You might not be aware of Thorn – the Somerset manufacturer is part of the empire of Bridgwater shop St John Street Cycles and is best known for tandems and tourers. But Thorn’s Andy Blance is a keen mountain biker, and while developing touring bikes equipped with Rohloff’s 14-speed hub gear came up with the idea for the Thorn Raven Enduro, Thorn’s first MTB.

The most notable feature is of course the Rohloff Speedhub. A handful of manufacturers have used these German hub gears on MTBs, with Nicolai probably the best-known example. But while Nicolai bikes are somehow recognisably German, the Raven Enduro is really rather British. It’s a Reynolds 853 steel hardtail for a start, and the design philosophy is more about practicality than flash – the frame’s built for durability at a reasonable weight, the hub gear means only a single chainring which lets the stays be pushed further apart for better mud room and the hub itself should eliminate any clart-related transmission maladies and be a lot easier to clean to boot.

We don’t know much about the geometry except that it has distinctly short 16in chainstays and claims “positive climbing… …exceptionally stable when descending…” which can’t be bad. The bikes will be available in four sizes and a choice of three colours. Standard spec includes a Fox Vanilla RL fork (80mm on the smaller sizes, 100mm on the big ‘uns), Hope Mono Mini brakes, Panaracer Fire XC tyres and Thorn finishing kit. The custom chromoly rack and Cane Creek suspension post in the picture are optional extras – a bike to standard spec will be £1999 but they’re assembled to order so if you want something different contact Thorn for a price.

The Raven Enduro will be at the Bike Show at the NEC (16-18 April) for a closer look, or contact St John Street Cycles on 01278 441527.