mparker326

23 is about as big as it gets. There are a few older Treks that claimed to be bigger, but I've never seen one in person. A MTB's bottom bracket is usually a couple inches higher than a road bike. So your top tube on a 23 inch MTB will be close to the top tube on your 25 inch road bike.

I ride a 23 inch MTB's and I always swap out stems. The old MTB stems are usually too low and stretched out for me. I like a Nitto Dirtdrop to get the bars up and closer to me.

mohatt

OK, so may be hard to find and has a little old-school cachet, but I use my 92 Klein Pinnacle for touring and commuting. I've many tours, including a 4000 mile trip around Europe on it. I don't have pics with me. But it is a solid aluminum frame that wont bust and rides great! Is it as comfy as steel? No. BUT, when you ride hard, no matter how much load you have on it, you don't feel any flex from the load being swung around.

manicmike

Thanks, I also may try some expedition bars, folks seem to have some luck with those(and they are cheap!).

ak08820

How about Trek 850 Antelope?

DVC45

Trek 900

dbg

Cool 900. Same geometry as the 1988 Trek 850. Straight gauge Tange #5 tubes, but no chainstay mounted U-brakes.

steltz02

I didn't eliminate it, I just suggested that the chainstay U-brake might not be ideal.

Your 850 is gorgeous, I really dig the color.. It has been added to the list

WOohoo! That's a pretty bridgestone. Added to the list.

Thanks.. ANy geometry matching the surly will make a good touring bike

I have been hearing alot about these. I will add it to the list in a subcategory as it's not really a MTB, it's a cheap, highly functional touring frame.

Something like this?


Thanks and added!

steltz02

Perfect! Added.


Also here is a picture of the Nashbar touring frame.

egear

Giant ATX 980 for the dual suspension crowd. Nice heavy duty alum frame. Made mine into a touring bike which i used for years.
Salsa Fargo for the 29" crowd. Put some Big Apples on it and have a ball.

mohatt

Yes, exactly. I wish I had a picture of mine on me. I'll try to upload one this week. But here is one for sale that is the same paint scheme as mine: https://s59.beta.photobucket.com/user...Klein%20Flames

mohatt

Yes, exactly. I wish I had a picture of mine on me. I'll try to upload one this week. But here is one for sale that is the same paint scheme as mine: https://s59.beta.photobucket.com/user...Klein%20Flames

DVC45

I never get a chance to actually go on a tour on mine.
For those who had, how do these conversions perform fully loaded? Do they get shimmy?

steltz02

Hopefully some people chime in on this DVC.

I am building up two mountain bikes for a multi year tour. We ended up with a 23" Jamis Dakota for myself and a 1985 Specialized Rockhopper for my buddy.

I will be posting pictures and updates as I go along, including costs.... and unexpected costs.





I paid $80 for each frame...

Replacement was needed for derailleurs on both bikes, both bottom brackets, both wheelsets, both sets of handlebars, and the crank only on the Jamis.. More expenses will be incurred.

The wheelsets I ended up with were 36H Sun Rhinolites on Shimano LX touring Hubs. $200 / set with 30 extra spokes. No one has a stock 36H in 26" these days for a reasonable price, so I got this custom build by bicyclewheels.com; not a bad price considering it's a custom job.

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread.

Edit: More pictures of the originals..




It's amazing how similar the Jamis geometry is to the Surly LHT geometry. I will take a picture of the two side by side at some point.

DVC45

Anyone?

striknein

Older mountain bikes have a goodly amount of trail, which lend themselves to a more stable ride while loaded. However, most manufacturers after 89 started to tighten up their front end geometry significantly, which can cause some problems.

Like all things bicycle, the answer is nuanced. It's not a one-size-fits-all proposition.

DVC45

Oh, okay. So, '89 and below has a fair amount of trail. What about flex? Does the bike get noodly when loaded? Much more than a true touring bike?

bobotech

I'm curious, what about if you replace a suspension fork on a modern bike like a Hardrock with a standard length rigid fork? The fork will be shorter so how does that affect the ride?

DVC45

You should really replace it with a suspension corrected fork (corrected for lenght). I would imagine the ride quality would be really bad, if you don't.

WMcCready

Giant Rincon ( my size 22") . The current all a rounder

seely

Here's my all rounder: a 1992 Schwinn Frontier, 23"

Good points: lugged double butted chromoly frame, long chainstays, nice geometry overall. The stock drivetrain is great for touring: 48/36/26t crankset, Shimano 200GS derailleurs (decent) and a 13-30t 7 speed cassette.

Bad points: no lowrider mounts up front though the fork is double-eyeletted, and no upper braze-ons for a rack, though mine included a nice adapter for the brake bridge that seems to be working just fine. It also has a very high bottom bracket, but so far I haven't noticed any ill effects.

Things I added: WTB Dirt Drops on the stock stem, Ultegra 7/8 speed barcons (modified to fit), saddle, racks and Origin8 Lo-Pro canti brakes.

willn

Very useful thread, thanks to Steltz for initiating it for all those who have contributed.

At the risk of hijacking it slightly I was hoping for a bit of advise...I'm considering a 1992 Kona cindercone as a touring conversion, any thoughts would be much appreciated, following are links to a pic (not the actual bike I'm looking at but same model and year) and to the geometry statistics- I'm looking at the 20 inch frame and I'm 6'2:

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=158214

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/12109-1/91Outer3.jpg

By the way, this retrobike website seems like it could be a good place to pic up second hand mtbs at decent prices, cheers, Will

biketourings

I found this Diamond Back Ascent EX for my wife, she loves it after putting her Brooks saddle on it and rear rack. Note the third water bottle holder under down tube. Planning on changing out the handlebars for her but for now it's original.


https://biketourings.com/3/post/2013/...by-rideon.html

biketourings

Sixty Fiver

Kuwahara - One of the best Japanese builders who also built bicycles under contract for other companies.

Look for their Japanese built frames with double, triple, and quad butted frames, Kenji script that says "hand built", and straight chainstays which all indicate a higher production level.

My Cascade is an '87... it continued to be sold as an Expedition bike (frame only) for quite some years after it was no longer offered as a complete build... it was a $900.00 bicycle when it was new and production numbers seem to be quite low compared to the Shasta which was a step down the ladder (parts wise) but it had an equally beautiful frame.

Was originally equipped with Deore level parts and has a quad butted Ishiwata mtb frame and I have changed up / upgraded a good number of parts... I wore out the original wheels after 25,000 km and now it rolls on custom built wheels.

The Shimano chainstay brake has not caused me any issues over 40,000 km of cycling... the stopping power is off the hook.

Cougrrcj

I have a '89 Schwinn Woodlands - a step below the High Plains. Not a bad bike that I got out of the trash. If I ever ride GAP/C&O ths would probably get the nod.