linux_author

THE OLD:

- i've enjoyed riding my Specialized Crossroads, a $100 pawnshop special rescued from the harsh baking sun down here in Pineapple Junction, Fla. ... it was in bad cosmetic condition so i cleaned it up, threw on a new chain and added new tubes and 700x38 tires...

- i've used it over the last six months on 10-mile treks down the path for lunch breaks at a local smoked fish sandwich place, and have taken many rides with it along the Gulf at the nation's number one beach...

- here's what it looked like before last summer:



- oh yea, i also added fenders, rack and wire baskets...

THE NEW:

- but eventually i found the bike a bit 'slow,' so i put on 700x35s... then the seat got uncomfortable (an old all-gel butt-buster)... and while the 6spd drivetrain still worked, i found i didn't like the straight bars and grip shifters - somehow i kept inadvertently shifting while braking...

- so i went to a LBS which offers a wall of used parts and purchased a stem and road bars... with a little shopping and using an existing wheelset, i upgraded the bottom bracket, crankset, seat, and derailleurs... while putting on new brifters i added in-line brakes, which have proven to be very handy while dodging gopher tortoises, squirrels, and armadillos (not to mention clueless snowbirds)...

- the bike went from 41 lbs down to 25.5 lbs (rack/basket weighed 7.5lbs!)... total upgrade cost was $110 as i had an old front and rear 105 derailleur set, a pair of used brifters, and a spare set of tires...

here's what it looks like now:



- i'm very happy with the bike ... it's a totally different ride... i'll be using it to train for some cyclocross events next year... i just can't believe that someone as hamfisted as me was able to breathe some new life into an old steel frame...

hammerdocnomo

Outstanding conversion!!!!!!!!!!
The bike absolutely came alive.
Bravo!

multisport

Yes! I agree. Awesome makeover. Hardly looks like the same bike. Did it originally come with cantilever brakes or are those v-brakes?

linux_author

- tks for the kind comments...

- yes, bike came w/cantis (Shimano Altus - which seem to work just fine, and can be found everywhere on-line and here)

smurfy

I'll bet the roadies do a double-take with that!

roccobike

OMG, That is beautiful. Really nice work. It's hard to believe that was the same bike in the 'old' picture.

linux_author

25.6 lbs (using this scale - accurate enough - but beware of this if you intend a purchase: even though it has two digit resolution, the scale won't register until a pound or two are hung - no gram or ounce measurement!)

- i've ordered a newer seat post (26.2), as the one in there is one heavy piece of steel - it was a bear attaching the seat, as the binder had to be assembled inside the seat rails - the only way to get it on!

- did a 40-miler yesterday on the bike... totally different ride than the previous upright configuration... (i've since moved the tires to a set of Mavic OPs w/105 hubs - believe it or not they're lighter than the pictured Equipes!)

jeff williams

Very nice. The crankset change makes the bike look 'real' to me.

I don't like the stem, it's a steep angle not (the angle) -the type of quill.
I bought a threaded to threadless stem converter and run a stem with the removable faceplate.
The stem converter was 15$? used threadless stem -correctt angle 10$.

That bike, maybe an adjustable stem? I'd try to see if you can get your hands even lower. The lower and more areo (if your back can) the more speed you get.
As you notice I guess, your saddle no longer lower than the bars.

Maybe some new pedals?
MOSH or MSHBKS (Giant) makes some sealed bearing platforms (Half step bmx) that I got for $45?
Kinda look mtb, but really good pedals cheap!

Is the bb cartridge? if not -bearings, and in the headset too -replace and grease.
Really nice job, wish it was mine to tweak (you can tell huh?)
....

Are the brake levers mounted a little high?
I run my mtb levers pointing down to minimize the movement\effort -increase reaction time. That position seems like it would be hard to grab? And that lower would be easier?

Instead of crappy plastic reflectors, a little 3M refective tape front\back\side.
Plastic looks bad, nice you got rid of the dorkdisk, keep your limit screws on the rear derailer set correct.
Good job on keeping the cost down and the look factor up in the upgrade, I keep in mind when buying parts -that they might\can be used on a different bike as well. Build a bike of components and then flip the frame.
Some things wont fit -seatpost for example -sometimes the clamp of the front derailer.

