Bikedued

Working on this one at the moment. Will be stripped, polished, tubeless, and hollow pin chain. It's about 24 lbs. 13 ounces as it sits. Not too shabby for a big frame bike, and it's going to be even lighter Part of the low current weight, is a Titanium spindle Specialized bottom bracket, with alloy cups and cartridge bearings. Shooting for a full polish and new decals.This is only the beginning on the manual labor.,,,,BD

Bikedued

Unfortunately, the very cool beefy looking seatpost clamp is also very heavy. It may stay though, since it compliments the double bolt on the stem so well.,,,,BD

neo_pop_71

I get what you're saying about the double bolt thing but I would pick up a DKG non-quick release collar to save weight or a DKG Flip-Lock for a quick release. DKG made the original Salsa Flip-Off quick release seat collars as well as doing work for WTB (can you say Roller Cam brakes?), Fisher (can you say RS-1? w/ his buddy Mert), Koski (can you say Koski fork?), and others back in the day. Plus DKG is still an independent guy, Dave Garoutte, up in Marin County. Dave makes the coolest Mag Light clamp, his CNC designs are timeless... he even has a museum of mountain bike and motorcycle stuff he has done with the names already listed plus Mert Lawwill.

DKG:

DKG CNC Machine Shop Home Page

DKG on Ebay:

dkg in Cycling | eBay

Yeah, I'm a fan of Dave's work, I have his seat collars, his Strong Arm brake booster, and his Shift-Ease shift pod mounts on a few of my bikes... no one to this day 20 years later has made any better designs!

neo_pop_71

The polished look can be amazing! I have a '93 Cannondale M500 that I want to do the same thing. Here is my motivation...

Bikedued

Mine was an M500, 92 though I think? Cookie dough paint with goldenrod and green graphics. Yuck, lol! It's the main reason why I am stripping it.

Sorry that DKG clamp may be the coolest thing on earth, but it doesn't do it for me unfortunately.


The original paint...ugggh.. Don't worry, it looks much better in pictures. There was a huge paint scrape on the other side of the down tube. Those handlebars, stem, shifters, etc.. weighed about 4-5 pounds!?

neo_pop_71

Hey Bikedued,

Did your '92 M500 come with the Cannondale Force 40 Plus cantilever brakes? I'm not seeing them on your M500 but you could have removed them. My '93 M500 came with Force 40 Plus brakes. The best that I can tell Force 40 Plus cantilever brakes are mentioned in the 1991 catalog as a problem solver for their first full suspension frames. I'm just curious if the '92 came stock with Force 40 Plus or did that start in '93 like mine.

From the 1991 Cannondale catalog (thanks MOMBAT):

Rear suspension designs always made mounting cantilever brakes difficult so Cannondale came up with the "Force 40" brake routing. The name came from the 40% increase in stopping power and eliminated the need for a cable stop on the frame.

Bikedued

It came with some cheesy looking black canti's. Nothing special, and certainly nothing like that?,,,,BD


A little more buffing, machine this time. I need to just tear it down and finish it out. I will keep it together another week or so, to get another weekend ride in. It rides that well! Like a big cushy road bike. None of the sluggish heavy feel I really noticed on my Schwinn Sierra drop bar build. It feels solid, light, and agile.

MikesChevelle

Finally got my rigid fork in.................

Sixty Fiver

Beic

Very nice,

You can use that for virtually anything.

Beic.

Vonruden

The go to Swiss Army knife...I mean bike.

Bikedued

STUNNING! That brake hood position has me squirming, though. If it works it works, I guess. NICE looking bike!,,,,BD

MikesChevelle

To high?

The bike has a bit more reach than what fits me to up they came

BFisher

This is an interesting concept to me. I have a 1994 DB Topanga that I may proceed with. It would have to be as budget conscious as possible. The only thing I am unsure of is shifter conversion; I am a beginner. What would be compatible with the Alivio setup that this bike has?

