Originally Posted by
unterhausen
I agree with getting a custom. Maybe do one at a time, wife's bike first. Doing this conversion is a pretty radical modification on these bikes and a bit of an experiment. You may find that you don't like the result. At least with the new bikes, it's a known quantity
We've pretty much abandoned the idea of modifying my wife's bike as it's not worth it. Might look at other frames such as the Curve GXR steel or maybe a Shand Stoater if she wants a particular colour! Cost wise would still be less than a custom frame. Mine I'll think about for a while. I still enjoy the ride as is, and there's always the risk the modification would stuff it up. Although I do find the lack of braking power for emergency situation a bit of a worry in traffic, particularly now I'm used to disc brakes on the mtb. Perhaps for now I might look at trialling v-brakes with a travel agent and see how that goes.