SOLD: Thorn Raven Discovery Twin L/M - Touring Tandem VGC

This tandem was purchased with the intention of some big trips, but a spinal cord injury got in the way of that, and it has been sitting inside waiting for some adventures. It's got all modcons, including a Rohloff rear hub, SS couplers, carbide coated rims and a tandem specific Hope disc at the rear with amazing stopping power.

It's been ridden a few hundred miles at most. It cost approx £4,400 new and needs a good home!

For anyone that doesn't know Thorn tandems, more details can be found here: http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornRavenTwinBroHiRes.pdf

Spec:
Model: Thorn Raven Discovery Twin
Size: L/M (see link above for ctc equivalent)
Tubing: Reynolds 969 double butted
Transmission: Rohloff Speedhub 500/14
Rear Brakes: Hope tandem disc and addition 'parking' v brake
Front brake: XTR v brake
Hubs: Hope
Racks: Thorn touring front and back
Pedals: SPD

Other bits:

• SS couplers to split the bike in two for transport on trains or planes
  
• Cane Creek thudbuster rear suspension post
  
• Brooks saddle
  
  

Price: SOLD
Location: Bristol

Any question let me know, it'll be on here for around a week before being posted elsewhere. It's a relatively specific bit of kit, so might need to be around a while to find the right buyer.

.

5 Attachments

V nice.

Dibs!

Could you tell me:

• how tall is the pilot?
  
• how tall is the stoker?
  
  

I realise that this is you and there is the possibility to vary the saddle and bar heights, but it's a useful guide (I'm 6'4" and my stoker is about a foot shorter).

Is the Hope rear brake hydraulic? How do you find separating the frame if so?

Amazing glws :)

I’ll DM you

how comfy is it to be ridden alone? with a surfboard in the back? with enough wind to take off?

I used to use it to pick up my siblings from the train station a bit and it’s perfectly comfy on your own. Can’t comment on the surfboard!

Never seen a drag brake referred to as a ‘parking’ brake!

Lovely machine.

Ha! That’s just what I thought it was for. It’s very handy as a parking brake, stops it rolling around if you’re paused.

Actually that's a good point, I'm having similar trouble with my tandem flopping around (front rack and heavy bag) when I'm fussing around with it, partly due to slack head angle. So I sort of get why that's handy.

But no, drag brakes are for helping reducing speed on longish descents, where your primary brakes might overheat. My tandem only has rim brakes but is destined for a life in Suffolk where this is not a problem.

Are these permitted on trains? ….e.g. if I were to want to bring this from London to go up and cycle the NC 500?

The NC 500 is a law unto itself for bikes on trains as rather than going on the sleeper the bikes are often driven to Inverness in a van

I have taken it on a Virgin train before. We booked two spaces and didn't even need to decouple it.

On the same journey we decoupled it to take if on the underground in Liverpool.

In both cases I felt pretty worried about not being allowed!

That's a LOT of bike for the money!
GLWS

I find it pretty mad that the only time I have ever actually used this bike (Belfast to Donegal, only cycled one way due to an injury), it went on two trains, the underground, a boat and two buses.

No-one even batted an eye!

Lols like an amazing ride for someone .Can you disconnect it mid ride if you have an argument, I would definitely need that option .

I own a twin raven in kiddieback version. If this had been a M/M-S I would have bought this in a heartbeat.
I know it’s not helping your sale, I’m just trying to communicate that this is a bargain and the coming owner will not regret buying it!
Glws

Thanks for earlier reply.. if you were to compare the large/medium to equivalent road bike size... What do you think it feels like? Eg... 56/52?

If you still have this beauty FS, can you give me the front top tube actual lenght please.
I've got the 2007 brochure for the Mk 1 Raven Twin and the Mk3 brochure is online, as you linked but I can't find the Mk2 brochure which had some sizing differences. The current Mk3 L/M (2019->) would be just too big for me but this might be fine with flat bars for our Iceland trip delayed from this summer.

Long gone I'm afraid