henryporter

Well, I've just about done it. I'm about to move from a large metro area to a rural, flat, coastal area where I'm going to use a bicycle to get to the river, marsh and beach for fishing. Half the roads are paved, half are sandy dirt roads. I've only ever had road bikes. I'm a decent mechanic in terms of building and maintaining.

Can you help with ideas for how I might put together a bike that meet these specifications?

1. Can accommodate tires big enough for sandy roads (2.0+ inches?) -- I assume I'll need to start with an old mountain bike frame.
2. Can be run as a single speed (horizontal dropouts or track end?) -- I really want a simple drive train for the sandy, salty environment. I'd love to avoid needing a tensioner for simplicity's sake.
3. Has braze-ons for front and rear racks -- I'll be rigging fishing rod holders and racks to carry tackle, small cooler, etc.
4. Has no suspension -- rigid forks keep it simple for me.
5. Ideally, is aluminum if only to slow rust and corrosion -- but steel is fine because I realize it's very rare to find an aluminum frame to meet these specs. I FrameSaver and take good care of steel bikes.
6. I am 6' 1" and ride road bikes with 60 cm C-T-T seat tubes and with horizontal top tubes -- I don't really know how to size for mountain bikes, hybrids or sloping top tubes.

Should I look for an old Specialized Rockhopper, Trek Antelope, etc. if any of those old 90s kinds of mountain bikes have some degree of horizontal dropout that allows single speed drivetrain without a tensioner? What other brands/models might I look for?

Finally, If you think this should be in another section of the forum, please let me know.

I'll post the build as I get started and proceed.

Many thanks!

Henry

Rolla

You've listed all the must-haves: wide tires, horizontal dropouts, and rack braze-ons. An older mountain bike frame would work, but you might have to look to the 80s for horizontal dropouts. So would something more contemporary, like a Surly Cross Check (dunno about 2.0" tires, but you can get pretty close). It's an exceedingly versatile frame, should you ever want to venture further than the fishing hole.

As for vintage mtb sizing, go for adequate top tube length (regardless of slope) and don't worry as much about standover height, since it sounds like you'll be riding non-technical terrain for the most part. I'd imagine you'd want to look for something in the vicinity of a 21" frame size.

henryporter

Hey, Rolla, thanks very much for the quick reply and the helpful information. I hadn't even considered buying something like the Surly Cross Check--excellent idea! It's the closest to a "can be built to do anything" bike that I've seen through the years. Good tip also regarding vintage mountain bike sizing. I'm on the lookout for something like that for a more budget, parts bin build. Still, a Cross Check frame....

SkinGriz

Other than the braze ons sounds like a klunker beach cruiser build.

tyrion

If you can find a Soma Wolverine B-Type frame (seem to be out of stock everywhere right now), it has a split chainstay so you can run a belt drive. Says it takes 45mm tires with fenders, so I bet it can take 2" tires without fenders.

https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/pro...oss-green-4402

henryporter

I agree, SkinGriz. Hard to find the off-the-shelf frame that checks all the boxes.

I'm also considering Mango Cruisers, which are aluminum beach cruisers that can be singlespeed or use internal gear hubs. I'd need to set up p-clip mounts for racks, which is do-able. Their larger size might work well for me.

I expect the occasional 20-30 mile round trip, thus my initial thinking that a converted mountain bike (or Rolla's suggestion of a Surly Cross Check) might be more comfortable on longer rides with cargo.

henryporter

Thanks for the tip, tyrion! I had not heard of Soma's Wolverine B-Type frame. A belt drive would be fantastic as would the beefy tire capacity.