wintermute

Agreed, plus I already bought the damn thing. A couple more failed attempts this weekend.

cooperryder 

frantik,

That looks terrific. Very nice job.

From my perspective you just cannot go into a bike shop and come away with a bike as cool as that for the amount invested.

These vintage mtb's are so versatile with what can be done with them,
like a blank artist palette waiting for the artist to customize them to their preferences.

Way to go 'artist' frantik.
Safe pedaling.

Squeeze

Indeed. Thanks to all who keep posting in this thread. The last few pages are inspiring.

WNG

@frantik
NICE! That Stumpy looks fast.

KAH

Great, love the gumwalls and Biopace that bar tape does more than just match the paint accents it makes a statement.

Vonruden

Love it! I put more miles on mine during the harsh winter then all my others steeds combined.

Aemmer

xxx

IthaDan 

Finally got my fat chance together. Still needs wider bars and a shorter stem, but it's at least rideable.

frantik

looks pretty mean

scopinusa

All these conversions look so sweet! Wish I hadn't looked at this forum......My city bike is a Raleigh Mountain Tour (Deore/Biopace/triple butted/bull horned fast menace! I use 1.5" Conti City Contacts. Nice light comfortable bike. BUT, it's itching me to see it dressed out in drops! Kinda like the day before the honeymoon....Ha!

due ruote 

Inserting a Handlebar into a Stem | Off The Beaten Path

I used this method to get my Midge bars through a Kalloy dirt drop. Almost put a hole in the dime, but it worked.

wintermute

Thanks! I actually tried the "Thread the stem around the bars" as opposed to "Thread the bars through the stem" approach using a screwdriver to lever open the handlebar clamp and it worked like buttah.

benplaut

1998 Gary Fisher Wahoo (cromo, plain gauge)
Tiagra/105/LX/XTR mix
30.5lbs as pictured

Things I'm still working on:
1) Bars are 40cm, which is a bit narrower than I'd like.
2) Few options for 25.4mm drop bars, and few options for 26.0mm 1 1/8 quill stems.
3) Frame isn't worth a new threadless fork, headset, and stem
4) Frame is way heavy, and I'd like a steeper headtube angle and lower bb
5) Replacing tires (640g each), pedals, wheels, and saddle can save me several easy pounds

Considering a lighter (alu?) frame with an undersized fork to steepen the headtube and lower the bb

Larger pictures: Wahoo - Imgur

neo_pop_71

frantik, you're such a sweet-hearted romantic! Upgrading your gal's frame to a Stumpjumper over the Rockhopper... as you pinkle all the fine bits for your collection... cheeky bastard!!! I'm not fooled one bit but I applaud your effort just the same!

Perfect wintermute, that's exactly the method I described on the previous page for you, I always start with that method if the bends look complex.

Hello benplaut,

I'm not usually a fan of Fishers except for the original ones but your Wahoo looks great! Can I ask what stem you are running? I've been searching for a quill stem with a detachable face plate, that said I don't care for the one Niagra sells with the bolts on top as it blows the beauty of a traditional quill stem. Your stem still has the classic look but with the bolts on the bottom really lends itself to being a versatile stem with a traditional feel.

Really nice build, thanks for sharing!

-D-

neo_pop_71

pssst... frantik,

Did I ever ask you for formal permission to join the Chainstay Brake Mafia?

If not, here is my whip for consideration... a 1987 Panasonic Mountain Cub 7500. I fully redid the 1987 MC7500 from green and yellow "7Up" colors to the gloss black of the 1988 model. Almost all the Shimano XT is period correct aside from some newer 7 speed XT shifter pods mounted on DKG Shift-Ease mounts with a 7 speed XT rear cassette and derailleur. The front brake caliper is a XT "Deerhead" so I could run a Rick Hunter NUG for some micro-adjustment in the caliper (the PAUL CX Race Team runs them, certainly good enough for my slow "Clydesdale" racing). I had the decals made by DYI Decals online, they had the exact catalog font with a 3 color vinyl decal. As always, I'm running my favorite drop bar, the One One Midge with NOS Modolo Race levers with some Torelli bar tape.

I hope the build is up to snuff a this is my first u-brake dirt drop build...

frantik

pretty sweet dude can you take more pics of the shifters? Lugged prestige with chainstay brake frame.. mmm

benplaut

Thank you!

The stem is from a Trek Allant. No idea if it's possible to buy one separately, but it was a great find. If I go the threadless route, I'll post it here first.

It looks a bit like a whale. Might add some googly eyes.

neo_pop_71

Oh, now that's a bummer... figures it turns out to be an obscure part that's not common!

Thanks for the prompt reply!

Tim_Iowa

I just put drops on my '88 Schwinn KOM-10. It was a good old bike before, now it's an excellent and fast gravel crusher. I can get low on the bike and get my weight in synergy with the bike's. I rode 50 miles on it yesterday, on about 60% gravel and B roads, in about 4.5 hours! I'm definitely falling in love with this setup; the bike was under-served as an upright town bike.



The bike is very original, with a lugged Prestige frame, and a full Deore XT-M730 group (including chainstay U-brake). The brakes work great with new cables and Kool-stop pads.
I put on Nitto B135 Randonneur bars, Suntour bar-cons, cheapo brake levers and Kalloy stem. (I kept the original take-offs, even the tires). The tires are ITS DJ Mk2, excellent 26 x 2.1 road/gravel tires for $18.

due ruote 

Love what you did with that Schwinn. That's a perfect middle-America 4th of July bike.

