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A friend of mine has a Thorn touring bike. 26" wheels, it's the mega tough expedition one. He doesn't do heavy touring any more so wants a lighter 700c frameset. It has to be properly Rohloff compatible and have disc or canti options. Doesn't need to be compatible with 2" tyres but 38c with guards minimum I reckon. Flat bars.
Basically I am going to build it for him and want to only change the frame set and rims/tyres.
There are so many frames available I don't know where to start!
You could start with the budget.
shand Stoater.... absolutely love mine.
Surely the Thorn Mercury ticks all his requirements.
Stooo, do you have yours fitted with a Rohloff? Any idea of the total weight?
Thorn Mercury no good as it doesn't have v brake mounts.
The Shand is nice but again no v brake mounts and it looks a bit too racy really.
Custom in budget?
A family member has a custom rohloff tourer, I forget the builders name but could look it up later if that helps.
King of Mercia with rholff dropouts?
Van Dessel Ramble Tamble would build up nicely for your needs
you said:-
It has to be properly Rohloff compatible and have disc or canti options.
then you said:-
The Shand is nice but again no v brake mounts
Slightly confused - you said in the op that it could have disc or canti options....but then reject the Shand stoater for having no V brake mounts when it is built for disc.
What's your definition of properly Rohloff compatible? Are you prepared to use a chain tensioner or does it need to have sliding dropouts or EBB? Tensioners on a disc capable frame with a monkeybone is still a neat option in my opinion. And must it have bespoke Rohloff cable management braze ons or are your prepared to us some of the after market additions?
Disc or canti options - option to use discs or cantis, the Shand does not do this. I think the Rohloff hub he has isn't a disc one so if the frame is not disc compatible that might be ok.
I have no idea what Rohloffs need as far as cables and stuff. Remember I said it's not my bike but my friend trusts me to make a decent decision for him. All I know is that the Rohloff needs special mounts for the box thing at the rear hub and would need different cable mounts.
Unless there are any really nice bolt ons for the Rohloff cables I think specific Rohloff cable braze ons would be better.
Is there any benefit/problems in using a chain tensioner rather than a sliding dropout/eccentric BB setup, apart from the ease of getting the wheel out? Is a chain tensioner ok with the hub itself?
I am hoping I could buy the frameset for the same price I could sell his Thorn nomad frameset for but I realise this might not work.
Just had a look at Bob Jackson frames but they don't do one with decent clearances. 🙁
My input on this is that while Thorn employ some rude people, the backup should anything go wrong is superb.
Disc or canti options - option to use discs or cantis, the Shand does not do this. I think the Rohloff hub he has isn't a disc one so if the frame is not disc compatible that might be ok.
So you mean disc AND canti options or OR. Very different.
Rohloff needs special mounts for the box thing
Nope
Is a chain tensioner ok with the hub itself?
Rohloff make a tensioner for the job (you don't have to use theirs) - i.e. it's a normal way to use the hub. If's it's not disc thought (you can get them modded to be disc capable) it looks flipping messy imo (as you can't use a monkey bone).
Shand will add canti mounts and alter geometry as required. Mine arrives soon cant wait 🙂
The Shand is just too expensive I'm afraid.
I am thinking it might be easier to either lighten his current bike a bit or just sell it all and buy a completely new bike. I just don't know how much he'd get for his bike.
Dual brake options limit the choice dramatically. Why both?
I agree, having both is really the territory of cheap bikes or those produced when the transition to disks was happening.
I think you need to decide which is wanted, mechanical disks or v-brakes - it'll widen the choice hugely.
I am trying to find out whether his bike has a disc compatible Rohloff but I don't think it does from memory. He's sending me pics. I know his bike has V brakes so it's unlikely a disc hub has been specced by Thorn.
If it isn't disc compatible then v-brake only is fine, the cost to change the Rohloff to a disc one would be too much.
mechanical disks
A moot point but he's after flat bars and not after trekking to middle of nowhere so hydraulic brakes are an option.
I agree though, the apparent need (thought the op doesn't seem to know if the hub in it's current guise can take a disc) for both significantly hampers finding something nice. To be honest I'd be investigating if the hub is disc friendly or the conversion to disc makes financial sense first before thinking further. I also think your last comment about lightening the current bike or selling the whole thing and buying new might be more sensible - you are going to end up with quite a pile of undesirable 2nd hand parts and a big shopping list.
edit - crossed posts making mine mostly redundant. Do check out converting the original hub too (rather than selling and buying a new one) - I know it's possible, but not sure of the cost.
My XTR Vees are awesome.
Has he got the Rigida CSS Rims?
Not sure on the rims, will find out soon hopefully.
Looks like you have to send the Rohloff back to the factory to get it converted.... http://www.rohloff.de/en/service/faq/speedhub_50014/disc_brake/
Been to look at the bike. Oddly enough the frame has disc mounts and canti mounts but a non disc Rohloff is specced with V brakes.
Had a good look and picked it up - it's not actually that heavy in the main but the rims and tyres are the main issue - 785g (can't remember model but they were Rigida and I looked them up on the internet) rims and Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres which are absolute beasts - 1kg each ish.
The rims aren't that wide so I reckon a quick fix is some much lighter tyres - 500g should be easy to find and save 500g of rotating weight for very little money. The rims only have 1500 miles on them so I recommended we just try the tyres first.
He loves the Rohloff and finds the bike very very comfortable so I said why change the bike itself? Even if new rims were fitted I reckon it would only cost £150 to save 750g of rotating weight PER WHEEL which would make a HUGE difference.
Glad I don't have another bike to build anyway!!
If the rims are dark grey textured surface they're "CSS" - carbide coated. With Swissstop blue pads the breaking in the dry is epic, and the surface never wears.
In the wet, umm, leave an extra gap for them to dry under the first few seconds of breaking!
Found my previous search - they aren't the carbide ones (never heard of them before now!) but these ones http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mobile/rigida-andra-30-26-559-mtb-rim-black-32-hole-rohloff-drilling-prod13565/
735g each!!!