Show Your Vintage MTB Drop Bar Conversions
#1501
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: The Des Moines, Iowa
Posts: 112
Bikes: 72 Motobecane GR, 88 Schwinn Circuit, 72 Schwinn SS, Cannondale Synapse 5, Raleigh Tamland 1
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Serious meats on there, brand/specs on the tires? And most importantly, how do you like them?
#1502
Rides Majestic
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Westfield, MA
Posts: 1,339
Bikes: 1983 Univega Gran Turismo, 1970 Schwinn Super Sport, 2001 Univega Modo Vincere, Self-Built Nashbar Touring, 1974 Peugeot U08, 1974 Atala Grand Prix, 1986 Ross Mt. Hood, 80's Maruishi MT-18
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The tires are an Avenir branded CST slick I picked up a while back. Here's the link on Niagara:https://www.niagaracycle.com/categori...ad-black-black. They also sell the CST1218, which is wider and comes in a couple colors: https://www.niagaracycle.com/categori...bead-blue-blue and
https://www.niagaracycle.com/categori...e-bead-red-red
I like them. They ride quicker than I thought they should. They are fairly heavy and have a thick rubber at the tread. Oh yeah, they look cool too.
https://www.niagaracycle.com/categori...e-bead-red-red
I like them. They ride quicker than I thought they should. They are fairly heavy and have a thick rubber at the tread. Oh yeah, they look cool too.
#1504
The BCA looks great!!
#1505
Rides Majestic
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Westfield, MA
Posts: 1,339
Bikes: 1983 Univega Gran Turismo, 1970 Schwinn Super Sport, 2001 Univega Modo Vincere, Self-Built Nashbar Touring, 1974 Peugeot U08, 1974 Atala Grand Prix, 1986 Ross Mt. Hood, 80's Maruishi MT-18
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Thanks for the kind words. Haven't had a chance to get a good ride in yet, just finished it last night and took it around the neighborhood. So far so good, it shifts and brakes fine, and feels pretty good. I've never tried moustache bars, but those were free from a friend, so I'm giving them a try.
#1506
Senior Member
This is coming along, a Schwinn High Plains frame that was so filthy and grimy that the bike coop stripped it and was going to send it off for scrap. I forgot to take a picture of the frame before I started scrubbing it clean, the only picture I have of the original condition is the fork. It was one of the cleaner parts of the bike.
P3100187 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
I could not get the yellow/orange stains out of the paint on the stays and dropouts so I decided to paint the dropouts black, as well as the lugs. I always liked those black lugs on the white Peugeots. The rusty areas and areas missing paint on the stays got primed and the entire stays got a couple of coats of Testors enamel, brushed on.
P4060226 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
The crankset was assembled from a $5 set of Sakae SX cranks and my parts bin of chainrings. 48/36/26. The front derailleur is a Deore XT rescued from the parts bin at the coop. The pedals are MKS RMX.
P4060228 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
P4060231 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
Rear derailleur is Suntour Vx-GT, $5 from a bike-swap. The rear will have a 7-speed 13-30 cassette.
P4060230 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
Cockpit is a VO quill to threadless stem converter with a $5 Dimension stem (bike swap). The handlebar is a new Nitto rando model I picked up at the Trexlertown bike swap for $5. A VO decaleur is also attached, you can't see it well from this angle. Shifters are Suntour barcons, $40. The brake levers are Tektro RL-340s.
P4060232 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
The wheels are coming off of a flea market Trek 930 that was obviously a cop bike and had been upgraded with some nice components. They are Matrix, double-wall and eyeletted. The tires are going to be 1.75 Panaracer T-Servs. It will also get a Blackburn rear rack from the Trek and a front, black, Sunlite rack that matches the rear rack pretty well. The front bag will be a black dSLR shoulder bag from the flea market. I will post pictures of the completed bike.
P3100187 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
I could not get the yellow/orange stains out of the paint on the stays and dropouts so I decided to paint the dropouts black, as well as the lugs. I always liked those black lugs on the white Peugeots. The rusty areas and areas missing paint on the stays got primed and the entire stays got a couple of coats of Testors enamel, brushed on.
P4060226 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
The crankset was assembled from a $5 set of Sakae SX cranks and my parts bin of chainrings. 48/36/26. The front derailleur is a Deore XT rescued from the parts bin at the coop. The pedals are MKS RMX.
