Originally Posted by
braintree39
The old road bike is awesome on nice days. If I could just add fenders and fatter tires to it, I'd just go with that! However, there just isn't enough clearance. The hybrid is breaking down and I'm probably just going to scrap it - but I ride it on rainy days.
So I'm hoping for something that feels like a road bike but can handle a small amount of off-roading. My budget is flexible - I'd rather save for better components, but I also don't want to spend money on components that are way more than I need...
I'm looking at Shimano 105s, Shimano Deore, XT, Tiagra... Etc. Etc. I was also curious about a single speed on the front... For brakes - I don't need disc brakes, I'm ok with anything. Definitely want drop handlebars and I really like the downtube shifters on my road bike, so I'd like to have those!
I converted an early 90s Bianchi road bike to something like you described. To mount larger tires, I build up a set of 650B wheels which have a bead seat diameter of 584mm instead of 622mm. This allowed me to mount 42 mm tires. I used Shimano 105 components and decided that a single chainring in the front, coupled to an 11 speed cog in the back was perfect. To minimize chaindrop, I opted for a Wolf Tooth Drop-Stop narrow-wide chainring. I used a bar-end shifter because I could not find an indexed 11 speed downtube shifter. I understand that DiaCompe makes a friction lever for DT mounting, though. Fitting fenders for these larger tires is in the plan for the future, but I know that it will be difficult in the front with the Bianchi unicrown fork. Still thinking about my options on this, but am not in a hurry. This bike is not my commuting bike so I avoid riding in bad weather. Here's a picture:
