lostarchitect 

I picked up this bike from forum member @fender1 in the spring. It was inexpensive, well maintained, and I didn't have a mountain bike, so why not? Well, I rode it twice, and not for very long, either. I guess I just didn't like the flat bars, and also I was admitting to myself that I didn't really need a mountain bike. Here is what the bike looked like at that time:



So, what to do with it? I could easily sell it for what I paid, but of course that would be too easy for me. I saw Compass was selling a new 26" x 2.3" tire called the Rat Trap Pass, and a plan formed in my useless little mind. I'd buy the tires, and then build up a rugged all-road monster bike that I could use for cruising around Sullivan County, NY. Given the expense of the tires, I didn't want to spend much if any money, and I have a lot of stuff lying around.

Long story short, the bike is done. I switched out the bars and stem for a Nitto Dirt Drop / Technomic combo, the shifters for some Silver bar ends, the brake levers for some Dia-Compe non-aero ones I had. New cables were needed, too. I planned on all that. Then I also decided to change out the crankset because the arms were 175mm, which I just can't do. I used a VO compact double I had here. This necessitated a new BB, and I used the cartridge unit that I had from the last time I ran that crank. That choice gave me some trouble with the FD, so I switched that (and the rear as well) for some Suntour Cyclone mkII units I had. And then I needed a chain. And then I didn't like the saddle, so I used a Brooks C-17 I had.

Whew. So it ended up being a bigger project than I planned on, but I didn't really spend much on it except for the tires, so it worked out OK. I mean, I bought all that stuff at some point, but no fair counting it now, right? Here is the bike this past weekend:



I took it out for a 20 mile shakedown on the hilly Sullivan County roads, and overall I think it's a win. The tires are super duper comfortable and smooth feeling, and all the gear worked very well. There is some drag somewhere in the rear, I think it may be the hub bearings. Or maybe I just need more tire pressure, it's still experimental. I added the frame bag so I didn't have to run racks (the bike is heavy enough already). I'm not happy that the "gray" bar tape is really more like "silver," but that's minor. I only have the one photo for now but will post some more as I get it out for rides.

Thanks for reading! If you have questions let me know.

BluesDaddy

How is the braking with the road levers & rollercams?

lostarchitect 

No issues at all. I was a little worried about this and checked it thoroughly both on the stand and on my steep driveway before going out. The roads up there are pretty hilly and I didn't want to have any problems.

lostarchitect 

Reasonable clearance, too.

SquidPuppet

What pressures have you tried in those Fatty McFat tires?

bikemig 

Lovely looking tires. I'll bet that bike rides great.

TimmyT 

Nice job. It looks like a sweet ride. I'd prefer this over a vintage randonneuse any day of the week.

The Golden Boy 

I had been riding my High Sierra with Roller Cams with some old Weinmann levers and drops. I thought it was OK- until I went back to using regular ATB levers.




Those tires look really cool and really tempting...

lostarchitect 

So far, 40 rear and 30 front. I weigh about 200#. I am going to up the rear a little and see how it feels.

lostarchitect 

Well, I dunno if they could be even better, but the brakes seem to perform as well as anything else I have that's centerpull-based, so I have no cause to complain. I think using the Suntour 3rd hand tool designed for them + my Park 4th hand tool allowed me to set them up really well, so that may have something to do with it.

SquidPuppet

I'd be curious to hear the results, when it's convenient for you to post them.

lostarchitect 

I will be taking another crack at it on the weekend, I'll update then.

noglider 

It looks like a lot of fun. What length cranks did you install? This frame has a really high BB, and shortening the cranks requires you to raise the seat a bit more, so you end up perched pretty high. I imagine it might be difficult to put a foot down, but that's OK if you have that skill down.

nlerner

Nice build! But why did you use silver duct tape to wrap the bars?

The Golden Boy 

I'd had mine set up for a couple years, so when I went to trekking bars- I was shocked at how good the brakes were.

I'm interested to see what your impressions of the geometry from drop bar riding are.


Oh snap!

ColonelJLloyd 

Really nice!

I've read the pressure on these tires is really finicky. I'm thinking of ordering one of these.

lostarchitect 

They are 165's. I didn't notice feeling particularly high up, but I'll take a look at it compared to some other bikes.

lostarchitect 

I used up all my electrical tape in my kink dungeon.

noglider 

My Viscount probably has a normal or low BB height. I put 155mm cranks on it, and I'm up there. But it's OK with me. It's my fixed gear bike, and I feel pretty confident I won't suffer from "pedal strike."

lostarchitect 

Well, it's 1000x better than the flat bars for me. I just felt wobbly and off center with my arms splayed out on the original bars. I do feel fairly upright, some of which may be what Tom was mentioning above about being high up. But I don't think I thought about it after the first minute or so. I'll have to ride it more to get more of an impression, but it was very comfortable so far. I have short legs and long arms, so some weird geometries work for me.

shipwreck

I'd be pretty interested to hear what kind of gravel you have been on. Lots of the stuff around here has flint in it, and I just got rid of a pile of tires of various makes that didn't make it very long(two of them less than 1/8 mile!). I mostly have better luck with commuter tires, which are heavy. Serfas drifters in 26' 55mm feel good at low pressures and are durable, but so sluggish.

My old KHS has pretty similar geometry, but I didn't like it with drops as much as trekking bars with bigger tires. So far its been my replace broken parts with old parts about to break bike, but if I could sort the tire situation I might hang some good bits on it.

The Golden Boy 

I've been trying to find that happy medium for the bar width. Again, I've got trekking bars on it now- the grips are a touch too close- but the 'out wide' section is too wide- or maybe it's wide and reach-y- plus I don't think I can get the brake levers around that bend. I suppose I could try a different set of bars- not like they were expensive or anything.

I get that 'high up' feeling. It's funny, I see people on hybrids that just seem way up there- that's how I feel on the High Sierra most of the time.

lostarchitect 

I have been on zero gravel so far. There are plenty of dirt and gravel roads around, though, so I don't think it'll take too long to find one I want to ride on.

lostarchitect 

Now you guys have me in my head about being high up! I'll try and notice how it feels on the weekend. The bike is at my place upstate so I can't ride it during the week.

I have a tough time with bar width too. I like the hoods to be about 42cm apart, I think. The drops don't get a lot of use, except for shifting, so I prefer bars that splay out a bit so they are easily reachable and not likely to get bumped by a knee. These are 46cm at the drops.

fender1

Very nice conversion! If it were a tad bigger I would have done the same thing!