carbomb

That High Sierra is smile inducing. It may be one of the best, if not the most subtle usage of a golden stem I've seen.

I'm trying to build one right now and I'm learning I know nothing of MTB measurements and standards, haha.

WalksOn2Wheels

Waiting on some street-ish tires that I ordered, but picked up my friend's two bikes to get one together for him. One of them happened to be another Hardrock, but a frame size larger. I guess a 21? Mine is probably a 19. It was a different year, with the U-brake behind the BB. Anyway, it gave me a chance to see if I'm really going the wrong direction with my build. I was amazed to find out that the top tube was only half an inch longer.

So while I have a lot of seatpost showing, it fits close to my other bikes and spending money on a frame size up won't make a huge difference. I did order a stem to get a little higher, but I'm afraid it will cut my reach quite a bit. I'm hoping it works out because the current stem is ugly.

Anyway, I'll post up some pictures when I get the slicks on.

vdub6541

Hi everyone,

Here's my current project - a 1993 Supergo Access Comp XTR (Supergo was the Performance house brand). I got just the frame on the local craigslist, and have been building it up as a single speed drop bar mountain bike. This is how it sits right now, with the wheels off of my other mountain bike (I will be building the wheels for this one this week). I'm a little concerned about the length and negative angle of the stem. I was hoping someone here would have a suggestion of a zero-rise or very small rise quill stem that would put the bars a little bit closer and higher to me? Probably 100-120mm.

Some details of the build: not strictly a vintage build, but a budget build that would be good for some Austin, TX single track.

Frame: Double butted True Temper OX Ultra II, 18"
Fork: 80's stumpjumper fork, biplane crown
Wheels: Deore LX m560 hubs laced to WTB dual duty rims, set up tubeless with Vredestein 26x2.2 Black Panther tires
Cockpit: Tioga TBone stem, Ritchey drop bar, Cane Creek SCR5 levers
Brakes: Suntour Scott Pedersen self energizing cantis (front) and Deore LX M560 rear cantis.
Drive train: Bontrager crankset, 38/20 or 36/18 front/rear cog

I'm enjoying this bike so far, and can't wait to take it to some trails. I'll have more pictures when it's done!

kevins08 

1" threaded stem? Nitto Dirt Drop is what you want.

WalksOn2Wheels

Ok, excuse the mess, but here's a progress shot from last night:



Kind of wild. Handlebars should be in today or tomorrow. Swapping tires and tubes took nearly 2 pounds off the bike, so that's awesome. Probably added most of it back with the fenders, rack, and bag though.

Munny

This seems to be an appropriate place to show some pictures of my Kirk


Besides the kirkiness of the original, there it is running 650B wooden rims - 40 spokes and Campa brifters

WalksOn2Wheels

That is pure madness. Thank you for sharing it.

SpEd

OK, first post I know bad form to just jump in here and ask questions in a "show me your..." thread (BTW, beautiful conversions everyone, love em), back to my question.

I have a limited background in both light road biking and light trail biking but I'm now in the market for a drop bar conversion that I can commute to work on. Here's the catch, my commute is 50%+/- on rough rock/gravel and dirt trails through forest preserve and river valley and the rest is varied paved road and gravel pathways. One way distance is just shy of 15 miles.

So I've kind of already decided I want to try a drop bar conversion, but I do not know if I should look for a size more along the lines of where I'd go with an mtb or road bike sized frame?

kevins08 

One size down from your normal MTB is usually the rule of thumb.

Miele Man

Looking good so far. Another option with a threaded fork is to use a threaded to threadless stem adapter and a threadless stem. That makes it so much easier to swap stems to arrive at exactly the stem length/rise you want.

I can get threadless stems inexpensively at the bicycle co-op in the city next to mine. wee don't have a bicycle co-op but it's only a little iver an hour to road-bike there.

Cheers

Lazyass

Supergo was their own brand. I used to order stuff through them by mail in the 90's. Performance bought them out.

Bikedued

And it might not be a bad idea to run wider bars, and use cross levers. Depending on rough it is, I use my cross levers fairly often.,,,,BD

jonpear6

I love this thing. Rad colorway, Nice fenders. Looks like a budget-minded randonneur bike to me. If you don't mind my asking, how deep are you into this thing in $$$ terms???

arex

I think you have to go with a road front derailleur if you want indexed shifting to work right. I went friction-front and index-rear, seems to work well, though I actually spend 95% of my time on the big ring, even with the hills around here.

WalksOn2Wheels

Thanks! The short answer is too damn much! I really wanted this to be a budget build, but things happen. Here is a pic of the final build (I need to get a straight on shot with a longer lens so it looks less ridiculous proportion wise):



The only things I HAD to pay for:
Cables/Housing - $20
Bar tape - $18
Tires - $40 for the set
Chain- $15(?)
Seatpost - $50, but I could have gotten a sufficient one for much less.

Things that were in the clost/available at no cost:
Bar end shifters
Crank/BB
FD/RD
Brakes/pads
Bottle cages
Saddle
Fenders are actually slightly massaged 700cc fenders I had from another build

Things I didn't have to buy but did because reasons:
Bars - $54 (The first ones I tried were WAY too narrow standard 42cm road bars)
Stem - 20$ from a local shop
Stem Adapter - $16

Highly extravagant extras:
VO Pass Hunter rack w/ decaleur - $100
VO HB bag - $110

In the end, yeah, it's small. But it does ride great and is a good around town bike. Maybe short overnight camping trips, but I'm not 100% in love with this bike. It is HEAVY at 30 pounds without the bag mounted. But overall, I like the ride and the concept. I will probably build another much pricier bike in a year or so and move the bars over to that bike, and the rack if possible. Then I can sell the bike off with the other bar/stem combo and almost break even. I live in a college town and it would make a killer bike for someone half a foot shorter...

