Hey guys/gals.

First off, I'm a road/track bike kinda guy. I have literally zero experience with mountain bikes, hence by being here asking these ridiculous questions.

I need a beater/lockup bike. I can't really park my road or track bike anywhere and not worry about it. I want a hard tail mtb with a rigid fork. I figure the fewer moving parts, the better. I'm picking up a Nishiki Manitoba (1991?) tomorrow for stupid cheap and have a couple questions.

What size does it look? 22"? The guy selling it doesn't know much about it, but I threw the picture into photoshop, put a line from edge to edge of the rim through the hub (which should make for a 22" line, 'cause the ERD on a 26" wheel is pretty much 22 inches), and it fit spot on for the seat tube center to top.

Any recommended tire? It's primarily gonna be ridden on the street, I wanted a MTB instead of a roadie beater, 'cause there are some decent trails that I'd like to toy around with here. Keep in mind it is a beater, and I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible (said everyone, ever).

I'm going to convert it to a single speed. Any issues with that? It's a beater, and I don't really want to bother with 22 year old derailleurs.

I'm going to throw some drop bars and levers on it. Any problems there?

Lastly, anything I should make sure to check before buying it?

Here she is:



Thanks, anything you give me is better that what I have, haha.