Johnny Mullet

Before I get started, I have better bikes in the stable, but this Huffy is the first bike I started riding when I got back into cycling recently and I always enjoy riding it regardless of the name. I made some upgrades already including a 700c wheel swap and brake swap and some weight reduction............





I need help with what exactly do I need (like and adapter kit?) to swap this bottom bracket and crankset................



With this much better setup.................



I also need to know if there is an adaptor to replace the mountain bike bars with these drop bars. My stem must be 1" and the road bike stem is just a tad larger like maybe 1 1/8". I got the shifters and brakes worked out already, just need direction on where to find the right stem adapter and the right conversion kit for the bottom bracket...............



Thanks.

RubeRad

It's hard to tell in that picture, but the stem on those drop-bars doesn't look to me any bigger than what's in there. If you can jiggle it and get it in, you're good to go. Otherwise, probably the easiest solution is to keep the stem and get the appropriate shim to put the road bars into it.

As for the bottom bracket/crankset, you want the bottom bracket shell to be the most common standard of 68/"English". The one-piece that's in there now you should be able to take out with standard large wrenches, just recall that drive-side should be reverse-threaded.

To get the other one out of the frame its in, look up terms like "bottom bracket service" on youtube or parktools.com or Sheldon Brown's website.

Assuming the new crankset is also 68/English you shouldn't need an adapter, just tools.

First off, you probably need a "crank puller" to pull the cranks off the bottom bracket spindle -- unless those cranks have the newer self-pulling bolts.

Then you can probably knock the non-drive-side lockring off with a flathead screwdriver and hammer (although the custom lockring wrench is better, screwdriver will probably gouge). Then the non-drive-side cup should come out by hand, maybe after you knock it loose at first. With the non-drive-side cup out, the spindle and bearings will come out, leaving only the drive-side cup, which has shallow flats for a special bottom-bracket wrench (but you could use any wrench or vise if you can get it on there securely). Depending on age and riding conditions/history, the drive-side cup could be very difficult to get out. Google again is your friend, there are lots of special tips&tricks for this, including a jig made out of a fat nut&bolt and a stack of washers.

Replace ball bearings if desired, clean everything up, and install into destination bottom bracket shell. Again you'll have to search for tips on how tight to install it, trying to eliminate wiggle, while not binding the bearings.

Johnny Mullet

[h=2]Will this TruVativ American-to-Euro Conversion kit from this Sheldon Brown link work for me?..............[/h]https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/opc.html

Dan Burkhart 

You need one of these to convert the bottom bracket to a three piece.
Bottom Bracket Adapter Kit American To Euro Thread Conversion, TruVativ

Dan Burkhart 

I posted same time you did. Yes, that is what you need.

Johnny Mullet

Man, it's a really, really close fit, but can't quite wiggle the stem in there. I don't want to sand or grind it down to fit because even though it seems doable, I would not feel comfortable doing that. I am gonna try and remove the top nut from the forks and see if it fits. Maybe it's just the nut not allowing it to go in?

RubeRad

Thx other guys for correcting me. Johnny, ignore everything I said about the bottom bracket, listen to them.

About the stem, is it the expander nut that's not fitting, or with the expander nut in there you can't get the stem itself in? Because between 1" and 1 1/8" it would not be "really, really close fit, but can't quite", more like "there's no way that thing is fitting in there" (that's what she said). Make sure the expander nut is sufficiently loose, you could try giving a light sand to the inside of the tube and to the stem -- not to remove metal, but just to make sure there's no accumulation of grit. And maybe a little grease. But in the end if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit. Do you have calipers to accurately measure the inner/outer diameters of the hole/tube? Are there any markings on the stem that indicate the size?

dabac

Don't remove the top nut unless you have the tools needed for threaded headset adjustment. It's a locknut and if you back it off, odds are the headset will lose its adjustment when you put it back on. You can't simply torque it down on reassembly.
With that said, some locknuts do come with an integrated seal, a plastic/rubber lip supposed to seal tight around the stem.
One might have to use gentle persuasion to get the expander wedge past that.
Here's yet another place where a vernier caliper is your friend.
I don't know if your bike is likely to be afflicted, but stems are available in several diameters.
Some close enough to look interchangeable without being so.

A better option would be to temporarily pull the expander wedge off and see if the bare stem would fit or not.

dabac

Keep in mind that if the drop bar stem is the same forward length as the flat bar stem, then the drop bar will put your hands about 4" further ahead when you ride on the hoods. Are you gonna be happy with such a forward reach?

And here's what Sheldon Brown has to say about Huffy stems:"American-style bikes have thicker steerer tubes than Euro bikes, so they take thinner stems. The usual diameter is 21.15 mm vs the British 22.2 mm size."
Might be your problem.

And while finding such a stem doesn't look like too much of a problem, finding one that lets you reuse your drop bar might be.
Your bar looks to be kinda-sorta ergonomic/modern, and these use tighter radius bends than the older style.
This means that it can be harder and sometimes outright impossible to fit them to stems with wraparound clamps.
OTOH the stem you have looks to be a wraparound clamp, so if it's been done before it should be doable again.
Might require some scary spreading of the clamp though.

RubeRad

I bet dabac nailed your issue with the american/euro 21.15/22.2 issue. Keep your mountain stem, and if necessary, get a shim to put on the drop bars.

