BluesDawg

I've just finished reconfiguring my '92 Trek 970 lugged steel MTB frame as an upright piddling around road bike. Essentially a rigid fork hybrid with fairly narrow smooth tires and flat bars. This frame made a very good aggressive singletrack bike and it makes a fun road bike. The True Temper OX tubing and fairly tight geometry make for a lively, responsive bike whether setup for on or off road.

I took a short shakedown ride on it today and it rode pretty well. I still need to do some fine tuning on the front derailleur and maybe a shorter BB spindle for a better chainline. It is going to be a fun bike. The jury is still out on the handlebars, but they feel pretty good.

Here are the highlights:

'92 (I think) Trek 970 frame
"Big Fork" rigid steel fork
26" Sun Rhyno Lite rims, LX 32sp hubs
8sp cassette 12-28
old LX crank 26-36-46
IRC Smoothie 26x1.25 tires
Brooks Flyer saddle
Kalloy adjustable stem
Dimension Trekking bars
Deore frt der.
Alivio r. der.
Alivio 8sp Rapidfire shifters
Tektro V-brakes and levers
Nashbar Rodeo pedals

Digital Gee

That is one FINE looking bike!

I like those handlebars; I'd not seen something like that before. There's plenty of room to hang a computer, or a bell, or a small camera bag, or whatever.

Was there a particular reason for the springs under the Brooks, or is that what you in your shop? Just curious about that.

And one other question: is the "L" missing or supposed to be missing in the SingleTrack decal? My aging eyes can't figure that one out.

Sweeeeeet looking ride! I wish I had the skills to build up a bike. That's really impressive to me.

maddmaxx 

You know I'm going to like it. I'm partial to modified MTB to all purpose bikes.

Nice to see a black bike.

Its even got a pretty nice quill stem.

Good job.

BluesDawg

Thanks. I'm pretty well pleased with the way it turned out. The gaudy decal did say Singletrack originally. One of these days I'm going to repaint this frame without all those ugly white decals.

The sprung Brooks Flyer is what I happened to have around, but it goes well with this type of bike with an upright sitting position. Enough of my weight will be on the saddle for the springs to be active.

ang1sgt

Yep! She's a 1992 Trek to be sure! That Blueish Purple Paint was a one year deal. Mine is the same frame and they are built like a Tank. Mine is out on loan to my Brother, but I need to get it back from him. Mine is a 19.5 inch frame. Been thinking of stripping it down and repainting it in a more classic way to highlight the fact that it's got LUGS!

I bought this bike just after I came back from the First Gulf War. I road it many miles in the Adirondack Mountains blazing new trails for the Boy Scout Camp up there. I have too many fond memories of that bike and the rides I had on it.

Very Nice Job BluesDawg!

Chris

maddmaxx 

Not only can I not name states, I can't name colors. Now that my eyes are open I see that the black bike is actually purple. Oh well, at least I still know that its thursday.

George

That's a pretty looking bike BluesDawg, nice job. I was wondering what kind of setback seatpost that was. I ordered a Salsa a few days ago, it looks nice.

Terrierman

That looks like a bike that Tom Bombadil would fall in love with. I like it a lot too, looks way too ummm capable of doing whatever needs doing on one's bike. Very nice. I especially like the bars, they make me wish mine weren't so comfortable, so I'd have an excuse to give those a try. The adjustable stem is a nice touch. I see what you mean about maybe a shorter BB spindle. Great job man.

BluesDawg

Nothing special. Just a plain old cheap Kalloy seatpost. Under $20 from my LBS. I like the Salsa post. Much easier to adjust than this kind.

BluesDawg

The adjustable stem is a means to an end. Now that I see where it wants to be, I have a stem that matches that position almost exactly. So I'll be swapping that over soon. Fortunately, that stem also has a removeable faceplate. These bars could not be used with the old type of stem. You couldn't get past the riser section.

JanMM

A hybrid has gotta have 700c wheels/tires. What you have is a Comfort Bike! You don't deny that it has a comfortable ride, right? Looks like a versatile, highly functional Sing_etrack.

card

Here's you one, George, that you can get in four sizes.
https://www.moots.com/store-indivdisp...ium+Components

card

Refer back to the reading glasses thread.

card

Nice bike, Bluesdawg. Looks like it would make a great tourer.

Tom Bombadil

Tom Bombadil on lugged steel???

Digital Gee

Isn't that a lugged steel winged helmet?

maddmaxx 

No thats a Lug in a winged helmet.

George

I did look at them, until I found out what they cost, then I needed something to get me out of shock. Where do you draw the line, on some of this stuff.

BluesDawg

That's a Moots. If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

BluesDawg

The hybrid bass in the local lake don't have 700c wheels!

The bike is comfortable, but not soft and mushy like what I would associate with comfort bikes. To me, this bike is definitely a hybrid, a morphing of an agile, sporty MTB with fast rolling road rubber and upright city bike riding position. I think the kind of rider who is drawn to comfort bikes would find it harsh and twitchy.

BluesDawg

Possibly. But it would need a few changes to make it more comfortable for the long haul. I think anything more than an hour or two on this bike I would be longing for a more stretched out position and more places to put my hands. I did build a MTB conversion once with drop bars and a more relaxed frame that would have worked better as a touring bike than this one would. This bike's personality is more to the tune of zipping through gaps in traffic and straigtening out twist roads and paths. I might want to put slightly fatter tires on it later to make it better at blasting through potholes and rough roads.

JanMM

Toyota Prius doesn't have 700c wheels, either.

stapfam

Best tyre I have found for the use you want to put it to would be a Semi- Slick tyre. Only problem is that they usually come in 1.95 width but I saw a bike last year that had 1.5 semi- slicks on it. For the summer trails- these were superb. Narrow for fast rolling but just wide enough to give comfort and the Slight tread got him through the damp patches in the corners without sliding.

Retro Grouch 

I disagree. The early Gary Fisher hybrids had 26" wheels.

Also, mules, a hybrid if ever there was one, come in 2 sizes depending on whether the mother was the horse or the donkey.

JanMM

Mules should have 700c wheels, too.