Ancient Mountain Bike for Road Use?
Discussion
Went out on the Stumpjumper on Sunday afternoon - couldn't be bothered to drive out to the Peaks, so set off from home. It was so muddy off road (Greonside Woods/Wharncliffe) that I ended up sticking to roads for pretty much the entire ride. This got me thinking; for these local trips I could do with more of a "road" bike, and I've got an old '94 or '95 Kili Comp frame that I built up for the missus. It's got all the old skool kit on it, works well enough, but she never uses it (plus she can have my old Mount Vision now):
Question is, what would it take to make an acceptable road only bike out of it? List so far is:
Road Tyres (which ones?)
Lighter, rigid forks (which ones?)
Better stem (which one?)
The stem is the way it is because the steerer tube on the RC35's was short, and I couldn't get any more spacers under it. Obviously with new forks, things would be better.
Also, does anyone know if there was ever an adapter for rigid forks for the Hope "universal" front caliper mount? I assume the clue is in the "universal" name, but I've never seen these fitted to rigid forks:
I was half thinking of buying a road bike complete (Specialized or Trek or whatever), but I think for the amount of use it would get, It would be considerably cheaper to just make a few mods to the old Saracen frame?
Question is, what would it take to make an acceptable road only bike out of it? List so far is:
Road Tyres (which ones?)
Lighter, rigid forks (which ones?)
Better stem (which one?)
The stem is the way it is because the steerer tube on the RC35's was short, and I couldn't get any more spacers under it. Obviously with new forks, things would be better.
Also, does anyone know if there was ever an adapter for rigid forks for the Hope "universal" front caliper mount? I assume the clue is in the "universal" name, but I've never seen these fitted to rigid forks:
I was half thinking of buying a road bike complete (Specialized or Trek or whatever), but I think for the amount of use it would get, It would be considerably cheaper to just make a few mods to the old Saracen frame?
Rolls said:
I'd be inclined to just add some road tyres first and see how you get on - something like gatorskins must be availible in 26 x 1 ?
No point in spending money if you're not going to use it, as if you get the bug, and do use it alot, you WILL want a proper road bike...
Fair comment, it's just that those forks screw quite a few aspects of the bike up: They weigh quite a bit and perform no useful function (they are elastomer forks and the elastomer is now hard as rock!). They're also the cause of the crap riding position, making the stem too low.No point in spending money if you're not going to use it, as if you get the bug, and do use it alot, you WILL want a proper road bike...
I think road tyres must be available - I put some Michelins on my old Mount Vision during the foot & mouth outbreak god knows how many years ago.
I think I would use it - sometimes the thought of loading the car up and driving 10 miles stops me from going out at all, especially after work during the week. If I could set off from home without dismantling the car & kids seats I might get another ride per week in.
I ride a full rigid MTB on and off road, I use continental cross king tyres, plenty of grip and not to much noise on the road. The rigid disc forks I have are aprebic alloy, just flex the arms on the rough stuff. You could always fit drop bars, convert to mech disc and turn it into a hill billy cx hybrid 
I was using a rigid mtb as my commuter until the end of last year. It's old and weighs a tonne but I like it.
When I first started using it I got some of these: CLICK
but after a year or so I moved onto these for no other reason than I liked the look of them more. CLICK
They're less useful if you need to suddenly hop onto the kerb or if you take a shortcut over grass and as I'm a bit fat they need to be at quite high pressures. I'm also not that sure if they've made the bike any quicker than the last set of tyres.
As far as the forks go, mine still has the cr4ppy heavy Dawes generic CRMO ones it came with. I've just managed to find a set of RC31s with enough steerer on them so I'm going to redo the front end completely in a couple of weeks, I want to keep using it every now and then for the commute. In your case I'd be tempted to see how you get on with the 35s, a little bit of front suspension might be quite nice. Can you adjust them?
Otherwise these, IMHO, look good and are almost retro: CLICK No idea if it'll work with your discs though.
