Hello to old friends and new (page 5) - CycleBlaze

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Hello to old friends and new (page 5)

Mike AylingTo John Saxby

John

The smaller LHT frames were designed for 26" wheels and I don't think there would be room for 650B wheels. The rear dropout on the LHT that I had was vertical so a chain tensioner would be required.  Emmet is a lot closer to Thorn than you and I so he could quite easily visit them and check out the   range. The Mercury has 700C wheels and would make a great credit card tourer with rear panniers only but need to be careful about heel strike. I have a fork on mine with braze ons for a  front rack if required. When I sold my LHT I was surprised at the number of people who responded to the ad. I could have sold it five times over.

Mike

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3 years ago
John SaxbyTo Mike Ayling

Thanks, Mike.  Didn't know you had an LHT.  They have a lot of fans, so Emmet could probably get a good price for his.  I knew that Surly offered the 26" wheels, but was that only on the smaller frames?  Thorn's consolidation of its offerings does mean that there are some older frames on sale--dunno what may be the current state of play.  But the Mercury seems to be a very capable bike, for sure.

I'm refreshing and lightening my Raven and gear, and I looked at one of Thorn's lighter forks, but they all seem designed not to take low-loader front racks.  I decided to stick with the Raven's standard touring forks, and opt for lighter panniers instead, and to go with a Revelate Sweetroll at the front, fastened to my Thorn T-bar.  And, I future-proofed the Raven with a new/spare EBB and UN55 BB, along with Sugino cranks and 3 new Marathon Supremes. All this being an act of faith that I will be able to do more than mini-tours and overnights...

Spring's in the air, the sun higher in the sky and the snow melting, the crows a-racketing -- all-of-a-sudden, all sort of things seem possible :)  Pending the vaccinations, that is.

Cheers,  J.

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3 years ago
Mike AylingTo John Saxby

Hi John

I am running Supremes on the Mercury and have had no issues with them.

I have just completed the Rohloff oil change on the tandem and only managed to drop the drain screw twice!

Tomorrow I do the Mercury.

Cheers

Mike

 

 

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3 years ago
Emmet FarrellTo John Saxby

Hi John,

food for thought! 

The 26" wheels and non-disc frame on the LHT is/was available in many sizes, but I do not think I could put 700c wheels on it. The dropouts are vertical.

The Thorn option might well be a good one, though to be honest it is an aspirational thought rather than a very serious one at the moment. I'd get much better benefit from actually getting out and using the bike I have than researching its replacement!

That said, I can dream :)

Most recent tour was from Montreal to Halifax, following the St. Lawrence then cutting over and avoiding the detour of going the whole way around the Gaspe. I must see about uploading content here when I get a chance!

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3 years ago
Emmet FarrellTo Mike Ayling

Hi Mike,

you're right on the wheel size, and dropout. I think if I ever went Rohloff, I would want horizontal dropout and/or eccentric bb, and maybe even a split seat-stay for belt drive. 

On the list would also be the ability for panniers up front. My thoughts on the Thorn are that I'd say something similar to what Ben Rowlands used on his "Ben Voyage" would be about right. Been a while since I checked that journal out but my memory was of a Thorn frame and I think a Rohloff. Though not belt drive. 

Interesting on the ability to sell the LHT. I tend to hate selling/offloading stuff, to my detriment. I'm not there yet anyway, let's wait till post-covid and return to some normality. I think there is life left in my LHT still!

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3 years ago
Emmet FarrellTo Mike Ayling

Regarding the Supremes, these have long been my preference for balance of weight/puncture resistance.

Overall I think I would stick with them, however I have had one delaminate on me, and I find puncture resistance quite spotty. 

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3 years ago
Mike AylingTo Emmet Farrell

G'day Emmet

The Supremes are not for puncture phobes but they are considerably lighter than some of the Marathons.

Re the LHT AFAICR the smaller frames were 559/ 26" wheels and from the 56cm frame size they were 622 /700C. Mine was a 56cm.

Mike

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3 years ago
John SaxbyTo Mike Ayling

Here's my experience with Supremes, Mike:  I had two punctures (on different tires) in my 26 x 1.6s in 2014, my first season with my Raven. One was in Ontario, a second on tour in Northern Europe. Both were sidewall cuts, interestingly.  Since then, though, I've had only one puncture, that in Gold Coast in 2017 -- found a metal thread from BBQ-brush in my rear tire. [Thought that was culturally appropriate ;) ]  A couple of years ago, I switched to Supremes (700 x 35s) on my light touring/dayrides bike. No problems at all, including on the shard-strewn roads of Gold Coast.

They give me the best balance I've found between durability and low rolling resistance.

A couple of comparison points:  I used Maxxis Overdrive Elite 26 x 1.75s on a short tour, and found they were slower than the Supremes, and I had a puncture. Also tried a set of Compass Tires 26 x 1.75 Naches pass. They were lovely in feel, and were a gear faster than my Supremes. But, they were like older Alfa-Romeos (I'm told -- never had one): fast burtfragile.  I reinstalled the Supremes after 3 flats in 400 kms :

Cheers,  J.

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3 years ago