Show Your Vintage MTB Drop Bar Conversions
12-22-14, 02:19 PM
#3701
That Huffy Guy
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Here is an updated pic of my 95 Huffy drop bar/700c converted mtb. Now it has shifters and gears and today the sun came out and the temps were decent for a nice ride.....
12-22-14, 03:28 PM
#3702
Thrifty Bill
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Several weeks ago I was working on the bike of a guy I know as a casual acquaintance. He brought me his bike only looking for a tune up but it was such an awesome bike and I think highly of this guy so I did a limited overhaul of the whole bike. At first he was a bit irritated and told me he couldn't afford to pay for it, I hadn't mentioned money and wasn't interested in the money.
Today he called me and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. We met up and he presented me with this. He loved what I did to his bike so much and since I wouldn't take money he gave me this bike.
He dated it to 1989 and judging from the purple and turquoise paint splatters and the funky rear triangle that seems about right. It rides great but is going to need new cables, housings, bearings, grease etc.
I am curious what you all think about a drop bar conversion. I barely fit, it is a bit too large but I think with a short stem it will work. What do you think?
Today he called me and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. We met up and he presented me with this. He loved what I did to his bike so much and since I wouldn't take money he gave me this bike.
He dated it to 1989 and judging from the purple and turquoise paint splatters and the funky rear triangle that seems about right. It rides great but is going to need new cables, housings, bearings, grease etc.
I am curious what you all think about a drop bar conversion. I barely fit, it is a bit too large but I think with a short stem it will work. What do you think?
On my drop bar conversions the geometry is almost identical to my road bikes. Saddle height vs handlebar height is the same. Distance from nose of saddle to handlebars are the same, saddle to crank is the same.
i am fortunate that I have a pile of parts to play around with. I never ride in the drops. It's all about riding across the tops of the bars to the lever hoods.
I also have short legs and long torso and arms. So on road bikes I tend to have negative stand over and a long stem just to get enough top tube length. So the longer top tube on a mtb is not a problem.
I put a photo summary (lots of pics) on my Facebook page comparing 3 bikes: my 1987 Schwinn Prologue racing bike (~22 inch frame size), my 1989 red Cimarron (20 inch frame size) and my 1987 Cimarron (21 inch frame size). TT length: Prologue: 21 inches, red Cimarron: 22 inches, green Cimarron: 23 inches. Yet distance from nose of the saddle to handlebars is identical on all three bikes, as is distance from top of saddle to center of BB. Obviously, stem length is different on each bike (~ 5 inch long on the Prologue, 4 inch long on the red Cimarron).
You can get super short stems for mtbs. I've had one that was 60mm (a little over 2 1/4 inches long).
I have a chrome Ross with a 22 inch frame, I was hoping to push it a little and get it to fit. No way.
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Last edited by wrk101; 12-23-14 at 07:12 AM.
12-22-14, 09:56 PM
#3703
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Straddling the bike, my first reaction is to turn my head and cough. Were it a 1/2" taller I would hurt myself. In the saddle, the post is almost all the way into the seat tube and I leaning forward more than is comfortable.
I am going to put a much shorter stem on it and see how that goes.
I am going to put a much shorter stem on it and see how that goes.
12-23-14, 06:25 AM
#3705
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The rear brake bridge is the closest fit with 5mm clearance. I did have to take the dremel tool to the lower kickstand mount to make the wheels fit.
12-23-14, 06:43 AM
#3706
Senior Member
So it doesn't feel "odd" on the handling? I had a Bridgestone MB-5 that I put 700's on, and it felt strange while riding. Like it could topple over at any second. The high bottom bracket was probably the culprit. It felt..."unsteady". It felt fine at first until I got over the initial fun of riding it, then the bad handling began to show through.,,,,BD
Last edited by Bikedued; 12-23-14 at 06:57 AM.
12-23-14, 07:07 AM
#3707
Thrifty Bill
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Straddling the bike, my first reaction is to turn my head and cough. Were it a 1/2" taller I would hurt myself. In the saddle, the post is almost all the way into the seat tube and I leaning forward more than is comfortable.
I am going to put a much shorter stem on it and see how that goes.
I am going to put a much shorter stem on it and see how that goes.
