Thorn, snagged

Is the B screw adjusted correctly? If the top of the cage is fouling give it a couple of turns in? Issues like this are normally more B screw related than chain length.

Sorted!
Brought a Sunrace ‘goat’ hanger extension and now I have All The Gears hurrah
Also helped to swap the back plate of the mech cage around to be facing the right way doh

Yay!
Shakedown ride, few loose bolts but all good
Super slow comfy touring

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Next trip is a few months through Africa??

Ha ha!
Few days in Wiltshire more like

Looks proper! Love it!

Thank you Thorn, what a reward
And thank you fam,for organising an amazing two days out

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Awesome!

Hi there, just to say I think you did a fantastic job! Well done.

On a side note, though I don't own a Thorn, I've always preferred the MK 1 versions to Thorn's later models - disc or no disk. The lovely fork here on your Nomad, the horizontal TT. It's just very classic and elegant. I think you got just the right model! Not to mention generous tyre widths.

Thanks both, itching to get out on it again, is just such a great thing

Hey @crossedthread lovely build, slightly enamoured with it! Been out recently/any tips for a potential Thorn/steel tourer buyer?

Hello there, thank you :)
Not sure I can offer much useful advice other than you’ll not likely regret buying one, it’s rather hard to find fault - except one thing I would change is not go for dropbars but rather something more upright would suit me better / more comfortable on bumpier surfaces
Good hunting if you can find one, they do seem to be few and far between
Let me know the size you’re after? Happy to keep an eye out as well

Ah, nice one - good to hear! I'm 183cm so I guess a M/L size? Can't fully wrap my head around the sizing charts yet. Still not clear if I can get away with an Audax/Club Tour or need something more heavy duty like a Nomad

Well, I think if I had the option to choose, I would opt for something a little less, hmm, ‘robust’
The Nomad really is designed for full long hardcore touring-around-the-world and although I’m really taken with it, with the wheelset it really is as heavy as fuck!

As a ‘for example’ someone one here is selling a lovely Dawes Galaxy 853
Our daughter has the same model and has ridden thousands of touring miles on it and it’s superb - and quite a lot lighter!

There’s a rather nice one for sale in Sudbury (not mine) on Gumtree at the moment btw

As a ‘for example’ someone one here is selling a lovely Dawes Galaxy 853

I think this might be an absolute cracker, was trying to persuade a friend to buy it.

Ah yes the same one is on eBay for £399, ending today. Got my eye on it, but ideally looking to pay a bit less as went from 1 to 0 to 3 bikes this year already 😅 (1 stolen, 3 bought).

Same deal with the Dawes Galaxy 853, just at the top of my price range

any tips for a potential Thorn/steel tourer buyer?

Crossedthread makes a very good point re: weight. unless you want to travel off-road over long distances with heavy loads, Nomads and the like are a bit overbuilt for many. +1 on the bar choice, drops are almost never the answer IMO.

Thorn have made so many models over the years, and kept some names over different iterations so it gets very complicated. The Thorn forum is fairly quiet but there's some knowledge there worth asking about bikes you see for sale.

Agree with @Hornsweep that a lot of the earlier bikes Thorn made are really great - and lugged or fillet-brazed in the UK by reputable builders out of Reynolds tubing. The later ones are welded, abroad, often out of thorn's propriatory tubes. This might not bother you. It's probably bollocks to care about such things. I have a Raven Tour waiting to be built that's welded, looks great. Jyst been putting it off as I already have too many bikes including a lovely Thorn eXp.

Club Tour is a great all-round bike, I sold mine (well it was too small, the gumtree one is Sudbury would have been better for me, a great bike and worth thinking about that one). Look out for Raven Sport Tour if you want to go in the middle rugged/weight wise.

Thanks for the detailed response!
The current affordable alternative to the Club Tour is a Thorn Audax Mk3 going for less than £250.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175857432103?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=ZHz7Y_GQQw-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=T7m36OuJSBy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

From reading the Thorn marketing literature they suggest this is unsuitable for any more than a light load. Though it comes with both rear and fork mounted rack mounts, so I'm getting mixed messages... I want it to go camping with probs 15kg load which I reckon should be fine.....right?!

So yes, to answer your point on tubing I don't really give a shit where it was made or out of what etc as long as it weighs about the same and won't fall apart 😂

I think at that price, you really ought!

I reckon light camping on that will be fine (your weight estimation is pretty small), I agree it’s an odd detail that it has lowriders and yet they say it’s a ‘credit-card tourer’ ie not big loads. IME keeping the weight as low down as possible helps with noodlier bikes. Perhaps look at a rear rack that has a second lower rail to hang bags on, like the Tortec Expedition or Epic. It does make a big difference.

As is usual with advice given on here, i.e. ‘you’ll be fine’ and ‘I am not an expert’ so it’s rather worthless (and for I know you might be even heavier than me), that looks like a great price and if it breaks you can always have it repaired
Edit
Plus what @Skülly says

And lowriders are excellent…

Thanks both, much appreciated 👍
For info I'm 85kg ish, give or take a couple kilos.

Think I'll go for the Audax and keep things light+low down as suggested. After all I do enjoy going fast lol