sb88

Indulge me - I have a problem of my own making. Please reply if you're interested in tinkering with worthless bike stuff too. If you're going to reply to explain to me that I'm tinkering with worthless stuff, please don't bother. Spending my money and time on inconsequential bike problems of my own creation is a damn sight better than spending it on the tabs I used to smoke!

I have acquired in the last 3 months 3 90s MTBs. I bought the first so I could stop beating up my road bike commuting, but acquired a taste for how versatile and durable they are - steel frames, 1 1/8th head tubes, standard BSA bottom brackets. And even though they're fairly low-mid end, I like how they have cool little features like internal cable routing and stamped logos on the dropouts that you might not see on modern entry level bikes.

I have various other parts already lying around to add to them to give them their own 'specialism', but I can't decide which bike/frame for which purpose, so I need help!

The frame sets:
- Trek 830 1997, 18 inch with rack mounts. Fairly long and low position. Paintwork still pretty good.

- GT Timberline 1992, 17 inch. Fairly short top tube. Paintwork pretty chipped and worn and original 'splatter' paint job makes it look dated and kid-like. Stem matches paintwork... No rack mounts. U brake rear.

- GT Tequesta 1993(?). 17 inch. Fairly short top tube. Paintwork - original owner seems to have sanded off the GT logos in some mad belief that GTs aren't cool. No rack mounts. U brake rear.

The parts:
- Surly Forks (425mm A-C)
- An Avid BB7 disc brake and matching Avid lever
- A pair of wheels built by myself, 19mm inner rim width to accept wider tyres, 8-10 speed Deore disc hubs
- A pair of wheels built by myself, 17mm inner rim with 2nd hand 90s 7 speed XT/LX hubs
- An Avid Shorty canti brake
- Some Planet X Fast Bar riser bars
- Some On-One Midge bars and high-rise stem, plus quill adaptor
- Cane Creek SCR5 drop bar levers
- A set of 2nd hand Sugino MTB cranks (Sq taper). 44-34. missing granny ring.
- A modern set of Shimano MTB cranks, 22, 32, 42 (Sq taper)
- An 8 speed cassette and chain
- A 7 speed cassette and chain
- A couple of 7-8 speed Shimano rear mechs
- 90s Deore 7 speed Friction Shifters
- All the original kit off the Timberline, inc a Biopace crankset, Exage rear mech and hubs, Plasticky shifters.
- 2 Deore U brakes which need to stay on the GTs
- Various saddles, stems and seatposts, 90s canti brakes and flat bar canti-brake levers. Various BBs to get good chain line. 1 1/8th threaded and threadless headsets

Any suggestions as to possible combinations of these bits to make 3 'distinct' bikes much appreciated - I have a few ideas below but feel free to suggest different ones.
At the moment the Trek is set up as the 'proper' MTB due to it's longer, lower position, but it's the only one with rack mounts... The Timberline is the commuter due to it's worn appearance and plasticky levers = less theft-worthy. The Tequesta is about to be the dirt-drop bar bike unless persuaded otherwise.
I know none of these are high-end modern bikes, so don't expect them to perform as such, and I don't do any serious MTB-ing (just dirt tracks in Peak District) but they're cool bikes and it's a project. But should I expect one to be better than the other at certain stuff due to geometry, age, etc? Should I avoid using any of the bikes for a particular purposes? Should the one with rack mounts be the commuter?

The ideas:
- A 'proper' MTB with: Surly forks, Avid BB7 front disc, 8 speed cassette on wide rim wheels with disc hubs built by myself, 2.1 inch knobbly tyres, Planet X fast bar risers, 8 speed STI shifters.

- A dirt drop MTB / 26 inch CX type thing, with: On-One Midge bars, Cane Creek SCR-5 drop levers, 90s Deore friction shifters made to fit bars somehow (bendable clamp...), narrow knobbly-ish tyres. Something I can use for longer mixed terrain rides in winter / if road bike is broken.

- A commuter with slick-ish tyres. Mary bars, nothing too thieve able. With racks...

fender1

Pick the one that fits you best. Configure as it work you and your style of ridng and get rid of the other two.

3speedslow

Save the GTs. Make a drop bar out of the 3rd one; Tequestra .

But yes, the one that fits is the best one for you.

sb88

Well they all fit, or can be made to fit with normal adjustments, or I wouldn't have bought them! I intend to have them all built up as new house has a cellar for bike storage space! What I'm trying to decide is what to do with each bike... As I said, I'm thinking along the lines of one dedicated off-road MTB with a front disc, one commuter with racks which can be parked around town without worry, and one 'all round' bike with dirt drops.

I may sell one in future if I move or find myself not using one, but at the moment want to get them all on the road...

jimc101

It's not a '93 if it has a U-brake (I had one BITD)

Would be interested to see photos when you have completed you dropbar bike, sounds like an interesting proposition for an old frame.

sb88

I tried the Midge bars and stem on the Timblerline for size today as it was already built up when i bought it and is same length t.tube as the Tequesta. Seemed good! It's getting a saddle that says 'Racer' on it!

