# Thorn Sterling



## User (18 Dec 2007)




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## Steve Austin (18 Dec 2007)

Damn that is truly FUGLY!!


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## punkypossum (19 Dec 2007)

Don't think it's that bad...if you took all the racks etc off and changed the saddle it would look fairly non-offensive as far as I'm concerned, not a stunner, but hey, maybe function beats form in this case! Then again, I know everybody raves about Thorns, but I think they are pretty ugly in general...


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## frog (19 Dec 2007)

Thank God my roadie colleague doesn't come to this site. All I'd get for the rest of the week would be 'Oy frog! Thorn have put out a new tractor for you to park in the barn' 

The last time he saw my bike in the shed he called to say there was a border collie sleeping next to it and chickens roosting on the handlebars.


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## domtyler (19 Dec 2007)

Volvo owners around the world are trembling in their boots at the thought of colliding with one of those monsters.


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## Bollo (19 Dec 2007)

> Volvo owners around the world are trembling in their boots at the thought of colliding with one of those monsters.



Flip me that's spooky! After my coming together with a volvo recently I bin gone buy me a Thorn (Sport Tour, not the Sterling) with exactly that thought in mind.

I've already got one of their kiddy-back tandems. Thorns kind of grow on you (like warts or althete's foot) but I agree, pretty they most certainly are not.


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## Dave5N (27 Dec 2007)

> "_the most multi-functional bike we have ever made!..._"
> 
> http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/Sterling2007/sterling_pic_002.jpg




Ha hahahahahahah ha haha ha!

Presumably they are very cheap?

I mean, you wouldn't pay to ride one, would you?


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## Dave5N (27 Dec 2007)

Just had another look at the freak. Why knobbly tyres and close fitting mudguards? Brakes are odd as well.

What am I saying? it's all odd!


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## spandex (27 Dec 2007)

Thats a good point now does it ride? any good.


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## ufkacbln (28 Dec 2007)

Thorns are well thought out solid workhorses. My Raven Nomad is not fats, but the most solid dependable and predictable ride of the lot!


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## dangerousjules (11 Feb 2008)

for every ugly thorn there are still handsome ones out there, check my black beuty out...whadda you think!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2258491510/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257692741/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257690695/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257696143/in/photostream/


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## simonali (15 Feb 2008)

Equally hideous. 

Nice kitchen, though!

The worst bit about these bikes is the massive price, due to that expensive hub. From £1499 indeed!


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## bonj2 (15 Feb 2008)

quite good i think.
that's what a hybrid bike should be like.


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## Jacomus-rides-Gen (15 Feb 2008)

Its positively vomit inducing.


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## domtyler (15 Feb 2008)

Jacomus-rides-Gen said:


> Its positively vomit inducing.



Wouldn't go that far. It is clearly not built for beauty anyway, it definitely looks fit for [any] purpose. And generally I love Thorns and am going to buy myself one of their frames at some point. It would more likely be a Club Tour though!


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## Rhythm Thief (15 Feb 2008)

Not too dreadful. Perhaps a triumph of function over form, but there's nothing wrong with that. (Christ, I'm starting to sound like A A bloody Gill.)


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## dangerousjules (16 Feb 2008)

quote-
Equally hideous. 

Nice kitchen, though!

The worst bit about these bikes is the massive price, due to that expensive hub. From £1499 indeed! 

i wish mine was closer to the £1499...mine cost nearly 4K! yup and i told mrs dangerous that it cost £500! she believed me too!


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## Rhythm Thief (16 Feb 2008)

£4 000? Crikey.


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## Tim Bennet. (16 Feb 2008)

> £4 000? Crikey


Indeed. You could have got several decent bikes for that, each of which would probably do their jobs better than any 'jack of all trades'.


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## dangerousjules (16 Feb 2008)

quote-Indeed. You could have got several decent bikes for that, each of which would probably do their jobs better than any 'jack of all trades'

could the same arguement be made of somebody that buys a ferrari,aston,rolls,bentley...they too could have bought multiple cheaper cars to fullfil their needs. if you don't see the value in it then that is your problem not the person who has spent above what you think is resonable.
something is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it, my thorn is worthless to you since you can't quantify the value, however to me the person who specced it it has plenty of worth and value!


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## Tim Bennet. (16 Feb 2008)

I'm certainly not questioning your right to spend however much you like, on whatever you chose. 