P4060228 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
P4060231 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
Rear derailleur is Suntour Vx-GT, $5 from a bike-swap. The rear will have a 7-speed 13-30 cassette.
P4060230 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
Cockpit is a VO quill to threadless stem converter with a $5 Dimension stem (bike swap). The handlebar is a new Nitto rando model I picked up at the Trexlertown bike swap for $5. A VO decaleur is also attached, you can't see it well from this angle. Shifters are Suntour barcons, $40. The brake levers are Tektro RL-340s.
P4060232 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr
The wheels are coming off of a flea market Trek 930 that was obviously a cop bike and had been upgraded with some nice components. They are Matrix, double-wall and eyeletted. The tires are going to be 1.75 Panaracer T-Servs. It will also get a Blackburn rear rack from the Trek and a front, black, Sunlite rack that matches the rear rack pretty well. The front bag will be a black dSLR shoulder bag from the flea market. I will post pictures of the completed bike.
#1508
Well, I finally made some progress on my Cimarron builds...
The 1985 Cimarron finally has something to sit on, the Brooks B67 arrived and I found a NOS Sakae OEM seatpost to replace the original that was in horrid condition! I'm still researching tires but I've got a solid short list going at this point.
The 1988 Cimarron LE really came together this week! I picked the frame and fork up last Saturday from the powdercoater after being media blasted and a fresh coat of Arizona White powder. On Monday I worked on the NOS Cimarron waterslide decals, I've done many sets of waterslides over the years and these were the most challenging by far but they were 25 years old! I gave it a couple days for the decals to set and then off to my buddy's autobody shop for some BMW clear coat (it just so happened that they were painting two M Series Bimmers, so my frame/fork got the good stuff). I picked up the finished frame and fork late Friday but I was too beat to work on the assembly even though I was super excited to get started! Today, I finished up the "honey do..." list (happy wife, happy home) and jumped on the build, it's 95% done... I just need my rear cable hanger to arrive in the mail, install a new chain, and decide on which pedals I want to run. I think the bike came out great, originally it was the same color as the '85 commuter but the paint was ruined, I'm really digging the off-white! I'll probably opt for a more svelte set of tires since I was trying to match Thrifty Bill's 25 pound Cimarron, the WTB 2.4 Moto Raptors would be ultra plush but they are hefty!
Now I can get started on my '92 Trek 950... my wife would like a few gears for rollin' out with our little angel, my daughter is almost 8 and a serious masher! Currently my wife is riding my '89 Nishiki Alien singlespeed, I picked up the 950 a few months back for $10.00, I think I have the parts to build a really cool 3 speed. I'm going to toss it in the stand and tear it down, with any luck in a couple hours I'll have something light weight and totally unique (fingers crossed)!
-D-
The 1985 Cimarron finally has something to sit on, the Brooks B67 arrived and I found a NOS Sakae OEM seatpost to replace the original that was in horrid condition! I'm still researching tires but I've got a solid short list going at this point.
The 1988 Cimarron LE really came together this week! I picked the frame and fork up last Saturday from the powdercoater after being media blasted and a fresh coat of Arizona White powder. On Monday I worked on the NOS Cimarron waterslide decals, I've done many sets of waterslides over the years and these were the most challenging by far but they were 25 years old! I gave it a couple days for the decals to set and then off to my buddy's autobody shop for some BMW clear coat (it just so happened that they were painting two M Series Bimmers, so my frame/fork got the good stuff). I picked up the finished frame and fork late Friday but I was too beat to work on the assembly even though I was super excited to get started! Today, I finished up the "honey do..." list (happy wife, happy home) and jumped on the build, it's 95% done... I just need my rear cable hanger to arrive in the mail, install a new chain, and decide on which pedals I want to run. I think the bike came out great, originally it was the same color as the '85 commuter but the paint was ruined, I'm really digging the off-white! I'll probably opt for a more svelte set of tires since I was trying to match Thrifty Bill's 25 pound Cimarron, the WTB 2.4 Moto Raptors would be ultra plush but they are hefty!
Now I can get started on my '92 Trek 950... my wife would like a few gears for rollin' out with our little angel, my daughter is almost 8 and a serious masher! Currently my wife is riding my '89 Nishiki Alien singlespeed, I picked up the 950 a few months back for $10.00, I think I have the parts to build a really cool 3 speed. I'm going to toss it in the stand and tear it down, with any luck in a couple hours I'll have something light weight and totally unique (fingers crossed)!
