I'm thinking of building a SS commuter around 26" wheels I have.
I can get a cheap mountain bike frame from Nashbar or even used, and then slap random roadie style parts I have, fenders, rack and lights all on it as a winter commuter and occasional offroad SS.

Let's see what you got!

The only one in my stable right now, specs here. I need to fix the horn, reinstall the rear fender, and toying with the idea of removing the rear rack altogether.

Here's mine, nothing special, but I've put a lot of time into it.

Here is my Trek. Nothing fancy, but it works great.

I used to have hybrid style bikes when I was younger. They were road bikes with beefier tires and baskets and stuff. The closest thing I have to a 26" roaddie was my Trek 3700 -




But that bike has been replaced by my 29" bike -

See this thread in Touring: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...MTB-conversion

Some of these conversions are pretty extensive, with drop handlebars and all. My Bridgestone MB-2 converted to a commuter and possible tourer is on page 10.

My forte into a street mountain. I hardly ride it now. Just really crappy weather (floods, snow ) and a little fooling around. It has Specialized Hemisphere tire on the front and a Specialized Cross road on the back. Both smooth on pavement. The Crossroad is nice in it is rated 80PSI and the edges still have some bite for off road use. Its slow for commuting compared to my Touring bikes.

I had trekking bars on it for a while but never fell in love with them. They were better for commuting then the risers in the picture. When I got the touring bikes I put those back on it for trail riding. I do have a set of dirt drops with 7 speed bar ends I have though about putting on it and use it for winter commuting again and keep my touring bikes clean.
By far my biggest issue is the size. I am all legs and ride 63cm/25 inch frame road bikes. This bike is a XL with a 22 inch frame. because mountains have a higher BB then a road bike my butt to ground distance is more then the road bikes and the heand bar to seat high is the tops of the bars are actually lower then my main commuter t700. My riding postion with the seat adjusted for my legs is closer to my R300 crit bike and a bit rough on my screwed up lower back.

Mine, a '04 Koga WTR is not really a conversion, they built it up like this,
see on this site: https://www.cyclofiend.com/working/2008/wb092-robertclark1008.html

I made a few component changes,
additionally some have been made since I submitted the photos
saddle, rear bag, different HB bag...

Were I to strip the bits off and get a new frameset,
the sliding dropout would be fine with a single speed , or a non Rohloff IG hub.
I happen to need more ratios for varying terrain and weather conditions

with a 40 mph headwind you need a lower gear.

here ya go, the last three drop bar MTB's ive built

Here's mine... not really roady, more of a mash up between MTB, road, and hybrid parts.

That looks cool, man, is that a 3-speed rear hub?

Thanks. Yup, 3 speed coaster brake hub.

Sunset shot... Kuwahara 3 speed conversion.

I need to get some new photos of my Rockhopper...

Nice photo, and it looks like you've got quite a load on it.

Chris i think your rockhopper and my giant are almost twins

The bags were pretty empty that day... was just carrying water, food, my netbook, and my tools.

When she was a fixed gear...



Now... with gears.


Winter set up.


Touring set up.

These pics are giving me many ideas for things to do to my 26" Schwinn Sierra as I attempt to make it into a commuter bike. I currently have only done minor changes, such as change out the seat and added Conti Contact tires.

If only I could buy the rack and fenders I want instead of purchasing Christmas presents...

We were definitely on parallel courses when these came together. I recently realized that this and my tandem are the only bikes I've ridden in months, I really like it!

Are those the inexpensive Taiga panniers on the front, and if so, do you like them?

How's that hub feel offroad? Fire trails and singletrack? Or just gravel roads?

I really think that's a cool idea. Even the coaster brake as I was thinking of a really simple bike to use as a SS commuter, but that's a cool twist.

They are some older Serfas panniers which I have since given away because I have a lot of bags... I picked up some MEC touring panniers to match the rear bags and will be using those now.

The new bags also work well as rear bags.

Love it! Bike pictures Here is my commuter during a weekend errand with a trailer. Build up around a Nashbar 18" MTB frame. Large picture here.

If you are looking for some good 26" wheels, the Vuelta ZeroLites from Nashbar are phenomenal. I got them for $54 a pair on sale, and they are absolutely solid. Spin forever, near silent pawls on the freewheel, and the bladed black spokes with one pair of white spokes looks nice. I feel like I stole them at that price. Nomad, I've posted my monster cross commuter too often, but do consider the wheels. I got one set in white, one in black.

Ok, one more time.

I just bought a set of these for basically that same price. I haven't mounted them yet because I haven't decided what tires to put on them, but they look great. I don't think I have read a bad review of them yet.