inkandsilver

I love the Rockhopper brothers! Great looking conversions. And KAH, great story too. Both of your bikes appear to have what I have been seeking for my High Sierra - a dirt drop stem with looong extension. The one I have is 10cm, but I am guessing yours are 12cm or so. Anyone know where I can get a hold of one like that?

bikemig 

I'm digging your bike. I'll bet its a plush pub crawler with the swept back bars and single speed set up. Very nice.

Yeah, I used randonneur bars. I thought they were just about perfect for this build since they are slightly flared up (which is helpful for putting drops on a smaller frame) and out which makes them comfy when in the drops. The saddle is not a Brooks but a Selle Anatomica. The SA saddle has a longer rail than the Brooks which is really helpful in getting the setback right.

I'm putting fenders on the bike and a beefy rack (Jandd expedition) so I can use the bike as an everyday commuter and a touring bike. It will make one heck of a beefy touring bike! The wheelbase is 41 and 1/4 inches since this bike was made before mtbs became racing machines; my 91 team stumpy has a much shorter wheel base than my drop bar conversion which is a 1989 stump comp.

bikemig 

Thanks! Yep, its an SA. That's a better choice I think for a drop bar MTB conversion because of the longer rails. It can be tough to get the setback right since the dimensions are obviously different from your road bike. I wanted something I could tinker with without having to change the stem.

WNG

Some great looking Specialized additions to this thread. Nice work guys!

That GT Timberline is no slouch either! Love those triple-triangles.

KAH

Ink&silver

The Stem was the hardest piece to find.

I found mine after a bit of a web scrounging at Ben’s Cycle in Milwaukee.
https://www.benscycle.com/p-2547-nit...-260120mm.aspx


Neo-pop I’m afraid I have not been kind to the Deore/Stags and have scraped them over a few rocks I should have hopped but they are still working well.



Thanks to the rest of you too who commented about the build and or my bike’s hair

YoKev

Built from the parts bin mostly, and frame/fork from dumpster! Suntour barcons with VGT rear dereailleur. The 1 1/4 inch headset and Gary Fisher evolution BB was interesting....funky stuff.


Gary Fisher AL-1

inkandsilver

Ah, nice, thank you. I had done plenty of web scrounging, including at Ben's, but somehow missed that! Almost every other one out there is 80 or 100mm.

inkandsilver

YoKev, I like it. Looks like a brawler. And you have a nice parts bin.

simmonsgc

Now that's how you do it right there. This should be our strategy for how we get the whole world riding bicycles. Comfortable, utilitarian, and bombproof. Nicely done! One other thing I dig about this thread: It's not just any shaved gorilla who can take a pile of parts (some possibly "found" parts as above), put them all together and make it work. These builds speak to builder's experience, skills, ingenuity, and inventiveness... which is another reason I think they are really great.

YoKev

Awww, thanks guys

One challenge for the build was finding a front cable hanger for the cantilever brakes; it's a 1.25 quill/headset and finding such hanger was seemingly near ubotanium, but then again, I didn't look too hard.

I ended up making one out of a seatpost accessory mount, a plastic reflector mount (shim to make the inside diameter of the accessory mount 1.25"), a piece of a sturdy reflector bracket for the hanger, and a barrel adjuster from a dual pivot road brake. Voila!

By the way, for anyone else with a similar frame:

-Bearings for the bottom bracket are still made and your hardware store can get them for you. Very affordable. If you don't have the spindle and circlips, I wish you luck in your quest! You're gonna need it...
-Trek quill stem for the 1.25" headset found on the Mombat website for a reasonable price considering...
-Headset options are either a risky chance on eBay, $100+ Cane Creek, a $150+ Chris King, or a $25 one from Bike Friday. I chose the $25 one; you get what you pay for but it does hold your front end together.

frantik

^ that is pretty creative, though for drop bar conversions I prefer to use a fork mounted cable stop like this

YoKev

That would have been sweet, but alas, my fork isn't drilled. I didn't want to ruin the paint This bike was a fun build, but weird!

frantik

good thing you saved the paint!

anixi

Yeah, if you in future want to re-sell, the paint is probably the top priority thing a collector will look at...

Paramount1973 

Great looking bike! That'll turn a few heads on the trails.

cobrabyte

KAH thanks for sharing your story. Really I am humbled by your build. Thanks for the kind words man!