-D-
#1510
#1511
As the builder of the 25 pound Cimarron and the king of drop bar MTN bike conversions, your kind words about my Cimarron means a great deal... so, thanks very much Bill!
mainstreetexile stated:
That powdercoat with the new decals turned out nice.
Did the green 88 Cimarron LE models have the same geometry as the earlier 85ish green Cimarrons?
Thanks! I'm quite please, seeing the bike nearly complete I feel it was well worth all the effort to make it happen. Yes, the '88 LE model does have the same geometry as the '85. As much as I've read, I believe all the Cimarron models from the first year '85 through the last year '89 all had the 70/70 degree geometry.
Thanks again!
-D-
mainstreetexile stated:
That powdercoat with the new decals turned out nice.
Did the green 88 Cimarron LE models have the same geometry as the earlier 85ish green Cimarrons?
Thanks! I'm quite please, seeing the bike nearly complete I feel it was well worth all the effort to make it happen. Yes, the '88 LE model does have the same geometry as the '85. As much as I've read, I believe all the Cimarron models from the first year '85 through the last year '89 all had the 70/70 degree geometry.
Thanks again!
-D-
#1514
Get off my lawn!
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: The Garden State
Posts: 6,031
Bikes: 1917 Loomis, 1923 Rudge, 1930 Hercules Renown, 1947 Mclean, 1948 JA Holland, 1955 Hetchins, 1957 Carlton Flyer, 1962 Raleigh Sport, 1978&81 Raleigh Gomp GS', 2010 Raliegh Clubman
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Yup...drive side please
#1515
AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW... MY EYES ! ! !
Christ frantik, could you have found a more f'ugly bike?!!!
In the spirit of vintage Trek 900 Series Singletrack mountain bikes, please allow me offer up my 3 speed Trek 950. This is my 1992 U.S.A. made, lugged double butted True Temper OX II with triple butted Tange "Big Fork" that I picked up for $10.00. There were good reasons the bike was only $10.00, it was missing some parts (front wheel, seatpost, and seat) and it was so filthy that I had to take a fingernail to scrape grime away to know what I had. I knew it would be a project but the price was certainly right! The inspiration for this build came from Michael Doleman's "Tringle" (custom Surly Cross Check found at his site https://mdoleman.blogspot.com/2011/05/tringle.html), after hunting through my part bins I had all the parts needed to build up a 3x1 drop bar bike. Many of the parts like the PAUL Melvin, White Industries 20T freewheel, Surly(hubs)/Salsa(hoops) singlespeed wheelset, XT v-brakes, and Shimano M-730 XT crank (I installed a set of 48/38/28 Sugino chainrings) came from my old singlespeed. The Modolo handlebar and brake levers were spares from an Italian road bike that went away a few years back. The Dura Ace triple bar end shifter was left over from the from the 1x9 96'er I built last year, I figured I'd never find a use for that shifter!
(The first photo is after a thorough cleaning, I blew it by cleaning it up before I snapped a photo to illustrate the neglect)
I know some of you C&V purists are going to hate on me for running v-brakes but I was really striving for 100% recycled components on this build, when I found the unopened World Class V-Dapter from the 90's, I knew my brake issues were resolved. I don't have any nice canti brake sets left. Obviously I ran a drop bar and would need some levers but the idea of spending $25.00 on some new Tektro road to v-brake levers really bugged me since I only spent 10 bucks on the bike! I broke down and spent $9.72 at my LBS today for new housing and cables... c'mon man I can splurge on something!
Anyway, I have a couple things to finish up but I think I'm really going to dig this 3 speed for bombin' the neighborhood and some trails/fire roads, hopefully I'll have some spare time to log some miles this week. I'm an old roadie and I refuse to reuse bar tape, gotta spend another $10.00 picking up some Cinelli cork wrap and I'll be set... $30.00 invested... repurposing a bunch of spare parts... and keeping a quality bike rollin'! Pretty damn good weekend!!!
-D-
Christ frantik, could you have found a more f'ugly bike?!!!
