Just bought (second hand) Thorn Raven Enduro mountain bike it comes with a near useless rear rack if i wanted to put on panniers. Also the fittings points are in really difficult location although I think I have found a rack that will solve that problem
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Wave-One-Alloy-Pannier-Rack/dp/B004GKAZWI/ref=sr_1_19?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1313920449&sr=1-19)
If I hadn’t I would use a blacksmith to make me one). Even this rack is not great as it has only 1 down tube and therefore no dogleg.
To make matters worse Thorn have informed me that the bikes rear has not been designed and is not strong enough to take a rear load (the seller informed me that the rack supplied by Thorn was recommended only for a weight of 10 lbs?) how can this be as the rear of mountain bike has to be strong enough to take the riders weight of road when what amounts to bouncing up and down, which would clearly have a similar effect of increasing the weight? The only thing that i can think of is that Thorn thinks that some riders traveling may travel off road with heavy panniers? Bought this bike so I could have an all rounder with minimum maintained. PS a seat post pannier is not possible because of lack of room (the brilliant cane creek thudbuster seat post). Although I have a front rack (carradice) which works with front suspension I would prefer not to use them as they effect the steering a little to much (and they are not big enough for all the stuff I collect on my travels). Any ideas specially on Thorns remarks?

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html

they do racks to fit

i dont think youll have heel clearance on the thorn though – its a strange bike …. designed with forethought but result isnt very good at anything …. i have a thorn raven enduro thats ended up my commuter as its too heads down arse up for the kind of bike i wanted it to be and cant run a descent size of tire either….its running nicer with a 100mm forks and a 29er with 700×32 tires wheel compared to when it was on 26ers run as an mtb….

Heel clearance is ok if I push the bags back on the present rack, the real problem is the present rack allows the bags to turn in and catch the spokes. Although it would be nice to push the bags back further. I did not find it an arse up head down ride far from it, maybe that is relative to my other bikes. My intentions are to use it as my normal bike and especially for my all day cycle rides. I certainly found it very comfortable the saddle/seat post was excellent. The designer just told me the only problem I will have on road with a big load is the front wheel raising not a problem, as I would have front rack on. Not sure I want to buy from US that’s more to do with a lack of patience. Just remembered the handlebars are very high relative to my other bikes I think it has been set up different to standard set up. Anyway thanks for your help.

omm imported into the uk by carradice of nelson

http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?page_id=category&category_id=35

I am going with your OMM specially as its Carradice who supply, as I bought all my luggage from them, the full monty front rear and seatpost bags. They are actually cheaper than the US makers. The big down side is having to take the rack off (at least in part)to remove the wheel and all the Rohloff stuff being to close may use some spacers. The tyres on at the moment are Schwalbe big apple I will ask Scwalbe what puncture protection they offer compared to Marthon plus. Thanks for your help pity the OMM rack is so expensive.

[img]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4893/240811026.jpg[/img]Head up??

sd235 at 2011-08-24" alt="" title="" class="bbcode-image" />

Tubus racks are very good and can be fitted in a variety of ways using their accessories.

The Enduro wasn’t designed for carrying much. I have the Catalyst which has longer chainstays and proper rack mounts. Looking back I should have gone for the Enduro but at the time I bought the bike as an on road commuter and then changed to off road commuting. It just means I’m stuck with v brakes at the rear which are pretty useless in the middle of winter.

Tubus racks are very good and can be fitted in a variety of ways using their accessories.

Bit late with that suggestion ordered and paid for it yesterday about 1 oclock arrived 11 am today!!
Tubus are a similar price and basiclay if you have no rack mounting (some mountain bikes do but in my case the in wrong place) then the only option is through the wheels as in the OMM and the Tubus.

avdave2 – Member
The Enduro wasn’t designed for carrying much. I have the Catalyst which has longer chainstays and proper rack mounts. Looking back I should have gone for the Enduro but at the time I bought the bike as an on road commuter and then changed to off road commuting. It just means I’m stuck with v brakes at the rear which are pretty useless in the middle of winter.

