sweet leaf

My first post. This is my Miyata Valley Runner that I have been working on for some time. It has a rattle can paint job. I could have spent more time on the paint but it turned out okay.

Chrome Molly

The Fuji and Miyata are both really nice. I'd be happy to ride either of them. With drop bar MTB projects, they often start small and grow. Worth it though imo.

Loose Chain

My Bridgestone MB4 18 inch frame. PB fenders currently installed as winter is coming on soon and new Mavic 317 rims. New Serfas grips, new cheapo 2 inch riser handlebar (these bikes were aggressively set). The Specialized Crossroads tires are wonderfull. They have a fat 1.9 inch section that works good for the original MTB purpose but go like stink on gravel or pavement.

mstateglfr 

The triple triangle frame is killer.

Gt woods bars (forget the actual name, but woods is in it) are really versatile for city and path use.

Cantis, set up properly, should stop quickly without issue. They are often times not set up properly when people say they dont stop.



I think that was a great setup originally and its a great setuo as a drop bar too. Sharp either way, but the triple triangle, those bars, and cantis appeal to me.

obrentharris 

@sweet leaf
Beautiful color scheme!
Brent

illwafer

@mrk

great work! it was definitely worth it.

MrK.

Thanks,

As an update, I was happy with the build but something bothered me about it. Figured out it was those godawful Vuelta rim decals. Here it is without them.

Chrome Molly

Much improved!

cooperryder

Wow, the last 4 or 5 conversions have been fun to see.

Nice work guys.

I never grow tired of this thread.
It's so cool to see these bikes from the 80's and 90's transformed or re-imagined.

I also have been using the Maxxis DTH tires on one of my mtbs.
I like them. They seem to be a good value being a relatively light weight folding tire at around 550 grams for their size and what I personally perceived low rolling resistance for them from my experience.

They have performed well for me.

Another one I like at a reasonable price point and weight are the Tioga Power Block tire.

cooperryder

MrK,

Who did your paint or powder coat?

I really like the color.

Also I like the creative decals.

The pic of your brew with bike in background was particularly creative I thought.

MrK.

The paint is Krylon Satin Italian Olive

The graphics are actually paint not decals, I have a small vinyl sign business on the side and made the stencils.

badger_biker 

Excellent job MrK! I love the color in the satin finish and the black graphics.

jbrow1

Love the bike, I've done a bunch of bikes that the "frames might not have been the best to spend on," but those seem to end up my favorite bikes!

I'm curious how you removed the wheel decals? I had a set like that, tried peeling em off slowly with a light heating from a heat gun, what a pain. Left so much residue with or without the heat. I ended up filling a plastic toolbox with gasoline deep enough to cover the depth of the rim, and then between the gasoline, stiff bristle brush, and elbow grease, they came clean. Strained the gasoline into my lawnmower with an automotive paint strainer so as not to waste good residue, I mean gasoline.

Anyway, love your bike, the paint/stencil work is great! I'm hoping to chop up and weld an old pair of steel bars into some "woodchippers" for my daughter's mint 24" scwhinn mnt bike I got the other day for 13.99 at the Salvation Army! Love affordable bikes

Soundtallica

This one doesn't exactly look vintage, but it's from circa 2000, so I gues it's close enough

I got bored of my old 1993 Rockhopper drop bar conversion, so I decided to build this guy. Specifically, my Rockhopper was only able to tackle terrain similar to my normal CX bike, so I wanted to make my conversion a bit more capable to create some separation between the two in terms of usage scenario. That's the purpose the disc brakes and suspension fork serve.

With cobbled together heavy parts, this thing weighs 27.2lbs as shown. I need to shed some weight, probably in the pedals, tires, and crankset. If I want to make it even lighter, I also have an old carbon rigid MTB fork laying around. I also intend to put on a 48t outer chainring to make it a bit faster on smoother surfaces.

This thing will be used for touring, adventure rides, and commuting. Judging from my first ride on it, it'll be a perfect companion for all three!

bengreen79

The canti's worked fine with the stock levers (when they didn't freeze). From what I could find out, the cable pull on the new brifters is slightly less than the MTB levers that it came with, which is why they didn't work as well. They probably would have worked fine with regular aero road levers. At any rate, the new rear mini-v took a little tuning but works much better with these levers.

cs1

@mrk that is one of the most original rides I've seen. The paint and lettering are what make it work for me.

wood_dweller

Here is my way through conversion

At first I wanted to create cheap alternative to Salsa Fargo.



I used old Fuji Sundance MTB bike, which has very short top tube (56 cm c-c) - just perfect for drop bars. With ordinary stem handlebar would be too low. Sadly it was just impossible to find riser in 25,4 mm diameter. Somehow I manged to find proper one but in 22,2 mm diameter and I had to use adapter. This is a reason why it looks so weird



Photo above is probably the last in "original" setup. Finally I decided to put ordinary drop bars and lower stem instead of Midge (which I found uncomfortable).

This is how it looks now




Except of shifters, handlebar, stem, brake levers and saddle I changed some parts. Now it has 2x10 drivetrain - crankset converted from 46-36-28 to 38-26 - and 10 speed 11-34t cassette. Derailleur was too wide for 10 speed chain and so I'm using 9 speed Deore LX. I also had to replace rear hub to fit wider cassette than 7 speed Last upgrade was brakes replacement - Tektro RL340 did not work properly with short armed cantilevers. I had to buy Tektro CR720.

oscr

How did yoou managed to fit a dropbar in that stem, I have the exact same bike. tried using some screws to open it but even that way it seems impossible.

cs1

Drops come in 25.4 & 26.0 he might have an older 25.4 dia.

thumpism 

Don't forget the old 26.4 standard for Cinelli, early Specialized bars and some rare Nitto items. I once got a 26.4 bar to fit in a 25.4 clamp stem. Takes a real mechanic to do that.

Skmusgrove

"How did yoou managed to fit a dropbar in that stem, I have the exact same bike. tried using some screws to open it but even that way it seems impossible."
On my ascent with what appears to be the same stem I used a craftsman flathead and another shim of hardened steel from an old reflector holder to spread the opening. It was about an hour fight to get my Nitto champions through there. I watched rj the bike guys tutorial on drop bar threading through quill stems a bunch to make sure I was rotating correctly. Managed to get it in without scratching the finish. Only problem is now I have to switch out bars again because the nittos are too narrow for my liking.

yangmusa

Slightly off topic... But that's a nice looking and very large saddlebag. Who makes that?

The Golden Boy 

It's not drop barred- but I did the High Sierra up with trekking bars. Most of my time and effort has been in working on my Trek 720- but I'm still playing with ideas and configurations with these bars.

cs1

I remember but that was always a very road looking stem. The old SunTour style stem he has never came in 26.4

thumpism 

I was speaking about handlebar diameters. Of course, that directly involves stem clamp diameters but we already knew the question was about bars to fit the stem.

The original quote is somewhat unclear: "How did yoou managed to fit a dropbar in that stem, I have the exact same bike. tried using some screws to open it but even that way it seems impossible." Does it refer to the clamp diameter of the stem versus the bar diameter, or does it refer to the shape of the stem's clamp and the resulting difficulty of getting the bends of a drop bar to pass through so you can complete the install? Too wide a clamp area on any stem results in not being able to work the drops into it. You can grind the sides of the stem's clamp in some cases but not in others, and in some cases get the drops to fit. I have done this with an old Girvin Flexstem and fitted drops. Drops could not fit into it before grinding, but could after grinding. Stem clamp diameter is a separate issue and may or may not affect the outcome.

That's one reason why removable faceplates are such a great thing.