Piff 

You might just need to become a bit more obsessed. Gotta check craigslist for a few months every single day if you want that uber deal.

due ruote 

I can’t comment on cx bikes but as long as you get a quality frame and go with good tires, it won’t be a sluggish ride. At least that’s been my experience with a couple Stumpjumpers and a Bianchi Grizzly. The Stumpy I have now (‘92 with Prestige tubing) feels quite quick and agile.

wrk101

Can't find good bikes where you live? Look elsewhere! The best way to overcome a strong local market is to look at other markets. Every trip I take by car becomes a buying trip. I also look in other markets where friends and family can pick up bikes for me. Do them a favor and repair their bikes. I picked up a very nice 1974 Paramount in Albany, NY in late 2016, not exactly local to where I live. For some reason, the bike lingered on C/L for a couple of months at a very attractive price.

The best bikes I bought in 2017 were not bought in my market. On road trips, I typically bring back at least four bikes, often more than that. I take some tools with me so I can partially disassemble them so I can fit in more. Check out co-op project piles, many have piles of bikes with issues or challenges that they haven't gotten around to. Leave the finished bikes for the locals. I picked up a 1987 Ironman Master this year that way. It had a stuck stem and seat post so they avoided working on it. Price was very attractive! I will even check their scrap pile. I've pulled bikes out of the pile, removed a few good parts, returned it to the scrap pile, and gave them money for the parts I got. Win/win! (ask first of course).

Despite going to a lot of thrift stores, I rarely find a bike there. In 2017, I found three bikes total at thrift stores, probably the best in years, but a small fraction of the 25 to 30 I was finding a year at thrift stores ten years ago. I go to thrift stores to find other stuff.

The GREAT news of living in a hot market is you should be easily sell off your finds at a tidy profit! If I could choose, I would much rather live in a red hot market where finds are scarce than a slow market with plentiful finds. It would make selling so much easier.

eom 

[QUOTE=mack_turtle;20058585]thanks for the feedback!


good deals on decent older bikes are hard to find where I live.

Thrifty Bill has spoken, wisely as always.

State your needs. Lots of us have bikes we can part with.

mack_turtle

Good call on other markets. I will check smaller towns when I get out, which is rare.

I am steering away from 26" bikes because it seems that fitting is going to be hard to accomplish by getting the bars high enough due to the smaller wheels and tiny headtubes. Something like a 17" Spec Crosstrail would be ideal. A road bike with a 540-550 ETT seems to fit me well, but I am not sure if that translates well when retrofitting a hybrid with drop bars.

I will keep looking, but I will also just start saving my pennies for a CX bike. My plan is to own not one but a whopping TWO bicycles. I already have a nice trail-oriented bike, now I want a road-oriented bike. My only real requirements are that it a) fits me with drop bars and B ) has room for a 40mm or so tire.

fixedweasel

I am a huge fan of fully lugged MTN bikes* and have been trying to slowly stash them away for over a decade when I come across them. I have some mid-range and some really nice ones.*** I have a smoked Schwinn High Sierra frame w/lugged unicrown fork that I picked up for $15 and I found out why later when building it up.**** I found some brakes finally and built up a SS MTN bike with drops and I love it on the tame singletrack here. I also just sold off a Rivendell 650b Bleriot which left a hole (there's always a hole, isn't there?). So my winter project will be a "copy" of Grant Peterson's Hunqapillar with the Univega. It will be built up drop bar in a Jan Heine inspired Enduro Runner/Tourer. After I search how to post pics on here, I will maybe give a blow by blow of the build with pics. It will be full Ultegra w/Dura Ace barends, Front hub will be a Dyno with a Schmidt Edelux. I think I will get some Velocity Cliffhangers to build the wheels as they will be skinned with Compass Rat Trap Pass(es). Mudguards a must. VO rack in the rear with a VO handlebar bag rack up front. Cross your fingers it all goes smooth/well/great/wonderful/smashing.








