Originally Posted by
Moisture
My current plan for singletrack endeavors will be using my GT Zaskar mountain bike laying around. Only problem is that the front fork uses brakes only for a 700c rim. Im tired of sourcing a new fork for this bike, so I'm thinking of just using a wider 700c rear tire and using it like this. But obviously with the rigid fork I won't be able to do anything too crazy. But the fork is already about 15mm too long for bike, and then the 700c will jack up the front end a bit more and now the head tube angle is just not right. It honestly might be better to just try using my road bike with a lower stem on singletrack over that.. im not going to do that, mainly because the brakes aren't strong enough.
a mountain bike with a drop bar is commonly known as a "monster cross bike." it's difficult to put a drop bar on a bike that was designed for a flat bar and get a good fit, and even harder to get good handling, but some people do that with success if they really know what they are doing. (or they might be equally happy if they are blissfully ignorant of how terrible it is in that case.) I only ride a my drop-bar bike on trails when the trails are part of a larger route of mixed terrain that includes paths and roads. if I want to ride trails just to ride trails, I use my mountain bike.
I am curious about this Zaskar. if it's an older Zaskar, it should be designed with 26" wheels in mind. if it's an older 29er, that would make sense for a 700C wheel. 700C and 29" are the same diameter rim and really the same thing with different names based on application. can you post some photos and details about it?