I've come to the conclusion that the drop bar conversions favor riders who typically have long stems on their road bike. That allows them to accept the longer TT of most mtbs.
Last edited by wrk101; 12-23-14 at 07:11 AM.
12-24-14, 10:35 AM
#3709
Senior Member
12-24-14, 10:46 AM
#3710
Senior Member
Good question on the ratios. The stuff I'll pick up is all 9 speed I think, but I'm not positive.
As for riding the hoods, I am also quite guilty. I do ride in the drops on my Fargo, but not so much on the Merckx.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong......
As for the MicroShift stuff, you should come over and grab my Fargo for a day. I have Microshift bar ends on it atm.
You could see if you like them. I've grown tolerant.
As for riding the hoods, I am also quite guilty. I do ride in the drops on my Fargo, but not so much on the Merckx.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong......
As for the MicroShift stuff, you should come over and grab my Fargo for a day. I have Microshift bar ends on it atm.
You could see if you like them. I've grown tolerant.
12-24-14, 11:19 AM
#3711
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My Niner is all XT and I am very happy with that one for sure.
I'm not opposed to it though, as their (Microshift) bar ends work fine once dialed.
01-05-15, 03:59 AM
#3712
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My 1990 Prairie Breaker Expert, gone from 7 speed to 10 speed with 105 STI's
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01-08-15, 10:41 AM
#3713
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I tried to post this once already, but it looks like my post disappeared...Has anyone tried doing a MTB drop bar conversion using MTB shifters and brake levers? For example, they seem to be rare but I have found a couple of drop bars (mostly old steel bars) that would accommodate the MTB shifters and brake levers (at least in terms of the diameter of the bar). Any reason to avoid doing that? I don't really care about "theoretical" functionality by the way (E.g.: "This would(n't) work because________"). In other words, has anyone actually tried this and had success (or failure)? I am guessing the main reason not to do it would be because if you spend much time in the drops the brakes and shifters are not near your hands...But anything else?
Sorry if this has already been covered in here...I looked a little bit and couldn't see anything about it...
Sorry if this has already been covered in here...I looked a little bit and couldn't see anything about it...
Last edited by Stun; 01-08-15 at 10:45 AM.
01-08-15, 10:54 AM
#3714
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Shimano History
Deore DX was around till 1993. In 1994 the new black LX replaced it as the next inline below XT. DX and LX were too much of the same because XTR bumped XT in 1992 as top of the line so some shuffling was in order and DX was axed. However, Mountain LX was contemporary with DX and was a level below DX. I think Mountain LX and Deore DX were produced from 1990 to 1993. Please note these are model years. Remember many components are made in the previous calendar year to their model year and the manufacture date corresponds to calendar and not model year.
Of course you can determine the date of your own group.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating
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1 Super Record bike, 1 Nuovo Record bike, 1 Pista, 1 Road, 1 Cyclocross/Allrounder, 1 MTB, 1 Touring, 1 Fixed gear
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01-08-15, 11:06 AM
#3715
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I tried to post this once already, but it looks like my post disappeared...Has anyone tried doing a MTB drop bar conversion using MTB shifters and brake levers? For example, they seem to be rare but I have found a couple of drop bars (mostly old steel bars) that would accommodate the MTB shifters and brake levers (at least in terms of the diameter of the bar). Any reason to avoid doing that? I don't really care about "theoretical" functionality by the way (E.g.: "This would(n't) work because________"). In other words, has anyone actually tried this and had success (or failure)? I am guessing the main reason not to do it would be because if you spend much time in the drops the brakes and shifters are not near your hands...But anything else?
Sorry if this has already been covered in here...I looked a little bit and couldn't see anything about it...
Sorry if this has already been covered in here...I looked a little bit and couldn't see anything about it...
mtb shifter on drop bars?
01-08-15, 11:33 AM
#3716
Senior Member
Mombat has a really good shimano timeline of the top MTB groups.
Shimano History
Deore DX was around till 1993. In 1994 the new black LX replaced it as the next inline below XT. DX and LX were too much of the same because XTR bumped XT in 1992 as top of the line so some shuffling was in order and DX was axed. However, Mountain LX was contemporary with DX and was a level below DX. I think Mountain LX and Deore DX were produced from 1990 to 1993. Please note these are model years. Remember many components are made in the previous calendar year to their model year and the manufacture date corresponds to calendar and not model year.
