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Vintage MTB To Upright Bar / Urban Bike Conversions

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Vintage MTB To Upright Bar / Urban Bike Conversions

Old 12-09-22, 02:49 PM
  #1026  
daywood 
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The Minnie Bike

As was thinking about paint schemes for this bike I was building up my wife, the idea of incorporating Disney Bounding somehow came into the mix as an interesting challenge. Disney Bounding, if you aren't familiar, is what it's called when people wear clothes to Disney theme parks that suggest the look of a Disney character without being a costume. So a yellow shirt with a handkerchief around the neck is Woody. Polka dot anything is Minnie. Lots of green could be Peter Pan or Tinkerbell, and so on. It's not something we do, but it's fun to watch for it when we're in the parks.

I started with an extra small '99 Raleigh M55 frame that I bought from a community bike shop through their eBay store. The build started out to include drops and a 3X8 drive train, but the test ride before painting proved the drops were not compatible with my wife's ongoing back issues. She also asked for a simpler drive train, so it became an upright bike with a wide riser bar and the MicroShift 1X10 ADVENT X system. The paint scheme includes the colors Minnie often sports: Yellow shoes, red dress with white polka dots, and, of course, her black ears.





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Old 12-09-22, 04:03 PM
  #1027  
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Originally Posted by daywood
. The paint scheme includes the colors Minnie often sports: Yellow shoes, red dress with white polka dots, and, of course, her black ears.




Like it!
A lot of thoughtful consideration and attention to detail went into that build.
Well done
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Old 12-12-22, 06:52 PM
  #1028  
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Originally Posted by Korina
@cooperryder, excellent setup, well done. It looks supremely comfortable and I love the touches of bling.
Thank you.
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Old 12-12-22, 08:51 PM
  #1029  
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Originally Posted by daywood
As was thinking about paint schemes for this bike I was building up my wife, the idea of incorporating Disney Bounding somehow came into the mix as an interesting challenge. Disney Bounding, if you aren't familiar, is what it's called when people wear clothes to Disney theme parks that suggest the look of a Disney character without being a costume. So a yellow shirt with a handkerchief around the neck is Woody. Polka dot anything is Minnie. Lots of green could be Peter Pan or Tinkerbell, and so on. It's not something we do, but it's fun to watch for it when we're in the parks.

I started with an extra small '99 Raleigh M55 frame that I bought from a community bike shop through their eBay store. The build started out to include drops and a 3X8 drive train, but the test ride before painting proved the drops were not compatible with my wife's ongoing back issues. She also asked for a simpler drive train, so it became an upright bike with a wide riser bar and the MicroShift 1X10 ADVENT X system. The paint scheme includes the colors Minnie often sports: Yellow shoes, red dress with white polka dots, and, of course, her black ears.





I guess my bianchi would be Alladin’s Genie…
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Old 12-20-22, 06:40 PM
  #1030  
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This past Sunday a good friend and I changed out the bars, stem ,shifters and rear Derailer on his vintage Trek 610.

​​​​It's a very cool bike.
I've never seen another metallic black vintage Trek frame like his.

Here's the build specs.
-1981 61cm Trek 610 frameset with Ishiwata 022 tubing

-2 x 7 drivetrain: Stronglight 46/34 crankset with Rivendell 7-speed 13-34t cassette-
-Vintage Shimano STX long cage rear derailer, vintage Suntour front derailer
-36h wheels. Not sure about the hubs or rims.
-Sunlight North Road handlebar
-2 sets of Rivendell Portuguese cork grips, cut to make one long grip. Love it!!
-Vintage Deore XT thumbies
-Shimano brake levers and Tektro brake calipers
-700 x 32 Continental Gatorskins
-Chris King GripNut headset
-10cm Fito California dirt drop style stem with removeable faceplate
--Velo Orange long setback seatpost
-SMP TRK trekking saddle

His take on it.... It's a fantastic urban build. I am very pleased! Rides like butter. Fast too...

A few pics.



We went on a ride after completing the changes, me on my Peugeot mentioned above several posts.



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Old 12-21-22, 01:26 AM
  #1031  
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Originally Posted by cooperryder
This past Sunday a good friend and I changed out the bars, stem ,shifters and rear Derailer on his vintage Trek 610.

​​​​It's a very cool bike.
I've never seen another metallic black vintage Trek frame like his.

Here's the build specs.
-1981 61cm Trek 610 frameset with Ishiwata 022 tubing

-2 x 7 drivetrain: Stronglight 46/34 crankset with Rivendell 7-speed 13-34t cassette-
-Vintage Shimano STX long cage rear derailer, vintage Suntour front derailer
-36h wheels. Not sure about the hubs or rims.
-Sunlight North Road handlebar
-2 sets of Rivendell Portuguese cork grips, cut to make one long grip. Love it!!
-Vintage Deore XT thumbies
-Shimano brake levers and Tektro brake calipers
-700 x 32 Continental Gatorskins
-Chris King GripNut headset
-10cm Fito California dirt drop style stem with removeable faceplate
--Velo Orange long setback seatpost
-SMP TRK trekking saddle

His take on it.... It's a fantastic urban build. I am very pleased! Rides like butter. Fast too...

