Originally Posted by
dyander
I'm trying to decide if I should turn the bike I have into the ride I want, or whether I should be in the hunt for the right frame.
My local terrain is steep and the best roads are rough or dirt, I'm not a mountain biker and don't go off road, but I lke to get off the well traveled roads. I need a sturdy long wheelbase stable ride to build up with a wide gear range and some cush tires. This bike will take some road abuse.
This Paramount found me
Attachment 153883
Here's the direction I'm going
Attachment 153881
I love the way it rides and I am tempted to continue to upgrade for this purpose, pedals, saddle, some serious brakes and hit the gravel. On the other hand the bike has obvious collector appeal (though the paint is pretty rough) and the beater treatment will send it down the slippery slope to no return.
Do I go for it or hold out for more of a cyclocross type frame?
What you need to know is, can you throw a wide enough tire on there, CX tires are wider then road tires, and off road tires are wider still, now if it's designed for a 27 x 1¼ those are 32mm wide, so with a 700C should should be able to get a set of 35 - 38mm CX tires in there. Put on a triple cranks and you have a CX bike.
By the same token, you can look for a late 1980's to mid 1990's solid fork MTB, they go for about a $ a dozen, already have the low gearing and can take anything up to a 26 x 2¼ tire.