My point was that it's marketed as "the most multi-functional bike we have ever made!..." I always think that 'multifunctional' is an attractive idea if you are only going to have one bike. But once you're investing quite a lot of money in your bikes, I'm not as convinced that 'multifunctional' makes all that much sence. I'm not clear which of the Sterling's multitude of functions it does well, or as well as any number of other bikes with more clearly defined purpose. All the car examples you gave above, do have that clarity of purpose.

I have a very similar bike to the Sterling that I use about town and although it could at a pinch be used for all sort of things, I prefer a mountainbike for mountainbiking, a tourer for touring, an audax bike for audaxes and a road bike for zooming about on. Riding something that is 'master of none' isn't my choice.


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## simonali (16 Feb 2008)

dangerousjules said:


> i wish mine was closer to the £1499...mine cost nearly 4K! yup and i told mrs dangerous that it cost £500! she believed me too!



4 grand?!! Yours doesn't even have the Pace RC31s which increase the desirability of the bike in the OP by a couple of percentage points.

I honestly cannot see where the money went. Did the £4000 include a Volvo estate to ferry it around in?


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## dangerousjules (16 Feb 2008)

let me break it down boys and girls...exp frame(plus all the thorn bullet proof bits), chris king,rohloff,xtr brakes, thomson seat post and stem...soon adds up! no volvo included!


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## GaryA (20 Feb 2008)

I have to agree it is pug-ug shame because i like the older thorns, the club tour has a elegent functional purity
It is the flat bars and overlong steerer which makes the newer thorns so aesthecially challanged
I assume the gear change-mech for the rohloff hub cannot be installed on drop bars?
Shame


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## domtyler (20 Feb 2008)

You lot don't get it. It's beauty is in its ugliness.


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## domtyler (20 Feb 2008)

> Please never post a picture of your wife, if that's how you've had to condition yourself.


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## Keith Oates (20 Feb 2008)

dangerousjules said:


> for every ugly thorn there are still handsome ones out there, check my black beuty out...whadda you think!
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2258491510/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257692741/in/photostream/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257690695/in/photostream/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/13019762@N02/2257696143/in/photostream/


Black beauty it is on my book as well. I'm more of a roadie man myself and for me top of the pops is my Colnago but I also thoroughly enjoy riding my Thorn Brevet as well. The service, advice and help I received from Thorn when I made my pruchase was second to none!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Yellow Fang (25 Feb 2008)

I can't see the point of having big knobbly tyres and then mudguards that close. Knobblies are for ploughing through mud.


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## redcogs (1 Apr 2008)

If you want ugly, hows this?:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/redcogs/thorn001.jpg

i like it though

Tis a Thorn Raven sports tour, its a self build from eBay parts, including the Rohloff.

Its maintenance free (virtually!), just drag it from the sheddy and away you go.


Get one is my advice.


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## Keith Oates (1 Apr 2008)

Not my cup of tea, but if you enjoy riding it then it's right for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Bollo (1 Apr 2008)

redcogs said:


> If you want ugly, hows this?:
> 
> http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/redcogs/thorn001.jpg
> 
> ...



Christ (on a bike)! What have you done to that poor thing. It's the LBS of Dr Moreau!

Also, can I ask what is going on with those cranks?

And finally, your lawn needs reseeding.


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## punkypossum (2 Apr 2008)

That is WEIRD!!!


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## redcogs (2 Apr 2008)

Bollo said:


> Christ (on a bike)! What have you done to that poor thing. It's the LBS of Dr Moreau!
> 
> Also, can I ask what is going on with those cranks?
> 
> And finally, your lawn needs reseeding.




On the cranks Bollo - i'm a disabled cyclist - a RTA in 1966 left me with a right knee which has only 15% bend. Thus, cycling was impossible until i discovered someone on the internet in 2001 who could fashion an appropriate 'hinged crank'. Initially i used derailer gears, but that didn't work out well because i dont have much power on the right hand side, which seemed to affect efficient shifting. The Rohloff eliminated the problem - because it allows gear shifting easily at all stages - uphill, down dale and stationary.. 

The "lawn" is fine, but the veg section of the garden (which you have identified) needs digging - which it will get when spring finally hits these northern shores!

As for Dr Moreau, have you not realised that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?