In the spirit of vintage Trek 900 Series Singletrack mountain bikes, please allow me offer up my 3 speed Trek 950. This is my 1992 U.S.A. made, lugged double butted True Temper OX II with triple butted Tange "Big Fork" that I picked up for $10.00. There were good reasons the bike was only $10.00, it was missing some parts (front wheel, seatpost, and seat) and it was so filthy that I had to take a fingernail to scrape grime away to know what I had. I knew it would be a project but the price was certainly right! The inspiration for this build came from Michael Doleman's "Tringle" (custom Surly Cross Check found at his site https://mdoleman.blogspot.com/2011/05/tringle.html), after hunting through my part bins I had all the parts needed to build up a 3x1 drop bar bike. Many of the parts like the PAUL Melvin, White Industries 20T freewheel, Surly(hubs)/Salsa(hoops) singlespeed wheelset, XT v-brakes, and Shimano M-730 XT crank (I installed a set of 48/38/28 Sugino chainrings) came from my old singlespeed. The Modolo handlebar and brake levers were spares from an Italian road bike that went away a few years back. The Dura Ace triple bar end shifter was left over from the from the 1x9 96'er I built last year, I figured I'd never find a use for that shifter!
(The first photo is after a thorough cleaning, I blew it by cleaning it up before I snapped a photo to illustrate the neglect)
I know some of you C&V purists are going to hate on me for running v-brakes but I was really striving for 100% recycled components on this build, when I found the unopened World Class V-Dapter from the 90's, I knew my brake issues were resolved. I don't have any nice canti brake sets left. Obviously I ran a drop bar and would need some levers but the idea of spending $25.00 on some new Tektro road to v-brake levers really bugged me since I only spent 10 bucks on the bike! I broke down and spent $9.72 at my LBS today for new housing and cables... c'mon man I can splurge on something!
Anyway, I have a couple things to finish up but I think I'm really going to dig this 3 speed for bombin' the neighborhood and some trails/fire roads, hopefully I'll have some spare time to log some miles this week. I'm an old roadie and I refuse to reuse bar tape, gotta spend another $10.00 picking up some Cinelli cork wrap and I'll be set... $30.00 invested... repurposing a bunch of spare parts... and keeping a quality bike rollin'! Pretty damn good weekend!!!
-D-
Last edited by neo_pop_71; 04-08-13 at 08:00 AM. Reason: provide a link
#1516
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Forksbent, MN
Posts: 3,190
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I like your logic. If the parts come from a bike I already own, then they are free. I've been using that logic for the Mrs for quite some time.
Let us know your thoughts on the tringle vs 1x7 setup once it's up and going for you.
Let us know your thoughts on the tringle vs 1x7 setup once it's up and going for you.
#1517
Thrifty Bill
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Mountains of Western NC
Posts: 23,555
Bikes: 86 Katakura Silk, 87 Prologue X2, 88 Cimarron LE, 1975 Sekai 4000 Professional, 73 Paramount, plus more
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My Katakura Silk, pride and joy, is a bin build. Wheels came from a Giant donor bike, rear derailleur came from a Trek 2000 rebuild, front derailleur from a third bike, crankset from a Specialized Sequoia rebuild, shift levers from the local co-op (I took them a truckload of stuff in return), tires came from a Fuji Robaix I rebuilt, brake calipers came from that Trek 2000, etc. Cables, chain, freewheel, bar tape, brake levers, and saddle were the only new parts.
#1518
I know some of you C&V purists are going to hate on me for running v-brakes but I was really striving for 100% recycled components on this build, when I found the unopened World Class V-Dapter from the 90's, I knew my brake issues were resolved. I don't have any nice canti brake sets left. Obviously I ran a drop bar and would need some levers but the idea of spending $25.00 on some new Tektro road to v-brake levers really bugged me since I only spent 10 bucks on the bike! I broke down and spent $9.72 at my LBS today for new housing and cables... c'mon man I can splurge on something!-D-
I was thinking about v-brakes, but I think mini v-brakes may even allow you to use the existing road levers without a travel agent. Not sure what the downside is with mini-v's though (less clearance)?
#1520
is just a real cool dude
Side question. I have a set of Sunotour barcons and thought I had two of the same sides. Though I noticed on Paramount1973's build aboce that his barcons are the same way? Are both cable holes normally on the right hand side of the levers when mounted?
#1522
That's correct, it makes no difference which side you put the levers on, they're identical.
#1523
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Stem porn... excuse the metal dust.
Brought these home from the shop figuring that I am going to build up one of those Arvon frames to set up test rides and they need the right stems... as dangerous as that may be to me.
Brought these home from the shop figuring that I am going to build up one of those Arvon frames to set up test rides and they need the right stems... as dangerous as that may be to me.