I seriously looked at the Thorn at the time. The belt drive was more important to me than the lower price of the Thorn. The only thing I have a dislike for on my Pangea is the stinking disk brakes. If I hadn't insisted on the frame couplers I would have gone with the cantilever mounts. I have Magura HS 66 brakes on my 1990 Burly Bongo Tandem. I have never found a better stopping bicycle brake. Magura still makes the HS 33 Hydraulic rim brake. The Paul Klampers that I currently use are pretty good. The cargo bike in addition to the Rohloff is going to have a Heinzman direct drive motor on the front wheel. I am getting rid of the dependence on the car.