Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets

I go for (effective) top tube length not to exceed 21". I like 54-55 road bikes.

I have a 15" MTB with a 21" top tube and I've owned an 18" MTB with a 21" top tube.

My Marin actually has a 21.5" ETT, so I had to run crazy short 80mm stem.

Originally Posted by Aemmer

Are you sure it is 120? My 83 Stumpy was 130? Possibly someone re spaced it? Pretty sure Mike Synard copied the specs from the early Ritchey frames to the tee. Posted the question to Charlie Kelly once asking if my 81 Ritchey was originally 126 or it's current 130 and he let me know that even the very early Ritcheys were 130.


83 Stumpjumper 130:

Originally Posted by cs1

Why would you want a new bike when vintage ones look that good?

Originally Posted by likebike23

Lester, are you saying to match the TT length to what you ride for road? Also, is it true to go larger than Your normal mountain bike size so that you'll be able to raise the bars without excessive quill showing? If both are true, are you looking for a tallish frame that happens to have a shorter TT?

Originally Posted by Aemmer

The old WTB stuff has gotten to be a challenge to find. Took me about two years of ebay searches to find that LD. Got the shift pods from a fellow collector along with the hangar from a different friend. The bars come up on the bay often enough. Certainly have more in that cockpit than the rest of the bike combined. Worth it though. Pretty gratifying when it all came together, and I dig the way it rides. Someday I would like to find an old fillet brazed Potts to shift it over to.

Originally Posted by likebike23

That's funny you say that Frantik. The BCA I picked up this winter is the same size as the smallest road bike I would ride (52cm). After mocking it up, I find that the standover is too high for serious trail riding. I'll probably use it for gravel roads and around town. Luckily, I have a couple more vintage rides I can experiment with, and both have chainstay mounted U-brakes!

Originally Posted by gomango

Do the Stumpjumper first please.

I have a 1983 as well and I want to see yours first.

Might build one of these for grins.....

Originally Posted by thirdgenbird

An old stumpjumper with campy 8 sounds fun. I know you have a "toothbrush clean" kit floating around.

edit: keep in mind how simple this would be btw. Campy 8 shares cog spacing with shimano 7 freewheels and the front ergo lever handles mtb triple setups without breaking a sweat.

Originally Posted by anixi

+1 on the Stumpy, although the 'goose is a close 2nd.

Originally Posted by likebike23

J, Nice Stumpjumper! I would do the stumpy 1st. That stem from the mongoose might work great on there (if you're gonna change it anyway). Save all the original parts just in case you need to sell it down the road. P.S.- went to Hampshire bike today and scored some bars, levers, and shifters for a conversion.

Originally Posted by wrk101

Realize the bb is usually a lot higher on a MTB, so the same frame size will be quite a bit taller.

Put me in the half way club. I traditionally rode an 18 inch mtb, tried a 19 inch, it was too big. Meanwhile, on road bikes, I ride about a 22 inch frame. My latest MTB drop bar conversion was a 20 inch frame size, "half way" between my traditional mtb size and road bike size.

Originally Posted by neo_pop_71

Hey Donkey Hodie, lucky man to have a couple good bikes worthy of doing a drop bar conversion! A few have weighed in and I agree that your Stumpjumper would be the best choice. You stated the best reason, the Stumpy feels more natural. Beyond that your Stumpjumper has a taller headtube which from a frame standpoint is better suited for a drop bar conversion since the size of the frame will put those bars higher and get your bars more inline with the saddle height. Given the components on your Stumpy, you can run your thumb shifters (preserve your shift cables and all the housings, it looks like they'll be plenty long enough for the conversion) on the bar tops for now, no need to buy bar end shifters until you decide if a drop bar builds suits you. You'll need a dirt drop bar, there are plenty to choose these days, I tried a few and found the On One Midge bar to be the best on my MB-1. I bought a Nitto MT-10 "Dirt Drop" quill stem for my Cimarron conversion, it's the stem of choice for these builds if you want to long stem to help nail down your running height. The last thing you'll need to buy is a set of drop bar brake levers, you can fly the cables or go aero, it's an aesthetic call. Everything else on your Stumpy is ready to roll as is and I think it's the best frame for trying out a new drop bar build.

Not a hard conversion for your Stumpjumper...
1. "Dirt Drop" handlebar
2. Tall quill stem
3. Drop bar brake levers
4. New pair of road brake cables
5. Bar tape

Have fun and good luck!

-D-



p.s. I've included a pic of the bar set up on my MB-1, I love the action and feel on my Suntour XC Pro thumb shifters, I've never felt a need to switch to bar end shifters because after a little trial and error the stock thumb shifters have done the job nicely... plus no chance of knee shifting! I should mention that I spend a majority of my time riding in the drops. The Midge bar has nice shallow drops that run nicely parallel to the top tube, I just prefer mine ticked up a bit.

Originally Posted by illwafer

regarding the 83 stumpy above:

i have an 83 sport model, and the spacing is 120 in the back. I spread it to 135(!), but I had to use a 7-speed cassette with a space on the OUTSIDE in order to get the wheel to slide in. there's no way you could run 8+ speed if you are using a 135mm wheelset.

Originally Posted by seely

Whoa, 120, really? Road bikes at that time were even 126...

Originally Posted by Donkey Hodie

I definitely need to make a trip out tp Hamp Bike exchange. They have so much great used bikes and accessories that you can poke through. I love that place!

Originally Posted by Donkey Hodie

Wow! Thanks for the great advice, photos of your conversion, and all the useful information! I am plan on keeping my stumpy as stock as possible at first, and as time goes on, possibly upgrading it here and there if it would be worthwhile. I would like to figure out what would be the best set up as far as the drivetrain and any other parts as well.

I'm not sure if I would want dirt drops like the Marry's or not. I was kinf of leaning towards the idea of some wide Rivendell's Nitto Noodle drops because I am mostly going to be using this for road rides, occasional light single track and fire or gravel roads, and paths. Maybe I'll try a short tour camp trip with it, but mostly it will be on paved and hilly back country roads.

Originally Posted by jhess74

Well, I finally jumped into this today after thinking about it for a few weeks - found a Trek 820 in decent shape on craigslist and picked it up this morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent tearing the bike down and scrubbing it, as well as re-greasing bearings where needed. Attached are pics of how I bought it and how it looks this evening. Hopefully I'll have it finished tomorrow night, I'm really curious to see how this thing rides. Thanks to everyone here for the inspiration for what so far has been a fun project!

Originally Posted by striknein

Just like long pull brakes offer more modulation than short pull, a longer stem will allow you to make much finer steering adjustment than a shorter stem. Another thing to consider is that your bike was probably setup with a much wider set of handlebars, which worked with the original stem to make the steering deliberate and predictable.

With such a short, tall stem, your steering will feel a lot more wobbly at low speed, though it should settle down as you pick up speed. This feeling can be amplified with such a large amount of trail, such that you typically find on vintage mountain bikes. You're probably just discovering the bike's unique personality.

Originally Posted by acoffin

^This looks promising. I look forward to seeing it finished.

Originally Posted by jhess74

Thanks! It's close to done now, just needs bar tape and bit of fine tuning on the brakes. Those cantilevers are kind of a pain to get dialed in. I've heard V-brakes work better and are easier to adjust, so maybe I'll look into some down the road.