A few pics.



We went on a ride after completing the changes, me on my Peugeot mentioned above several posts.



I'm jealous, both re bike and re December weather.

Nice job.
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Old 12-22-22, 10:20 AM
  #1032  
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Originally Posted by Frkl
I'm jealous, both re bike and re December weather.

Nice job.
Thank you.
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Old 12-22-22, 10:22 AM
  #1033  
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Another upright bar bike in my rotation.

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Old 01-05-23, 06:47 PM
  #1034  
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Today I switched from a longhorn type handlebar to these Sunlite alloy North Road bars on my 1990 Bridgestone CB Zip bike.

I much prefer these North Road bars and have them on most of my bikes.

It may be in part to that's what I'm used to but they really hit a sweet spot for my riding.
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Old 01-06-23, 07:02 AM
  #1035  
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Originally Posted by cooperryder


Today I switched from a longhorn type handlebar to these Sunlite alloy North Road bars on my 1990 Bridgestone CB Zip bike.

I much prefer these North Road bars and have them on most of my bikes.

It may be in part to that's what I'm used to but they really hit a sweet spot for my riding.
I like these too, and have them on a couple of my builds. At $21 a pop, they are an excellent bargain.

My favorite, of course, is the SOMA Oxford bar in black. Those run about $65 each, though. I may go with the Sunlite Elson steel bar for my next MTB/ATB build. Those ring up at $31, less than half of the Oxfords, and the little added weight for steel is negligible in that application.
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Old 01-23-23, 10:32 AM
  #1036  
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Hello upright handlebar aficionados .

I can't seem to help myself.

A couple months back I bought a vintage Trek sport tourer frame and fork.
It's a 1982 614.

I finally got around to building it up about 2 weeks or so ago.

Here are a few pictures.

This bike rides really well.
I rode it 34 miles yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The bars are the same Sunlite North Road bars I have on 4 or 5 bikes now.

​I used the Velo Orange thumbie shifter mounts and attached vintage Suntour downtube shifters to them.

It has a new Stronglight triple crank with 46x34x24 rings. The wheels are Velo Orange rims on 105 hubs.

Front tire is a Maxxis Velocita 700 x 40
and rear is a smooth tread Gravel King 700x38.
The matching Maxxis would not fit in the rear.

I might have my local builder crimp the chain stays to gain a bit more room.

The calipers are Dia Compe Royal Gran Compe which allowed plenty of room for the tires. I switched out the brake pads to some I found online.

I am digging this bike.







Last edited by cooperryder; 01-23-23 at 10:38 AM.
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Old 01-30-23, 06:32 PM
  #1037  
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A work in progress:

As found: GT Karakoram, 7-speed LX drivetrain with 8-speed XT integrated levers and v-brakes. RockShox Pilot SL fork.

Added: Unbranded aluminum North Road bars (580 mm, pebbly-textured silver powder coat.) Bontrager straight bar-ends (going for a broke-dude's Crazy Bar.) Specialized Body Geometry grips. All parts so far from the co-op bins.




Cables, saddle, and a drivetrain clean-n-lube and I'll have a ride report.

--Shannon
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Old 01-31-23, 10:36 AM
  #1038  
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Found an old 1986 Rock Hopper for sale for $60 and the guy threw in this pretty much new Peugeot Orient Express for an extra $15. Just the wife's size. Been wanting to build her more of a gravel/bikepacking bike so bought some Nitto Albatross bars and used some wheels and bar end shifters from a different abandoned project and my Brooks saddle. Tried my hand at the cotton/twice with shellac. Pretty happy with the way it came out. Also added new cable/housing.
Before and after:


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Old 01-31-23, 11:37 AM
  #1039  
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Originally Posted by partyanimal
Found an old 1986 Rock Hopper for sale for $60 and the guy threw in this pretty much new Peugeot Orient Express for an extra $15. Just the wife's size. Been wanting to build her more of a gravel/bikepacking bike so bought some Nitto Albatross bars and used some wheels and bar end shifters from a different abandoned project and my Brooks saddle. Tried my hand at the cotton/twice with shellac. Pretty happy with the way it came out. Also added new cable/housing.
Before and after:


That is a beautiful build. Nice work!

These Peugeot "Express" MTBs are real sleepers in the vintage mountain bike market. The fact is, what you have here is perfect for your intended purpose, and an amazing bargain!

I got hip to the Peugeot Express line when I built my own 1986 Orient Express a few years ago. I paid $200 for mine, but I still think that was a bargain. 2nd in the lineup behind the Canyon Express, it weighed 3 lbs more.







I dressed it up with the antique chainguard and other embellishments, into some kind of stylish town-and-country cruiser. It was a very nice ride, but I could never quite dial in that roller-block rear brake to my satisfaction.

