CanadianBiker32

Hello all was not sure what forum to put this in. I have an old Mtb. 1996
Maxam Light Heavy Weight. the one i have is 16 inch frame, LX - some XT component,s a 2004 manitou shocks on it.
i dont have exact pic of the bike but i have one similar so i will post

So what I like to do to make use of it. Convert it to a gravel grinder bike/cross, even though it will be still a bit heavy.

so suggestions on what to change?

to get drop handle bars? can i still use the MTB brakes and gear shiftters and position them on a drop bars?
also if i go drop bars do i need to reverse the stem,

what size tires be best to get.

should i change my gear ratios? size cranks? chain rings? or would i be ok, i like to keep my front shocks and just lock them out. so im open to suggestions to make this MTB a an almost regulated gravel grinder bike. thanks for all your help

jyl

It's hard for me to see how the bike could be better for a gravel or dirt road than it already is. When you ride it on such roads, what do you feel is lacking, what needs improvement?

Anyway, you can't change too much stuff before it would have made more sense to instead go and buy a used cross bike, or whatever you're trying to make the MTB into.

Airburst

No to the first, the clamp area of almost any drop bar made in the last 50 years is 23.8mm rather than 22.2mm like an upright bar, and although I've bent out the steel clamp bands on cheap upright-bar shifters to fit them to drops, you can't do that with aluminium clamps.

As for the second bit, you don't "need" to do anything, it's where you want the handlebars that influences what you do with the stem. For gravel grinding I'd imagine you actually want the stem higher than it currently is...

bradtx

CanadianBiker32, While I admit to having used my touring bike as a gravel grinder, there's no comparison to using my mountain bike for that chore. You might want to try some dual pattern tires Continental Bicycle -Double Fighter II .

Brad

GravelMN

My gravel grinder is a flatbar with Ergon bar ends and I don't see any advantage to drop bars for gravel grinding other than personal preference. If you want to lighten things up a bit, dump the suspension fork in favor of a corrected rigid fork.

BTW, is that frame a bit small for you? That seatpost is a long way out of the seat tube.

Kopsis

The definitive thread on such conversions is here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...nversions.html

In a nutshell: drop bar conversions are impractical unless you have a good collection of used parts already. It's usually more cost effective to just get a different bike. Trekking bars are a good way to get some of the benefits of drops without the need for a new stem, shifters, and brake levers.

Tires and gearing depend on where you're going to ride and your strength and personal preferences. Grinders in some regions are well suited to narrow (28c) tires and road bike gearing. In others, much wider tires and lower gearing are needed. If you're talking about just riding recreationally on unpaved local roads, then go ride the bike the way it is and make note of what works and what doesn't. The cool thing about gravel bikes is they tend to be very personal machines. What works great for me might be totally wrong for someone else. Doing rides and then tweaking things based on the experience is part of the fun.