Pukeskywalker

@Johnny Mullet

In case you're not aware, old MTB bars have a 25.4 clamp area for the stem to grip on to. Old road bars are 25.4 or 26.0

If your bars don't fit in the 21.15mm huffy stem you have in there, they're probably 26.0 clamp area. You can get a 25.4 clamp area bar, maybe for $20 on ebay or $30 new.

If the 25.4 drop bars put your hands out too far for a comfortable fit, I see stubby 21.5mm huffy-size stems on ebay, but they aren't all cheap.


Question: Could he use a 21.10 BMX stem? Is the 0.05 mm really any danger? There are BMX stems available for cheap in that size. There are also threadless stem adapters in that size (https://www.ebay.com/itm/like/321296124414?lpid=82)

Pukeskywalker

On second thought, I'm pretty sure a 21.1 quill can be safely used in place of 21.15 -- I would do it without thinking too hard.

So one $50 option would be:

- Get the threadless adapter ($15)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Stem...eadless-Stem-/

- Then get a stubby threadless 1 1/8 stem with a 26.0 clamp area. (~$30)

That option would allow you to bring your drop bars in closer if the bike doesn't fit right.

A lot of MTB to Drop-Bar conversions have problems with fit, because the top-tube on a MTB is already long, so you're stretched out reaching for drop bars. Here's a thread from Classic and Vintage of cool MTB drop-bar conversions (good to note the short stems and comments about fit)

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...nversions.html


Another second option, $30, would be Origin 8 drop-bar ends. These clamp on to your MTB bars and give you drops to ride in. I think they are safe to clamp road brake levers onto. There are certainly people doing this on google images. You will run into the same fit problems if the bike is already a little big on you.




If the bike is already small on you, then all of this is moot. Get a 25.4 road drop bar and put it in the MTB stem that's already on there.


And there's the 4th option, if fit IS a problem for you, which is buying a new 25.4 clamp area drop bar ($25), then getting a stubby 21.1 / 21.15 stem with 25.4 clamp area on ebay (~$20)

Grand Bois

Used mountain bikes don't sell for much money. You could buy a quality used mountain bike for less than it will cost you to convert your Huffy to a 3 piece crank. You could transfer some of your parts to it and end up with a much better bike.

Johnny Mullet

I have several much better bikes in my stable, but I reallly like this bike and want to upgrade it and make it like a hybrid/road bike for my longer trips.

fietsbob

Figure 8 bend trekking bars are a lower parts buy to make MTB-Hybrids more comfortable as the handle bar controls are reused.

fore and aft reach effects your posture like Up and down on drops, nashbar is flashing a $19.00 price now .. they're 1" center diameter..

Johnny Mullet

So 1 mm difference. Is there any issues in using a honing tool to open up the fork head for the stem to fit? The metal is pretty thick in there. I don't want to hack job grind the stem because I don't work like that.

Also on the reach here is a pic of one of my better rides and it has a really long stem, so reach should not be an issue..............



This is not some random post from an idiot wanting to waste money on upgrading a POS bike. This is gonna be a fun drop bar, road bike conversion on a POS Huffy that will keep up with my friends with the $5000 road bikes on our rides this summer. I was able to keep up with them on the Reflex, so why not the Huffy too? I also train harder than they do and train year round, so this build is is gonna be loads of fun when it's finished.

dabac

But there are also threads cut into the outside face of that tube, and threads are well known to act as stress risers. A bit more material on the inside seems like a good thing.
I wouldn't thin down a steerer when there are stems of the correct dimensions to be had easily.

SquidPuppet

The OD of his fork steerer is 25.4mm, the same as a fork with a 22.2mm ID. The threads are the same as well (TPI and depth). He can use an adjustable reamer to safely remove a small amount of material from the ID of the steerer, and the result will be identical to a common 1 inch threaded fork.


I recently spent a HUGE amount of time trying to source a (new) 21.1 quil stem. The options are very limited and generally low quality. The best one I found is not anodized and seems to be made of "less" than 6061.

Johnny Mullet

I discussed this issue with the stem with a couple of my workmates at the shop and since the difference is less than 1MM we agreed that honing the top of the thick fork would be the safest way to get the stem installed. I spent about 15 minutes with a brake cylinder hone and was able to complete the drop bar conversion.................







The last issue on this conversion after converting the bottom bracket is gears. I have two options. I can either make it a single speed or find some old school stem shifters to make it work. Thanks for the help!

Jax Rhapsody

You should be able to get clamp on dt shifters on there, or bar ends, if the bike had thumbies on it, they might fit, older mtbs haad some pretty thin handlebars with long narrow tapering.

Pukeskywalker

Looks awesome. Really impressed by the DIY spirit in this thread

I wouldn't do downtube shifters on this since it seems like a pretty far reach down there, but I'm lazy.

I'd go with stem shifters (vs bar-ends) if it were mine. A pair of new bar-ends from shimano can be $70, and stem shifters are cheap, easy to find.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd go whole hog and get brifters, road cranks and road front derailleur.

IthaDan 

Those bars, levers and stem are off a 1989/1990 blacked out fuji ace. Knowing how rare they are, there's probably someone out there who would pay you a pretty penny for them- more than enough to dump the huffy wholesale and buy something far better to build up and customize.

Johnny Mullet

The wheels are also off the Fuji Ace. The crankset and Suntour Blaze components from the Ace will also be swapped over to the Huffy. I will sell the Ace 56CM frame and fork set.

LesterOfPuppets

Ooof. Now that's a bummer for Fuji fans.

Why not ride it? Seems like 56 would be in the neighborhood of proper size for ya.