thehammerdog

After a nice 10 mile mtb ride and getting that old feeling from my youth i wondered
What if i upgraded the old beast from 7speeds to high end modern groupo and all that making sweet modern rigid racer
like the old days..
silly or sensible?

LesterOfPuppets

Can't really get current high end rear hubs that'll fit into a 135mm QR frame these days.

I've put 3-year-old midrange gearing on old rigid frames though, and it was pretty nice, not mind blowing though. I went with 11sp, SLX shifter/derailleur, XT cassette. Got a single speed chainring and chainring bolts.

11-46 cassette wasn't enough range for me so I recently got a front derailleur back on there for 2x11.

The biggest difference for me is disc brakes, but the olde 26er I did this on didn't have mounts. Rigid sixer forks can be had on ebay for cheap though, so I got a Kona Project 2 for $40. Disc up front and Vbrake or canti out back is a pretty good setup.

thehammerdog

i not ridden disc in a while. i like the sensstion of rigid reacts well i will throw bigger tires on it and maybe 9 speed .

thehammerdog

I like the sharpness of the front end sans suspension.
carves the turns with better feed back..
not sure how big i can go with tires.

DMC707

Me personally?

You have a nice borderline collectible Fisher (if thats the one you are referring to ) -- i wouldnt mess with it much except it keeping it going in its 30 year old glory

However, -- its your bike and im not you so i will add my .02 --- ive considered doing this with my '95 Marin rigid machine because i have a 5 yar old XTR cassette, derailleur and shifter (11 speed , 11-40 cassette ) just laying in a box doing nothing.
A modern carbon crank would shed some grams over the old triple too. Rene HErse markets some very cool high end 26" tires that would complement such a build now - and i would convert to ghetto tubeless if i could.
Feels weird to ride on tubes after years without them

Also have some Jones H bars to use . The top tube on that old bike, in a size 17, is 23.5" and it was originally sole with a 135mm stem to boot --- im 5'8 -- that is a streeeeeeeeeetttttttttched out racing position for sure

Im not 25 anymore --- thinking a stem adapter to run a shorty 40mm 31.8 stem and the H bars would give me a very cool retro-esque riding position and be more comfy -- plus the rig should come in under 22 pounds (was around 22 fully built in 1995 - Tange Prestige tubing is light)

After building the YEti i postred in another thread - my bike budget is zero though so this dream build may have to be back burnered but yes - i have thought about such a concept


My worry is that the 11 speed rear derailleur cage may hang too low for a 26" wheeled bike and be a snag hazard --- fine for gravel but no bueno for rocky, root filled singletrack

katsup

I find my 26in mountain bikes work best on gravel / fire roads. I consider them flat bar gravel bikes now a days.

I've barely fit 2.35" knobby tires on my 1992 Trek 970 (front is close). This will probably be the limit for most frames of this era.

c_m_shooter

More speeds aren't needed, it all marketing. If it works keep riding it.

70sSanO

Both my old mtb's are running a 2x8 setup. The chainrings are 24/34 and the cassettes are 13-40. Although there are 16 gear rations which I do run, there are effectively 10. I have set it up so I will have duplicate ratios. I view it as having (2) 1x8 and will/can run all 8 cogs with each chainring. The downside is the RD hangs perilously low with the RoadLink

Since I rarely ride any distance on flat terrain, the setup allows me to ride in the 34t whenever things are not too steep and I can bail out with the 34-40. There are rides where I never go to the 24t chainring. A top end with a very comfortable cadence is 17mph. Not something for gravel use, but works for me as a mtb.

If I am riding some steep sections, or a new uphill trail, I go to the 24t and have more than enough low end. The 24-40 is embarrassingly slow and is not used very much. The comfortable top end is around 12mph. I actually use a thumb shifter for the front derailleur. No-brainer one or the other.

For someone who is maximizing their speed in every condition, a 1x is a better option because you can fly through the cassette without running out of climbing or top end.

John

DMC707

Thats tight

thehammerdog

i just completed the less fancy upgrade. stole parts from other not as old bike 8 speed grip shift sram x 9 with bigger tires looking forward to hitting trails.

veganbikes

Uhhhh...White Industries and Phil Wood (granted Phil is sold out of that particular hub at the moment but they built me a set of pink Freewheel hubs the year before). You can also get Industry Nine hubs in 135QR but will have disc rotor mounting, Hope makes a road hub in 135qr sans disc mounting which I can imagine probably would do fine in this application or I can still get the Pro4 and have disc mounts. Also Oynx does a few if you can live with disc mounts (custom colors and campy too), Hadley also still is doing them and I bet DT Swiss also does it and I am pretty sure Shimano does XT hubs as well in QR 135.

