I have been reading so much about what people might/should do to modify their DTs so I looked for a relevant thread with pictures of mods and found none. I would hope to see more pics of people's DT mods...so I am posting mine to get things rolling.

My basic motivation is for traveling not folding. I do consuling and conferences a few times a year and wanted a bike I could breakdown and take with me. I commute by bike every day, but don't need folding as an option for this.

These are not the greatest pics, but they are preliminary. I will definitely post more when I get the rest of the modifications done. but I really want to see what other people have done.

My priorities for mods:
Stem (too far back)
Pedals (too flimsy feeling)
rack (too small and heavy)
Grips
tires (ordered, but not installed yet)
unnecessary thingamajigs - for me at least- (bell, mirror, fenders)

Which stem did you use. That looks good. Is it just dropped into the quick release or
is their a shim?
Hbob

NASHBAR ATB COMFORT THREADLESS STEM
[https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...id=&pagename=]

I simply cut the regular stem just below the curve.

I guess I missed the shim part of the question...No, there is no shim, but it isn't obvious from the picture that it is not resting directly on the QR...there is about 1/4 inch of space between the stem and QR.

So you have a "two stem" design.... 1) the straight portion of the OEM stem, and 2) the NB MTB stem ... looks like the 130 mm length.

Any problems folding it?

Yes, I think it is the 130...I just swapped it from my mt bike to see how it would work. I may go with a 90 degree angle when I have to put my mt bike back together.

No problem folding, but I don't really need/want to fold. I am only interested in easy dismantling for travel.

For compact dismantling this is actually much easier since the front of the stem comes off easily...allowing the handlbar to be stowed in a variety of ways.

If you get rust problems on your original steel stem (I did) you can replace with straight alloy tube at $2.00/foot from www.spruceaircraft.com. I purchased the 1 1/8" with .054 wall thickness.
Hbob

That's a great piece of advice.

I thought about looking around for something like that, but decided to just go with the OEM stem and cut it...didn't seem like the kind of part I would end up using in another application anyway.

What Rack is that you have on there?

Do you know if the Blackburn EX-1 would fit on the Downtube?

i just bought a downtube 8h, and am interested in what other people do to lock up outdoors when that is necessary (or do you just avoid it religiously)? do you fold it and use one lock for both wheels? i was considering getting quick release locks for the seat and stem, anyone tried that?

I think you mean aircraftspruce.com, not spruceaircraft.

I'd like to see photos of how you pack this bike. What size of suitcase are you using? How long is the packing time? A lot of folding bikes are missing this key information for people who want to travel with them.

alex