For now, it will be a commuting rig and hopefully get me riding more regularly for small trips. It's a step in the right direction, but not my ultimate destination.

carbomb

Haha, this is the second time I've seen the word "colorway" on this forum this week. I don't know about everyone else's Craigslist search areas, but in mine "colorway" is synonymous with a flip from someone who has no idea what they're selling. It usually includes the word "hybrid" and "speed bike" as well =)

carbomb

Are those the Dajia Far Bars like the ones Velo-Orange sells? I'm guessing you like them considering you'd move them over to your next build.

jonpear6

Well, call it bleed-over from my former time being a sneakerhead. What vernacular would you recommend for a non-solid paintjob that is distinctly identifiable with a timeperiod in which a product was made/sold? Paintjob? Color?

WalksOn2Wheels

Yes! The bars are awesome. They would be even better if the frame was the right size. I had to tilt them up to make the tops flat in order for the hoods to be at the right height for cruising. For the drops position, my hands liked it much better when the hoods were more "vertical" and the flat part at the end of the bar was parallel to the ground. I can still use the drops, but my wrists are at more of an angle now and they don't like it. If they were higher, I could find a compromise between the two positions. I bought the 48cm bars, which are actually measured from center to center of the hood position. I think they are something like 62 cm wide at the ends. Lovely bars.

WalksOn2Wheels

"Colorway" is just modern marketing speak. It basically means "paint job" or "color scheme."

carbomb

That explains a lot. It always sounded like a fashion term to me. "Paint job" has been my go to, or just color. It makes sense to me as it's the term for cars, motorcycles and the type. I also think I prefer the brevity of saying "paint job" as opposed to the extra syllable and looping feel of "colorway". Just a different way of using 8 letters.

carbomb

Nice! I was torn between the Dajia Far Bar and the Soma Portola for my own MTB drop bar conversion I should be posting soon. In the end it was the 26mm handlebar clamp that moved me towards the Portola. Though the stem that worked the best finally is a 31.8 so I'm using a shim, haha. Those Far Bars look like they have bends in all the right places.

superstring

The following was posted on the thread awhile back. I can't remember the poster or what page it's on, so it's a good thing I made my own copy! I think you'll find it an interesting read vis-a-vis your question about frame sizes.


" These conversions can require some testing and can create a fit dilemma if the forward reach of the stem+bars puts the hoods too far forward to prevent the sort of steering heave that is common on slack-angled frames that are set up for an aggressive, forward-leaning fit (i.e. road bike fit).
So it's best to initially convert an already-assembled bike for purely test purposes, perhaps connecting just one brake and shifter and strapping the remaining original controls to the bars or frame, safely out of the way.
This way, there is little commitment to a project that might not work out if the rider's preferred fit/grip position puts the riders hands too far forward of the steering axis to steer effortlessly when riding while up off of the saddle.
A wider road bar helps here, by widening the "triangle" formed by the points at the steering axis and the rider's hands, since one doesn't want to have to control steering-heave forces by using wrist-twisting torque, but rather by a shoulder-width (or greater) grip spacing (as with the bike's original flat bars, hint hint).

BTW, the old Huffy and Schwinn 3-speed and "road" bikes like the Varsinentals have the very same issue in requiring progressively-wider handlebars to control out-of-saddle steering using even modestly-longer handlebar stems than the 6-7cm stems that they came with, due to their ~70-degree headtube angles, so starting with the largest possible frame size is nearly a must.

Bicycle Addict mentioned the much-stronger 26" wheels vs. 700c wheels, and this is true.
Many lower-priced hybrids will have single-walled rims that may require quite-even tensioning to provide decent off-road durability, but luckily those Performance Parabola road hybrids came with (albeit light and narrow) double-walled rims that have worked well for me (I did equi-tension them from the get-go).

This green bike can be thought of as a "road-bar conversion", since the rider cockpit was moved forward over the slack-angled frame for a normal road bike style fit.
Result was that the combination of a 10cm stem and not-so-wide handlebar produced steering heave when honking out of the saddle (uphill or sprinting), such that my wrists see a lot of unwanted twisting stress in hard riding.
I could have prevented this by using a larger frame, one that had virtually no stand-over height, but I went with what came my way and learned an important lesson about frame angles, fit and steering. I had to develop a different "attack" style to sort of even out the stresses in my body in order to endure longer, harder rides, so at least it can and does get ridden, if only occasionally.
Keep in mind here that Schwinn designed these frame firstly for use with "upright touring" type handlebars, and later added drop bars with puny 2-1/2" (6.4cm) steel stems!
The silver bike below it is a next-size-larger frame that fits this 5'9" rider much better, and with only an 8.5cm stem it steers much easier (while still using the stock handlebar)."

HTH

Edit: OK, I found the original post by dddd - #4617 on page 185

GordoTrek

i played with it a few more nights and got the shifting a bit better, i tweaked the front derailleur to accommodate the rub. Sheldon always was suggesting that.

bought some cheap new XLC canti brake pads, 8 bucks for a set of 4 on amazon. Made a world of difference, dropping some 10ft long skids now...

BigSung

Is that a VO threadless stem adaptor? It looks like you get pretty decent rise with that one. I got the Profile Design threadless stem adaptor, but I think I prefer a bit more rise, and that VO might work out really well for me.