Discussion
Sway said:
Louis Balfour said:
How do you do a gravel bike conversion?
Pretty much a case of swapping stem for a short one, fit drop bars and brifters, done.Lots of gravel bikes run 650b which is another way of saying 26".
By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a s
tty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a s
t 90’s MTB, chuck it in the skip where it belongs.Zigster said:
650b is 27.5” not 26”.
By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a stty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.
If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a st 90’s MTB with horizontal dropouts, singlespeed convert it.
FTFYBy the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a s
tty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a s
t 90’s MTB with horizontal dropouts, singlespeed convert it.
Zigster said:
Sway said:
Louis Balfour said:
How do you do a gravel bike conversion?
Pretty much a case of swapping stem for a short one, fit drop bars and brifters, done.Lots of gravel bikes run 650b which is another way of saying 26".
By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a s
tty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a s
t 90’s MTB, chuck it in the skip where it belongs.Zigster said:
Sway said:
Louis Balfour said:
How do you do a gravel bike conversion?
Pretty much a case of swapping stem for a short one, fit drop bars and brifters, done.Lots of gravel bikes run 650b which is another way of saying 26".
By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a s
tty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a s
t 90’s MTB, chuck it in the skip where it belongs.However, who's talking new groupset, etc.?
You could pick up a stem and set of bars for £2-30.
If you really wanted, another £20 would cover bar end friction shifters.
There you go, 'converted'.
I can't imagine it is very pleasant to ride up a long climb.
red997 said:
How does the new one ride in comparison to the retro one?
Totally different. I can do a long ride and not come home with a shattered spine for one 
The old one I love, it's hard work though, incredibly stiff. However, it climbs like a scolded cat!
The new one is faster, more comfortable, easier to throw around but the old one I still feel is more special.
Something arrived in the post this week 
:
Strange couple of weeks - an absolute impulse buy of a Scott FX-DH frame (below) saw me on the lookout for a set of Boxxer WC’s for it.
A few says later what should pop up but a set of Boxxer 151s, bolted to the front of one of my ‘laminated list’ bikes that I’ve been on the lookout for - a Mountain Cycle San Andreas.
A deal was done and it was shipped to HK from Cali. The previous owner had it for 8 years and it has definitely seen some use. The plan is to rebuild it, try it out (I’ve never actually seen a San An in the metal, never mind ridden one) then strip it down and refinish it.
The forks and cranks will be going with me next time I travel to the UK so they can be fitted to the Scott.
For the frame, I’m thinking strip off the tatty powder coating, polish the monocoque and swing arm, black seat mast and new stickers. In the mean time I’ll need to decide what front end I want. There is a small ding from where the fork crown has hit it but it’s not as bad as I had been expecting.
I was considering a ‘military green’ monocoque and black swingarm / seat mast as a bit of a restomod but I keep seeing the original publicity pictures I remember as a 15 year old and I think it has to be built like that.
To my eye the SA suits a flat bar and single crown much better than triple clamps and risers. The MRP looks a bit big as well, so maybe that’ll get cleaned up and saved for something else down the line.
Frankly I’m not even sure this one is even big enough for me to ride so who knows
Here’s the FX-DH;
:Strange couple of weeks - an absolute impulse buy of a Scott FX-DH frame (below) saw me on the lookout for a set of Boxxer WC’s for it.
A few says later what should pop up but a set of Boxxer 151s, bolted to the front of one of my ‘laminated list’ bikes that I’ve been on the lookout for - a Mountain Cycle San Andreas.
A deal was done and it was shipped to HK from Cali. The previous owner had it for 8 years and it has definitely seen some use. The plan is to rebuild it, try it out (I’ve never actually seen a San An in the metal, never mind ridden one) then strip it down and refinish it.
The forks and cranks will be going with me next time I travel to the UK so they can be fitted to the Scott.
For the frame, I’m thinking strip off the tatty powder coating, polish the monocoque and swing arm, black seat mast and new stickers. In the mean time I’ll need to decide what front end I want. There is a small ding from where the fork crown has hit it but it’s not as bad as I had been expecting.
I was considering a ‘military green’ monocoque and black swingarm / seat mast as a bit of a restomod but I keep seeing the original publicity pictures I remember as a 15 year old and I think it has to be built like that.