Ah well, 92-3-ish. The Tequesta is probably the 'best' bike out of the 3 in terms of its place in the pecking order when it came out, but in the scrappiest condition now. But would it make a decent rigid MTB now, with the Surly fork and front disc, or would I worry about breaking it on the trails...?

USAZorro

I would suggest building one up, ride it a while, see what you like and what you think should be different, and then pick another to apply what you have learned. While you could pre-plan everything, you run the risk of triplicating something that sounds good, but which you find you don't care for so much.

I think breaking the bike is less a concern than you being very uncomfortable. Try it, ride it with a bit of moderation and see what you think.

sb88

Voice of reason!

Bike Cottage

I say make one a big-boy BMX bike with a 2-spd kickback hub. I'm working on one now and it's gonna be tough to not wad myself up, but what the heck.

sb88

This is the problem - makes so many options!

I'm going down the line of turning the Trek into a commuter with a rack as it has mounts and I'm fed up of using a rucksack. Could also be used for supermarket trips too.

Then the GTs can be 1) a 'dedicated' MTB and 2) a drop-bar frankenbike experimental MTB

sb88

There's a chance of one them getting a hub gear at some point... but I live in Sheffield, UK - my typical commutes include 500-1000ft of climbing in the space of 2-4 miles, so 2 speed might not cut it!

RobbieTunes

The Trek 830 is a perennial, sturdy bike capable of commuting, fun, gravel, etc. There were so many like it that they normally go 100-150, but are darn near bullet-proof. Anything you do with that will work, but if you are going to flip it, simply clean it up and hope for the best. Best commuter for all-weather situations I've seen, especially snow.

I have had and actually did a biathlon on a Timberline (side bets are a real PITA-literally), I think it would go great as a converted "hybrid" type. Put some road tires on it, raise the stem and get the bars a little more upright, and you have a really nice path cruiser. I sold mine but rebuilt a similar GT Saddleback for my wife's path bike, and she loves it. Trigger-shifting makes it an easy ride, and we put Avocet 1.75" slicks on it. I swapped in a more upright stem, but left the slightly riser bars on it. Rides nice, shifts easy, brakes are easy to adjust. My wife's favorite part of it? Bottle cages.

No idea on the other one, but I've done about the same with a Raleigh Horizon, '88 model, hard tail/hard front MTB in name only. I've upgraded the steel wheels and components to alloy, dropped a ton of weight off the bike, put new grips on it, and I ride it on cart paths using the 2x6 friction thumb shifters.

sb88

It's certainly bulletproof - I had the misfortune to recently ride into parked cars twice in the space of a month - combination of stress, distraction, whatever. Both times, very slowly (c4-6 mph) When I did it on the 830, I slipped off saddle, bit my tongue and bike and me kept going. When I did it on my (2 month old) Ribble 525 road bike, the down and top tubes crumpled... Almost like a controlled experiment to test it's sturdiness...

sb88

Here they are in their current guises - Just put Mary bars on the Timberline for commuting. Think I love them. Same hand position and orientation as hoods of road bike.

Nothing too daft here right? (Apart from the upside down Cinelli track stem...)

The Golden Boy 

I'm the person that has no problem in duplicating (or triplicating) builds.

However, as @USAZorro pointed out- there's no sense in building up all 3 bikes to a version of the same bike and not liking what changes you've made.

I've been in the process of building my Schwinn High Sierra for the past 8 years or so. Whenever I make a change, I'm happy for a little bit- and then realize I should have done something else.

I say play with your builds- fit and comfort dominate- everything else is tinkering.

Good Luck!

sb88

So I suppose if I just decide what I'm going to use each one for, get each one rideable then make adjustments to make it suit the intended purpose comfortably as time goes on and the need becomes apparent.

All common sense!

Really there's one too many. I needed a commuter which isn't too steal-able to save my road bike, and an off-road bike. The drop-bar idea is only a result of having a third one. Oops...

Velocivixen

I just love the paint job on the 3rd Tequestra - like a smoke purple. I had a smoke pink one that I ended up selling because it was a touch too big.

Have fun with your builds. I still have my Soma Portola bars & Nitto Dirt Drop stem and am just waiting for the right size (proportion) to come along. Sigh....

sb88

I like the paint too - it seemed to demand white and black components.

Glad I went with the Midges rather than some moustache bars...

One suggestion has been to give all of the good bits to the dirt drop Tequesta - the Midge bars, Surly forks, front disc (w. v-pull levers), my hand built wheels, knobbly tyres. Then I'd have the Trek as a long-distance commuter/tourer for it's rack mounts, and the Timberline as a short-distance commuter & "leave it locked up in public for hours" bike.

Used the Mary bars today on the Timberline - I love them - tempted to put them on all my flat bar bikes. Same hand position & orientation as hoods of road bike, but a bit wider. Made me feel like I'm on a motorbike! Thought the single hand position might not be ideal but because it's a neutral angle you can hold it for ages.