randyjawa 

Though I have never carefully counted, my guess is that I have street restored between 200 and 300 vintage bicycles, over the years. That said, just the other day, I completed my first ever drop bar mountain bike conversion...

Picked this Rocky Mountain up for a very decent price but I did not like the ride feel...


So, I swapped the short stem for a longer one, keeping the mountain bike handlebar, That fixed the ride feel just fine but I still wanted drop bars, so I installed them and took Rocky out for a spin on the cottage roads...





Nope, unacceptable ride feel and I have always thought that positive stems look pretty ugly, or out of place perhaps, on a drop bar bike. But I wanted to finish giving my drop bar mountain bike a fair try. Reinstalling the shorter, original, stem did the part of the trick...


So, being satisfied with ride feel and controls placement, I added some cheap bar tape and today, will install a new set of brake pads to replace those that have achieved fossil status - hard as a bloody rock...





And now, at last, I have a decent cottage gravel grinder (could use a better saddle and will keep my eye open for one - cheap), or whatever BF people call these beasts. I like what I got and hope that this old Rocky Mountain proves as road worthy as my Jamaica bike, an early eighties Bianchi Touring...

3speedslow

Never too late to try something new.

Slightspeed

Nice job. I have the same Exage Sport brake levers on my Raleigh Super Course, and they are the most comfortable and best feeling levers of the several bikes I ride. I also like the handy release button to open the pads for wheel removal. Best if all, they were a $10 Ebay find!

Before tape wrap.

randyjawa 

I, too, have a great liking for the Exage brake levers. They are comfy, easy to reach and pull and the hoods stand up, against the ravages of time and environment, very well. My levers came attached to the handlebar and a friend gave me the whole set-up for free. Thanks Curtis...

I really like riding the Rocky Mountain and am seeking a new saddle. Well, an old saddle and one identical to the butt perch on my Jamaica Bianchi, which is the most comfortable saddle that I have ever mated to my butt...