Show Your Vintage MTB Drop Bar Conversions
#1451
Full Member
What sizes do y'all choose for these dropbar MTB projects...compared to what size (classic) road/tourer? I'd like to build one up, but not sure how to pick the right frame size.
#1452
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I go for (effective) top tube length not to exceed 21". I like 54-55 road bikes.
I have a 15" MTB with a 21" top tube and I've owned an 18" MTB with a 21" top tube.
My Marin actually has a 21.5" ETT, so I had to run crazy short 80mm stem.
I have a 15" MTB with a 21" top tube and I've owned an 18" MTB with a 21" top tube.
My Marin actually has a 21.5" ETT, so I had to run crazy short 80mm stem.
#1453
Full Member
Ahhhh, so the top tube length is the key number, not the seat tube?
#1454
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Lester, are you saying to match the TT length to what you ride for road? Also, is it true to go larger than Your normal mountain bike size so that you'll be able to raise the bars without excessive quill showing? If both are true, are you looking for a tallish frame that happens to have a shorter TT?
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A useful TT length is paramount, and it depends on seattube angle, seatpost setback and stem you intend to use. The closer the ETT is to your favorite road setup then the more roadified you can make your MTB. Go for higher stem if you want more offroady setup. Stubby hirise stems are common on these setups to make drop bars more useable on a frame that fits.
#1456
Senior Member
Are you sure it is 120? My 83 Stumpy was 130? Possibly someone re spaced it? Pretty sure Mike Synard copied the specs from the early Ritchey frames to the tee. Posted the question to Charlie Kelly once asking if my 81 Ritchey was originally 126 or it's current 130 and he let me know that even the very early Ritcheys were 130.
83 Stumpjumper 130:
83 Stumpjumper 130:
#1458
Senior Member
The sad part with that bike was I had full intentions of keeping it as minty fresh as when I got it and then one day I needed an 83 groupset for an early Ritchey I was working on and...Oops. The Ritchey just looked so much nicer.
#1459
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Lester, are you saying to match the TT length to what you ride for road? Also, is it true to go larger than Your normal mountain bike size so that you'll be able to raise the bars without excessive quill showing? If both are true, are you looking for a tallish frame that happens to have a shorter TT?
the top tube length is more important than the seat tube because you can adjust the seat post more easily than you can adjust the reach of a stem. stem reach also affects handling a lot more.
#1460
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That's funny you say that Frantik. The BCA I picked up this winter is the same size as the smallest road bike I would ride (52cm). After mocking it up, I find that the standover is too high for serious trail riding. I'll probably use it for gravel roads and around town. Luckily, I have a couple more vintage rides I can experiment with, and both have chainstay mounted U-brakes!
#1461
80's bikes FTW
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The old WTB stuff has gotten to be a challenge to find. Took me about two years of ebay searches to find that LD. Got the shift pods from a fellow collector along with the hangar from a different friend. The bars come up on the bay often enough. Certainly have more in that cockpit than the rest of the bike combined. Worth it though. Pretty gratifying when it all came together, and I dig the way it rides. Someday I would like to find an old fillet brazed Potts to shift it over to.
Ill just have to keep my eyes peeled. Im sure with enough diligence I can find some of these parts. I really just love how yours came together.
#1462
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Well, I finally jumped into this today after thinking about it for a few weeks - found a Trek 820 in decent shape on craigslist and picked it up this morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent tearing the bike down and scrubbing it, as well as re-greasing bearings where needed. Attached are pics of how I bought it and how it looks this evening. Hopefully I'll have it finished tomorrow night, I'm really curious to see how this thing rides. Thanks to everyone here for the inspiration for what so far has been a fun project!
#1463
Thrifty Bill
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That's funny you say that Frantik. The BCA I picked up this winter is the same size as the smallest road bike I would ride (52cm). After mocking it up, I find that the standover is too high for serious trail riding. I'll probably use it for gravel roads and around town. Luckily, I have a couple more vintage rides I can experiment with, and both have chainstay mounted U-brakes!
Put me in the half way club. I traditionally rode an 18 inch mtb, tried a 19 inch, it was too big. Meanwhile, on road bikes, I ride about a 22 inch frame. My latest MTB drop bar conversion was a 20 inch frame size, "half way" between my traditional mtb size and road bike size.
#1464
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An old stumpjumper with campy 8 sounds fun. I know you have a "toothbrush clean" kit floating around.
edit: keep in mind how simple this would be btw. Campy 8 shares cog spacing with shimano 7 freewheels and the front ergo lever handles mtb triple setups without breaking a sweat.
edit: keep in mind how simple this would be btw. Campy 8 shares cog spacing with shimano 7 freewheels and the front ergo lever handles mtb triple setups without breaking a sweat.
