Mountain Biking - Re-building mid 90's Schwinn

I have one of my first bikes hangin out in the garage. A 17 inch Schwinn Frontier.
I have decided it would be fun to re-build this bike as a commuter bike.
It has a steel frame, and it is pretty sturdy (rigid of course) and a sweet hot-pink/orange kind of paint job. My questions are these:

1. It is from about 1994-5 i think. The whole thing is 1-inch tubing. I have figured out the headset thing just fine. Is the bottom bracket area going to be compatible with more modern bottom brackets?

2. Would road bike components fit this bike, it is an mtb design. Or would mountain bike components be better? I only ask, because the older frame may match a road bike's smaller sized components, and I may benefit from the higher gearing.

As for the rest, I have the wheels, tires, seatpost, seat, handle bars, stem, etc. all figured out.
I searched the forums for a related thread, but came up short.
If anyone has a link to a thread this was addresed in, please just link the thread, I will read.
And sure, I could just buy a bike to fit my needs, but what fun is that?
This is kind of a learning, fun project for me.

whew, I wasn't expecting such an overwhelming response.
Screw it, I'll figure it out myself

I have one of my first bikes hangin out in the garage. A 17 inch Schwinn Frontier.
I have decided it would be fun to re-build this bike as a commuter bike.
It has a steel frame, and it is pretty sturdy (rigid of course) and a sweet hot-pink/orange kind of paint job. My questions are these:

1. It is from about 1994-5 i think. The whole thing is 1-inch tubing. I have figured out the headset thing just fine. Is the bottom bracket area going to be compatible with more modern bottom brackets?

2. Would road bike components fit this bike, it is an mtb design. Or would mountain bike components be better? I only ask, because the older frame may match a road bike's smaller sized components, and I may benefit from the higher gearing.

As for the rest, I have the wheels, tires, seatpost, seat, handle bars, stem, etc. all figured out.
I searched the forums for a related thread, but came up short.
If anyone has a link to a thread this was addresed in, please just link the thread, I will read.
And sure, I could just buy a bike to fit my needs, but what fun is that?
This is kind of a learning, fun project for me.

Sure. I'm guessing a new crankset is in order?
You could use some road components on it, depending on how you want to go about it. Personally I've been fine running LX derailieurs, Deore Shifters and a SRAM R-9 11-23 road cassette on my commuter with it's 44-32-22 crank. It's good for about 25.5 comfortably (somewhere in the 90 RPM range)

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=545751#post545751

yep new crank too. I Have been ebaying to try to find some cheaper, but nicer parts, and have had some good luck so far. On a sidenote, I noticed on your hardrock that you switched out your forks innards with speed springs, who makes those? Are they still available?

That paint job sounds sweet. I would love a bike with a orange/pink paint job.

As a aside, I think building up old bikes is sweet. You could still build a a-plus bike with that old frame.

Road components would work well. You would end up with a awesome bike.

"Money Talks and Bull**** Walks''

yep new crank too. I Have been ebaying to try to find some cheaper, but nicer parts, and have had some good luck so far. On a sidenote, I noticed on your hardrock that you switched out your forks innards with speed springs, who makes those? Are they still available?
They were made by MRP, and unless you can find some N.O.S they aren't availiable. I actually switched out that fork to a rigid Surly 1x1 (that so far I like better) but haven't posted the pics yet.

They were made by MRP, and unless you can find some N.O.S they aren't availiable. I actually switched out that fork to a rigid Surly 1x1 (that so far I like better) but haven't posted the pics yet.

Dang, I was hoping I might be able to switch out the springs in my trek's fork with those. Maybe I will just buy a new fork. And as for this thread, the bike I am gonna build up will definitely be rigid. I just wish I could find a disc compatible rigid fork in my bike's paint scheme. Maybe a custom fork, maybe...