Gordon P

Here is my MTB trekking bike at Parc National de Plaisance Quebec.

Bontrager Privateer S frame
Salsa Cromoto fork
Nashbar Trekking bars
XTR/Mavic 618 wheels
XT BB, Shifters, Brake levers
Deore V-Brakes
Suguino Mighty 700 cranks
Time ATAC peddles
OMM racks
Brooks Imperial saddle

Gordon p

RedRaleigh

https://www.flickr.com/photos/redraleigh/3375460891/ Here is my modified 2006 Kona Smoke

Frame, Fork, Headset, Stem & Bars, Seatpost are all standard. The wheels are Dt Swiss XR 4.1 rims, laced with DT Swiss DB spokes to Shimano XT hubs. Front tyre is a Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 1.5, and the rear is a Schwalbe Marathon 1.5. Brakes & Levers are Shimano Deore. It has a Shimano Alivio 42/32/22 chainset, XT 11-30 8spd cassette, LX rear mech and Deore front. The rear shifter is an Alivio rapidfire, but the front changer is an Ultegra bar-end shifter on an SJS Cycles thumbie mount. I've added Cane Creek Ergo bar-ends - these are excellent - SKS mudguards and a Selle San Marco saddle. In the picture it has a Tortec Ultralight rear rack and Vaude bag, but for touring I have a Blackburn EX-2 rear rack and Blackburn front low-rider. Many of the extra parts and accessories were bought cheaply from a local shop having a closing down sale, and the rest I either dug out of my spares box or in some cases scrounged from a friend who has far too many bike bits lying around his house.

hanktrefethen

I recently picked up a '98 Trek 800 of craigslist, stripped and painted, swapped in a fizik seat, bar end shifters, tektroRL520 long pull levers, jag cables and some drops from the local bike co-op.

It's more of a commuter but I got it with my fantasy of touring in mind. So far so good, been riding it 4mi each way for a few days now. It's much easier and faster to peddle than my 6" travel Kona Coiler

I want to swap in an 8spd cassette I have laying around and cranks with something that has a 50 tooth big ring. I think I'm going to need some new hubs or something soon—getting a light knocking sound from them. Last time I experienced that it was a broken rear axle.

I also think that friction shifting is where it's at. I'm really enjoying it. It's got some older parts still but overall I think it's a solid ride and it's really fun too!

locky63red

Gidday.
Here is my GT Aggressor which I purchsed as a clunker to commute on.However I liked riding it and liked how strong it was with its overlapped triangles so it is now my touring bike.It still performs as my day to day commuter as well. I am gradually replacing components with better quality ones as the originals wear out.

JoeyBike

I realize this is an old thread, but since it was resurrected, here's my conversion:



Same bike before the dropped bars and paint job:



It's (was) a 1990 Marin Pine Mountain. I made my own "Long Haul Trucker" before Surly had one to offer. I retired the Marin last summer and put together a Trucker. Finally.

Gordon P

Hi could I see a close up of your paint job?
Gordon p

Sixty Fiver

Can't recall if I posted these... this is my 1988 Kuwahara Shasta.

wasabi

After having used road bikes for touring for several years, I thought that MTB's would cause less trouble on bad roads. To try the idea I just put a rack and a low rider on my first MTB I owned. It was built on an italian custom made CroMo frameset and had a Marzocchi suspension fork with about 35-40 mm travel back in the mid 90's. But this bike was originally built for sport, and its geometry forced me in a position with my back nearly horizontal, causing back and neck aches. So after one trip I had to decide for something else. The next touring MTB was a Specialized Rockhopper with steel frame. Unfortunately the frame was too weak for travelling with panniers, resulting in nervous shaking of the whole rig from about 25 km/h - dangerous and very scary

The third approach was a Cannondale F-800 in 1998, which finally worked. I did a lot of trips with that one and also used it to go to work every day. The Headshock suspension fork is as stiff as a rigid fork and was one of the first to provide a lock-out. IMO the best suspension fork for touring (with coil springs, not air) . However, last spring I decided to let my hard working mule enjoy its well-earned retirement. The bike is still in use regularly, but not for loaded touring any more.
Cannondale TB web.jpg

iforgotmename

This was once a diamondback sorrento...getting cascadia fenders this week

pexio

My '89 Trek 950 Singletrack
XT M770 drivetrain, hubs - Ritchey headset - 36h Velocity Aeroheat rims, DT Swiss Comp spokes
Panaracer T-Serv PT 26x1.75 tires - Avid SD7 V-brakes, Cane Creek Drop-V levers - Titec post
Nitto Dirt Drop stem, Noodle bar - Brooks B17N Imperial - Old Man Mountain racks - Planet Bike Cascadia fenders

Sixty Fiver

A little more tweaking to the UAV... swapped to a little lower gear, new fuller fenders, added aero levers, and reinstalled the rear brake since I might use that ss cog on the flip side.

robow

May I ask what purpose the padding serves wrapped around the top tube ??

emperorcezar

This is my very recently built expedition tourer from a Trek 800 frame. Only thing missing in this pic is the bright yellow Freddy fenders I put on.
It's drivetrain is mostly an assortment of second hand parts from the local co-op. Interestingly, I got the crank from Nashbar for $10 because it's length is 145, which I find great.

truman

n/m - answered my own question

clarinetcola

I thought of the exact same thing when I saw the bike.... it's missing yellow fenders!