I'm definitely going to try the drop bar conversion on the stumpy. For now I'm probably going to keep the mongoose pretty much stock. If I do end up doing something to the 'goose, for now I'll probably just add a cheap northroads style bar, or maybe my vintage specialized nitto bullmoose bars that I also have.
J, Nice Stumpjumper! I would do the stumpy 1st. That stem from the mongoose might work great on there (if you're gonna change it anyway). Save all the original parts just in case you need to sell it down the road. P.S.- went to Hampshire bike today and scored some bars, levers, and shifters for a conversion.
I need to make a trip out tp Hamp Bike exchange. They have so much great used bikes and accessories that you can poke through. I love that place!
Last edited by Donkey Hodie; 04-02-13 at 07:54 PM.
#1465
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Realize the bb is usually a lot higher on a MTB, so the same frame size will be quite a bit taller.
Put me in the half way club. I traditionally rode an 18 inch mtb, tried a 19 inch, it was too big. Meanwhile, on road bikes, I ride about a 22 inch frame. My latest MTB drop bar conversion was a 20 inch frame size, "half way" between my traditional mtb size and road bike size.
Put me in the half way club. I traditionally rode an 18 inch mtb, tried a 19 inch, it was too big. Meanwhile, on road bikes, I ride about a 22 inch frame. My latest MTB drop bar conversion was a 20 inch frame size, "half way" between my traditional mtb size and road bike size.
#1466
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Hey Donkey Hodie, lucky man to have a couple good bikes worthy of doing a drop bar conversion! A few have weighed in and I agree that your Stumpjumper would be the best choice. You stated the best reason, the Stumpy feels more natural. Beyond that your Stumpjumper has a taller headtube which from a frame standpoint is better suited for a drop bar conversion since the size of the frame will put those bars higher and get your bars more inline with the saddle height. Given the components on your Stumpy, you can run your thumb shifters (preserve your shift cables and all the housings, it looks like they'll be plenty long enough for the conversion) on the bar tops for now, no need to buy bar end shifters until you decide if a drop bar builds suits you. You'll need a dirt drop bar, there are plenty to choose these days, I tried a few and found the On One Midge bar to be the best on my MB-1. I bought a Nitto MT-10 "Dirt Drop" quill stem for my Cimarron conversion, it's the stem of choice for these builds if you want to long stem to help nail down your running height. The last thing you'll need to buy is a set of drop bar brake levers, you can fly the cables or go aero, it's an aesthetic call. Everything else on your Stumpy is ready to roll as is and I think it's the best frame for trying out a new drop bar build.
Not a hard conversion for your Stumpjumper...
1. "Dirt Drop" handlebar
2. Tall quill stem
3. Drop bar brake levers
4. New pair of road brake cables
5. Bar tape
Have fun and good luck!
-D-
p.s. I've included a pic of the bar set up on my MB-1, I love the action and feel on my Suntour XC Pro thumb shifters, I've never felt a need to switch to bar end shifters because after a little trial and error the stock thumb shifters have done the job nicely... plus no chance of knee shifting! I should mention that I spend a majority of my time riding in the drops. The Midge bar has nice shallow drops that run nicely parallel to the top tube, I just prefer mine ticked up a bit.
Not a hard conversion for your Stumpjumper...
1. "Dirt Drop" handlebar
2. Tall quill stem
3. Drop bar brake levers
4. New pair of road brake cables
5. Bar tape
Have fun and good luck!
-D-
p.s. I've included a pic of the bar set up on my MB-1, I love the action and feel on my Suntour XC Pro thumb shifters, I've never felt a need to switch to bar end shifters because after a little trial and error the stock thumb shifters have done the job nicely... plus no chance of knee shifting! I should mention that I spend a majority of my time riding in the drops. The Midge bar has nice shallow drops that run nicely parallel to the top tube, I just prefer mine ticked up a bit.
I'm not sure if I would want dirt drops like the Marry's or not. I was kinf of leaning towards the idea of some wide Rivendell's Nitto Noodle drops because I am mostly going to be using this for road rides, occasional light single track and fire or gravel roads, and paths. Maybe I'll try a short tour camp trip with it, but mostly it will be on paved and hilly back country roads.
regarding the 83 stumpy above:
i have an 83 sport model, and the spacing is 120 in the back. I spread it to 135(!), but I had to use a 7-speed cassette with a space on the OUTSIDE in order to get the wheel to slide in. there's no way you could run 8+ speed if you are using a 135mm wheelset.
i have an 83 sport model, and the spacing is 120 in the back. I spread it to 135(!), but I had to use a 7-speed cassette with a space on the OUTSIDE in order to get the wheel to slide in. there's no way you could run 8+ speed if you are using a 135mm wheelset.
