New Year, New Bike!
01-20-13, 12:41 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
New Year, New Bike!
So since I got back into biking, I've been commuting on my road bike. It's a fast machine, pretty comfortable, but doesn't have provisions for rack and fenders and I didn't want to ruin the aesthetics by mounting any. Also, I'd be heartbroken if it got stolen, so I don't like leaving it locked out. Consequently I was looking for a bike that was almost as fast, could deal with rain, loads, and wouldn't be subject to theft.
A while ago, I got a cheapie rigid fork MTB to commute to school on. It's a 1997 Diamondback Sorrento with a 4130 frame & steel fork, 7-speed drive train. With some slicks it was a decent commuter. After I graduated I more or less parked it outside and used it on the rare trips to the local beer & pizza place. Finally, I dusted it off, and converted it to a touring/commuting machine.
Changes I made:
Before:
After:
(see attached)
My impressions: quite fast. My 7 mile commute is barely faster on my road bike than on this thing. The gearing leaves some to be desired, it's pretty "sparse" and unlike on the road bike with a 13-25 cluster, finding a good gear on this thing isn't possible sometimes. The large chainring is 44; a 48 would probably make more sense. The granny gear hardly gets touched anyway, but maybe for dirt paths with a significant load my tune will change. All in all, I'm very happy, and looking forward to some foul weather commuting!
A while ago, I got a cheapie rigid fork MTB to commute to school on. It's a 1997 Diamondback Sorrento with a 4130 frame & steel fork, 7-speed drive train. With some slicks it was a decent commuter. After I graduated I more or less parked it outside and used it on the rare trips to the local beer & pizza place. Finally, I dusted it off, and converted it to a touring/commuting machine.
Changes I made:
- New bars and stem - I had an 80mm quill stem and old road bars lying around.
- Shimano R600 brake levers - also lying around
- Shimano Tourney 7-speed thumb shifters - bar-cons were my preference but they are $$$! These were $17 shipped, and perform fine.
- New saddle - the old saddle had gotten really soft and wasn't comfortable anymore.
- 1.25" slicks for speed
- Nashbar Soho pedals with platforms on one side and SPDs on the other
- The rear rim was dented nicely. I rebuilt the rear wheel with an Alex DM18 rim, brass nipples, and 14/15 spokes. The wheelbuilder though it was a bit of an odd request given the vintage of the hubs but they're plenty serviceable and I figured a hand built wheel would outlast a cheap machine-built one anyway.
Before:
After:
(see attached)
My impressions: quite fast. My 7 mile commute is barely faster on my road bike than on this thing. The gearing leaves some to be desired, it's pretty "sparse" and unlike on the road bike with a 13-25 cluster, finding a good gear on this thing isn't possible sometimes. The large chainring is 44; a 48 would probably make more sense. The granny gear hardly gets touched anyway, but maybe for dirt paths with a significant load my tune will change. All in all, I'm very happy, and looking forward to some foul weather commuting!
01-20-13, 09:35 PM
#2
Vain, But Lacking Talent
This is great! The guys in the touring forum would really dig this. Lots of MTB to touring conversions there.
01-20-13, 10:09 PM
#3
working on my sandal tan
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Great conversion, Ivan! I take it you've seen this thread? 
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ar-Conversions
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ar-Conversions
01-20-13, 10:19 PM
#4
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Nice conversion 
Whenever I see these type of threads I get the itch to put drops on my Sirrus, then I go for a ride and the itch moves on.
Whenever I see these type of threads I get the itch to put drops on my Sirrus, then I go for a ride and the itch moves on.
01-20-13, 11:53 PM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Great suggestion on the thread scott I don't frequent C & V so I've not seen it but it looks like I'm not the first to have this idea.
Converted MTBs make really, really versatile bikes. Sure, it's not sexy, not as light as a modern road racer, and not great for bombing downhills either, but there isn't really anything that you can't do on this sort of bike.
I don't frequent C & V so I've not seen it but it looks like I'm not the first to have this idea.Converted MTBs make really, really versatile bikes. Sure, it's not sexy, not as light as a modern road racer, and not great for bombing downhills either, but there isn't really anything that you can't do on this sort of bike.
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