Not stictly true see below

From the designer of the bike
“Hi,
Yes I designed the Enduro and all of our other bikes…I’m pleased to hear that
you find the bike comfortable…that was the idea! The upside of having the
short stays is how well the bike responds to out of the saddle efforts and the
contradictory mix of extreme stability and razor sharp handling…I used to
steer mine with my backside as much as with the bars.
You will have no problems carrying 10Kg on the road…as long as you can keep
the front wheel on the deck…if the bike rides OK…it will be OK, with
whatever you put on it on the road.
Best regards,”
Andy B.

Rack mounting Enduru note the bottom one only option is to have it made up at a blacksmith. No problem if i can find one with the right thickness of aluminium in stock the cost of them buying in would make it to expensive. The bottom one is simply in a tube at the top ie it will roll up or down and the bottom can be moved to make it longer or shorter………..ie may be it bit weak??

I would say you’ve bought a mountain bike that has the capacity for a small rack. I’ve got the original sales literature somewhere, it pretty much says that. I’d ditch the Thudbuster if that is restricting your needs.

It shows how different our requirments are, I removed the rack mounts at the earliest oportunity – held mud close to the tyre and I had no use for them – aesthetics aside! If I were looking for a road touring bike, I’d be much more specific than the Enduro.

woodsman – Member
I would say you’ve bought a mountain bike that has the capacity for a small rack. I’ve got the original sales literature somewhere, it pretty much says thatI’d ditch the Thudbuster if that is restricting your needs.

The designer of the bike say as long as I am on road there will be nothing wrong with the with ability of the bike to take heavy loads. See above for his email.

It shows how different our requirements are, I removed the rack mounts at the earliest oportunity – held mud close to the tyre and I had no use for them – aesthetics aside! If I were looking for a road touring bike, I’d be much more specific than the Enduro

You are guessing at my requirements I want a bike that does everything. Although you may think that is not possible it is as long as you don’t expect to be the best choice for every use. Top of my lists is minimal maintance with its disk brakes the enduro meets this perfectly. I want a bike that will pull a trailer full of wood and apples (not at the same time)and anything else I forage. It also has to go off road for a bit of the foraging this will not involve heavy loads, if it did I would simply walk and push the bike (once loaded)or even use one of my other bikes. Also I want it for the occasional touring (normally for a less than a week) this would involve putting on my front bags (carrdice front rack for suspension forks) so no need to have a heavy load on the rear rack. Another requirement is for long day/night rides about 30 to 70 miles. Some people I know call this pub-crawls. Harsh as I may only call into 1 pub…..well 2 is generally a minimum. Most importantly to get me to any pub but specifically to one, which is 11 or 12 miles away. Now obviously some of this does require off road cycling. I believe this bike from the little use I have had up to now does this with maximum comfort. PS reference the latter I think the Thud buster may be adding to the comfort although that remains to be seen or felt to be more precise. I should point out that I live in a rural area and am not allowed to drive for mediclal reasons. The nearest shop is 6 miles away and there is only 1 regular bus a week. I do have 4 bikes but will be getting rid of one. Over time I intend on having at least 1 more hub geared bike……possibly a tourer???

It was dseigned specifially for the OMM Sherpa.

Here’s mine:

P6270152 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

also fits neatly on my Voodoo D-Jab:

DSC_0380 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

[img]http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/2715/newrack003.jpg[/img]The bike with new near perfect rack. It feels very strong and much more robust than any other I have. Look at the heel clearance and I can increase it

The only problem is, what happens when you take you wheel off?

Sod it should have shown new rack but did not take a picture of it this is the original rack

ir_bandito – Member
The only problem is, what happens when you take you wheel off?

Hell I havent worked out how to do it yet. Although the seller did tell me. He also showed me how to tighen the chain incorrectly I think. And I am having trouble working out exactly how to tighten the chain (it is ok at the moment). The Thorn handbook does not show it but just uses words not diagrams. I think I may have been to dependent on cycle repair shops in the past?

ir_bandito – Member
It was dseigned specifially for the OMM Sherpa.