Of course you can determine the date of your own group.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating
Shimano History
Deore DX was around till 1993. In 1994 the new black LX replaced it as the next inline below XT. DX and LX were too much of the same because XTR bumped XT in 1992 as top of the line so some shuffling was in order and DX was axed. However, Mountain LX was contemporary with DX and was a level below DX. I think Mountain LX and Deore DX were produced from 1990 to 1993. Please note these are model years. Remember many components are made in the previous calendar year to their model year and the manufacture date corresponds to calendar and not model year.
Of course you can determine the date of your own group.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating
01-08-15, 12:29 PM
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Victory, Triomphe, Nuovo Gran Sport, 980, Croce D'Aune, Xenon, Stratos, Euclid.
Shimano's "Line" also covers a lot more areas of the sport including all forms of MTB, folding bikes, BMX, touring etc...
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1 Super Record bike, 1 Nuovo Record bike, 1 Pista, 1 Road, 1 Cyclocross/Allrounder, 1 MTB, 1 Touring, 1 Fixed gear
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01-08-15, 01:02 PM
#3718
Senior Member
To be fair here is a list of groups which no longer exist from about 1985 to 1995 from another well known manufacturer:
Victory, Triomphe, Nuovo Gran Sport, 980, Croce D'Aune, Xenon, Stratos, Euclid.
Shimano's "Line" also covers a lot more areas of the sport including all forms of MTB, folding bikes, BMX, touring etc...
Victory, Triomphe, Nuovo Gran Sport, 980, Croce D'Aune, Xenon, Stratos, Euclid.
Shimano's "Line" also covers a lot more areas of the sport including all forms of MTB, folding bikes, BMX, touring etc...
01-08-15, 01:05 PM
#3719
Senior Member
01-08-15, 02:41 PM
#3721
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No still the original 7 speed ones ( they are SG super narrow chain rings ) the ten speed chain sits on it perfectly, the only thing I had to change was to turn the bottom bracket spindle around to bring the drive side in by 2mm, the STI shifters didn't quiet have enough throw.
01-08-15, 03:06 PM
#3722
Senior Member
No still the original 7 speed ones ( they are SG super narrow chain rings ) the ten speed chain sits on it perfectly, the only thing I had to change was to turn the bottom bracket spindle around to bring the drive side in by 2mm, the STI shifters didn't quiet have enough throw.
01-08-15, 03:24 PM
#3723
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01-08-15, 05:44 PM
#3724
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Mombat has a really good shimano timeline of the top MTB groups.
Shimano History
Deore DX was around till 1993. In 1994 the new black LX replaced it as the next inline below XT. DX and LX were too much of the same because XTR bumped XT in 1992 as top of the line so some shuffling was in order and DX was axed. However, Mountain LX was contemporary with DX and was a level below DX. I think Mountain LX and Deore DX were produced from 1990 to 1993. Please note these are model years. Remember many components are made in the previous calendar year to their model year and the manufacture date corresponds to calendar and not model year.
Of course you can determine the date of your own group.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating
Shimano History
Deore DX was around till 1993. In 1994 the new black LX replaced it as the next inline below XT. DX and LX were too much of the same because XTR bumped XT in 1992 as top of the line so some shuffling was in order and DX was axed. However, Mountain LX was contemporary with DX and was a level below DX. I think Mountain LX and Deore DX were produced from 1990 to 1993. Please note these are model years. Remember many components are made in the previous calendar year to their model year and the manufacture date corresponds to calendar and not model year.
Of course you can determine the date of your own group.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating
01-12-15, 04:04 PM
#3725
High Plains Luddite
It looks like 25.4mm Midge bars in black are no longer available from the On One site in the UK or at Planet X in the USA. Anyone know of any other sources? I can't seem to find any - they aren't at Amazon or any of the other big bike parts websites that I know of.
From searching, it seems like the Midge bars have been very popular, so I hope they are just between production runs and haven't been discontinued entirely. Thanks for any info, if anyone knows anything.
From searching, it seems like the Midge bars have been very popular, so I hope they are just between production runs and haven't been discontinued entirely. Thanks for any info, if anyone knows anything.