Racing bikes have developed a lot over recent years, with manufacturers making extensive use of materials like carbon fibre and aluminium to make incredibly fast, agile and lightweight bikes. While these bikes are all about speed, touring and Audax bikes require something designed for comfort, rather than out and out speed. You might think touring bikes have gone largely unchanged for the past 30-odd years, and essentially they have, but Thorn have launched the Audax 853, combining all their experience with a dose of some new technology, to suit a growing number of cyclists - the long distance Audaxer.
Touring bikes typically conjure up nostalgic images of hard old men, racks and panniers, and riding thousands of kilometres from Paris to Brest and back, for some unearthly reason. The Audax 853 brings the fast touring and Audax bike into the 21st Century, building a swift and versatile bike which is happy riding to work, long summer rides or heading for the south coast of Spain.
Frame and fork
Steel tubing experts Reynolds has been rolling tubes of fine steel since 1895; when Alfred M. Reynolds saw the need for thin and lightweight tubes for frame builders. Fast forward 111 years and steel is still the choice of the discerning bike builder and the latest is 853 Conical tubing is pretty impressive. The obvious feature is that the downtube increases in diameter as it reaches the bottom bracket. Thorn have used Conical tubing before in their Cyclosportif frame, but decided it was too good not to use in an update of their original Audax frame.
First impressions when looking the frame up and down is that it is beautifully finished off. Thorn has been building frames in Taunton, Somerset, for a long time and it shows. All the fillet brazing is expertly done, and the welds are all expertly filed, leaving an ultra smooth appearance. To protect the frames integrity, all the tubes are sealed to prevent rust forming; even the bottle bosses are sealed. There’s a Ritchey drop-out at the end of the skinny stays, and the frame is covered in plenty of mounting positions for racks and mudguards. On the non-drive side of the rear triangle are two mounts for a frame pump, the list goes on - brazed on gear bosses, metal slides for the cables under the bottom bracket, three sets of bottle bosses, bosses under the fork crown. Thorn really has thought of every little detail, even down to the stainless steel headbadge - a very nice touch.
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Thorn designers have intended the Audax 853 to exhibit a sporty and lively ride. They’ve achieved this primarily by steepening the headangle and choosing a compact design. But the beauty of buying a bike from Thorn is that you can have the geometry tweaked to suit your personal preferences. There are eight sizes on the list, for our 6ft+ tester we chose a 56” with a long top tube, and seeing as the style of riding you do dictates the build, we opted for a sporty ride. They also do relaxed, racing and upright - so don't be shy and tell them what type of rider you are. It’s worth taking a look at the
order form for the myriad of available options. Got a favourite colour? Thorn will spray it up in any shade you fancy.
"...once up to cruising speed it’s a super smooth expressway that’ll remain comfortable until your legs full off."
The forks are very traditional in their appearance, bending halfway through their length and elegantly swooping down to the dropouts. Also elegant are the cutouts on the crown, something you don’t see often these days. There’s a discrete dynamo mount on the right side, though we’re not sure how many people use dynamos these days, especially as LEDs are getting better and better, but it’s there if you need it for an all night Audax.
Components
As we said earlier, you can spec the Audax to any level you like. Ours came with a Shimano Ultegra 10-speed groupset with RXD100 callipers. Wheels were Mavic OpenPro rims centering on Shimano LX hubs, with 36 spokes holding them all together - weighty but definitely tough and durable. Continental Ultra Gatorskin 25mm tyres have been superb, fast rolling and we’ve had no punctures despite plenty of riding on rough roads – we even rode over a load of glass the other day, the tyres just shrugged it off. If you wanted to swap for a set of lighter summer hoops you could save a load of weight here and reap the benefit of a faster climbing more responsive machine, not that we're complaining as the wheel spec was perfect for winter clubruns and the daily battle to work through London's pot-holed streets.
One of the upgrades Thorn fitted to the bike was a carbon seatpost, saves a little weight and adds a modern touch to the overall look. ITM stem and handlebars were fine, though we experimented with different stem lengths to fine tune the length. Thoughtfully there were a stack of headset spacers so we had a lot of height adjustment.
SKS Chromo Plastics mudguards are light, but still tough and for someone who usually rides 'sans 'guards' they are a very welcome addition.
Ride
The Thorn is a hell of a bike, simple as that. It’s one of the smoothest and most comfortable bikes we’ve ridden in a long time. It only took one short ride for us to fall head over heels in love. It has a relaxed and graceful poise especially when wafting around country lanes. The 21lb weight does make itself felt when first starting off or trying to make sudden speed increases, but it’s rarely noticeable once you learn to just gradually build up to speed. And anyway it's certainly not heavy by most training bike standards and remember with the spec altered you could shave a fair bit off the overall weight.
Perhaps we should have opted for the shorter top tube as we did change the stem for a shorter one, but the relaxed long position is surprisingly agile too and once up to cruising speed it’s a super smooth expressway that’ll remain comfortable until it gets too dark to ride. The geometry gives a lot of stability, with the steering just lively enough to make the ride exciting, yet reassuringly under control.
RCUK Verdict
The Audax 853 is a very attractive package, and you get a lot for your money. For long rides, Audax events, a winter trainer or even riding to work, it’s an awesome machine. We're lost to find a reason why you wouldn't want one in your cycling arsenal. And if you’re not happy with the bike you’ve bought, Thorn offer a 14-day money back guarantee. Who can argue with that?
