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My Thorn Mk4 Tourer (stripped down of racks /mudguards etc) got me round the 200km Dirty Riever in comfort, and loads of gravel training miles and a few months later had a rack and was cycling Tour Camping in France. A very versatile bike.
Low gears and a good range with a triple set up.
Cantilever brakes not ideal on steep wet Singletrack , but as an all round bike it coped well and is now my commuter ,having now bought a dedicated gravel bike which, would not be suitable for proper loaded Touring.
My Wife just did a gravel Audax on her Dawes Galaxy in Yorks (also stripped down for the ride.)
40mm tyres fit on these bikes nicely.
"Touring "bike not a fashionable name but very good for a variety of riding.
I like the "menu" option of buying bikes from Thorn, and regretted not buying a heavier duty Thorn Mercury with Roholf gears, I built a lightweight one ,so was not suitable for gravel, so sold it to fund my gravel bike.
I will add the Thorn Club Tour rides nicely unladen too, in the past my old Reynolds ST Frame was v. stiff when unladen.
I have used it for winter audax rides too!!
I max out at 14st (nearer 13) when fit so I'm not after anything too hefty or sturdy, also I am a bit like Mr tickle with long arms & torso, so anything verging on short reach is not for me (soma saga?). I currently have an old sirrus with drop bars & 9sp triple road groupset, but it won't take wide enough tyres & mudguards to make it comfortable or tow path suitable. I think the Spa Wayfarer is best option so I can keep the disc/vee brake option alive. Just need to work out sizing now...
picked my new trucker up today.
had a good look at all the spa model whilst waiting for my pedals fitting.
fantastic looking bikes, in all the guises.
spa is a touring cyclist heaven for gear and kit
Ended up seeing sense on the disc brake front and bought me a 2nd hand Awol frame about 600g lighter than my vagabond was (mainly skinnier forks) full length cable outers, proper mudguard fittings and will still take up to 50mm tyres albeit without mudguards 👍