*w/lugged fork**
**very very hard to find
***Stumpjumper w/Bi-plane fork, Panasonic ATB, Miyata Ridge Runner (rare/nice), Univega Alpina Uno, and many more
****needed the elusive Rollercams

beicster 

I received the Velo Orange Cigne stem late last week and got it mounted. I like it a lot. It looks much better than the cobbled together version I had on there before.

Not really a fan of the blue bar wrap. It was in my stash when I decided to make the conversion and I have not gotten around to replacing it with cotton tape. Vacation starts tomorrow at 5:00 and I don't go back til January 3 and I might strip the paint and go with a gun bluing solution to protect the metal. Someone on here did it and I liked the looks. If I do that, then I will figure out what color tape to go with.

Edit to add- Link to Happy Feet's thread where he discussed bluing a bike. https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...pic-heavy.html
Before with the cobbled stem.

[IMG]db drops by , on Flickr[/IMG]

With the Cigne. This is the 70mm reach version. They also have a 90mm reach version.

[IMG]Untitled by , on Flickr[/IMG]

Close up of the stem

[IMG]Untitled by , on Flickr[/IMG]

mack_turtle

I would like to do something like this, but I am stuck on two things:

1. older 26" bikes are plentiful, but I feel like a 700Cx35-40mm tire would be better for my needs. a good steel hybrid like that is proving harder to find, so i don't know how long I am willing to hold out for that kind of thing. I have a nice mountain bike that I love for trail riding, so this would be a more road/gravel oriented bike.

2. frame size? I am 5'9" and road/CX bikes I have owned in the past that fit me well have all had 54-55cm effective top tube lengths. should I be looking for a 26" mtb with a similar ETT, or should I be looking for a longer/ shorter ETT?

I had my eye on this 16" Barracuda with a rigid fork, but I am afraid the TT would be too long (should be 57cm, according to an old Barracuda brochure I looked up. I usually ride a mountain bike with a 600-615 ETT) for a drop-bar conversion without putting a totally outlandish stem on it.






for those of you who have successfully converted an old 26" mtb to drop bars, did you just take a bike that fit you with flat bars and slap some drop bars on it, or did you intensionally find a bike with a much shorter ETT? any drop-bar bike that fits me has had a ETT that is 2-2.5" shorter than the ETT of my flat bar bikes.

due ruote 

^ Fit can be tricky with these conversions. Off the top of my head, 16" sounds like a small frame for you. I am an inch or so shorter than you and I have been real comfortable on 18" or 19" frames, like the one below; albeit with a zero-setback post and a silly looking 60mm Technomic stem. But I am happy with my position on the bike and like the way it rides, so it's all good by me.

fixedweasel

16".....18"..................it's all irrelevant. The most important thing for fit is the effective top tube, head tube length and the saddle to bar drop.* I've been fitting folks for many years and it still amazes me how someone will tell me they ride a 53cm frame and are stone cold positive that's what they're gonna buy. Really? I've seen 53cm seat tubes with anywhere between 52cm to 57cm+ effective top tubes. So you think all of those 53's will fit that rider? I think not. And most shops have not a clue on how to fit proper. If you already own a road bike, try to pull your measurements off of there. Effective top tube, head tube, saddle to bar drop, middle of seatpin to the center of the stem. The seat tube measurement is the least important. If you are comfortable on your road bike and buying another road bike, it's easy enough to transfer those measurements to the new frameset before forking over the green. Converting a vintage MTN bike to a drop bar is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. They were never designed to be drop bar. They were designed to be upright. Since this is so, they had way more leeway as far as fit. As soon as you throw a drop bar on there you will find out real quick that you are dropped way lower and reaching way further. A perfect example of poor fitting is Rivendell. I love Grant Peterson and have had a Rivendell in the past but he just does not know how to fit a rider. He goes old school and takes the inseam (basically). When you see his bikes built up, you will see all the bikes with upright bars look great.*** But then look at the pictures of the many of his bikes with drops. The stems are sky high or have a Nitto Dirt Drop on there. For $3-$4k, that is a sin. Fit a bike proper for that kind of money. With all that huff, it comes down to being very selective seeking out your vintage MTN bike/frameset for drop bar. You can find some wonderful framesets with shorter top tubes and longer head tubes to avoid trying to get you stem/bar position set correctly. If not, in the end someone will be riding the wrong size frame that actually looks like the wrong size frame but they have done everything within their power with extensions/risers and this and that to make it work. Patience, and once you have the right size frame, everything comes together smoothly.






*it is a hair different for MTN bikes r/t more relaxed head tube**
**but the seat tube is relaxed too, so take that with a grain
***because again, if you are upright, a specific size frame now can fit a wider range of rider heights/in seams/kicker length/etc

mstateglfr 

Look for early 90s hybrids. 700c tires, modern 130 dropout spacing, and many are quity double butted cromo tubing with space for 40mm tires.

Univega ViaActiva 300 or other Via and Activa models.
Trek Multitrack series.
Schwinn crisscross or crosscut bikes.
Bianchi Project series(1,3,5, and 7).
Etc etc.

Some local examples...
https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/...430469512.html
https://austin.craigslist.org/bid/d/...388365901.html
https://killeen.craigslist.org/bik/d...429951210.html
https://killeen.craigslist.org/bik/d...386660556.html
https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/...424577558.html
https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/...410346518.html

Here is an example that i built up to try out gravel riding to determine if i wanted to jump all in. 40mm tires and stock drivetrain. i added bar end shifters, stem, and handlebars.
Total between the bike and components was probably $220.

mack_turtle

you're preaching to the choir for me. people don't seem to get this, so I am glad we are on the same page. exactly my problem: I am not really looking at frame "sizes" but rather ETTs. I was looking at that 16" Barracuda precisely because it's "too small" for me, but with a 571mm ETT, its' still too long fora drop bar conversion. I know I am comfortable with a ETT of 540-550mm on a drop-bar road/CX bike and 600-610mm on a flat-bar mountain bike. getting something with a TT that short on a mountain bike means sizing down -- a LOT! when the frame gets that small, the seat tube gets very, very short, necessitating a flagpole of a seatpost and possibly throwing off the weight distribution of the bike. then they have tiny headtubes and smaller wheels, making it difficult to get the bars high enough.

with old bikes like this, it can be hard to track down geometry remotely. you contact someone on Craigslist about a bike that is 50 miles away and ask "what is the ETT on that bike?" and they don't know and can't be bothered to figure it out for you (i don't blame them). it quickly starts to seem not worth my trouble.

it makes me want to just deal with riding my 30-pound hardtail singlespeed trail bike on the road on rainy days, as slow and obnoxious as that is. I can modify my trail bike to be more road-friendly, but the swap back and forth gets old fast and it's a lousy compromise.

himespau 

I wonder if something like this: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...mid-forks.html would meet your needs.

mack_turtle

I worked at REI for about two years and always thought the Randonee was their best bike. We also sold Surly LTHs and the Rando was a better bike for the price.

himespau 

It's not a mountain bike or cyclocross bike and the steering is probably a lot less aggressive (if that's what you're looking for), but it should have sturdy tubing and looks to have pretty decent clearance for wider tires/fenders. Plus, most people around here know a couple things about bikes and are more likely to be able to provide accurate measurements than some random dude on craigslist/eBay.

obrentharris 

This is great advice in my opinion.
This is one that I put together out of an old Diamondback Hybrid.



Brent

fixedweasel

Mack, hang in there, they are out there. Another thing when going drop bar is the geometry of the slack angles can help give you some leeway. For me, I am getting ready to do that conversion on the Univega. I am 5'6" and the bike has a seat tube of 53cm CTT, effective TT of 57cm CTC* but the 2 keys here are the slack angles and the head tube length. The head tube length on that bike is nearly 160mm. This puts the bars way up without having the stem shoot for the moon. The stem set up has the height about the same length up from the headset than a road bike. The other thing is the slack angle of the geometry. The head tube, since so slack, really throws the stem back towards me with each cm of rise.** Mind, I am being very particular with this build because this will be a nice one. I said before, I also have a SS drop bar MTN bike that I got for $15 and for that conversion/build, I used a "dirt drop" type mountain stem to bring the bars up. It was a cheap fun conversion and I wasn't as concerned about the "look" of the bike.*** The Univega will truly mimic a "road" type of touring bike with a standard Nitto Pearl and will be a keeper when finished.
Anyho, please guys, don't go by frame cm/inches "size" when determining a frame that will fit you proper. It really is useless. If you know your general measurements and set up, go with that, and you will at least get it a bit closer to where you want.





*i ride a 53cm CTC on my road bike/track bike/fixed trainer
**unlike my track bikes
***albeit, it's still a good looking bike

simmonsgc

Shoot, man. I don't think that's silly looking at all. That looks like a great ride, and I dig the thumbies. Perhaps my taste in bikes has migrated so far from 'retail' that what I like is, by definition, regarded as silly?

About the thumbies...I've got bar ends on all mine, and never have a spot for my mirror. I've got this awesome vintage Rhode Gear that I love, but it won't fit over modern aero hoods. I need to make a card stock copy of the shape in 2d, cut it out of aluminum, and put my own bend in to fit an SCR5 or Tektro hood.

Well, that rambled quickly. Cool bike though.

mack_turtle

I think I see what you're saying there, but please clarify. What is a "slack angle"? So you mean the head tube angle? Some people describe a HTA as "slack" once it starts going meller than 69 or 70 degrees. Most of the kinds of bikes I am looking at will have a 71 degree or so angle, not a "slack" one.

Chrome Molly

You can see how angles of the head tubes have changed over time. For purposes of the typical bike converted to drop bars on this thread you have pre and post front suspension.

Pre suspension bikes tend to have pretty slack angles, to the point they can get slow to steer on pavement but are very stable. If you like riding upright and stable these are your best option. There aren't nearly as many of these frames around compared with suspension bikes, but specific models like the Trek 820 were still designed around rigid forks into the early 90's (though the hta tightened up a fair amount)

Post suspension bikes really are around 73 degrees or steeper, but these also have extended top tubes compared with the older bikes which can make them feel as though it takes more input to get them into and out of a corner. Usually the wide tires keep things from getting sketchy, and if you're used to road bikes on gravel they are still much more stable by comparison.

fixedweasel

Yes, 69/70 or so. This Alpina Sport is from 1983/84 and the key was not only the slack head tube but also the length. That combo is key to finding a MTN frameset that will fit proper drop bar. If you raised the stem height on a track bike it raises you up but doesn't bring you as close as raising the same height on a 69/70 degree bike.
Again, this is just because I am being very particular about this bike. And honestly, I am very particular about proper fit going along with proper sized frames anyway. In the end, folks can do whatever needed to get the bike to fit for them.* If it's comfortable and they like it, that's all that matters.



*you should see the steerer tube length on my track bikes**
**for shame

due ruote 

Thanks, I do like the bike and am comfortable on it, which is really all I care about. FWIW I did switch to bar ends eventually; that’s an old pic.

mack_turtle

This is how it starts.

himespau 

Looking at that makes me hurt because I know my knees would be hitting those bars. I'm a bit taller than you though. Good base to start from. That's the thing. Often these old rigid framed mtbs are cheap enough that you can start and try to see if it works for you. If not, you throw the original parts back on, sell it for about what you paid for it, and go a size bigger or smaller with all the same drop bar parts. Essentially, all you're out is your time and maybe some cables.

mack_turtle

The seller also had a 1993 Specialized Crossroads Elite. I am thinking about taking the DB back to him and getting that instead. The Crossroads would put me on the 700c platform and has more useable parts.

The DB needs a left crank arm, tires, longer seatpost, and the wheels are worn down badly. The Specialized would be less hassle.