Show Your Vintage MTB Drop Bar Conversions
#201
Carpe Velo
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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Bikes: 2000 Bianchi Veloce, '88 Schwinn Prologue, '90 Bianchi Volpe,'94 Yokota Grizzly Peak, Yokota Enterprise, '16 Diamondback Haanjo, '91 Bianchi Boardwalk, Ellsworth cruiser
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No, I have the ones that are an odd ergo shape, I forget the model number.
Finished up, here's what she looks like. Certainly some additional tweaks to come, and I'm not sure if I'm going to prefer these bars or go to a more conventional shape after a while. Taking it out for a shakedown cruise on a group ride in a bit.
Finished up, here's what she looks like. Certainly some additional tweaks to come, and I'm not sure if I'm going to prefer these bars or go to a more conventional shape after a while. Taking it out for a shakedown cruise on a group ride in a bit.
Likes For Yo Spiff:
#202
Senior Member
It isn't cheap and it is orange (OK in my book...) but this fork from Handsome cycles is the only one I could find for my 23+" 85 Stumpjumper.
https://handsomecycles.com/accessories.php
https://handsomecycles.com/accessories.php
#203
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Thanks for the compliments folks.
And thanks to Andrew / realestvin7
Two of my fav frames have been provided courtesy of him.
I now have about 200 miles on the Cimarron since completing it & am digging it more & more.
Those fat street tires absorb the rough road shocks so well.
It is fun to be able to easily drop down from curbs as well.
I would like to eventually get a better set of wheels for it.
I ruined the rear one 2 weeks back that I was using with wide flange hubs so I used the hollow axle, bearing, & cones
from it to convert a nutted solid axle wheel I had on hand to one with Q/R.
At least the bike shop mechanic said he could not retrue it.
I expect a good wheel building person could do it. ..or at perhaps even rebuild it.
That's the next thing I would like to learn how to do.
Cockpit component list & why I picked them.
Over the years I have found my preferred position is a flat area on top of road bars and
usually 44 or 45cm wide bars work best for me. I tried a 48 cm road bar once & found it too wide for my likes.
About the only time I go to the drops is if facing a pretty good headwind or just needing another position
on a long ride. The Biomax drops seem made for my hands.
I just like the available hand positions of a road bar better than any mtb bar or swept back style bar that uses hand grips.
It's so cool to run across this thread & get inspired & decide to covert a mt bike to road bars.
I like the results a lot.
*Ritchey Biomax handlebars 44 or 45 c-c ...I forget.
They were all black & I spent about 1.5 hrs sanding only the center section using 220, then 400, then 600, then 2000 grit sandpaper & then some of my wife's silver polish to finish off to get a shine acceptable to me.
When wrapping the bars I ran out of tape about 1.5 " shy of completing so I just used the brown cloth
tape I had left over from a previous project. The look is kind of growing on me.
*Tektro RL340 Aero Levers with Q/R (Wasn't sure I would like as well as the 200A levers I had used in the past but I do like them even better.
www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=67&sortname=Lever&sort=1&fid=3
*Tektro RL720 Top Mounted Cross Levers ...I spend so much time with my hands in this area
these are just flat out convenient for me & I get great grip leverage when using them.
I now have them on 3 of my bikes plus my wife's bike.
www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=58&sortname=Lever&sort=1&fid=3
When trying to build up a frame on a tight budget it sure helps me to have these economical brake levers available.
*VeloOrange Stem
https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...0-17-rise.html
I went with a 8cm stem since I usually prefer a 58cm TT on my bikes but this Cimarron has a
60cm TT so I went shorter on the stem accordingly & it is working well for me.
*Soma High Rider Stem Adapter
https://store.somafab.com/sohiristad.html
Getting the bars up higher is easier on the old back & this thing will certainly get'em up there.
At first I tried the VO Orange Stem Adaptor but it did not get it as high as I desired. I do like the VO Orange adaptor on on my 25" frames
but this Cimarron is a 23" frame.
*Bar Ends are Microshift like RivBike offers although they offer only left side levers because the right side has no friction mode.
The right side is for 9 speed indexed & I am running a 7 speed rear so I have to double click on a couple of gears.
Anyone want to trade a left lever for a right indexed lever?
*Cable housing Silver braided from Velo Orange.
Someone mentioned the canti's. They are some vintage Dia Compe 981's that were take offs from some other bike.
They are working adequately with the levers but the pads are not great so new pads will be a soon to come upgrade.
FYI…Derailleurs are some early 90's Suntour XCE that were also some I had on hand & they are working well even they I guess they are not exactly high end but they helped on the budget factor as did the used wheels & older Exage Mountain Triple Crank with 28 x 38 x 48 Biopace rings I also had in the parts box. Thank the Lord for a decent parts box when doing a tight budget build.
That Tange Nova 300 headset is also original & I kinda like the unusual look about it.
Safe riding to you all & apologies this turned out so long.
And thanks to Andrew / realestvin7
Two of my fav frames have been provided courtesy of him.
