Thanks! Would any vintage MTB of that time frame have componets that would fit?

Yes. I personally like the Suntour XC derailleurs & micro ratchet thumb shifters. Also keep your eyes open for some of the sealed bearing hubs that came on some mid-80's MTB's. They are so very smooth!

I built this 1992 Fisher Paragon to be a tourer. Great frame with quad-butted tubes and full braze-ons including 3 bottles and mid-fork rack mount.

That's pretty much the best MTB touring conversion possible. I'm not sure I've ever seen one with mid fork eyelets AND a third bottle mount... it's almost like they knew what it would be good for, some 20 years later.

Here is my Trek 930 with 1.75 Tservs.


P4120228 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr

A closer look.


P4120233 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr

Man that is nice!

Are your current derailleurs not functioning properly? New Shimano stuff - even the bottom end - works better than almost all of the components from 15+ years ago. Unless you are hung up on period specific components, use new stuff. It is cheaper, and easier to find. For a Mesa Runner, I would not worry about period specific. If you were talking about a Cimarron or PDG; that is an entirely different matter.

I would keep thumb shifter, Sunrace offers some friction thumbies for a reasonable price.

Here is my PDG: https://s357.photobucket.com/user/Nig...acrtg.jpg.html

Haven't even tried them yet just thinking ahead. Is there a website that has some sort of selector feature to match components to particular bike or use?

Basically all Shimano stuff of a given speed (up to 9spd) is cross compatible. Even then, I've used 7spd derailleurs with 9spd shifters no problem. As long as you're sticking to MTB stuff, you can pretty much use whatever.

Perfect! Thanks! How have they been overall? I've got some 800g Michelin 26x1.9's... looking to lighten up the bike a hair and improve ride if I can, but don't want to give up a lot in the way of traction/capability.

Haha I have that exact same bike doing duty as an Xtracycle. Same size, even. '86-'87 Iguana if memory serves.

I have a '90 or '91 Paragon and the catalog description does say it's built for expeditions, though mine doesn't have that 3rd bottle mount. The problem I have is the quill stem is too long and it uses that 1 1/4" headset. How did you get around that? What's that setup you have on yours?

Have you decided on your cockpit setup yet? If you are doing a drop bar conversion you will need brake levers, bars, cables, and bar tape at the very least. The shifters and derailleurs could be used with a drop bar setup mounting the shifters to the tops or on the ends as a poor man's bar end. If you are going with a flat bar or trekking bar, the parts will move right over. I personally think if the frame fits, you should go with it to see how you like the ride, especially if doing a drop conversion. Upgrade later if you need to. Lots of times you can pick up a complete mountain bike with a nicer group for cheap on CL, even if it's too small you're just buying it for the parts anyway.

Another consideration with vintage MTBs is the rear spacing, many times it's 126mm or 130mm. If you are keeping the wheels, it may limit the number of rear cogs and therefore the shifter choices. Friction bar ends will work with just about anything so are a good choice. If you want to go more modern, you can cold set the frame to 135mm to use standard freehub wheels and more rear cogs. In any case, I would check out the spacing before I bought anything for use on that frame. Good luck.

9/10spd road bikes still use 130 spacing, and steel frames can be easily reset from 126 to 130 or 130 to 135. Most of the time a cold set isn't even totally necessary, the stays can usually be spread by hand when the wheel is inserted.

True enough. I hadn't even considered building a 26" wheel with a road hub for such a bike, I was thinking a wheel swap from a donor bike to keep costs down.

Another good option for MTBs is a trekking bar. That way your investment in parts is low since all the original parts will work. Trekking bars work well with longish top tubes since you are not quite so bent over and they have lots of comfortable hand positions. Also some of the older vintage MTBs from the 80s tend to have a bit longer wheelbases and the top tubes tend not to be as long relative to seatpost length than the ones in the 90s. They were still working out MTB geometry in the 80s and the bikes were often a bit longer in the wheelbase than became common by the 90s. My 1988 specialized stumpjumper comp came with a u-brake in the rear. It's a 20 inch bike with a 22 inch top tube; my 1991 team specialized stumpjumper is an 18 inch frame with a 22 inch top tube. Big difference when thinking about adding drops.

Shimano Tiagra hubs are a great value for a durable hub for 130 spaced builds. Not sure if the CX series hubs are available in 130, but if they are, those would be a really good option as well.

Threadless converter. Are you sure it is 1 1/4" ? 1 1/8" threaded is more likely.

https://www.amazon.com/Profile-Design...less+converter

They are made for 1" threaded to 1 1/8" threadless and a 1 1/8" threaded to 1 1/8" threadless.

Fisher (and maybe a couple others) used 1 1/4 for a few years in the early - mid 90's. Chris King used to make a headset, and there used to be a threadless converter for 1 1/4 but I doubt they are still made... might be able to find one NOS or used though.

Edit: looks like Wheels Mfg. has a press-in adapter to 1 1/8, though then the fork will be an issue... https://www.cambriabike.com/Wheels-He...lack-HRED2.asp

I Used a Mesa Runner ( dumpster find) and Built a single speed out of it , a IGH does a lot without the vulnerabilities of Bent Derailleurs .

width of the rear end , if you want derailleur drive trains 120 , 5, 125, 6 speed freewheels. 130- and 135 start to let you use cassette hubs.

Not too many options for the 1-1/4" threaded headset. I used the Nitto (sm1143) extender that converts 1-1/4" threaded to 1-1/8" threadless. Once you have that, you can add any standard 1-1/8" threadless stem. I needed more height so I added a simple threadless extender.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that Nitto converter!

Here's the catalog page for the Paragon. The Evolution steering system is 1 1/4" (for everyone else's benefit).

Think big.

Like [MENTION=10687]seely[/MENTION] above, I'm a 6 footer with long legs and best fit bikes normally found under guys who are 6'2" to 6'5" (61-64cm on a traditional roadbike) The two pictured below are set up to fit me as best they can; though the bars on the green one (1985 Raleigh Elkhorn Mountain Track) don't go down far enough for my liking and blue one (1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker) feels a bit short on the top tube, which I don't mind for single track, but would probably hate for touring.





BTW, both of these bikes are ones I'm thinking of selling this spring, so PM if you like to talk details or get exact measurements.

The Tservs have been great tires. Roll fast, good on wet surfaces and corner well. I regularly roll over broken glass on my commute and no flats so far. I weighed mine before installation and they came in at about 440 grams per. If you are using 800 gram tires, you will shave some weight off for sure.

Are we related!? Here's my 23" Schwinn High Plains and 60cm Surly Straggler. The Straggler would be a 62cm if the top tube weren't so long!