Took my Rockhopper touring this past week and I have to say it is truly an all purpose bike. It tours great, commutes great and I was able to hit some MTB trails, too. It handled everything except the roughest black diamond trails with no issues at all. Those 'easy' trails can be a challenge with no suspension and slick tires, all the more fun IMO

My friend also toured and MTB'd on his vintage Spalding ATB that I found being tossed out curbside. He rebuilt it and gave it a new life and now after this tour he is a 26" convert as well he was talking about getting some moustache bars for his rig and I fully support the idea.

wintermute

This is really a mechanics question, but I figured there's more collective knowledge about this on this thread than anywhere else on the forum, AND IT'S ALL YOUR (collective) FAULT THAT I'M IN THIS PREDICAMENT…

Has anyone successfully negotiated an On-One Midge Bar through a 25.4mm dia. Nitto Dirt Drop stem? If so, please share some pointers with me. I tried using a screwdriver as a lever/wedge, but was only willing to open up the stem so far, and I'm getting jammed up. Please help. I want to show some WIP pics, but it helps to get the drops on the drop bar conversion before showing pics. It's going to be a brutishly beautiful Kuwahara doomsday tourer.

neo_pop_71

Hey wintermute,

Yes, I've done it, it's tight rolling the Midge bar through the clamping area even with a wedged opening. I enlisted a buddy's help when I installed the Midge bar, I reenlisted his help on the subsequent removal of the Midge and install of a SOMA Sparrow six months later. The Sparrow has even tighter bends but it can be done without chewing up the bars. My buddy opened the clamp slightly when it bound up as I turned and rolled the bar past the sticking point. I have to say communication and patience did the trick! The Midge bar with a Nitto "Dirt Drop" stem is a fantastic set up for one of these conversions, once you've got it installed I know you'll enjoy your component choice. Let's see some photos once you've got it installed on your Kuwahara. Thanks!

-D-

wrk101

For a small investment (under $20), you can avoid the headache and pick up a removable face plate stem at Niagara Cycle. I just got one myself.

wrk101

Thanks for sharing. I love to see these creations IN ACTION!!

revcp 

I'm going to have to side with the OP here. The dirt drop stem is elegant in a way that a bunch of bolts just is not. I had mighty issues getting a Soma Hwy One through the DA stem on my Team Miyata road bike, but I'm glad I made it work. Keep trying!

KAH

Great looking pair cobrabyte, and love the action shots. If the 3 of us could ride together we might look like some sort of a biker gang.

I was unaware Spalding ever sold bikes. I know they make one of the best out door volleyballs, but bikes? Looks nice, I suspect the only original thing left on it is the frame. I have never ridden a bike with mustache bars they intrigue me the look always reminds me of a Hammerhead Shark and it seems like they would have good hand positions. If he does it I hope you can post a picture.

Man you don’t mess around when you tour, have you weighed your bike when It has all that gear?

With all the wrench talent on this forum I’m apprehensive to confess I’m having the LBS replace my BB. I justified paying someone else to get greasy for me because it looked like a direct replacement spindle and cups were going to be a mail order if I could even find them NOS and with my lack of experience I feared messing up the chain line with anything else plus it would take some tools I don’t have to even get in there.

Geesh the LBS is a dangers place, I bought some new tires for my road bike (Specialized All Condition Armadillos oxymoron?), a new helmet and had to fight temptation when the siren call of the Specialized Secteurs wanted me to go for a test ride. Fortunately this Rockhopper build gave me the strength to get out of there before I sat on anything my wallet would regret.

After a few short rides on my old Trek I’am eager to get the Rockhopper back the character of the bike has been so changed it feels like a completely new ride.

MyBikeGotStolen

Not a very good pic of it, but here is my daily commuter that I built out of junk in the parts bin. It is an old Raleigh Glacier (I haven't been able to find any info on these at all). I am kind of thinking about putting the knobbies back on there just for the "wow" factor, but with a 20 mile commute round trip, I am not sure if I want to suffer through knobbies. Also, notice the friction stem shifters on there. I love them, and for <$20 they were a perfect set-it-and-forget-it solution

I bought this used as my first adult bike back in 2007 and have went through 10 difference bikes since, and this is still the one that sees the most miles.

eastbay71

I'm pretty close to finished with my new dirt drop bike. I started with my old Motobecane and added a set of On One Midge bars, Shimano Durace 9 speed bar cons, Shimano R400 break levers. I repainted the frame espresso brown satin and polished the front and rear derailleurs that were heavily scratched. I added a Chris King headset, some halo hex skewers and rasta stripes on the chain stay for color. Derailleurs and brakes are Deore XT but I'm still using the Truvativ crank, chain rings and bottom bracket that came on the bike. Wheels are mismatched at this point. A keen eye will notice that the front wheel is a 36 spoke and the rear is a 32 spoke. I'm waiting on a matching wheel to show up on eBay or Craigslist. I haven't put the bar tape on yet because I'm thinking about changing out the cables. I need to lengthen the chain. I could only find a 114 link chain but I think I need a couple more links because the rear derailleur is too stretched out when I'm in the big big combo. I've wanted to build this bike for a while and reading this thread gave me the push to do it.

frantik

finally took a pic of my girlfriend's 1989 Stumpjumper Comp. I transferred all the components from her 1988 Rockhopper after I picked up the Stumpy and stripped it for parts