Rollfast

I'm fat and don't like pain. And no riding goat trails down cliffs for me either.

thehammerdog

Jonny T I remember his ride up in VT Mt SNow riding drops on Tioga cluster f weird rear wheel he had a flat and was pounding on just the rim in the drops crazy.
I have a photo somewhere

thehammerdog

JonnyT
Link
https://www.google.com/search?q=jonn...VtMML5UoGlyVM:

ATPAH

That's a pretty bike, Spoon. Is that a 100mm Fox32 overkill for the terrain into which you take that bike?

BluesDawg

There have been a couple of nice 26" MTB drop bar conversions posted on The Radavist recently.
This sweet old lug framed Trek 970:
Jake?s Pacific Northwest Do-All Trek 970 ? Morgan Taylor | The Radavist

and this nice Mikkelsen:
Kyle From Outer Shell?s Mikkelsen Drop Bar MTB | The Radavist

Hiro11

With gravel riding, I'd want something tough, reliable, comfortable and cheap. A vintage 26er with a drop bar conversion could be just the ticket.

browngw 

Trust me, it is just the ticket! This old Raleigh Canada variant is a rugged fast performer.

thehammerdog

Indeed, fun cheaper than new.

mack_turtle

I would like to do something like this, but I am stuck on two things:

1. older 26" bikes are plentiful, but I feel like a 700Cx35-40mm tire would be better for my needs. a good steel hybrid like that is proving harder to find, so i don't know how long I am willing to hold out for that kind of thing. I have a nice mountain bike that I love for trail riding, so this would be a more road/gravel oriented bike.

2. frame size? I am 5'9" and road/CX bikes I have owned in the past that fit me well have all had 54-55cm effective top tube lengths. should I be looking for a 26" mtb with a similar ETT, or should I be looking for a longer/ shorter ETT?

I had my eye on this 16" Barracuda with a rigid fork, but I am afraid the TT would be too long (should be 57cm, according to an old Barracuda brochure I looked up. I usually ride a mountain bike with a 600-615 ETT) for a drop-bar conversion without putting a totally outlandish stem on it.

thehammerdog

That frame is to small for you. Go larger or the drop from seat to bars will be silly! Silly i say👍🏿

mack_turtle

if anything, that bike is too big for me. look at the top tube measurement. 571mm versus the 545 or so that I know works for me. I could make up the excessive bar drop with a high-rise stem, which is what most people do. I can't do much about the length of the frame without putting an excessively short-reach stem or something like that.

BluesDawg

Raising your handlebars with a steerer extension or high-rise stem will also shorten the reach because of the head angle. TT length as an isolated number is not the key. Stack and reach are more important.

rumrunn6

whoa almost hurled watching that! good way to kill yourself! not for me but glad ppl are pushing the envelopes!

mack_turtle

yes! that's what I am trying to predict. I have been using Bikegeo.net as a tool to figure out what I could do. sometimes the geo for older frames is incomplete, so I have to guess. my old Soma Double Cross disc had an effective stack of 608mm and effective reach of 463mm. by effective, I mean the distance from the BB to the handlebar.

I tried plugging in geo figures from some old 26" mtbs and its hard to make that happen!

give it a try, if you're curious- Stack and reach calculator

chas58

I don't know. I love my '90s mountain bikes, but with the short head tube, '90s mtb look so henious with drop bars. Most of these bikes have crazy long extensions to get the bars high enough to be comfortable with drop bars.

I'm sorry, I just can't ride a bike that ugly.

I'm using flat bars
+ trecking ends
+ aero bars.

I have plenty of hand positions.

I like drop bar bikes, but I would rather have a Jones bar than some of these ugly bikes. I just can't do it!!! when the stem height is longer than the head tube height, that is just too much.

mack_turtle

Good point.

I honestly wonder if I am fetishizing drop bars. What doea a drop bar do for me that a flat bar with bar ends or a trekking bar does not?

chas58

I like drop bars and most of the year ride a cx bike for it.

And I have about 4 '90s bikes (3 steel, 1 carbon (one is 700c)) that make great gravel bikes with 42mm - 60mm tires. I've played around with drop bars on one with a fairly long head tube, but for my race frames, being in the drops (with a short head tube), would get me as low as my dedicated track bike. Not exactly what I want.

The Aero bars let me lean over and relax for long straight stretches, and the bar ends (ergon) give me a variety of hand positions if I want to sit more upright.

That said, older 26" bikes make great long distance gravel bikes. They have a good versatile geometry (unlike today's mountain bikes) and huge main triangle for carrying frame bags and bottles (especially if you got one before compact frame geometry got popular).

mstateglfr 

As suggested in the c&v 26er drop bar thread- look for an early 90s 700c hybrid. multiple models are mentioned there as well as options in your area. These fit 40mm(or wider) tires and are easily upgradable since frames have standard current dimension components.

chas58

I did that (nice lugged steel Bianchi). The handling is very slow on those hybrids. That stability works well for gravel, but a nimble bike they are not

mstateglfr 

We are talking drop bar 26ers...i hadnt considered quick handling at all. 26ers that i find appropriate for drop bars(geometry and look) are not nimble either.
The Univega hybrid i drop bar'd was a blast and had it been the proper size, i would have kept it. Never thought the steering was slow and a drawback, but i am easy to please and seem to be less demanding than many around here.