Not that the OP is going Fixed or SS but Papa Paul has ya covered, WORD. I am sure I may have missed other quality hub makers I am pretty sure Chris King got out of 135 MTB stuff but hey he also never did fixed gear hubs and could have made some mad money on them jonx.

I mean yes they are not quite as common these days and it might be more of a special order item at some places but they aren't down and out. As Abraham Simpson said "I will be deep in the cold cold ground before I recognize Missouri" Missouri of course being the complete death of 135QR.

DMC707

Springfield Missouri ?


Dohhhhhhhhhh

Im gonna crack open the top on another can of Duff

LesterOfPuppets

Yep. I was thinking along the lines of hubs that work with current 12-sp drivetrains from Shimano or Sram.

thehammerdog

in regards to a single speed set up it is a concept on the table if the Going Rigid project is a failure.
Anyone use the adjustable rear hub by white industries for a single speed conversion.
expensive but cool looking.
I have 26x2.25 Maxxis to ride this weekend.

veganbikes

White Industries is Microspline or XD/XDR compatible in the MI5 I don't know about the other stuff beyond 11 speed but there are still plenty of great 11 speed group sets and those are that ancient yet.

AdkMtnMonster

I recently converted my 2002 Cannondale F800 to a 1x11 with an SLX shifter, cassette (11-46) derailleur, SRAM X11 series chain (already forgot exactly which one, they all work) and a Wolftooth Components 30 tooth narrows-wide chainr8ng on the stock CODA cranks. Works great! (Not rigid- it has a Lefty.)

I’m now up in the middle of a similar build on a 1996 Cannondale F500 with an MC50 HeadShok (currently @ Mendon CycleSmith being overhauled.) I had to buy a new crank and bb for this bike as the stock crankset triple was rivete, and too small of a bcd so I couldn’t use it. Can’t wait to ride this one! It has the Killer V frame.

OP- do it!

thehammerdog

my rigid beast out in the woods today.

Eric F 

I have been recently pondering my old 7-speed Trek 9900, which - in the past 15 years - has only been used to roll around the neighborhood with my kids when they were young. I thought about modernizing the drivetrain to at least 9-speed, but yesterday decided to go a different direction...single speed. Something VERY different than the go-fast road riding that is the biggest part of my cycling diet.

Happy Feet

SS. Have you considered a double double or 2x2?

I found a magic gear combination that allows 36/15 and 24/28 in a vertical dropout. This gives me a decent horizontal downhill gear and a decent climbing gear by swapping chain lines at the top or bottom of the hill.
Thread about the build here: https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespe...-retrofit.html

Eric F 

Interesting idea, and cool that you found the magic gear sizes to make it work. Personally, I'm not a fan of having to stop and get off the bike to make a change. I'm also looking forward to the challenge of a SS.

Happy Feet

For more horizontal travel 1x would be enough but my local trails are all gravity flow downhill with uphill access climbs. 1x couldn't give me 1 gear for both. With this I can 1x up and 1x down. When I go somewhere more flat I just keep it in the higher gear.

Another odd idea is to keep it ss in the back with a chain tensioner and keep the front derailer only. It would be a 1x2 or something like that.

Some would say why bother but messing with bikes can be fun. The 2x2 above is pretty fun in a 26" bmx sort of way.

Eric F 

I thought about doing a 3x1 or 2x1, but in the end decided to keep my project as simple as possible, and just learn to ride it. The riding areas for a SS in my area are pretty limited (lots of long and steep climbs), but this will really just be an occasional distraction from my road bike. Here's my project...https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-...peed-26er.html

Happy Feet

Nice and simple.

I like the front suspension fork. If there was one thing that limits my 2x2 it's being rigid (having beefed up the brakes already). But it is also a 1" headtube. I haven't given it much thought but if I could find a sus fork that fit I would probably ride it a lot more. With the e stay design it's a conversation starter.

The steep access climbs here are why I went 2x. Otherwise, my local conditions would be limited as well. I don't really see SS locally because of that. It would involve 2km+ hike a bikes for each run. The extra climbing gear is just enough that I can do the up trails as well as downhill and get a good cardio workout.

In the interior like Merrit or Kamloops there are some great horizontal trails that run through sage brush etc... that would perfectly suit ss.