tcarson

Looks to be around mid 2000's, not sure

Willem208

That GT thread is great thanks

Willem208

Here she is... 😁

imcorn

'87 Bridgestone MB-1

Technically not a conversion, as it came stock with drops, but more of an update that I finished up last week.

westmichigansc

This is my build. It started out as an experiment and it stuck. This spring I am changing the bars to real shallow drop and flare, wheels and drivetrain to 11sp w/XD drive. It's a tank so eventually I would like to do a lightweight fork, but most mess up the geometry. Only option I found so far is the chinese carbon forks called Toseek.

gthomson

Looks nice Westmichigansc, did it come with disc brakes or did you add those?

westmichigansc

I added them. There is an adapter on the back that attaches to the V-brake mount.

Classtime 

17 or 19.5? And I wonder what the top tube measures CTC.


1989 Rockhopper Comp

Frkl

Are you playing the "guess the size on eBay when the seller doesn't know how to measure a frame" game?

I would say 17 based on the head tube. Ca. 20 inch frames have a bit more space between the top and down tubes, in my experience.

scubaman

My gravel/bikepacking/everything-but-singletrack bike in its newly completed form. Originally a 26" MTB frame by Interloc Racing Designs from the early 2000s, which I bought used online just before the pandemic. Bilenky Cycle Works repaired the drive side rear dropout, added S&S couplers, and repainted. I built it up and rode it for ~2 years with a carboncycles rigid fork, until earlier this month when I got my new custom fork from Bilenky. Happily, it came with disc tabs as well as canti mounts, and I can fit 650b wheels with 48mm tires.

antmaster5000

Very cool. How do you like the shifters?

scubaman

Thanks! I'm using Gevanelle long-pull levers with a shifter on the right for 1x 11-speed Shimano XT rear derailleur. I'm a big fan of Gevenalle brake/shift levers. They're cheaper, lighter and more robust than standard brifters, and much easier to service/rebuild; and they have a friction option, which can be handy in the field. The ergonomics are fine for me.

Frkl

You should ride it on single track, too. Drop bars on single track are a ton of fun:

Clang

19.5"

jaseyjase

Not vintage, but heres my recent build.

2010 Avanti KISS 26er i had resprayed black. Nukeproof carbon rigid fork, TRP Hylex, 2.35 High Rollers, 44/16 (tad high)

BocaJr

Picked this one up last year with the intention of doing a drop bar conversion. It was in good original condition. Slowly built it up. Finally got it dirty today! Nice nimble ride.

Frkl

Glad you kept the triple, nice build with the bar end shifters. But i would rethink that stem. It doesn't really do the bike justice and I think something silver would fit much better.

vp1337

Lil' hack that might as well fit here. I was looking for 31.8 mm thumbies for my drop bar conversion, but didn't want to spend $$ on Paul adapters. I bodged these thumbies from of a SunRace SLM96 shifter. I hacksawed down the original clamp, then mounted it on a front derailleur clamp with a bolt and a few washers. It ain't pretty but it works wonderfully.

BocaJr

IDK, a silver stem with black handlebars, it's a no for me. Especially, since the bike is equipped with black hubs, black FD, black RD, black crank arms, black canti brakes and a black headset.

Frkl

It's all personal aesthetics, but for me, one of the distinctive things about that particular groupset is the fact that it is not all black. The chainrings form a nice contrast. Similarly, while stem and post don't need to match (especially as with early Marins for instance where the stem matches the frame and is aesthetically an extension of the frame), i think using a silver stem preserves the original look of the bike. The conversion is thus more in keeping with the original style.

But more than color I meant the design of the stem. Just seems more at home on a pedalec than a vintage Stumpjumper.

scale

What stem is that? I know all the mtbs i have the bars are always way too low to do drop bars and you include the longer top tube and i can never get it right. I know most original stems with flat bars jut up at least at a 45 degree angle or more like this and that seems to work well.

Frkl

That stem is marketed under a number of different brands. In Europe, you can get it from Ergotec or Mounty and probably others too. I don't know who actually manufactures it.

If you want to do a conversion you almost always need to redo the stem, unless you like a superman riding position. But there are many different styles of db mtb set ups, Cunningham and Tomac, for instance. The stem will depend on what you want.

Cunningham developed the LD stem specifically for his set up with flared dirt drops. tomac tended to us a c. 30 degree stem, which ended up being about 45 degree with the slant of the head tube, for a more road bike like position.

But you aren't limited to these, of course.

BocaJr

It's the Happy Stem from Velo Orange. Yeah, with these vintage MTB's, the trick is in getting the handlebars higher and closer to the saddle.

wesmamyke 

There are very few threadless vintage dirt drop stems, put whatever works on there. That stem also requires probably the least steerer tube of any available dirt drop stem. I have a Voodoo cycles stem that needs at least twice that to be safe.

wrk101

i find top tube length varies a lot by era, brand and even model. By 1990, TT lengths got incredibly long. But during the early to mid 1980s, many weren’t. I’ve had the same size frame, same brand, where one top tube was two inches longer. Same year, same brand, different model.