Screams! -Red Koolstops!

Ronsonic 

Extreme CX bike makeover. Love it.

Enjoy
Ron

cyclintom

Nice conversion. One thing I'd do differently next time is to roll the handlebars down until the ends are JUST pointing downwards. Then you have to pull the levers back up the bar a little more.

The advantage is that you can grab the drops on a road descent without fear of slipping off. The disadvantage is that the lever sticks out further away from the bar because it's further up on the turn of the bar.

Everything is a compromise but I prefer the ability to use the drops sometime.

multisport

Okay, what is a dorkdisk? And why is it so? Still kind of new to some of the biking terminology and vernacular, so I need to buy a vowel on this one.

Said it before, but oh my gosh, what a nice makeover!!

T.

B17

The transparent plastic disc some bikes come with to keep the chain from wrapping around the spokes if it should come off. They really serve no purpose because a properly adjusted derailleur will prevent shifting into the spokes, and a broken chain is capable of going pretty much anywhere it wants to go, regardless of what you may have behind the cassette.

jeff williams

B17 got it, maybe a mtb'r term.
If you don't have a mech do it, or yourself know how to properly set your limit screw....for gods sake use one!
The chain will likely drag the derailler into the spokes -and it gets uglier!
Bent hanger, busted spokes, trashed derailler and you all over the road.

They make little ones, Khuon has one that's invisible!
I want one that looks like a circular saw blade made of CF or Ti.

FRANKIEJ

Wow!! I own a Crossroads nearly identical to yours, but it is smaller and blue (I've also got a newer one, one of the ones with the curved top tube). The Crossroads are great bikes and quite versatile frames. I've been on the lookout for a larger Crossroads than the one I have, because I've often thought that the would make a great drop barred touring-style/ psuedo-cyclocross bike on the cheap, what with the great tire clearance, rack and fender mounting and cantilever brakes with the 700c wheels. I'm glad to know that my thoughts were correct. My plans are to use aero brake levers and bar-cons when I find the right frame.

My other Crossroads that I have (the newer one with the curved top tube) I plan on turning into a fixed gear in the style of Matthew Benardis' fixed conversion on fixedgeargallery.com (if you haven't seen it yet, go to https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005...ewBenardis.htm to see how beautiful and versatile these bikes can become. Thank you very much for sharing your beautiful bike.

phillybill

Great conversion......there is a guy tha commutes in Phila that did something like that.

linux_author

- tks frankiej and phillybill...

- btw, phillybill, i'm also a bill from philly... grew up at Girard and Corinthian, just off Ridge Ave., which has been a free-kill crack zone for many years now... you'd recognize my elementary/middle/high school by its main large Greek building? i did seven years there, courtesy of and as a ward of the Orphans Court of Philadelphia...

:-)

phillybill

Know the area well and the building

jpearl

I love looking at the before and after pictures, I think it's the only thread I look at daily even if nobody new has added to it. It reminds me of my very early, very financially challenged days of cycling when I worked at bike shops and turned everything from department store ten-speeds to my road training bike into "psuedo-cross" bikes. My favorite was when I read Paul Curley's advice on how to construct effective cyclocross pedals at the time (bolts coming out of the backs of the pedals with guide wires to lead the foot into the clips and straps) and applied that to a $100 Kent, my first ever "road" bike when I was 15.

dauphin

just saw the conversion pics. Totally amazing.

bellweatherman

Hey, now all you gotta do is get some new pedals and your all set.

MaxBender

If anyone asks, tell them it's a new model, the Specialized "Hybrid Carbon" race bike and let them wonder...

Tequila Joe

Awsome conversion!. I love seeing old bikes getting a second chance on life.

Serendipper 

Very inspiring conversion. I thought about a similar project before I came into the good fortune of a vintage 'cross.

Two thumbs up.

flipped4bikes

Sweet conversion. And the best kind: Cheap!

sfcrossrider

Cool bike. The red on red thing is sick.

BTW... Nations number one beach!!! Don't make me get all Westcoast on ya.