wood_dweller

This is prototype of my DIY bag. I was frustrated by weight of Carradice Camper bags - 920 g (claimed) was too much. I used lighter fabrics instead of cotton duck and went down to 500 g. I also didn't have saddle with eyelets, and wanted to use ordinary rack instead of Bagman support - I had to add some different mounting options for more versatility. Now I have upgraded version which is made of [oryginal] Cordura, I also added inner pocket, handle and made some minor changes.


I am really satisfied with this built so I decided that I will give it a try and I will run crowdfunding by the end of the year.

jbrow1

Bike I put together for my 7 year old daughter. Not exactly vintage, but a goodwill find for $13.99. The bars are vintage though, chopped em and made her a set of woodchipper bars. Need to redo the cables so they look better, and hook up the rear shifter as well, won't be hooking up the front shifter, don't figure she'll use it.





This is an old 26" nishiki mnt bike I got off craigslist with a trainer, for $30. Put a fork from a hybrid on it, 700c wheels/tires, welded on canti brake bosses for the back, and it's my CX/Gravel grinder bike. She's heavy, but I really like the bike.

imabeliever1

My Schwinn which started as a $5.00 frame and fork bought at a Frankenbike swap. This is my go to ride for most everything. Picture is in front of the Alamo.

lostarchitect 

My High Sierra:

Caliwild

Gorgeous! I'm thinking of doing the same exact thing. Any suggestions on sizing with that frame? I'm 5'9 so don't know if I should go with a smallish frame. Are those the Rat Trap tires? What do you think of them so far? Thanks in advance!

The Golden Boy 

That's really nice looking! You should post this in the DIY bag thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ag-making.html

The Golden Boy 

Fantastic High Sierra! I really want drops to work on mine- maybe I do need a higher stem than the regular SR road stem I had been using.

I was so tempted when a set of Rat Trap Pass tires were in the classified area. Now that I've got a set of Compass tires, I REALLY dig the ride compared to Paselas. It's kind of like the difference in the ride between the $10 Kendas and Paselas.

One of the things I really was happy to find was a set of sealed bearing Suntour XC wheels. The stock wheels were high flange either Sanshin or Joytech- and something happened with the rear hub. I should probably re-evaluate that- I think those were pretty good wheels- not as nice as the XC wheels though...

OTS 

My High Sierra:



Wow that is drool worthy.

Nicely done.

Lascauxcaveman 

On the topic of "how did yoou fit...?" Here's a proto-build of my 26" to 700c conversion on a 1994-ish (?) Nishiki Cornice MTB. I did a couple weeks of proof-of-concept riding on it, and it works. The one quirk I'm not sure I can live with is the extra high bottom bracket, which makes me raise the saddle up to the stratosphere to get proper extension on my pedal stroke. The tall saddle setup requires a full dismount when stopped, not just a toe to the ground while staying on the saddle. The geometry fits like a glove when I'm up and moving.



It came to me as a frame and most of the parts with a an old dead Rok Shox Mag 21 fork, which I was thinking about rebuilding but decided that was too much work for a side project I wasn't interested in. What I was interested in was seeing how it would work converted to 700c.

Getting a cheap carbon CX fork with a 1 1/8" steerer was easy enough. I had some miscellaneous old downmarket cantis in my junk box, so I didn't have buy any new ones or rob another of my bikes. Keeping the crank that came on the bike, I used the middle and outer ring as a compact double with 2x8 600 Tricolor brifters.



There was plenty of room under the rear brake bridge to fit 700x35 wheels and tires, which I borrowed from my Cannondale ST. An adaptor plate I crudely carved out of a chunk of aluminum bolts onto the old canti mounts on the seat stays, with some aftermarket canti studs screwed into position above that to place the brakes correctly for the larger rims. It lines up pretty well and the braking is as good as any of my other bikes.



And the frame was designed by that lovable kid from the old Happy Days sitcom!




(I bet Richard Cunningham the bike designer just never gets tired of that joke)

clasher

Well I put together another winter and wet-weather bike. I had the bar-end shifters on hand already as well as a few odd parts for the build. I got the fork for C$23 shipped, brand new from urbane cyclist they seem to be blowing out a whole whack of nice chromed forks, the picture showed a touring fork with canti bosses and low-riders, but this suspension-corrected disc for came instead so I just rolled with it. The front disc is an avid road BB7 so it works with the same levers as the canti brakes. I could make the switch to brifters with this setup if I wanted to.

I got super lucky at the co-op and found a 28.6 top pull xt front derailleur but it doesn't work well with the current crank on there, so I might swap over to a 44/32 double if I can scrounge up a 94bcd crank. There's still some tuning to do on it. I have some fenders I will mount to the bike now that it works and in a little bit of coincidence a cutoff from a 26.6 seatpost fits perfectly into the bottom the fork so I can use is as a homemade fender flute.