MikesChevelle

Your best bet would be friction barcons

JJPistols

Here's my 1992ish Nishiki Katmandu hybrid that has had drop bars for a couple of years now. I took a little ride through the woods this morning. This is my everyday commuter bike. 700x42 Continental tires fit with fenders. 700x50 big apples just barely rubbed the stays without fenders.

Johnny Mullet

I want to do this with my Reflex, but my friends say I would be stupid to molest this rare bike. What do you think? Raised stem, drop bars, white bar tape.............

frantik

^ if it's all original i might be hesitant to do it especially if it's just for an experiment

Bikedued

Just about every indexed Shimano shifter ever made, that is non Dura Ace?,,,,BD

cooperryder

A number of folks have mentioned the fairly light weights of their mtb's converted to drop bar machines.

Anyone's build turn out to be quite a tank?

I just finished one yesterday, a mid 80's Univega Rover Sport. Registering 31.7 on the scale.
It is straight gauge chromoly and has super heavy 26x2.35 1100g's each tires.

I will post some pics later.
This is about the 8th vintage mtb frame I have bought & I knew it would be heavier but I could not resist the allure
of an all chrome mtb frame.

I hope to lighten it up weight wise over time if I like how it rides, only been 3 miles so for.
Gonna go ride it some more now in the heat.

Also you ever had a build that seems to fight you on about every turn?
This one did that but I finally got it done.

Will post pics soon.
Safe pedaling.

cooperryder

A number of folks have mentioned the fairly light weights of their mtb's converted to drop bar machines.

Anyone's build turn out to be quite a tank?

I just finished one yesterday, a mid 80's Univega Rover Sport. Registering 31.7 on the scale.
It is straight gauge chromoly and has super heavy 26x2.35 1100g's each tires.

I will post some pics later.
This is about the 8th vintage mtb frame I have bought & I knew it would be heavier but I could not resist the allure
of an all chrome mtb frame.

I hope to lighten it up weight wise over time if I like how it rides, only been 3 miles so for.
Gonna go ride it some more now in the heat.

Also you ever had a build that seems to fight you on about every turn?
This one did that but I finally got it done.

Will post pics soon. For my likes I think it looks pretty decent. Just wish it weighed about 8 lbs less.
Safe pedaling.

Sixty Fiver

My Cascade is no lightweight and think she is 31 pounds with the full set of racks and fenders.

My rigid mtb (Diamondback Apex) is just under 25 pounds and the hardtail (Rocky Mountain Blizzard) is close to that as well.

The Moulden is just under 25 pounds... the frame and fork are as light as any steel road frame.

arex

Haven't weighed it, but the Nishiki I'm rebuilding feels extremely heavy...the bare frame is noticeably heavier than my bare Raleigh Sports frame, and they're otherwise about the same size.

Bicycle Addict

Hey guys a very pleasant update on my Specialized Hardrock build, I went to get the bike below last night after 2 weeks of purchasing.


We got robbed going on 2 weeks ago, I had won the auction 2 days before we were robbed and was planning to pick up the bike the day after we were robbed, I emailed the trader telling him what had happened he told me not to worry about how long I needed?? Awesome, so we go there last night, I go to give the guy the $40 and he refuses!?!? He tells me "After what you have been through, I would like you to keep the money" I just about fell over.
I could not walk away with the bike with out given him something and after thanking him for his thought, told him I would like to give him half, that way we both had a $20 note . . he politely refused, then his son who had relayed messages came to the door and introduced himself, he then turns to his dad and says "Dad, the guy really wants you to take the money" his dad still refused, so I gave his son the $20 Thanked them both and walked away.
I got the bike home and it is in very good condition, originally bought to supply parts for the '87 Hard rock I am building for this thread, I now find myself wanting to keep this bike together, which could be a pain as I mainly wanted the U Brake as I am finding it hard to source one!!!
So I wonder what you guys think I should do?
I have a modern Exposure U Brake but would like to go retro.

Paramount1973 

Nice!