Yellow fenders ftw!

semperfi1970

On the Erie canal this summer.

KLW2

pexio,
Where did you get the seatpost, i looked on-line but couldn't find that Titec model....

pexio

It's called an El Norte Bent. I got it off fleabay. Not sure if they make it anymore. It was the only way I could get the Brooksie back far enough for my long femurs

tiger474

great job. have a 90s hardrock i am inspired to do this conversion.

rainking63

Just added the "drop ends" today and did 15 miles. Call it strange, unorthodox, whatever... I found that I really liked it! An interesting alternative until I can get my hands on some trekking bars. Got a few weird looks from a few other cyclists down by the beach, so it was well worth the effort.

balindamood

This is my extreme touring/hauling-lots-of-stuff bike:



Stats:

-1985 Schwinn Sierra (4130 straight-guage tubing, lug-less)
-stock Shimano drivetrain, hubs, Araya 7X rims, Sakae cranks/BB
-changed the 'flat' bullmoose bars to some rather rare ones with alot of rize. Lots of dashboard space and super comfy.
-steel 28-38-48 chainrings swapped at over 10,000 miles for alloy 24-44-48 (half-step). Minimal wear on the old ones, just wanted different gearing. I wonder how the alloy will stand up.
-5-speed 14-32 freewheel was upgraded to 6-speed. I am on my 3rd one (14-32, 6S)
-Brooks saddle (odviously)
-the plastic SR pedals were swapped for Suntour beartraps long ago
-I had SKS fenders on it for years, but then these showed up at the bike co-op on an '80 *** JC Pennys bike. I switched to these becasue the color is an almost exact match. The SKS were lighter and had better coverage. I figured I could always switch back.
-currently running Michelin Country Rock tires (about 1200 miles on them ) and I like them alot. Only one flat (big piece of aluminum), so they seem to be holding up OK.
- I had just re-sprayed the Jandd racks when the picture was taken
- I have left the stainless steel pie-plate as Schwinn actually toted this as a big feature.

I might say that though this rig is a touch on the heavy side (35 lbs with the steel fenders and racks), I simply love it. I have commuted on it, toured on it, camped with it, run the kids aound the block on it, taken it to the hardware store a countless number of times. I took it on a fast-paced club ride and did just fine.

The no-name Shimano Light Action derailuers and shifters have over 10,000 miles on them, and the rear one is just starting to get chain droop (take-up spring is worn out). Further, the rear one sucks up 40-teeth, more than just about anything else out there. I re-packed the hubs and BB at about 8,000 miles, and polished the races. It rolls as well as anything else I own. If I had only one bike, this would be it.

emperorcezar

An updated picture. This time with fenders.

rodar y rodar

Baldinamood, that`s a VERY interresting bike. The first thing that stopped me in my tracks was that I saw it said "Sierra" and immediately thought "Schwinn", but then I looked closer and it doesn`t look anything like the Schwinn Sierras I`ve seen before- lugged fork, factory fenders (?), and the style of the "Schwinn" decals is like none I`ve ever seen before. I didn`t think they had Sierras as early as 85, either. While I`m certainly not a Schwinn expert, I do kind of have a thing for them, so I always give them a look over whn I see one in person or posted on a website and I thought I was at least fairly familiar- looks like I don`t know jack after all. Do you know if those fenders were actually factory equipment on that bike?

balindamood

It is an '85 Schwinn Sierra. I think they started with them in '84. I do belive this is one of the earliest models that Giant built for Schwinn. It does have a cast fork crown...perhaps one of the biggest wads of metal I have ever seen on a bike...certainly nothing special other than it appears to be bomb proof.

The fenders are an odd story. I had a pair of SKS Edge fender on since the late '80s/early '90s. Late last year, an old mid-80's quasi-MTB-object from JC Pennys showed up at the local bike co-op. The paint on the steel fenders is nearly an exact match. The Pennys bike was going to be turned into a bike polo bike, so I nabbed the fenders. The old SKS's, though still functional, were a bit tattered, cracked, etc...but no duct tape yet. Since weight is not much of a concern (it IS a Schwinn after all), I put them on. The coverage is not as good as the SKS's, but I like the way they look. They are about as battered as the rest of the bike, so they look original, but they are not.

rodar y rodar

Good deal finding the fenders, then- they look like they were born there. I`ve got my one and only Schwinn on post 74 of this thread. I put it together for touring, but since then I moved my dyno wheel and lights over to it and now it`s also doing commuter duty as well as anything I need cargo capacity or any riding that might have me out after dark. Just like you, if I had to reduce my posessions to one bike, this would be the one that I kept. It turned out to be the most comfortable fit and ride I`ve ever had.