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## Bollo (2 Apr 2008)

Redcogs

With the way my knees are going, I might be contacting you about the hinged cranks.

I bought a racing green Sport Tour a few months ago as a bomb-proof commuter/day out tourer and I think its quite handsome in a fifties throwback kinda-way.

If you want to see an ugly Thorn, I think the late great Sheldon Brown holds the record....

http://sheldonbrown.com/org/thorn/index.html

And my lawn is full of moss.


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## redcogs (2 Apr 2008)

That is a very aesthetically challenged Thorn Bollo - the seat-post must be unique. 

Next time you make a lawn ensure its placed on at least one rolling stone..


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## GaryA (3 Apr 2008)

redcogs said:


> If you want ugly, hows this?:
> 
> http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/redcogs/thorn001.jpg
> 
> ...



Ah-ha at last we get to see redders steed

Actually its not too bad- apart from those upright butterfly bars-looks like your flying a kite from the stem

Must express my admiration for anyone disabled still having the drive to get out there cycling rather than giving up and slobbing in front of the idiots lantern (like my dad)

Have personal experience of recovery from a RTA- i had a horrendous 2 broken legs in 1990 but i was a young fit runner so it 'only' took 3 years for a near full recovery (GNR 93)... i was lucky (haha) in that it was the femurs and not the knee or hip joints


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## redcogs (3 Apr 2008)

Gary Askwith said:


> Ah-ha at last we get to see redders steed
> 
> Actually its not too bad- apart from those upright butterfly bars-looks like your flying a kite from the stem
> 
> ...



Thanks for the kind remarks Gaz. 

i was on a motorcycle when i did my leg. Kickstart through ankle, which is completely f ucked, tib, fib and femur multiply damaged. In those days the medical ability to rectify such injuries was only just beginning to come on stream (one 'positive' from the Vietnam war?). They patched me up as best they could, but i suspect today they would have the skills to allow a better outcome. 

Still, i hobble about pretty well all considered, but, unfortunately i was never able to exercise properly thereafter, until i discovered (via the www) the wonderful bike shop 'Longstaffs' (Staffordshire) who design bikes (using a jig thing) for people with lower limb (and other) mobility problems etc. 

The butterfly bars came with the first Rohloffed bike i got from ePay Germany, and i sort of got used to em. i have often consider swapping to something a bit less ostentatious, but you know how it is - getting a roundtuit


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## Graham Wallace (9 Jul 2009)

*reinventing the wheel*

The Thorn 'Sterling' is trying to solve the same problem that Geoff Apps solved over 30 years ago with his *Cleland Cross Country Cycle design.*

*Here's a link to the Cleland website. *

http://www.james-walters.net/cleland/index.html

If Thorn really want to produce a totally reliable off-road tourer they should copy the the Cleland design. Or better still copy one of the modern versions and so benefit from 30 years of research, development and testing.


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## GeoffApps (15 Apr 2010)

Well, judging by the general views expressed in this thread, this picture may well result in a few hospital admissions. This machine has been developed and refined over many years; based ENTIRELY on practice and function ~ no heed whatsoever given to fashion (like the original Land Rover). It is used more or less everyday for everything from a trip to the shops to technical singletrack. Maintenance is virtually zero, and it spends most of its time covered in shite, since this has no effect on its performance. Panniers are carried on a QR rack, not shown. More details can be seen here: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38236150@N06/4522859004/
Perhaps this thread could develop discussion on functionality, as opposed to appearance. What principles do you base your bicycle purchases on?

Mine is definitely function first, anything that doesn't work for me is modified or ditched.


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## GeoffApps (15 Apr 2010)

Does it matter _when_ the encounter with the buses occurred? However, I thank you for your interest in the factors that produced this design.

The crushing effect of the aforementioned public service vehicles produced a short wheelbase with a high centre of gravity, which, it turns out, in contradiction to the mainstream view, provides a highly manoeuvrable machine, characteristics that I really appreciate.

I can't actually give you a precise date for the fortuitous collision, but it was very early on in the design and testing process, about 35 years ago.


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## psmiffy (15 Apr 2010)

Thorns are not pretty - For my sins I have one and even I would not describe it as pretty - however, it always a subject of much admiration when I am anywhere in the civilised world


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## GeoffApps (15 Apr 2010)

Ah, yes, the civilised world... been there, and I don't feel quite so eccentric when pootling about.


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