I bought a HardRock hardtail five years ago. Not long after I had it, my son claimed it as his own. He recently got his drivers license, so of course he doesn't need the bike anymore and it defaulted back to me. I am thinking of using it as a gravel bike, switching out the suspension fork for a Surly 1x1 fixed and maybe even convert to SS.

My questions is, would I be better off purchasing a new SS MTB? Most SS's out there are 29-ers and at my short height I would look ridiculous on such a thing.

Ideas, anyone?