I now have about 200 miles on the Cimarron since completing it & am digging it more & more.
Those fat street tires absorb the rough road shocks so well.
It is fun to be able to easily drop down from curbs as well.
I would like to eventually get a better set of wheels for it.
I ruined the rear one 2 weeks back that I was using with wide flange hubs so I used the hollow axle, bearing, & cones
from it to convert a nutted solid axle wheel I had on hand to one with Q/R.
At least the bike shop mechanic said he could not retrue it.
I expect a good wheel building person could do it. ..or at perhaps even rebuild it.
That's the next thing I would like to learn how to do.
Cockpit component list & why I picked them.
Over the years I have found my preferred position is a flat area on top of road bars and
usually 44 or 45cm wide bars work best for me. I tried a 48 cm road bar once & found it too wide for my likes.
About the only time I go to the drops is if facing a pretty good headwind or just needing another position
on a long ride. The Biomax drops seem made for my hands.
I just like the available hand positions of a road bar better than any mtb bar or swept back style bar that uses hand grips.
It's so cool to run across this thread & get inspired & decide to covert a mt bike to road bars.
I like the results a lot.
*Ritchey Biomax handlebars 44 or 45 c-c ...I forget.
They were all black & I spent about 1.5 hrs sanding only the center section using 220, then 400, then 600, then 2000 grit sandpaper & then some of my wife's silver polish to finish off to get a shine acceptable to me.
When wrapping the bars I ran out of tape about 1.5 " shy of completing so I just used the brown cloth
tape I had left over from a previous project. The look is kind of growing on me.
*Tektro RL340 Aero Levers with Q/R (Wasn't sure I would like as well as the 200A levers I had used in the past but I do like them even better.
www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=67&sortname=Lever&sort=1&fid=3
*Tektro RL720 Top Mounted Cross Levers ...I spend so much time with my hands in this area
these are just flat out convenient for me & I get great grip leverage when using them.
I now have them on 3 of my bikes plus my wife's bike.
www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=58&sortname=Lever&sort=1&fid=3
When trying to build up a frame on a tight budget it sure helps me to have these economical brake levers available.
*VeloOrange Stem
https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...0-17-rise.html
I went with a 8cm stem since I usually prefer a 58cm TT on my bikes but this Cimarron has a
60cm TT so I went shorter on the stem accordingly & it is working well for me.
*Soma High Rider Stem Adapter
https://store.somafab.com/sohiristad.html
Getting the bars up higher is easier on the old back & this thing will certainly get'em up there.
At first I tried the VO Orange Stem Adaptor but it did not get it as high as I desired. I do like the VO Orange adaptor on on my 25" frames
but this Cimarron is a 23" frame.
*Bar Ends are Microshift like RivBike offers although they offer only left side levers because the right side has no friction mode.
The right side is for 9 speed indexed & I am running a 7 speed rear so I have to double click on a couple of gears.
Anyone want to trade a left lever for a right indexed lever?
*Cable housing Silver braided from Velo Orange.
Someone mentioned the canti's. They are some vintage Dia Compe 981's that were take offs from some other bike.
They are working adequately with the levers but the pads are not great so new pads will be a soon to come upgrade.
FYI…Derailleurs are some early 90's Suntour XCE that were also some I had on hand & they are working well even they I guess they are not exactly high end but they helped on the budget factor as did the used wheels & older Exage Mountain Triple Crank with 28 x 38 x 48 Biopace rings I also had in the parts box. Thank the Lord for a decent parts box when doing a tight budget build.
That Tange Nova 300 headset is also original & I kinda like the unusual look about it.
Safe riding to you all & apologies this turned out so long.
Last edited by cooperryder; 08-16-12 at 10:40 AM. Reason: typo
#205
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
We still make stems like these and they are actually pretty simple design wise... the fixing bolt is secured from below instead of up top so you get a seamless stem with the downside that it is not quite as easy to adjust as a stem with a top bolt.
#207
Senior Member
#208
BEHOLD! THE MANTICORE!
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crap I want one of these now...post for parts needed in ISO thread
Last edited by rotharpunc; 08-24-12 at 10:02 PM. Reason: I cant type
#209
Thrifty Bill
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+1 Nicely done. I need to convert my old lugged Trek 950.
To the earlier question on sizing, there's quite a gap between my road bike size and my MTB size, 22 inch vs 18 inch. Tried a 19 inch MTB for a while, too big. YMMV.
To the earlier question on sizing, there's quite a gap between my road bike size and my MTB size, 22 inch vs 18 inch. Tried a 19 inch MTB for a while, too big. YMMV.
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Please don't confuse ebay "asking" prices with "selling" prices. Many sellers never get their ask price. some are far from it. Value is determined once an item actually SELLS. Its easy enough to check SOLD prices.
Please don't confuse ebay "asking" prices with "selling" prices. Many sellers never get their ask price. some are far from it. Value is determined once an item actually SELLS. Its easy enough to check SOLD prices.
