There's always one thing that comes back to bite you. In this case, while reassembling the bike we had more problems with our fancy pants 'hydraulic dry coupling' for the disk brake. This was the part that caused us all the problems while disassembling the bike in Australia, and with apologies to readers who don't care for knowing about the technical bits of the bike, the dry coupling, made of a light alloy metal, allows us to have a hydraulic disc brake on the back of the bike while still being able to split the bike in two, by allowing us to split the hydraulic hose on the brake in a couple of seconds.
Unfortunately, in Oz, while using brute force to undo the coupling it seems that we may have accidentally crushed it, causing a hairline crack in the metal, which means that it was impossible to redo the coupling when reassembling the bike. Being an unusual part, it means that we are not able to get a replacement in Thailand (oh, that and the fact that they cost lots) and we'd have to go back to Bangkok for other parts to get the brake working again by other means. It's okay, as we have a second rear rim brake, but we hope we can get the disc brake fixed for the Himalayas.
On that note, I feel like we should share our thoughts on the bike, in a review of our Thorn Tandem for any readers who are considering buying one for any adventures. (You may like to skip the rest of this post if you are not that interested in bikes).
If two people of differing cycling abilities are planning a trip, then I would wholly recommend considering a tandem. It takes a while to get comfortable spending long periods of time on it, before which, your bum spends a lot of time aching but the benefits of one person not being left behind, and being able to talk whenever you want more than offset this.
With regards to our Thorn, the S&S couplings (which allow us to split the tandem in two) and the Rohloff speedhub gears (14 gears in the rear hub) are the obvious things that set it apart, and make it more expensive, than a regular tandem, but both have been excellent additions. The S&S couplings have allowed us to transport the bike on planes with no problems, and the Rolhoff is wonderful (though not without fault), as it means the drive chain requires only maybe 20% of the maintenance compared to a regular set up. Overall, the quality of the Thorn is fantastic. I have a Surly Long Haul Trucker solo touring bike with Tubus racks and in every way the Thorn frame and fittings look and feel more solid. Okay, advert for Thorn bikes over.
Problems? Well, the first is that the Rolhoff leaks oil, not a huge amount, but it left a small amount on the rear skewer, and when we attached the trailer this leakage increased, but this is a common issue, and not one that leads to any problems apparently. The hub can also become stuck in gear when changing down under pressure between the high and low ranges of the gear box, widely known about, but can be very frustrating! Certainly, if you are used to a positive Campag or Shimano rapid-fire shifting system then, in comparison, the action of the twist grip on the Rolhoff is very vague, something you get used to, but definitely a case of could do better. Our other problems, have been as a result of the disc brake.
As mentioned above, the dry coupling seized and has now put the Hope disc brake out of action, but before that, the disc brake didn't feel like it had the power relative to the v-brake that you would expect. It seemed to be quickly overwhelmed either by the all up weight of the tandem or the dry coupling caused a degradation in performance, but anyhow, the lever could be pulled back to the bar after only a couple of uses on many hills. When we find a decent bike shop that sells hydraulic hose and a bleed kit, I'll give Denyze the brake lever on the rear stoker bars (no need for the coupling) and we'll get to see what was the cause of the poor performance, but in the mean time, I would recommend to anyone that they stick with the single v-brake on the back and stock up on spare brake pads.... you bank account will thank you for it and you'll stop quicker with the v-brake in any case.
Finally, last piece of info. We originally had drop handlebars on the front of the bike. I spent ages when buying the bike deciding between drops and flat bars (don't think I endeared myself to the sales staff on that one) but eventually went for drops as I find them more comfortable for long distances. Let's be clear about this though, when the riders, the bike and the luggage weigh in excess of 200kg, unless you are riding on sealed roads with very little traffic, you will not get enough leverage to be able to control the bike safely with drops... well I certainly couldn't. Does that make me a bit of a wimp? What do you mean yes?
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