bud16415

I can’t help you with the one bike but I have a KHS that looks just like the one shown.
1987 KHS Montana Team
I was building mine for touring when I found my touring bike and switched gears using it as more of a commuter. It is a really great platform for a touring bike. I have added fenders and a few other things lately getting it closer again to tour ready I will have to get newer pictures. I don’t think I ever posted a photo to this thread so here is another similar KHS.

rodar y rodar

Man, those Montanas are pretty! If I ever catch one locally in a reasonable size for me, I`ll snatch it right up. Is yours lugged, Bud? Looks like it.

Switched it from a tourer to a commuter? There isn`t really much difference, is there? I put mine together with touring in mind, then started commuting on it, and realized that it was better for that than my old "commuter" was, so the same bike now wears both touring and commuting hats. I dismantled the previous commuter, which is now part of several other bikes.

bud16415

Yes they were very nice bikes, light and strong. I found mine at a yard sale for 10 bucks. The frame was small for me but that’s what I was looking for as the high seat post allowed for a tall rear basket and I put a long stem and changed bars from the straight bars. Switched to the Ritchey slicks 26 x 1.4. The shorter top tube worked into my more upright Commuting / Touring style. I never felt squeezed in on this bike and when I got my Touring bike (proper size) it felt like a truck at first. The downside is with any kind of rear panniers I have to keep them high and back and also no braze on the fork. The rack shown in the photo is an old single tube rack off a cheap bike I found that I re-shaped to get it as far back and as close to the tire as I could. I saved all the factory parts and could have it stock mtn if I ever want.

Here is what they looked like in the day and what my work horse looks like today with some salvaged 40 year old steel Schwinn fenders.






.

junglism

this is an amazing thread. thanks to all the contributors. i have a couple of questions. admittedly i've only read the first 8 or 9 pages and the last 2. so...
1. testing for structural damage due to rust - does anyone have any tricks to gauging structural damage? i've heard a bit about looking for pitting & paint peeling, and maybe sticking a nail into stuff to see if it goes through (extreme damage there)
2. drop bars - any bikes that are easier to convert to drop bars that wont be too stretched out..

we're planning on going on a 9-month tour of asia so we'd like to get a good idea that the frame is trustworthy..

wahoonc

I use a bore scope, but if there are obvious signs that he bike spent a lot of times out of doors uncovered and unmaintained I would be concerned. Things like complete deterioration of all rubber, water comes out of the wheels, all fittings are heavily rusted, etc. Paint chips with small amounts of rust are fine, if there are rust streaks coming out of the vent holes in the forks or rear stays or there are signs of water having been in the bottom bracket I would be concerned. I do treat all of my steel frames internally with a variety of concoctions once I determine that hey are structurally sound.

Aaron

junglism

wow awesome thanks for the quick response!!
would love to add one of those cameras to my toolbox but not sure i could get it passed the mrs. manyu thanks for the tips!

wahoonc

Forgot to add, the stem you want for a MTB to drop bar conversion is the Nitto Dirt Drop or something similar. It raises the bars and brings them back towards the rider a bit compared to a regular drop stem.

Aaron

fietsbob

the 'dirt drop' stem, referring to the Dirt Drop handlebars, has a steep rise angle to it,
so another rise up angled stem may do.

a drop stem , like for track racing, when insalled, is down sloping.

mtnbud

1986 Diamondback Ascent (I found the handlebar attachment at the Corvallis Bicycle Cooperative in their parts bin. I have no idea who it's manufactured by.)
It'll more than likely have more upgrades in the future.

norwood

My '80's something Scott Comp, (now Scott Touring) I hope to do some camping/touring with it. It's a very comfortable ride.









Before:

ak08820

What are the adapters that allow to attach the bar with the shifters to the ends of the drop bars? Are they freely available?

norwood

Those were simply the mounts of an old set of Profile aerobars that I had lying around. Similar mountings may work as well.

junglism

i've started looking around at some vintage MTBs to convert into an expedition tourer. should i be concerned with stuff like what kind of steel its made of to gauge things like whether it flexes much under load. Should i be trying to get a specific length of certain things e.g. headtube. I'll definitely be checking chainstay length for clearance....
or will mostly anything do as long as its comfortable?
i'm looking at something like the below for my girlfriend (wish it was my size).
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/ri...-50/1011775119

wahoonc

As long as it isn't the absolute bottom of the barrel mild steel tubing it would not matter to me. Most of mine are some variety of chrome moly. That bike looks like a good candidate to me.

Aaron

rodar y rodar

^^ I wouldn`t expect problems even from a gaspipe frame for loaded riding. If you`re north of 100 KGs, plan to load it like a rented donkey AND plan to take it bumping over rocky washboarded roads, I`d be more concerned about the ultralight tubing in uber high end stuff. For most folks, I don`t think the tubeset makes as much difference as the paintjob. IMHO, the biggest challenge is finding a suitable TT length with (hopefully) a stem and seatpost less than one yard in length. Long stays and a bunch of braze ons are a nice bonus.

EDIT: Oh, that is a pretty bike
Never heard of Ridgeback before. Is it fairly common in your stomping grounds?

Pukeskywalker

norwood that bar is awesome! good thinking

Losligato

The other one is a Specialized Rockhopper Comp. In a rural part of Laos I was carrying too much heavy food in my rear panniers, hit a pot hole and the back braze-on broke (the spot where the rack connects to the bike). Right across the road was a welding shop. It broke again later in Vietnam. I stopped at a carnival and had it welded by a guy repairing one of the rides.



I'm actually considering carrying a Clamp Tite for emergency repairs on our next big tour.

IknowURider

IknowURider

(sigh.) I'll never get this photo thing straight here, sorry) 1999 Trek 930 , was red white and blue now it's brush painted flat black. Still working on rack upgrades and front derailleur but it rocks!

wbuttry

Last year I ordered a new bike it was a Avalon by next. Well the ole lady got to riding it and she took it over so I took her mtn bike to convert over to a explorer bike I really hadn't done nothing to it just been way to busy but it is slowing down now at work so I got a little more time now im looking at first putting on a set of trekking bars. Put on different pedals I thinking some good medal one no clip on for me or grinders. Maybe a pedal harness or something like that I already had to get a different wheel I bought a new 26 inch double wall 32 spoked rear wheel 14low side and 36 on hi side and I got 3 different sprockets on the crank not sure on them but I went for now and put me a skinny tire on the back and the standard on the front I wanna use the skinnier tires with this bike cause most of time gonna be on paved roads the bike im talking about is the white mtn bike on the rite

rodar y rodar

Haha! Yeah the photo thing is kind of crazy!
Nice bike. Is that a swapped in fork? I didn`t think any of the big players were still offering nonsuspension mtbs by then. Maybe they were?

BadKarma62

WooHoo!!!! Ready to go somewhere.



Will post better pics when all done with the update.

Nakedbabytoes

GBR!!! A fellow Husker, nice! I am in Lincoln. What handlebar bag is that?

norwood

Hi! My son lives in Lincoln. I plan to ride there and stay with him and ride the great trails you have there as we have done in the past. The bag is actually a Plano fishing tackle bag that I picked up at Wallyworld. It works great. It even has the mounting straps already on it.

wbuttry

well here is my bike finished besides the seat and gonna find me one when I loose a little more weight