Thorn Nomad or eXp?

[snowdoniafan]

My wife and I have been looking for bikes which can complete the great divide (mostly off road), but also Lands end to John o Groats (entirely on road), neither in a particular hurry.
 
We have been looking at the Thorn Nomad, and toying with the idea of the expensive Thorn eXp. We have come to the point where we are erring away from a bike with suspension forks, as we need distance & comfort specific geometry and also need to carry heavy loads without trailers, meaning loading on the front forks.

Nomad's seem to have been everywhere, but now the eXp is marketed as the expedition bike of choice.

Should we go for the eXp, or save some money and go for Nomad's?

Any comments appreciated.

[bokes]

Snowdoniafan,

I have a Nomad and i think it's plenty strong enough to carry heavy loads on long tours over rough terrain. I'm not up to date on the differences with the eXp, but i can't think of anything the Nomad would need to warrant the much higher price tag.

[CyclingCountry]

Hi,
Myself and my wife both own Nomads and thoroughly recommend them. We have cycled fully laden on asphalt roads from London to Istanbul and also around Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, where the latter was unpaved. We had no problems at all. I think the nomad was originally the expedition bike of choice for thorn once upon a time and now they have rebranded their bikes. Personally I wouldn't pay the extra for the eXp - just upgrade on the wheels when specifying the bike.
Enjoy your trips,
Geoff
Cycling Country

[snowdoniafan]

Many thanks for the info folks.

I have ordered two Nomad's from Thorn. They should arrive next week, I can post update info if anyone is interested.

Thorn themselves said that the Nomad would have no problem with the divide, so that, coupled with the advice I have had and the long lead time on the eXp (we hope to do lands end 4 weeks from now, and the eXp's are on a 6 week lead time) made the decision a little easier.

The conclusion I came to is that both bikes are capable of on and off road touring, but the eXp is more focused for off road, and the nomad is more focused for on and off road (I don't consider it to be road focused). I think this may be ideal for us.

If anyone has any further comments I would be really interested to hear them.

[mnlyn]

Keep us posted on how the bikes work out.  I need to buy or build a bike pretty quickly for a Great Divide trip this summer and have been leaning towards a Surly Long Haul Trucker (w/26" wheels).  I'm a little nervous about trying the divide route on a "touring" bike but plan to set it up with mountain bike components & wheels.  Am I going to regret not having suspension?  I have an older rigid mountain bike now which isn't bad on the road but I haven't done too much offroading with it.  I plan to at least get a springy Brooks saddle for the LHT and some relatively fat tires for cushion. I'm still not sure whether to go with drop handlebars or flats w/barends for more leverage.