Here’s mine:

Not sure what you mean you appear to be saying the bike was desined for the rack???
I see no bags on and I bought the OMM Sherpa and it looks nothing like your rack? http://www.carradice.co.uk/categories/ommSee

Yep, Andy B at Thorn/SJS told me the rack mounts were designed specifically for the OMM Sherpa. Hang on, I’ll dig through my emails…

it looks nothing like your rack

i haven’t used the extension plates, just mounted it direct to the Thorn and the Voodoo

I tell a lie, he didn’t. But he did say:

The Old man Mountain Sherpa rack will fit but the stays are too short on the Enduro for it to carry panniers, without positioning them a long way back on the rails and thus outside of the bike’s wheelbase

I’ve never used it to carry heavily-loaded panniers, either lightly loaded or just the dry bag on top.

ir_bandito – Member
I tell a lie, he didn’t. But he did say:

The Old man Mountain Sherpa rack will fit but the stays are too short on the Enduro for it to carry panniers, without positioning them a long way back on the rails and thus outside of the bike’s wheelbase
Right and wrong. I have tried the bags and your right they do slip to the back of the rack (outside the wheel base)but I am fairly certain that I can do something about that. At least bring them forward a bit with the carradice C bags you can adjust the rail fittings as well as the clip at the bottom. But for now I will leave them the way they are to see how they ride with 10 or so KGs. Thanks now I am going to be a bit more precise as you have obviously not taken the hint. How do you adjust the chain tension forget the bit about T1 – T2 that was easy to understand. What I did not understand for instance was “Rotate the ecentric to achieve the desired chain tension” ?????????

I may be able to help here. If you slaken off the two 15mm spanner size bolts under the BB shell, place a screw driver into one of the holes in the black internal BB shell – rotate the crank until it pushes against said screw driver – BB internal shell will rotate in an oval (egg shaped) way and either tighten or losen the chain tension. Tighten bolts hard-ish when desired tension is reached. Ride and repeat when chain stretches.

Thanks very much Woodsman. I am not now sure Woodsman that what you say is nesserary as The Rohloff site seems to say with my drop out all I have to do is pull back the rear wheel using or adjusting something on the drop out this only works with Rohloff specific drop outs. Will reread it. Thanks again. Took a deepfat fryer back to a shop yesterday had to strap to top of rack had all my bags on felt ok. Not that much weight though. Also found that there is a bike shop that sells and services Rohloff only about 20 miles from me?? Surprised? should have been as Lincolnshire is a cycle county and not just on the flat but on the Wolds as well. All the towns are built in relativly flat parts of the Wolds and you see old biddies doing there shopping on 1950s bike some with Sturmey Archer 3 hub geared bikes?? Sometimes I wonder what decade I am in??

No Woodsman I will have to go with what you said although the Rohloff site showed another way it is not available on my bike. As I was repairing a puncture (I bet its nearly 2 years since I last had one) on my new Thorn I noted the location where the screwdriver goes. I also spent about 2 hours constantly cocking up a simple front gear cable replacement. When I had finally done it I realized I had put the adjuster around the wrong way……so I will have to do it all again although I doubt I will be able to make it last 2 hours again. I will be a lot happier with my very low maintenance Rohloff and discs. By the way when I did the puncture repair I replaced both Schwalbe Big Apples with Schwalbe Marathon Plus. I am assuming the latter has better puncture protection I did ask Schwalbe a week ago but they never answered. Again aiming for lower maintenance………hopefully?

I also spent about 2 hours constantly cocking up a simple front gear cable replacement. When I had finally done it I realized I had put the adjuster around the wrong way……so I will have to do it all again although I doubt I will be able to make it last 2 hours again.

Opps I meant to say this was on one of my other bikes not on my “beloved” Thorn.
Oddly as I haven’t had the Thorn that long the other bikes are beginning to feel odd when I ride them. The position is definatly different on the Enduro?