#210
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
My 55cm Kuwahara Cascade and Shasta have 58cm top tubes on their classic diamond frames while my modern Rocky Mountain Blizzard is a 50 cm frame with a 58cm top tube which makes the effective top tube on all three of these bikes the same.
#211
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
It isn't cheap and it is orange (OK in my book...) but this fork from Handsome cycles is the only one I could find for my 23+" 85 Stumpjumper.
https://handsomecycles.com/accessories.php
https://handsomecycles.com/accessories.php
#212
Carpe Velo
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 2,519
Bikes: 2000 Bianchi Veloce, '88 Schwinn Prologue, '90 Bianchi Volpe,'94 Yokota Grizzly Peak, Yokota Enterprise, '16 Diamondback Haanjo, '91 Bianchi Boardwalk, Ellsworth cruiser
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I was talking with Doohickie the other day on a ride and the Surly Long Haul Trucker came up in the conversation. I decided my conversion is also an LHT, a Long Haul Trekker.
#213
You gonna eat that?
#215
Carpe Velo
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 2,519
Bikes: 2000 Bianchi Veloce, '88 Schwinn Prologue, '90 Bianchi Volpe,'94 Yokota Grizzly Peak, Yokota Enterprise, '16 Diamondback Haanjo, '91 Bianchi Boardwalk, Ellsworth cruiser
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Of interest is when I did a search for info on that model, your bike (with the flat bars still on it) is the one that Google offered as images of that bike.
#216
Ellensburg, WA
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Same question here for my 1989 Peugeot Limestone hybrid - almost have all the parts gathered.
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1984 Gitane Tour de France; 1968 Peugeot PL8; 1982 Nishiki Marina 12; 1984 Peugeot PSV; 1993 Trek 950 mtb; 1983 Vitus 979; Colnago Super, mid-80's Bianchi Veloce, 1984 or 85 Vitus 979
1984 Gitane Tour de France; 1968 Peugeot PL8; 1982 Nishiki Marina 12; 1984 Peugeot PSV; 1993 Trek 950 mtb; 1983 Vitus 979; Colnago Super, mid-80's Bianchi Veloce, 1984 or 85 Vitus 979
#217
You gonna eat that?
Before:
Original configuration as the bike came to me in 2008, still with the store price tags from 1994 (on the handlebars)
Early commuting setup
Current setup
The handlebar setup
The mods
Drop bar mods
. Quill Stem Adapter (bought new at LBS)
. Handlebar Stem (closeout at LBS)
. Drop Bars & Tektro Brake Levers (bought together at a swap meet)
. Suntour Barcon Shifters (bought at a swap meet)
Lighting mods
. Wheelset with Schmidt SON 28 dynohub in front wheel (bought used)
. Busch & Müller Lumotec IQ Fly Senso Plus headlight with standlight
. Busch & Müller Toplight Line Plus taillight with standlight
Comfort:
. Brooks B17 Saddle
. Cinelli cork handlebar tape (shellacked)
Original configuration as the bike came to me in 2008, still with the store price tags from 1994 (on the handlebars)
Early commuting setup
Current setup
The handlebar setup
The mods
Drop bar mods
. Quill Stem Adapter (bought new at LBS)
. Handlebar Stem (closeout at LBS)
. Drop Bars & Tektro Brake Levers (bought together at a swap meet)
. Suntour Barcon Shifters (bought at a swap meet)
Lighting mods
. Wheelset with Schmidt SON 28 dynohub in front wheel (bought used)
. Busch & Müller Lumotec IQ Fly Senso Plus headlight with standlight
. Busch & Müller Toplight Line Plus taillight with standlight
Comfort:
. Brooks B17 Saddle
. Cinelli cork handlebar tape (shellacked)
Likes For Doohickie:
#218
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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^^^ I like it! VERY cool build, especially like the lighting approach. The shellacked tape looks AWESOME!
All of these bikes have a lot of character and those little unique touches. I think that's why this is my favorite C and V thread.
All of these bikes have a lot of character and those little unique touches. I think that's why this is my favorite C and V thread.
#219
You gonna eat that?
I wouldn't have thought that honey brown and purple would go together, but the combo has grown on me.
#220
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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Yeah...I would have gone black, but I think your approach worked.
A brass bell would really tie the room together
A brass bell would really tie the room together
#221
You gonna eat that?
#222
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
It looked awesome when it was new. Now it looks rather worn. I don't mind the look, but be aware that shellac doesn't stick to well to cork tape at the spots you actually touch your handlebars.
I wouldn't have thought that honey brown and purple would go together, but the combo has grown on me.
I wouldn't have thought that honey brown and purple would go together, but the combo has grown on me.
#224
Chainstay Brake Mafia
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WTB shift pods. Out of production for several years, If you are patient, a set will show on Ebay every few months. Again the setup is such to facilitate riding in the drop position. From there, using the shift pods, you can reach out with your thumb to shift while still maintaining control of the bars.
#225
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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That's a great question...they look like Suntour Commands and I agree, they seem very sensible. I might have to try this out!