This is an N+0 story.

2 disclaimers: I don't have a white garage door to photograph in front of. I've spent most of my riding life on MTB's.

This is a remake of my old (2003 Diamondback Response) road bike into something I find comfortable at the age of 67. It was made up in part from stuff laying around the shop and may get some new bits as time and money allow.

Aluminium Frame from 2003 Diamondback Response.
Wheels from a Diamondback Master.
16 speed New generation Sora flat bar touring bike gear (easier to buy from European sources than to find at the LBS)
Sora 9sp compact double external bearing crankset.
Shimano 8 speed road/touring cassette 11/32 with evenly spaced gears instead of the large jumps between the lower gears that mountain bike cassettes have.
25mm tires that seem to take much of the edge out of the ride that the former 23's had.
Tektro racing division RX40 brakes (roughly ultegra equivalents)
WTB mountain bike saddle which has always been one of my favorites. It fits and it's comfortable.
Ritchey adjustable stem which will get changed out when I find roughly the same rise/length that pushes the bars out about 1 bar diameter. (its one heavy slug but it works to find the right bar position)
The bag is replaced by a light duty seat post rack when we travel.
Eventually the MTB bar grips will be replaced by bar tape because I am running out of bar room and I think I'm going to need bar ends for heavy climbing.

Not bad for an old geezer road bike for an old MTB geezer.

Nice project bike. 25's will take some of the edge off. I've actually gone to a 28 rear and 25 front on one of my bikes and like the combination a great deal. So, how does it climb?

classic (except for the flat v drop bars)! Very nice...

With that long reach read der, I would have a spoke guard.
Those long suckers bend in toward the wheel, jmho,ymmv

It still has the same rider.

It climbs ok in the sit and spin position but between needing the bars pushed out about 15cm it probably won't climb well without bar ends. With 34/32 gearing it could probably climb a wall with the proper engine.

Perhaps, but I've been using even longer reach MTB derailleurs with similar gearing for years without them. The comparison is between SRAM long cage units though and Shimano medium cage so I'll take that under advisement.

Nice looking compromise between fast road and hybrid bike. I'm a fan of straight bars and in the process of converting a road bike to straights. One thing though, don't you tend to slide forward on a saddle angled like that?

Yes. The saddle was moved one click after that pic was taken. The WTB saddle is famous for the "duck tail" though and I kind of like the kick up at the back. Fine tuning the fit is what yesterday's and today's check rides were for. Note that the flats are still on as I don't go to the clipless until I'm sure that the pieces are going to stay put in formation. That will be the final addition, my old A520 one sided road pedals for MTB cleats.

Very innovative functional ride. I'd find a solid color wall or fence background for your small avatar photo though so it will stand out.

Very nice looking build! I like the tire accents as well. Congrats.

What your neighbour doesn't have a garage door you can borrow for a couple of minutes? Looks good from what I can see.

I'd have to agree with Pamestique on the drop bars -- but the results look great! I've considered using straight bars myself to save a bundle getting indexed STI style shifting. I usually go with drop bars (I've picked up a bunch of bars and stems) and bar end shifters. Please provide a ride report.

You are correct on the savings. Those flat bar road brifters came from Chain Reaction Cycles in Ireland for $30+. 8 speed touring equipment is still available in Europe and on Ebay. Now that the basic build is done without bashing the budget I need to think about changing out the headset for something newer in a cartridge style. Then to finish it right, I will have to score some rims and hubs for another wheel build. I hadn't built any new wheels lately and I was surprised at the prices on rims. CX33's have really gone up in price. Lately I've been buying and rebuilding wheels instead of building from scratch because that's significantly less expensive than a custom build. I feel the need though for one more set of Maxx's Mad wheels specials. (ultegra hub, CX33 rim, 32 spoke radial front half radial rear, 3x drive side. Everything tensioned at the max manufacturers limit.)

The best thing about this build IMO is the 34/50 11/32 gearing. The cassette made the difference as the 8 speed AW coded Shimano unit has a more even gear spacing which fits with the wide range of gears available. It's not a pace line 1 tooth per shift sort of gearing but all the gears are in play for the rolling hills around here. Since I ride alone this works for me.

saddle should be level so you dont have your weight pushed onto your hands ..

old folks might like higher bars if they cannot bend their back well and rotate their hips forward. .

keep your hips up and start the flexing above and then the 'taint' will not be compressed.