After I'd got used to journey I swapped the cassette, no idea on the number of teeth but I went for a more road bike looking one as I was finding that most of them weren't getting used.
When I first started using it I got some of these: CLICK
but after a year or so I moved onto these for no other reason than I liked the look of them more. CLICK
They're less useful if you need to suddenly hop onto the kerb or if you take a shortcut over grass and as I'm a bit fat they need to be at quite high pressures. I'm also not that sure if they've made the bike any quicker than the last set of tyres.
As far as the forks go, mine still has the cr4ppy heavy Dawes generic CRMO ones it came with. I've just managed to find a set of RC31s with enough steerer on them so I'm going to redo the front end completely in a couple of weeks, I want to keep using it every now and then for the commute. In your case I'd be tempted to see how you get on with the 35s, a little bit of front suspension might be quite nice. Can you adjust them?
Otherwise these, IMHO, look good and are almost retro: CLICK No idea if it'll work with your discs though.
After I'd got used to journey I swapped the cassette, no idea on the number of teeth but I went for a more road bike looking one as I was finding that most of them weren't getting used.
I was using a 1992 Kona Kilauea for my commute. Pretty much perfect; light weight, fast and chuckable. Stuck some semi slick tyres on and some lights and it went wel for a while. Changed the saddle, bottom bracket and then eventually the brakes and now its pretty much perfect. Best of all I can park it in the city centre and no one pays it any attention.
http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/Hybrid/Xenith-15.asp... are very fast but zero puncture resistance.
http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20trave... is what I now use on my mtb for commuting, still fast but much improved puncture resistance.
http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20trave... is what I now use on my mtb for commuting, still fast but much improved puncture resistance.
Thanks for all the comments and advice.
Those forks look nice, but I guess I'd need a new caliper half for the Hopes, and more tricky, the correct adapter.
donfisher said:
I was using a rigid mtb as my commuter until the end of last year. It's old and weighs a tonne but I like it.
When I first started using it I got some of these: CLICK
but after a year or so I moved onto these for no other reason than I liked the look of them more. CLICK
They're less useful if you need to suddenly hop onto the kerb or if you take a shortcut over grass and as I'm a bit fat they need to be at quite high pressures. I'm also not that sure if they've made the bike any quicker than the last set of tyres.
As far as the forks go, mine still has the cr4ppy heavy Dawes generic CRMO ones it came with. I've just managed to find a set of RC31s with enough steerer on them so I'm going to redo the front end completely in a couple of weeks, I want to keep using it every now and then for the commute. In your case I'd be tempted to see how you get on with the 35s, a little bit of front suspension might be quite nice. Can you adjust them?
Otherwise these, IMHO, look good and are almost retro: CLICK No idea if it'll work with your discs though.
After I'd got used to journey I swapped the cassette, no idea on the number of teeth but I went for a more road bike looking one as I was finding that most of them weren't getting used.
The RC35's were only adjustable by putting different elastomers within the stacks.When I first started using it I got some of these: CLICK
but after a year or so I moved onto these for no other reason than I liked the look of them more. CLICK
They're less useful if you need to suddenly hop onto the kerb or if you take a shortcut over grass and as I'm a bit fat they need to be at quite high pressures. I'm also not that sure if they've made the bike any quicker than the last set of tyres.
As far as the forks go, mine still has the cr4ppy heavy Dawes generic CRMO ones it came with. I've just managed to find a set of RC31s with enough steerer on them so I'm going to redo the front end completely in a couple of weeks, I want to keep using it every now and then for the commute. In your case I'd be tempted to see how you get on with the 35s, a little bit of front suspension might be quite nice. Can you adjust them?
Otherwise these, IMHO, look good and are almost retro: CLICK No idea if it'll work with your discs though.
After I'd got used to journey I swapped the cassette, no idea on the number of teeth but I went for a more road bike looking one as I was finding that most of them weren't getting used.
Those forks look nice, but I guess I'd need a new caliper half for the Hopes, and more tricky, the correct adapter.