The shogun frame is perfect for this kind of rain-bike conversion, all the cables are up top out of the muck and the top tube isn't too long for me. I do need to get an inline seatpost eventually but I like the ride a lot during my 35km shakedown cruise. The frame itself seems to pretty light considering the size, apparently it came with full XT back in the day. It does have a few small dents in it but that just add to the charm. The old specialized mass transit tires aren't too slow, I might get some more supple tires in the spring, rat trap pass might fit with enough clearance in the rear.

Kdogbikes

Budget build to give this adventure riding a try. I'm 6'1 and this an xl frame. Pretty comfortable on the road and in the trails. Would like the brakes to work a lot better but I'm useing old 10speed levers. Really like getting off road.

Chris Chicago

Thought my bike was stolen. Lookin good. That's only the third smokey pearl 84 hi Sierra to show up in this thread, by my count.

Here's mine from around page 30

cs1

So many really nice bikes here. This might be one of the longest threads running on all of BF.

lostarchitect 

Hey, sorry I missed your reply.

I am also about 5'-9", so if you like the way the fit looks on this bike, you would be good with the same size. That said, I have shortish legs and longish arms, so I fit bikes a little weird. The stock crankarms were 175mm and that just doesn't work for me, so I switched out to this 165mm VO compact double I had lying around.

Regarding the tires, yes they're RTP's. I'm not sure about them yet. I only have maybe 50 miles on them so far and the bike feels kind of "draggy" in the rear, but I suspect it may be the hub. I haven't gotten around to tinkering with it yet.

rsterman

"Swapped out the crappy Exage cantis for powerful XT V-brakes, put different wheels on, and different saddle as well."

Actually, not all people believe that certain components bike related are crappy/more crappy than other like components. For example I just picked up a late 80's GT Outpost All-Terra with an Exage Country component set. They are entry quality Shimano components. The bike was in wonderful condition and basically NOS. I am converting it to a hybrid bike to use as a groomed trail/road bike. It is a very versatile frame with a twenty-two inch TT. (Same as my 1973 Lejeune TDF 58cm road bike) The "Paris Frenchie," as my wife refers to the bike, is a wonderful ride. It is just a little higher quality than an entry-level bike. The GT fits my 30" inseam perfectly. The plan has changed from doing a drop bar conversion to adding trekking bars, appropriate Brooks saddle. My long torso will enable me to add the trekking bars and ergonomic grips without having to fiddle with using a stem extender. Also will be able to switch over the Exage brakes and shifters with little/no retrofitting required. The front Shimano canti and the accursed U-brake work wonderfully and make,th bike show a clean uncluttered appearance. Have already changed to Michelin Country Rock 26x1.75 tires. Great ride on both surfaces. Added an interim Nashbar saddle. I am returning to my youth of loving to ride my bike. I waited too many years to do this. Everything on this bike works great. The bike is red/black with some blue/yellow decal highlights. So I guess I'm quite lucky to pick up a crappy entry level bike for $50 with crappy entry level components that work perfectly that I'll be able to retrofit the luxury components @ a later date. Way it appears now, the GT works so well that it will probably outlive me. So I will be able to ride it ad infinitum in its present condition.......or, I can do as @goldenboy says he likes to do, which is to take "lower quality frames and then lavish top drawer components on the frame. I have to say I tend to do the same thing. I love the old bikes that can be found and then rejuvenated/repurposed. Makes me be more a part of the ride. Also don't have to spend $1000 up to have the more "desirable" sterile contemporary bike. I'll post pics of this low level beauty soon.

rsterman

Michelin Country Rock. Around $20 each. Silky smooth/quiet on the road and a joy on the trails.....

Jeff Neese

Agree, especially when it comes to the old Exage stuff. It gets a bad rap because Exage 300 was fairly low end, but Exage 500 is about on par with Deore LX that came later. Very solid stuff that lasts forever and works well. I'd have to look, but I think I'm still rolling on Exage 500 hubs on my Rockhopper.

cs1

There was also an Exage Mountain that was pretty nice.

due ruote 

Re-posting with some changes to my '92 Stumpjumper Comp, which I showed a while back with 1 x 7 gear and Mustache bars. This time around it got Midge bars with a Technomic stem (so I can use my Eclipse bag); I also transferred some Deore LX parts from a Rockhopper Comp I found on CL so now it's 3 x 7 with Deore LX SIS shifters; and studded tires because, well, winter. I was planning to go without fenders because they always seem to fill with snow, but after a couple rides in slush I'm thinking about a u-turn on that decision.

Aemmer

Restored to Dirt Drop. Salsa Custom 1990. Scoboni:

Chris W.

This bike really needs it's own thread!

nillevang

1998 Kona Lava Dome!

OTS 

So many great bikes in this thread................

...................and they all look like they mean "business".

Awesome.

Shinkers

Curious to know in anyone has run into chainring limitations converting these MTB's to (generally) commuter/road bikes.


Being mountain bikes, I expect the chainstays to flare more for tire clearance. Obviously every frame is different but I'm wondering what I may be able to fit on the frame I'm getting at the end of this month.


Thanks.

due ruote 

What is it you want to do? Fairly normal setup was something like 48-38-28 rings.

I generally have just stuck with the factory rings and put a close range cassette on.