I traded it in when a top-of-the-line Canyon Express became available. This is now one of my favorite rides:





I don't see many of these for sale these days. I'm afraid the market may have caught on by now. But deals can still be had if you are watchful and patient.
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Old 01-31-23, 11:56 AM
  #1040  
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Originally Posted by DQRider
That is a beautiful build. Nice work!

These Peugeot "Express" MTBs are real sleepers in the vintage mountain bike market. The fact is, what you have here is perfect for your intended purpose, and an amazing bargain!

I got hip to the Peugeot Express line when I built my own 1986 Orient Express a few years ago. I paid $200 for mine, but I still think that was a bargain. 2nd in the lineup behind the Canyon Express, it weighed 3 lbs more.






I dressed it up with the antique chainguard and other embellishments, into some kind of stylish town-and-country cruiser. It was a very nice ride, but I could never quite dial in that roller-block rear brake to my satisfaction.

I traded it in when a top-of-the-line Canyon Express became available. This is now one of my favorite rides:





I don't see many of these for sale these days. I'm afraid the market may have caught on by now. But deals can still be had if you are watchful and patient.
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Thanks! Love these bikes, yours look amazing! I have 4 of the Express line now. Got my first one for $10, it was really rough. Taught myself to tear it completely apart and rebuild. But realized I built it too much like my new, All-City Gravel bike so that's what I took the parts from for this. Also built the lady a US Express bike for local rides/trails and found this 1985 Orient Express last year and loved the Bull Moose bars so added a few new parts and it's currently my favorite bike. The lady's new Orient Express is an 87 from what I can tell.


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Old 01-31-23, 08:11 PM
  #1041  
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I've got an '85 Canyon Express I bought at a thrift store over 15 years ago. It is a very nice rider. I had it powdercoated probably 4 years ago into the silver/red you see here:

I rode it a while but then other projects came along and it got relegated to the back o' the pile, as it were. During that time, I found another identical Canyon but in a size 18" that I swooped up. It never fit real well so I harvested the original fork, moved the 18" along, and converted it into a threadless steer tube. I'm currently in the process of building it up again. It is a wonderful city bike and even touring sherpa with triple bottle mounts, dual eyelets front and rear, and long (18"!) chainstays. The only thing its missing in the line of braze-ons is a mid fork mount for a low rider pannier rack. But that's easy enough to remedy.... Its no lightweight, but much like a Cadillac that is also not very light, it is super plush!
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Old 02-03-23, 08:36 PM
  #1042  
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Low budget Kalloy tourist bars like $12. probably will look for a nitto dynamic hi riser stem. waiting on a CK base plate for the chrome fork.
c
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Old 02-08-23, 10:22 PM
  #1043  
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So, I got the Karakoram up and running. Making the rear brake work required hackery. I'm gonna want a longer stem, the bars need to move up and out. The 130 mm WTB Rocket V saddle isn't a huge win with the bars... I'm probably going to swap it with the B17 on my Fuji, since the GT is going to get more seat time for the near future, and the WTB came off the Fuji anyway. That said, and only having ridden it around my little 3x6-block town a few times, I'm liking it quite a bit. The Pilot SL fork might end up staying. It's got a compression lockout, everything seems to be working, and seal kits are obtainable.

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Old 02-09-23, 12:53 PM
  #1044  
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There have been some cool bikes posted recently.

I'm also a fan of those vintage Peugeot Mtbs.
If a Canyon in my size popped up in a 22" at a decent price I'd be after it.

I'm glad some of you are able to work on your winter projects.

I have a couple on the back burner for when I get bored and must have a project bike to fiddle with.

We've been getting some decent weather days intermingled with the not so nice weather days.

All in all I count my 'weather' blessings in comparison with what some of you are experiencing.

I guess spring isn't really all that far away as we near Mid February.
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Old 02-09-23, 12:57 PM
  #1045  
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1994 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo. Pic from a couple months back. I was out on this bike a couple days ago but didn't get a picture. I love how this bike rides.
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Old 02-09-23, 04:13 PM
  #1046  
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Originally Posted by cooperryder

1994 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo. Pic from a couple months back. I was out on this bike a couple days ago but didn't get a picture. I love how this bike rides.
Sweet lookin' bike, sweet lookin' picture!

--Shannon
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Old 02-12-23, 12:06 AM
  #1047  
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Just finished these two beauties
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Old 02-28-23, 04:19 PM
  #1048  
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Breezer Upright

I finished another build, this one for a friend.

It's a 4 or 5 year old Breezer Downtown EX hybrid bike that had been disassembled.
I think it turned out pretty good.


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Old 02-28-23, 04:20 PM
  #1049  
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Originally Posted by ShannonM
Sweet lookin' bike, sweet lookin' picture!

--Shannon
Thank you.
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Old 02-28-23, 05:31 PM
  #1050  
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That looks amazing! Beautiful bike indeed.
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