Rolls said:
I'd be inclined to just add some road tyres first and see how you get on - something like gatorskins must be availible in 26 x 1 ?
They are... I've stuck some on my old GT mountain bike, and it makes a super-sweet commuter. 90% as fast as my proper road bike, and with some short-travel forks on, it actually makes for a smooth ride too.Buy online for a great price here: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/continental/ga...
jaedba2604 said:
dr_gn said:
an old '94 or '95 Kili Comp frame that I built up for the missus. It's got all the old skool kit on it, works well enough, but she never uses it (plus she can have my old Mount Vision now):
how tall is your missus?!martin mrt said:
I have some a Pace RC30s in the garage if they are of any use? I'd happily take the RC35s at a price too, ideal for my retro build
Thanks, but I was thinking something more along these lines for around £120:
They both seem to get good reviews, would just have to figure out what caliper adapter I needed.
These also seem widely available (branded under lots of names):
Apparently they aren't that stiff, and I'm not too surprised considering that the amount of design optimisation that's gone into them looks pretty much nil: just two off-cuts of carbon tube bonded into some bits of aluminium.
I guess with road tyres, new forks & a stem I'd be looking at about £200.
I too would just go for tyres for now and a new fork. TBH those ones you've listed look darned expensive to my eyes. I'd either be on the look out for some project 2s or stick some of these on it for that retro feel. The pace forks are probably 10 times better than the no-name carbon ones.
stem wise - again I'd trawl the bay for something retro-ish. 100 to 120mm should be right for that sort of frame. Maybe something like this if you want something retro-pimp?
stem wise - again I'd trawl the bay for something retro-ish. 100 to 120mm should be right for that sort of frame. Maybe something like this if you want something retro-pimp?
rockandrollmark said:
I too would just go for tyres for now and a new fork. TBH those ones you've listed look darned expensive to my eyes. I'd either be on the look out for some project 2s or stick some of these on it for that retro feel. The pace forks are probably 10 times better than the no-name carbon ones.
stem wise - again I'd trawl the bay for something retro-ish. 100 to 120mm should be right for that sort of frame. Maybe something like this if you want something retro-pimp?
Pretty sure the Pace carbon rigid forks get the same poor reviews as the generic ones - they are pretty much identical in construction after all. I had some Project 2's on my first mountain bike, they were OK.stem wise - again I'd trawl the bay for something retro-ish. 100 to 120mm should be right for that sort of frame. Maybe something like this if you want something retro-pimp?
martin mrt said:
No problem, if you are getting rid of the RC35s let me know, I had some exactly the same back in 1997.
How much do you think they are worth? I've got a load of spare elastomers, brake bosses, the cantilever brake cam device and the manual. With a new pair of decals they would look pretty much mint. They are in excellent condition too - bought new and always greased after each ride, stripped every year etc.Those brakes (front and rear) use a unique (and now rare) combination of Hope hub, disc, adapter and caliper.
Would be best to flog the brakes and wheels as a package on http://www.retrobike.co.uk where there's always people looking for this combo. There is a "whats it worth thread" where you can post.
If you don't have the original canti bosses for the fork they might be best going with the package as they won't be much use without.
Then get a cheap cro-mo rim brake fork and fit cheap v brakes to the bike for road use, quids well in.
Alternatively this would blow it out of the water on any paved road, you will go faster further and have more fun than a slicked up mountain bike. http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-red-road-bike-...
Would be best to flog the brakes and wheels as a package on http://www.retrobike.co.uk where there's always people looking for this combo. There is a "whats it worth thread" where you can post.
If you don't have the original canti bosses for the fork they might be best going with the package as they won't be much use without.
Then get a cheap cro-mo rim brake fork and fit cheap v brakes to the bike for road use, quids well in.
Alternatively this would blow it out of the water on any paved road, you will go faster further and have more fun than a slicked up mountain bike. http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-red-road-bike-...
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