The coming of the Sherpa

Today is my birthday (61 since you asked) and it's here ...

; my beautiful Thorn Sherpa.

It was born on Monday, in Bridgwater, Somerset. I hurtled down in the car on Tuesday, camped overnight near Cheddar Gorge, then picked up the bike on Weds morning.

I'll see how much of the spec I can remember.

It's a red, 530L frame.
Flat track bars with Ergon GP5  L anatomic grips and bar ends
Schmidt dynamo front hub.
Ultra wide range gearing (26/36/48 chain rings and 11-36 cassette).
Deore gears with rapid fire shifters (30 speed).
XT V brakes and levers with cartridge shoes .
Rigida Grizzly lightweight rims (26").
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres (2" wide) with appropriate black mudguards.
3 Profile bottle cages.
Thorn expedition rear rack and front lo-loader.
Topeak Mountain Morph pump.
Cateye  TL LD1000 rear lamp.
Thorn Velo saddle.
Shimano M520 "clipless" pedals.

Plus, since getting it home last night, I've fitted a Busch  Muller Luxos B Lumotec IQ2 dynamo front lamp, the lead for my B&M E-WERK charging device, the bracket for my Click Stand and the bracket for my Altura bar bag.

Despite my age, I feel like a silly schoolboy again. I am stupidly excited. Been out on a trail/towpath ride for a couple of hours this afternoon with Chrissie, Kim and Hamish. The bike is so, so comfy and capable; like no other bike I've ridden. It feels a bit like a mountain bike, but much more comfortable. I love it.

Here's some more pics.

I must say, Steve at Thorn made a superb job of measuring me and fitting the bike to suit cos it felt just right as soon as I sat on it. The half hour test ride was uneventful, save for the silly grin on my face ... in the rain! And through this afternoon's two hour ride the only problem was, it got filthy.

Rest assured, first couple of days of fine-ish weather and I'll be off on a trial camping trip.

Now ... must wash my precious new bicycle ... so I can go an' get it mucky again. Tee hee!
P'raps I should grow up?
Nah!