You’ll need lights as you won’t want to stop riding, custom design and package, will last a lifetime
We didn’t really like the red/blue paint scheme, but there are other colours available
Specifications
Frame: Reynolds 853 Conical tubeset
Fork: 531C
Headset: FSA Orbit XL II 1/8"
Stem: ITM
Bars: ITM
Tape: Cork
Brakes: Shimano Ultegra
Levers: Shimano Ultegra, 10-speed, STI, flight deck compatible
Front derailleur: Shimano Ultegra
Rear derailleur: Shimano Ultegra, short cage
Cassette sprockets: Shimano Ultegra, 12-25t
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace, 10-speed
Cranks: Shimano Ultegra, triple
BB: Shimano Ultegra
Pedals: None
Wheels: Mavic OpenPro 36-hole rims, LX hubs
Tyres: Continental Ultra Gatorskin 25mm
Saddle: San Marco Rolls Classic
Seat post: Carbon
Mudguards: SKS Chromo Plastics
Additional Information
• Sizes: TBC (standard and sloping geometry)
• Colours: Gloss Red/Blue, but any colour you want is available. See website for further details
• Price: £1849.99 with Ultegra and some upgrades.
Full builds available from £1199 with Shimano XT, upto a Dura-Ace equipped model.
Weblinks
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www.sjscycles.com/
Photo Gallery
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Conti tyres have given us no problems |
Very smooth |
Carbon seatpost and bling saddle |
Quality spec |
MTB hubs |
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I am suffering information overload. No matter what style of riding we do, I think we all want to do it faster and more comfortably. The permutations for doing that seem to be growing exponentially, which leads to paralysis through analysis! So I was wondering if a sort of skeleton or framework of the main things required for a number of the main type of riding and there options would help, my eg that follows is about a Fast Audax type of riding, but am sure the concept could help others looking for something else.
I prefer road riding, but not racing, train with the local shop crowd a couple of time per wk for about 60kms each, but am at an age where I'm nowhere near the elites, averaging about 28kph. So started to search your reviews for possible options for me and hit on the potential of fast Audax type, that lead to this review on the Thorn Audax 853. Lots of the general description made sense but a lot didn't really, and left me wanting to understand more. Eg,
· Frame and fork geometry, lengths and even shape, and their influence on comfort vs. speed.
· Although things like 'stiffness vs. flexibility' make some intellectual sense, as I don't ride lots of bikes, I really have no basis to judge, and I doubt if many riders do?
· Frame and fork material, eg, aluminium, moly steel, Titanium, Carbon
· Then there is the strong focus on frame weight, less so the components. Seldom any mention of the overall weight?
· Component discussion seems to more about prestige, particularly amongst riders, instead of a genuine discussion of the qualitative, functional, and price/value differences of anything biking. Don't take that rudely I'm talking in general terms. So getting a real understanding of the difference between, just as example, Campag C-Record (2.2kg) at one level and Mirage (2.8kg) the other, with Veloce and Centaur not being much lighter, begs the question if you can’t afford Record, are really getting value for anything other than the Mirage? Nothing against Campag I’m sure the same applies to all manufacturers?
· Where does weight, overall bike type/geometry, ease of use, quality, etc. Even say, high quality hub bearing with properly tensioned quick releases, versus, say a lighter frame, better rims, narrow tyres, or a better group set.
Posted: 27/10/2006 08:37
Frame geometry does not have a major effect on speed. You have to do that yourself. It does effect the way the bike will handle. The head angle and fork rake, which should be designed to work together, alter how the steering feels and reacts. A shallow angle, say less than 72 deg will be slower to react and more laid back in feel. A steeper one will react much quicker and feel more lively. Frame size and top tube length need to be to fit you. If you don't know then get measured up at a good dealer.
When stiffness and flexibility are mentioned they usually refer to how much the frame resists pedal input without flexing. A good frame will have high torsional stiffness with good vertical compliance to give more comfort. Getting both is why you pay more money for a quality frame. Most cheap frames will be stiff, harsh and heavy or sloppy but a bit lighter.
As for materials all will build a good frame. Aluminium is probably the cheapest for a quality frame as there are so many about. Steel will repair easily but is heavier. Titanium is good, expensive but virtually bombproof. Carbon is the most versatile as the designer can dial in strength or flex anywhere he wants. You really need to test ride a carbon frame, you should test all but carbon has the most varibles.
With components using your Campag example. Start at Mirage, It works well, is only 9sp and has plastic brake levers. Move up to Veloce you get 10sp, alloy levers and a bit better finish and durability. This goes on up to Chorus which is very good, has carbon levers and very good durability. Record has the 'bling' factor and is better than the rest but the law of diminishing returns is working overtime, ie the cost of the improvements are much higher than a similar improvement in the lower ranges. Basically, if you can afford it then it is nice to have but for most of us a lower range will do the job just fine.
I have 2 road bikes. The best one is a Trek 150 oclv frame built up with Dura-ace/Ultegra mix and Rolf Sestriere wheels. It weighs under 18lbs. The other is a Ribble winter/audax frame built up with 105 group and Open pro rims. This weighs about 20lbs with mudguards. It is only on climbs that I notice much difference between the two. Both are responsive and comfortable but the Trek reacts to sprints far better. For an Audax I could happily take either, if wet then the Ribble would be first choice. As for price, Trek about £2500, the Ribble about £600 but I like them both but for different reasons. The Trek just has more 'feel good' about it.
I hope this is some help to you but you did pose a rather open ended question. You can best answer it yourself by trying as many bikes as possible. Test ride at bike shops, try your mates etc.
Posted: 27/10/2006 20:36
