Is my Thorn Mercury the first to complete LEJOG?

[aggs]

Hi, I am new to the Forum and pleased to say my Mercury purchased earlier this year has performed perfectly on a my Land End to John O Groats cycle trip.
The Mercury has covered approx 2000 miles now so I may treat it to its first oil change.

This is my first hub geared bike and I have no regrets.
The lowest gears were very useful for the 1 in 4 hills encountered at various stages on the 1050 mile route.

The lack of a high  top gear was not missed at all on this type of riding.

The frame has responsive handling and gives confidence on high speed decents.

My Bike has dropped bars and is in stealth black.
The frame finish is much more hard wearing than my Thorn Sportiff which has quite a soft paint finish.

The advantages over the Sportiff are having proper mud guard clearences and be able to carry a rack pack with a lightish load,as the Mercury is a lightweight tourer.

My Sportif is now stripped of its mud guards and used more sparingly when roads are dry.
This is also a cracking bike,and was used on a recent road tour in Morroco around the Atlas Mountains.

I am impressed with the Thorn Wheel builder, they feel well built and my Sportiff wheels have remained true after many miles on some rough roads at times.
 The Mercury wheels feel just as well built.

Look forward to more Thorn chat.

Both bikes are so comfortable, and I was very impressed how Thorn have replicated the position of my Sportiff on the Mercury..

[Danneaux]

Welcome, aggs!

It's great to see the owner of both a Mercury and Sportiff on the Forum; we don't have many (or many who post).

Very much looking forward to seeing photos of your bikes appear in the gallery, and the trips you've taken sound fabulous indeed! I've always been intrigued by both tours/locales you mentioned, and hope to someday see the Atlas mountains. A friend once drove through them in an ancient 2CV and the photos he took ignited my interest.

I'd sure like to hear how you packed and what you took on the Mercury for your LEJOG run, and if you camped along the way.

Nice to see another drop-bar user, especially with Rohloff.

All the best,

Dan.

[aggs]

Hi Dan
The LEJOG was the CTC organised holiday, with van back up.
 During the day I just carried some spare clothes for weather changes and for tea stops and minor tools and tubes.
We were averaging approx. 65 miles per day, all on minor roads.
The route is fantastic but minor roads does mean stiffer hills esp. in Cornwall and Peak District and Yorks Dales.
The route included Fleet Moss to 1900 feet on weary legs!
So even though we had no luggage to carry, it was not really the easy option.
Our route was 1050 miles with approx 36000 feet of climbing.
I thoroughly reccomend it as you travel across the country on back roads you realise how many lovely places there are.
The direct route is a lot shorter.

My Mercury has the Giles Bouthard gear changer on the handlebar.

Graham

[Danneaux]

Hi Graham!

Thanks so much for expanding on the details of your trip; I hung on every word.

...van back up. During the day I just carried some spare clothes for weather changes and for tea stops and minor tools and tubes.

Sounds like the Mercury was simply ideal for this sort of ride, and yes, the van backup is a really viable way to go for such things.

minor roads does mean stiffer hills esp. in Cornwall and Peak District and Yorks Dales.

Yayah! I've never been but have seen some of those grades in photos and read of them in accounts. Look indeed to be 25% in places.  Like this: /

...65 miles per day...not really the easy option...1050 miles with approx 36000 feet of climbing

Well, I think you did wonderfully well, Graham. Those sorts of climbs make shorter linear distances effectively much, *much* longer and are really grueling. Glad the van backup was an option, and the bike was relatively light, load-wise.

The direct route is a lot shorter.

<nods> Yes, that would be the route I have read about more often. Still, there is something extra-special about the back-byways, and getting to see the roads less traveled. I'm so glad you were able to do the trip; well done!

My Mercury has the Giles Bouthard gear changer on the handlebar.

...And it sounds as if it worked flawlessly, or at least got a thorough workout with those sorts of climbs and uppy-downy roads.

Looking forward to hearing more whenever you're up to posting.

Best,

Dan.