To my eye the SA suits a flat bar and single crown much better than triple clamps and risers. The MRP looks a bit big as well, so maybe that’ll get cleaned up and saved for something else down the line.
Frankly I’m not even sure this one is even big enough for me to ride so who knows
Here’s the FX-DH;
Edited by keith2.2 on Wednesday 31st March 05:06
mattwh said:
1989 Kona Explosif 19" - originally bought for £600 from Cookson Cycles in Whitefield.
Has been painted / stripped / resprayed / stripped and resprayed over the years and now converted to a SS. Built from bare frame up with stuff I had 'saved' over the years....
P2 forks, USE seatpost and original stem - chose not to put the Girvin Flexistem on though !
New decals with a slight modification ....
nosuchuser said:
mattwh said:
1989 Kona Explosif 19" - originally bought for £600 from Cookson Cycles in Whitefield.
Has been painted / stripped / resprayed / stripped and resprayed over the years and now converted to a SS. Built from bare frame up with stuff I had 'saved' over the years....
P2 forks, USE seatpost and original stem - chose not to put the Girvin Flexistem on though !
New decals with a slight modification ....
I have a 1994 and 1999 explosif's in bits. Really should sort them out.
Zigster said:
650b is 27.5” not 26”.
By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a stty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.
If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a st 90’s MTB, chuck it in the skip where it belongs.
Kind of. By the time you’ve put a new groupset, bars, stem on a s
tty old 90s MTB you would have spent close to the price of a budget gravel bike. And you’d still have crap brakes.If it’s a decent 90’s MTB, leave it as it is. If it’s a s
t 90’s MTB, chuck it in the skip where it belongs.You can get a drop-bar handlebar with MTB bar diameter, that makes things easier as you can reuse the shifters (and the group set). About £20.
Another few quid for a shorter stem.
Tektro V-brake drop bar levers are about another £20.
So for about £60 you could have a very usable ‘gravel bike’ conversion.
sawman said:
MC Bodge said:
To be fair, i probably looked better in the 90’s too!Pilotguy said:
Surely the modern one is a pretty much dedicated Downhill MTB, rather than a more “standard” XC style? DH bikes = awful for climbing with.
Both my full suss and hard tail are modern slack bikes. You sit in them, once you’ve ridden one you won’t go back. They climb very well. The stability is unreal.I use them mainly for xc.
My one owner 2003 Marin Riftsone on the other hand feels like you are perched up high, really sketchy!
gtidriver said:
Ive got a black 1991 Kona cinder cone 14" frame with a girvinflex stem hanging in my garage, its been there for 8yrs, id say 7/10 on condition. ill drag to down and take some photos, it needs to be gone but I can't be bothered to sell it, it'll probably end up In landfill..
Someone on here needs to save that!gtidriver said:
Ive got a black 1991 Kona cinder cone 14" frame with a girvinflex stem hanging in my garage, its been there for 8yrs, id say 7/10 on condition. ill drag to down and take some photos, it needs to be gone but I can't be bothered to sell it, it'll probably end up In landfill..
Shame you're not closer to me else id have had it.A small early Kona is pretty sought after and you should get at least a couple of hundred of in good nick.
Try advertising it on retrobike.
Simes205 said:
Both my full suss and hard tail are modern slack bikes. You sit in them, once you’ve ridden one you won’t go back. They climb very well. The stability is unreal.
It will be interesting to try one. I understand what you mean about sitting in, rather than on. I have a 2015 Boardman Pro 29er like that (albeit without the slack head angle), which is an XC machine with only a 100mm Reba (it works well after cleaning the factory waxy grease, some volume tuning and bushing changes) fork that rides and handles rough terrain surprisingly well and much better than an XC hardtail from 10-15 years earlier would.Having said that, I had a 2003 Kona Stuff on Bombers and 26er 2.5" tyres that was extremely nimble, chuckable, fun to ride and climbed well -I even rode it at on a trip Les Gets, Morzine & Les Houches a few years back. I do still have an old Kona Dawg, which does feel ancient now, although still fun to ride downhill. It wants to flip over on climbs.
V1nce Fox said:
gtidriver said:
Ive got a black 1991 Kona cinder cone 14" frame with a girvinflex stem hanging in my garage, its been there for 8yrs, id say 7/10 on condition. ill drag to down and take some photos, it needs to be gone but I can't be bothered to sell it, it'll probably end up In landfill..
Someone on here needs to save that!Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff