jyl

Lascauxcaveman 

The geometry on your example above looks almost identical to my (rather lightweight) Kona Lava Dome MTB from the mid-90's. The Kona's chain stays may be just a little bit longer.

The only reason I haven't gotten around to converting it to a drop bar bike is it's a little small for me. It's about your size, though.

CliffordK

Is this a frame that you have, or are you looking for one?

Many of the vintage MTBs are a little longer than their road bike counterparts. So, you might be able to achieve the tall/short effect you're wanting without compromising the actual fit of the bike too much.

I've done a skinny tire 26" to 700c conversion. But, you might be able to do a mid range tire size (35 or 40mm) 26" to 650b conversion.

63rickert

In the classic era every bike was a gravel bike. The road turned to gravel and you kept racing. Or riding. Same bike was used for Paris-Roubaix and for Paris-Tours.

This might mean that a 10 or 20 year old bike is not classic enough. Go back 50 years and most bikes will take 32mm tires and still have a centimeter of clearance all around for mud and rocks to pass through. Youngest bike in my collection is 59 years old. It rides very well on gravel.

TenGrainBread 

Best bets:
-90s NORBA-style mtb like the Kona mentioned above. Short high stem and wide drop bars. If you are doing dirt drops make sure to get them high enough so that the primary position is in the drops. A lot of people angle them up so they can rest on the hoods, which defeats the purpose as the tops are narrow and have quite a lot of reach.

-70s Sports Touring bike with 650b conversion. A 42 or even 45mm tire might be possible if you don't use fenders.

Spaghetti Legs 

Barrettscv 

This Simoncini Cyclocross Special is used on firm gravel rails-to-trails and on pavement. It's a versatile bike, but it's not ideal for long days on minimally maintained rural roads.

Converting a hybrid from the nineties would allow for 700x35 tires, which are really the minimum for serious gravel roads. Also, you'll be well served by going tubeless. Tubeless tires allow for reduced air pressure without the risk of pinch flats.





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A great bike for L'Eroica gravel routes would be this 1977 Grand Record. it can fit 700x35 tires. Again, its not ideal for the kind of really challenging gravel roads found in the rural corners of Midwestern states, but it does well on Strada Bianchi.





If you really want to be fast and efficient on any kind of gravel, there is really no substitute for a modern Gravel Bike. Hydraulic disc brakes, a thru-axle frameset, 46/33 crankset with an 11-36 cassette and room for 700x40 tubeless tires just can't be done on an older bike.

fishboat

I doubt an old road bike will have clearance for the tires you may want. Your starting options will likely be an older mountain bike or a hybrid. I recently acquired a 1991 Trek 750 (double-butted, fully lugged cromoly frame) in near showroom condition that I'm converting to a gravely..touring-ish bike.

While bikes have changed a lot over the years..they haven't changed much in many respects. Below is a comparison:


Peter Lombardi's 1992 Trek 750 conversion comes to mind:

fishboat

One more from my files..not sure where I grabbed the pic from. After 40+ years of cycling, the 750 I picked up is my first Trek. One thing I will say in Trek's favor(on a project like this)..there's tons of documentation available online (annual catalogs and spec manuals going back to 1990-ish..edit..I checked & they go back to the mid 70's) and a TON of bikes available on the used market. The mtn bikes in the 930, 950, 970, 990 range or hybrids in the 750, 790, 7600, 7900 range are worth a look. While I agree there are arguably better starting points, or at least cooler (more unique) bikes out there, the problem is finding a used one, at the right price, in a locale you can get to, in good condition, in your size.

ThermionicScott 

@63rickert's point can't be overstated, especially here on the C&V forum.

TenGrainBread 

That's my bike! 1993 930. Since sold. But it was a good drop bar conversion, once I got a short enough stem.

HarborBandS

If you go for a mid-90's MTB or Hybrid frame that takes a 1-1/8" steerer, you will have more options for fork upgrades, if the carbon fork in the original post is something that does indeed appeal to you. And you'll save weight with a threadless headset.

fishboat

Attribution! Good..thx for popping in. Very nice work on your part. An inspiration from Madtown (I'm south of Milw).

Choke 

An old MTB does make a good starting point....

fishboat

Piqued my interest, so I looked up the numbers for the 1996 Trek 950. Comparison of (mfg reported**) sizing/fit varies over the years, bike type, and mfgs, so I ~matched the top tube of the 54cm Straggler in the 16.5 inch 950 frame. As long as I had the comparison I thought I'd post them.



**In the 750 case..it's my understanding the 750 frame came from Trek's touring (road) frames..specifically the 520. Typically hybrid sizing follows mtn bike sizing..

dddd

Back when the forward-thinking hybrids were a thing, Performance had Giant produce a variant without canti bosses, to be used with large, dual-pivot calipers and a drop handlebar.
Geo was textbook period mtb, 73degr ST and 71-degr HT, same as an early-70's Super Course or Grand Sports (and some other sport-tourers out of Japan).

These bikes left little to be desired. I added modern auxiliary brake levers and a suspension post to mine, and did many mtb rides and a few CX races on it.

One thing about the handlebars is that the very best setup for off-roading is the aux brake levers in lieu of attempting to optimize any of the forward or drops positions for technical descending or for traversing extremely rough terrain. I've set up a few touring bikes for mtb riding and it was exactly the same, only I used the original "safety" auxiliary levers with modified (cut away in front) lever housings for increased lever travel. Technical descending then became practical even with the relatively narrow grip span at the top of the road bars.
This then is my gripe with hydraulic disc brakes. All of these really fine and expensive new "gravel" bikes all fall short in terms of providing a shorter reaching hand position for descending, detracting greatly from their off-road worthiness. You can't just give away inches of hand setback and expect a bike to be competent in tough and/or descending situations, so the chosen stem length ends up being a gross compromise between open-road performance and off-road control.

I would challenge riders on modern gravel bikes to descend/traverse the same terrain as I can manage using cheaper old bikes that have some/any variant of auxiliary/safety brake levers:

TenGrainBread 

@dddd I mostly agree with you about the lever ergonomics but I really do not like navigating technical terrain, whether descending or otherwise, with a very narrow hand placement that the interrupter levers or turkey levers would require. A wide stance on the handlebars gives me more leverage and helps me balance and shift my body weight over the bike, which is necessary for technical riding.

I used some dirt drop handlebars from Velo Orange (Dajia Far Bar) on my recent drop bar MTB that worked really well. The bar I got is 48cm C-T-C at the hoods and 62.5cm at the drops. I got the bars very high and set the brake levers so the primary position is in the drops. It worked far better than any traditional drop bar I've tried on technical terrain because my hands were nice and wide and plenty of bar to grip onto, not to mention a lot of leverage on the levers from the drops. And the multiple hand positions were really comfortable just riding long distances on the road.

big chainring 

I use this Mercier for my camping bike. It has really good handling and the tubular cyclocross tires really makes for a great ride with lots of control.

USAZorro

199x Giant Iguana conversion. It does sacrifice a bit of speed on pavement over a dedicated road bike, and the handling is a bit twitchy, but try and stop it.

nlerner

I would think that starting with a hybrid made for 700c wheels and with canti brakes would be a good platform. I owned a Trek 730 multitrack made with TrueTemper steel for a while and used it as a commuter. It wasn't too long in the rear or too slack in the angles, but is a native 700c wheel bike with lots of clearance for wide 700c tires. I'd go with linear-pull brakes and the Tektro drop-bar levers that work with those.

katsup

I have done a couple of drop bar conversions, but my favorite has been my 1990 520 which has room for 700x40, and maybe even 700x45, tires.

I used my modern Salsa Vaya as inspiration and it came out nicely.

Other bikes I have done was a 1992 Trek 950 and Stumpjumper, but the reach wasn't as nice on those. Here is the 950 with a too long of stem, no photos of the Stumpjumper as it's a newer build.

TiHabanero

In 1997 I took a Raleigh Tangent and converted to drop bar 700c commuter. The commute was 15 miles each way and the bike was great to ride. Used 37mm tires and any short cut available through the woods or fields was no problem.

due ruote 

Pompiere

I have one, too, a 1992 Performance Parabola. It is a bit heavy, but has room for 40+ tires.

Goofball

This here thang