Originally Posted by Guyatwork37

My buddy and I are planning on doing a tour of Colorado this coming summer (starting and ending in the mountains, lots of climbs, camping at night, etc.). We love the look and feel of vintage steel bikes, but don't relish the thought of trying to do a mountain tour on a 10 or 12 speed with vintage components. We are toying with the idea of putting modern components (think something like Shimano 105 with a triple crank) on a vintage frame, but are unsure if it will work. I understand the rear fork spacing will need to be cold-set from 1XXmm to 130mm to accommodate a 10 - 12 speed cassette, the bottom bracket will need to be sorted out in order to accommodate a modern crankset, potentially replacing brakes for long reach if we go from a 27" to 700c tire, and possibly getting a stem adapter if we don't want to go with a quill stem, but what else am I missing? Is it even feasible? I understand the changes will cost money and time, and that's fine just trying to see if it can even be done and if worthwhile. I have a thing for Specialized bikes so I was thinking an early to mid 80s Specialized Expedition and he's British so he was looking at a Raleigh Portage. Any thoughts or insight would be great. Thank you!