THORN CLUB TOUR MK5
The newest version of Thorn’s super-popular tourer
Longtime purveyor of steel bicycles to the touring cognoscenti, St John Street Cycles’ Thorn brand has supplied our final steel offering – the newest incarnation of its Club Tour, Thorn’s own take on a traditional touring bike. You can have it with flat bar or drops, rim or disc brakes, or what Robin Thorn describes as the: “Highly recommended front rim and rear disc” brake option.
The frame is the now-familiar Reynolds 725 chromoly steel with a fork made from 853, which has increased dent- and impact-resistance. Mine was in a somewhat muted Gunmetal Grey, though Green, Thorn Blue and Blood Red are available for the more extroverted cycle-tourist. If you do want front and rear discs, Thorn says: “a disc fork is always heavier and less comfortable than a V- brake fork.” So now you know. As with many things, it’s a trade-off. Nevertheless, I was surprised how powerful and controlled the V-brake (1) was, even in the rain, of which there was no shortage during testing. The ‘bite’ is quick and it works well in combination with wellmodulated control from the rear disc. And yes, the Thorn proved impressively comfortable and the rear Tubus rack (2), while stripped down compared with the rest here, coped with bulging panniers without budging, and the same is true of the Thorn’s frame with its comparatively skinny tubes.
The wheels pair DT Swiss’s 32-spoked touring-specific rims and Shimano hubs, though the front wheel has a braking track and the rear doesn’t, of course. They’re paired with Schwalbe’s excellent 35mm G-One TubelessEasy gravel tyres. These offer near road tyre-like speed on tarmac and very good grip on poorer roads, grit and gravel, and they’re a fine choice for touring. If you’re planning on tackling
more challenging terrain, this Thorn will accommodate 40mm tyres.
I went slightly over the planned £2000 maximum, which allowed me to splash a bit more on the components. This meant 10-speed Shimano 105 levers and a fully compatible Shimano Deore mountain bike drivetrain with the nearubiquitous triple chainset. Along with the muchless expensive Fuji, the Thorn has the lowest bottom gear here, thanks to the 48/36/26 chainset and super-wide 11-36 cassette (3). Shifting was as good as you’d expect from Shimano.
The Club Tour’s ride is perfectly judged. At 12.2kg it’s comparatively light for a full-on tourer and commuting on it unloaded isn’t much slower than on a road bike, though 35mm tyres add plushness over broken and potholed winter roads. Load it up, though, and it’s a super-sweethandling distance machine.
In this specification the bike has a maximum rear pannier load of 18kg and a 120kg overall limit, but with different fittings it will carry 35kg of kit with a 130kg overall max. The slack head-tube angle provides leisurely handling, the long wheelbase bags of stability. I even got on with the Thorn saddle, which is more plushly padded than I would usually go for. But you can also buy it saddle-less, or with a Brooks, or, in fact, any other saddle that’s sold by SJSC.
Thorn’s Club Tour MkV Build 4b is the most expensive bike here but I reckon it justifies the cost. You can buy a frameset and build it yourself but, with the help of SJSC, you can have it in a standard flat- or drop-bar build with just about any kit changes you’d like to make, including the likes of dynamo lighting. The staff will spend time discussing your own needs, requirements and budget and with 10 sizes now on offer it’ll be easier to get your ideal fit; I sent the shop my bike-fit info and went from there.
The result is a bike that’s pretty much perfect for the sort of touring I’ve done – extended rides with rear panniers and bar bag, with occasional forays over rough stuff and unsurfaced roads that can appear from nowhere.
The perfect bike for extended rides with rear panniers and bar bag