• Some advice from the FBNPNA heads please.

    I thought I was sold on the Thorn Audax MK3 until I saw the Brother Kepler. The Kepler is 200g lighter but doesn't have the pedigree of Thorn. Brother also reckon that the Kepler can handle trails whereas Thorn don't have that same kind of confidence in their Audax MK3. When I spoke to them on the phone they thought that it would be ok on a rough canal path but no worse. This surprised me a little.
    I don't mind about the brakes, I would prefer side pull for ease of use but cantis have better stopping power and I ride them at the moment so don't mind about keeping them, saves me money as well.
    Know if there is any difference in stiffness between Brother's 4130 and Thorn's 858 (apparently the equivalent of 725) ?
    Does anyone know if the brother logos will come off, are they under the lacquer?

    I've recently whittled down my bike collection to just one so this will be replacing my flexy and heavy but very reliable Geoffrey Butler touring frame possibly with either the kepler or audax mk3. I commute and do everything with this so I feel like a have to make a measured decision when getting a replacement. It's currently set up as a 1 x 9 with a high rise stem and risers for my fucked up back but I think on my new frame I'll go with drops but keep the high rise stem/spacer stack.

  • Not to confuse the matter more, but have you thought about the salsa vaya?

  • Long story cut short; you're comparing apple and orange.

    Thorn's an audax/road frame, whether the Brother is an CX/tourer frame.

  • Thorn have a reputation they'd like to keep, as such they're super super cautious about everything thing. A they don't sell stuff unless they're 100% on what it can do.

About

Avatar for sorethroat1 @sorethroat1 started