[edit] btw where did you find the tires? They look great but a quick search produced a lot of "out of stock" and bmx size; nothing in 26.

neo_pop_71

Man alive, that is one sweet KOM, really great build you put together Tim_Iowa! When I was shopping at the local Schwinn dealer back in 1988 I looked at and test rode the KOM and the Cimarron and in the end I went with the Cimarron because I loved the mix of lugged and fillet brazed construction. Plus, I'd bought my lugged Tange Prestige Panasonic MC7500 the previous year and I didn't see the point in having virtually identical bikes. It was that same line of thinking that made me go with the Nishiki Alien the next year in 1989, again a Tange Prestige frame but with the elevated chainstays and tight geometry capped of a fun variety of bikes to pull from daily. I've since enjoyed my buddy's '88 King Of (the) Mountain many times, what a great racer, and if I find one local in my size it'll be added to the stable that day. A couple nights ago I put some Nitto B135 Rando bars in my "shopping basket" over on the Bikewagon site, any pros or cons to share about the bar? Is there much flex while descending?

Your KOM really turned out nicely... definitely an overkill Townie!

Thanks for sharing!

Tim_Iowa

Thanks for the complements. I knew the KOM was a good bike when I got it (for only $70 on craigslist!), but it took the drop bars for me to really feel great on it. Since it's a tall bike with a high BB, the upright riding position felt like I was perched on top of the bike, not part of it.

Since it has a loud AMERICA!!! paint job, I call my bike "The King of 'Merica" or "The King" for short.

I originally wanted to try Nitto RM-14 Dirt Drop bars, but they're not in production and hard to find. (Well, they do currently make a Dirt Drop with a 31.8 clamp. I figured that out when I brought home my bike swap finds a couple weeks ago; I got that bar and the SQR bag shown. 1" threaded and 31.8 clamp are pretty much mutually exclusive, barring frankenstein solutions. Anyone want to buy a new 31.8 Dirt Drop bar?)

I had picked up the Nitto B135 bars in a parts lot earlier this year, so I gave them a try before buying a Midge. I can't compare the B135 to similar bars; my other bikes have: Nitto Moustache, Nitto B105 classic, and a flat bar on my MTB.

The B135 bars are the widest of Nitto's Randonneur bars, but they still feel a bit narrow at the top. Not too bad, though. I was able to get comfortable and you can tell by the 22" x 24" frame size that I'm not a small dude (6'1" 220#). I felt maybe a 1/4" or so of flex when I'm descending while on the bar ends. Not bad at all.

This thread gets into the differences between the B132 and B135 models. In short, the B135 has shorter ramps and longer drop ends.

I've found 5 usable hand positions on these bars: horizontal tops, top curve, ramps/hoods, hooks, and drop ends. The drop ends come back quite a bit more than most drop bars, and I've found that to be my favorite position. The ramp/hood position isn't as comfy as on my other bikes with more traditional drop bars, but then the el cheapo brake levers may not have very good hood shapes. These bars fit me well at this height, where the top is level with my seat but the drops are lower, for a more aggressive position.

Yeah, the KOM doesn't have anything that really differentiates itself from other top-end rigid MTBs from the era, just some small details. It's just a well-built, well-equipped bike. Mine was in very good original shape, with every original component but the seat. However, the frame has a ton of scratches (some nasty) from some metal storage hooks while it languished in the PO's garage. I'm gonna look for some touch-up paint (probably Testors) to cover them up.

My KOM was sold from Baraboo (WI) Schwinn, which apparently closed its doors at the end of the '88 season. I wonder if this bike was sold prior to closing or as part of a liquidation sale? The PO remembers riding the bike in high school in the 90s (purple registration sticker on the L seat stay) but doesn't know where it came from before that. The tread on the original Project KOM tires is at about 90%, but the sidewalls are all dried out.

wintermute

Muchas Gracias! It's amazing the difference it makes. I would've mauled those bars otherwise.

Tim_Iowa

Thanks, I like that the bike is Made in the USA and proud to show it. My Rivendell and Cannondale are also MUSA.

Those tires were all over the web last fall, I found them at JensonUSA for $18 apiece. It seems like they ran out of that production run. Hopefully there will be a DJ Mk3 soon. They're made for 26" BMX dirt jumpers. They have NO puncture protection; you can see the reverse of the tread molding on the inside of the tire. But I've had no punctures yet and I've gone over some nasty rough gravel (almost 3" rocks in a couple sections) and nasty city streets.

neo_pop_71

Thanks Tim_Iowa for the detailed write up and the link (very helpful)! As a "Clyde" myself, 6' 225#, your specific details regarding the 1/4" flex is swaying me a different direction but I do like the fact that you get 5 full hand positions with those rando bars. I might be interested in your 31.8 Dirt Drop bars, for myself or one of my customers as they have all almost made the switch to 31.8 for everything (I'll PM you about the bars). As far as the KOM $70.00 was a serious score for an unmolested bike! Flip back the pages of your memory to 1988, by the time you paid taxes you were out almost a grand for the KOM ($950.00 out the door for my Cimarron LE), compared to a typical $300.00 mountain bike... at 3 times the price the KOM was a legit racer! Instead of bothering with Testors, hit up Ebay for a nice photo decal of "The King" to cover up those blemishes... beautify the KOM with the Elvis and all will be well with the world! "Thank you... thank you very much!"