drops on a mtb frame?
 

Hey, first time posting on the 'cross board - so bear with me.

So, I've got this 02 cannondale badboy, and its a prety sweet bike built on the caad3 frame. however, I do all my riding in the city of pittsburgh, which has lots of hills, cracked pavement, MUD. its a far cry from a mountain or smooth as glass asphalt.

that said, can i put drops on my bike? will the geometry work? -- Can i use sti shifters? Or would bullhorn (like TT) bars with barcons and aero levers be better? I dont get a whole lot out the straight bar since I dont get very many hand positions out of it.

-- also, can i put a 700c wheelset on that bike? That should raise the bb height from the ground right? Its on 26x1 hutchinson's right now. They roll fast, but they are no good for bad streets etc. I might just go back to my 1.5 fatboys.

lots and lots questions. any help is appreciated! Thanks. -nrs

I think I can answer the second part there ... no you can't use 700c wheels on a frame designed for 26" wheels. As far as the first part, I'm curious myself. ;)

Yeah, I did that...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=39485

George

That's a mountain bike frame?? Doesnt look it ...

Sure, it's a MTB frame........canti bosses set for 26" rims. It's a brand new old stock frame I found on Ebay. Believe me, if I put flat bars and fat tires on it, it'll look like a typical Mtb.... ;)

George

Cool! :D

Dear Nealtek,

As you can see from the pics of The Fixer's ride, you can indeed put drops on a mtb. Keep in mind that in order to keep your cockpit dimensions the same, you will need to switch to a shorter reach stem. drop bars add about 6 or 7 cm worth of reach if you plan riding with your hands on the brake hoods. Also keep in mind that you may run into brake lever/brake caliper compatibility issues if you currently run V-brakes or discs - this might prevent you from using STI levers, I don't know. Bullhorns will present the same challenges.

best o' luck
BK

More of a commuter than a cx question, but....
Is the Bad Boy a disk brake setup. I know some of them are designed to be switched between 26" and 700c. It probably makes less difference than you think, switching between from a narrow MTB tyre to a med (28-32) 700c commuting tyre. In the UK many riders use 26" MTB on light touring as well as expedition bikes (see sjscycles.com)
1.5 slicks are pretty standard for a fast 26" commuter and probably give the best balance between speed and comfort on rough roads.
Putting drop on will, as stated, shift your "normal" position (ie the brake hoods) forward quite a bit. You should set your bars to be where your hands are, not the other way around.
Drop bar integrated levers do not have a gear cable tensioner. The tensioner is usually built into the cable guide on the frame, otherwise you can only retension at the mech.
Alternate bar options include putting mini aerobars (like Spinacci) on your flats.

i have a rigid badboy, so no discs for me. I guess the front suspension models have no brake bosses so it doesent matter what size wheels you put on em. Yeah, I really like those 26x1.0's, but they just arent practical for the crap I ride through. I think I will probably switch back to 1.5's. (of course... its starting to get cold. I may have to stop riding anyway)

For that reason, I installed in-line cable adjusters on both derailleurs cables and another one in the rear brake cable housing. I found these in-line adjusters for a couple bucks apiece at my LBS.

George

It might be possible to put 700c wheels on there even if it's set up with regular brakes. First, you would have to make sure they would fit in the frame, which I'm pretty sure they would since the frame will be set up for clearance of big knobby tires. Then you'll need some brakes that will allow the pads to be set high enough to hit the larger rim diameter. The only brakes I know of like that are the Paul MotoBMX.

That's good to know. I'll have to look into that myself. But I wonder, with pads riding up that high on the cantis, stopping power (canti leverage) may be reduced?

George