Last edited by Donkey Hodie; 04-02-13 at 07:55 PM.
#1467
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True dat! I go with nitrile gloves and get down and dirty going through the bins. I'm like a surgeon in there
#1468
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Wow! Thanks for the great advice, photos of your conversion, and all the useful information! I am plan on keeping my stumpy as stock as possible at first, and as time goes on, possibly upgrading it here and there if it would be worthwhile. I would like to figure out what would be the best set up as far as the drivetrain and any other parts as well.
I'm not sure if I would want dirt drops like the Marry's or not. I was kinf of leaning towards the idea of some wide Rivendell's Nitto Noodle drops because I am mostly going to be using this for road rides, occasional light single track and fire or gravel roads, and paths. Maybe I'll try a short tour camp trip with it, but mostly it will be on paved and hilly back country roads.
I'm not sure if I would want dirt drops like the Marry's or not. I was kinf of leaning towards the idea of some wide Rivendell's Nitto Noodle drops because I am mostly going to be using this for road rides, occasional light single track and fire or gravel roads, and paths. Maybe I'll try a short tour camp trip with it, but mostly it will be on paved and hilly back country roads.
I hear you on the wide Rivendell bars, I'm almost done with a '85 Cimarron that will be my commuter, I ran a similar bar set up to what you described. I built a commuter for a buddy using the Nitto made Rivendell Albatross bar and a Nitto Technomic quill stem, I really liked how it felt and I decided my next commuter would have the same set up. Being I love drop bars and can't stand "Townie" style bars, I flipped the Albatross bars over for my build. I'll include a couple pics so you can see the side view and the bar's shape/width. Another option would be a Nitto "Dirt Drop" (MT-10) quill stem, it's ideal for drop bar builds and yo won't find a taller stem. I'm also building a '88 Cimarron as a light weight racer, I'm running the Nitto "Dirt Drop" with SOMA Sparrow bars and Shimano STI 8 speed "brifters" instead of thumb shifters or Barcons. The Technomic would be great all around use and the "Dirt Drop" would be ideal for more serious trail riding, both are really tall so nailing down the proper height is totally doable with either quill stem.
#1469
Senior Member
Well, I finally jumped into this today after thinking about it for a few weeks - found a Trek 820 in decent shape on craigslist and picked it up this morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent tearing the bike down and scrubbing it, as well as re-greasing bearings where needed. Attached are pics of how I bought it and how it looks this evening. Hopefully I'll have it finished tomorrow night, I'm really curious to see how this thing rides. Thanks to everyone here for the inspiration for what so far has been a fun project!
^This looks promising. I look forward to seeing it finished.
#1470
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Just like long pull brakes offer more modulation than short pull, a longer stem will allow you to make much finer steering adjustment than a shorter stem. Another thing to consider is that your bike was probably setup with a much wider set of handlebars, which worked with the original stem to make the steering deliberate and predictable.
With such a short, tall stem, your steering will feel a lot more wobbly at low speed, though it should settle down as you pick up speed. This feeling can be amplified with such a large amount of trail, such that you typically find on vintage mountain bikes. You're probably just discovering the bike's unique personality.
With such a short, tall stem, your steering will feel a lot more wobbly at low speed, though it should settle down as you pick up speed. This feeling can be amplified with such a large amount of trail, such that you typically find on vintage mountain bikes. You're probably just discovering the bike's unique personality.
I will ride it a while and get to know it a bit and see if I get used to it.
I do plan on changing the stem out to a stem adapter & threadless stem set up soon as well.
Perhaps a longer stem might help as well.
#1471
I'm usually cranky
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Thanks! It's close to done now, just needs bar tape and bit of fine tuning on the brakes. Those cantilevers are kind of a pain to get dialed in. I've heard V-brakes work better and are easier to adjust, so maybe I'll look into some down the road.
#1472
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That looks nice. Great job.
#1473
Thrifty Bill
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Stick with the cantis. Once you figure them out, you will come to like them.
I knew Sheldon had an article on them:
https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
I knew Sheldon had an article on them:
https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
Last edited by wrk101; 04-03-13 at 06:15 PM. Reason: Added SB link
#1474
Jack of all trades
Listen to Bill, he knows...
#1475
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cantis are harder to adjust but are worth it imo. if you swap to vbrakes your options for brake levers are also very limited
be sure to read all of this page https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
edit: i see thrifty bill edited his post in the meantime
be sure to read all of this page https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
edit: i see thrifty bill edited his post in the meantime
Last edited by frantik; 04-03-13 at 09:49 PM.