And it all boils down to this:
To me, there are few things more frustrating than prevarication. I tend to jump and then ask questions – it is one of my many character defects, which I go to great lengths to hide from prospective employers of course. So, as I sit here typing, I can recall that little over sixteen hours ago, I was happily riding the chilly lanes of Suffolk on this:
The Orbea, as was....
What a difference, as they say, a day makes. I have in the intervening period, ordered a new frame – as mentioned in the post before this one. And so, faced with a little spare time and an amenable climate in the garage, I have been busy disassembling said bike in readiness to see what I can transfer onto the new one.
Now the Thorn frame is a different beast in many ways – purpose (audax as opposed to road), material (steel as opposed to aluminum), geometry (a bit more relaxed). So, I have gathered together my groupset and spent an hour giving it a good spring clean. What can be transferred? Seemed simple, at the time!
The remains of a perfectly good road bike!
Now I will check the details out tomorrow, but by researching the whole subject of a frame-up build, I think that the componentry should be usable – I’m in a bit of a quandry about the 105 brakes, because the Thorn frame prefers long drop, whereas my super tight road frame likes short drop (mine are 49mm), so that may well predicate another item going on ebay in the coming week….the other thing is the chainset – as you can see, mine is a compact 52/39 Tiagra hollowtech, which should fit ok with the appropriate BB being used, however I may need to change this in the future to a triple should touring become a thing I take up.
The remains of a perfectly good road bike pt 2!
The bars and their attendant levers, cables, etc should be simple enough to transfer without modification; I know that there is about a foot of spare steerer tube supplied with the Thorn frame/fork. The Brooks B17 will be the simplest bit to fit, along with the SQR saddlebag holder.
And, rather sad to behold, is the stripped down frameset and its carbon forks, ready for a new chapter to begin in its life! And in the meantime, based on previous experiences, I feel that this project might have wings of its own in financial terms! Ouch! So much for increased comfort!
I won't be out riding for a while!
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