn pads. Now that I said that I'm sure I will jinx things and have a problem on my next trip - but even if I do have a problem with 1 brake, the brakes are so powerful that 1 brake is enough to get me to a repair shop and/or just finish the tour.
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1 month ago