Thorn Audax upgrades

[AlastairS]

Hi, I'm ready to buy a Thorn audax bike and would like some help with the upgrades please.

Hope hubs - expensive , are they worth it and if so why ?
STI shifters or barend shifters ?
wide or ultra wide gears ?
28mm or 25 mm tyres ?

thanks,Alastair

[reohn2]

Hi, I'm ready to buy a Thorn audax bike and would like some help with the upgrades please.

Hope hubs - expensive , are they worth it and if so why ?
STI shifters or barend shifters ?
wide or ultra wide gears ?
28mm or 25 mm tyres ?

thanks,Alastair

Personal choice based on reliability and comfort
Hubs Shimano LX*
STI's
Wide.
28mm quality supple tyres.

*I've never owned Hope hubs,but they're eyewateringly expensive and LX are great hubs if maintained regularly.

[FarOeuf]

Most straightfoward way is buy a stock Audax, and then when bits wear out think about whether you replace like for like or you prefer something a little different. Ride it and then work out if you have cause to change anything.

[Bicycler]

+1

[Brucey]

Hope hubs - expensive , are they worth it and if so why ?
STI shifters or barend shifters ?
wide or ultra wide gears ?
28mm or 25 mm tyres ?

1) Nice hubs, light hubs, but they are not for winter use IMHO; the shells can crack. Are they worth it? Some folk spend more on jewellery that doesn't look as good as those hubs do.... but in terms of £ per lb saved, there are cheaper ways of saving weight than that. I agree with R2; shimano hubs are extremely long-lived if they are serviced regularly, and LX ones have a good balance of cost, weight and reliability.

2) whichever you prefer to use. You can always swap later on; a later swap can be a little easier/cheaper if you start with STIs.

3) if you choose the right setup you can vary the gearing with a chainring and/or cassette swap. They are wearing parts anyway, so not a deal breaker.

4) Again use whichever you prefer, as a wearing part they are not a deal breaker.

cheers

[AlastairS]

Thanks for replies,
LX hubs not sold by Thorn.
Why wide and not ultra wide ?

Basic bike £1239
Pro plt finishing kit. £38
853 fork £140
105 STIs £85
DTSwiss RR440 700c (622) road rim 32h £100
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme HS382 Folding Tyre - 700 x 28 £34

About £1650 - not cheap!

Comes with front and rear deore hubs.
Shimano CS-HG50 Dyna-Sys 10 Speed Cassette - 11-36T
Shimano Tiagra FD-4603 10 Spd Triple Front Derailleur - Multi 28.6 / 31.8 mm
Shimano FC-T551 10 spd Hollowtech II chainset Black 48/36/26 170mm
Shimano Deore RD-M591 9 Speed Top Normal Rear Derailleur - SGS / Long Cage - Black
Shimano R-451 Deep drop calliper brakes.
Any comments, it'd be good to hear from you. I intend to pay my deposit this week.

Thanks Alastair

[andrewjoseph]

I only want hope hubs on my bikes. easy to service, no problem in any weathers. ridden through deep snow and freezing weather with no problems. I have them on my mtb and my road/tourer, over 5 years and not needed to change bearing yet.

[AlastairS]

Andrew, thanks. They're reliable, but are there any other noticeable benefits ?

[AlastairS]

Basic bike £1239
Pro plt finishing kit. £38
853 fork £140
105 STIs £85
DTSwiss RR440 700c (622) road rim 32h £100
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme HS382 Folding Tyre - 700 x 28 £34

About £1650 - not cheap!

Comes with front and rear deore hubs.
Shimano CS-HG50 Dyna-Sys 10 Speed Cassette - 11-36T
Shimano Tiagra FD-4603 10 Spd Triple Front Derailleur - Multi 28.6 / 31.8 mm
Shimano FC-T551 10 spd Hollowtech II chainset Black 48/36/26 170mm
Shimano Deore RD-M591 9 Speed Top Normal Rear Derailleur - SGS / Long Cage - Black
Shimano R-451 Deep drop calliper brakes.
Any comments, it'd be good to hear from you. I intend to pay my deposit this week.

The frame and fork costs £440 with frame prep. Do you think I can get all this building it myself, and save at least £200 ? Thanks

[Brucey]

I only want hope hubs on my bikes. easy to service, no problem in any weathers. ridden through deep snow and freezing weather with no problems. I have them on my mtb and my road/tourer, over 5 years and not needed to change bearing yet.

You have been lucky. I have a box full of broken ones and so do lots of other people.

cheers

[CREPELLO]

LX hubs not sold by Thorn.

SJS do sell LX hubs. Just ask for them when you provide the spec.

The frame and fork costs £440 with frame prep. Do you think I can get all this building it myself, and save at least £200 ? Thanks

Yes. It's not difficult to build a bike, once the frame has been prepped. Well it is moderately difficult, but these are skills that will stand you in good stead in the future. TBH, the hardest thing will probably be fitting the mudguards well, although wrapping bar tape can seem a bit daunting. Just get a cheap roll to practise with first - you can get it for as little as £3.

Positioning the STI's is a bit hit and miss (another reason for the cheap bar tape), especially if you don't know what length stem to fit.

Buy some cable cutters (BBB not too expensive) to prep the cables well, finishing with a file to ensure a square end.

You'll probably want to open the hubs and add extra grease and get them adjusted well - important for a good bearing life. That's a fiddly lesson to learn, but unless you want to have the LBS do all of this, these are the skills of a self sufficient cyclist.

You'll also benefit from a bike stand (£60-70) for this build. Of the £200 you may save in Thorn build fees, you may need to spend some of that on tools, but that will be an investment.

[FarOeuf]

LX hubs not sold by Thorn.

SJS do sell LX hubs. Just ask for them when you provide the spec.

One thing that I didn't find out until 'after', was that Thorn have a concept of 'off menu' builds. If you choose something that's not on their brochure list, say LX hubs, then you're bike is termed 'off menu'. This means that the complete bike is not covered by their standard return guarantee. If you're going to pick and choose components, double check you understand the implications.

EDIT: this may be in their brochure small print, but I was unaware of it.

[andrew_s]

although wrapping bar tape can seem a bit daunting. Just get a cheap roll to practise with first - you can get it for as little as £3.
Positioning the STI's is a bit hit and miss (another reason for the cheap bar tape)

I recommend getting a non-adhesive bar tape, such as this Profile tape:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/profile-shoc ... prod15029/
It's got a silicone gripper strip on the back instead, so if it's not right you can just unwrap it and try again.

[andrewjoseph]

Andrew, thanks. They're reliable, but are there any other noticeable benefits ?

a lovely clicking sound that tells me to put the brakes on when i hear it from my wife in front.

you can get them in different colours to match your bar tape... or did my bar tape match my hubs?

[andrewjoseph]

I only want hope hubs on my bikes. easy to service, no problem in any weathers. ridden through deep snow and freezing weather with no problems. I have them on my mtb and my road/tourer, over 5 years and not needed to change bearing yet.

You have been lucky. I have a box full of broken ones and so do lots of other people.

cheers

Brucey, I know you have been around bikes far longer than I have and I respect your opinions, but you have several boxes full of broken bike parts and it causes me to wonder why you keep buying them?

My wife had a problem with a dmc hub, it broke, was repaired, it broke again i bought a hope. i don't have a box full of dmc hubs, breaking easily made me realise i didn't want to buy another so didn't accumulate a box full.

And you can't have the the broken bits other people have given you, because you said the other people still have them.

I have hope on as many parts as I can on our bikes, they have been more reliable than anything else. hubs on mtb and road/tourer, headsets and brakes. they have not let me down.