Turning an old MTB into a tourer

[perpetual dan]

I have more than one bike. Buying another bike really isn’t on at the moment, in terms of shed space and cash flow. But one of my bikes is rarely used ... can I turn it into something else for not much money? Though for “not much” from any given pay packet I’m willing to do nicer solutions bit by bit rather than fudge it all at once on the cheap. Learning something also feels like a good and plausible outcome.

This may be the first of several questions, thanks in advance for any advice. It may also function as a way to get ideas straight and document things

I’ve got an “Audax” bike (Ridgeback horizon). It’s good for a day ride, commute or an overnight, but with 25mm largest tyres and no front panniers laden riding on rougher lanes lacks confidence and space.

I’ve got a “mountain” bike (On-One Inbred). It’s good for the South Downs, and can take panniers. But for mostly-road rides flat bars just aren’t as comfortable, even with bar ends or Mary bars. For actual mountain biking it is OK, so I don’t want to completely change the setup. Also, rear wheel refitting is fiddly and there’s a few other things that aren’t quite spot on.

So, for touring I’d quite like something in between: bigger tyres and sturdy enough for Sustrans paths, green lanes etc. - but not rough enough to need knobbly tyres or suspension. Drop bars for all day comfort. Able to take pannier racks and mudguards front and back. A riding position more or less like my Horizon, which is really comfy, or maybe slightly less saddle to bar drop.

The bike: an old Trek 3700, so suspension fork, 26” wheels (already replaced with nicer), mudguard and rear carrier mounts, V brakes, Shimano triple and 7 speed. It was the bike that got me back into cycling, and has had child seats, winter tyred hack, commuter, turbo bike. Happily the saddle clamp to headset distance and drop are about the same as my Horizon, so I’m thinking warnings of silly stem lengths for this type of conversion don’t seem to apply.

Step one for meeting my needs would be the handlebars, though I’ve a funny feeling this is the focus for mountain and road incompatibilities. I think I need to check the following. Have I missed anything, are any non-existent?
 - stem diameters match at both ends.
 - drop bar brake levers but for V brakes (tektro, dia compe, and cane creek do these I think).
 - drop bars, not deep drop, clamp area diameter to match stem, hand diameter to match road bar levers.
 - bar end levers for a Shimano triple should work on mtb parts, I think? Can I fudge using >7 speed parts somehow and upgrade gears later?
 - cables and other bits should be standard, as far as I know.

Rigid forks, different gears, replacing rusty bits, a brooks saddle etc etc can all happen independently, without breaking the handlebar setup, I think.

Any advice gratefully received!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Answers to your questions basically boil down to 'yes'. Crack on!

[perpetual dan]

Thanks! My ability to forget some vital detail leads me to caution

[Cudzoziemiec]

For a few years I used a Merida mountain bike, very similar to your Trek but 8-speed rather than 7, with wide road tyres (Vittoria Randonneur I think they were; they weren't very good actually) but otherwise in its mountainy form, for touring and shopping and similar. Racks front and back. Flat bars and bar ends. Suspension fork usually locked out. The advantages were that it was cheap and I already had it, the disadvantages that it wasn't particularly comfortable (I didn't get on with the bar ends, which is going to be a personal thing) and it was inefficient with the suspension fork unlocked. Also the chainstays were a bit shorter than ideal with panniers.

If you want to put drop bars on your mtb, have you thought about a flared drop? Like a Salsa Woodchipper or Nitto Noodle or whatever. I reckon they work very well on road and off, definitely better off-road than a standard drop.

[mcshroom]

I've just done similar with an old hybrid.

I used bar end shifters as the frame required a top swing front mech and I couldn't bolt on downtube shifters. I use 8sp indexed ones, but in friction mode they would work fine for 7sp. The front is friction anyway so will work with any front mech. I had to use mine with an MTB mech as the frame only accepts a top swing. The nice thing about them is that they don't foul on a bar bag, unlike when you push STI levers inwards for a gear change. I've found I quite like them. I wouldn't want them on a fast bike, but being able to trim the front is really nice.

If you are using standard sized bars, the MTB ones should be 25.4mm and road ones 26mm or 25.4mm usually. Both MTB and road oversized bars use 31.8mm

Good luck, and lets see the pictures

[Brucey]

provided you don't want to use road STIs it can all be disarmingly simple.

-shorter/more upright stem and dropped bars to match
- tektro or cane creek brake levers for V brakes
- bar end shifters (or kellys takeoffs etc) and use friction mode on RD for now if you plan to change the rear shifting later
- fit rigid fork (suspension corrected) with low-rider eyes if you want that option
- tyres and wheels may need some revision

Other options;

If you step sideways and fit cantilever brakes, you have some road STI options if you want them. It is also possible to use some more recent STIs (with New Super SLR cable pull) with mini-Vs.

If you want something different and very flexible, you can devise gear lever mounts that sit under the stem. For example several times I have made a simple bracket that clamps to the stem nosebolt that either a) has cable stops/bosses built into it for direct lever attachment or b) has a short length of downtube-sized tubing built into it. The latter allows any set of band-on DT levers (that have cable stops built in) to be used, eg old sun tour 'powershift' levers.  Those levers will shift anything.

it is also possible to use MTB style 'pods' mounted under the tops, on an accessory bracket of some kind with a 7/8" diameter.

One thing that can catch you out is the chainstay length. Really old MTBs have long chainstays and these will accept large rear panniers with plenty of heel clearance. Then chainstays got shorter and mounting rear panniers became more problematic. On some converted bikes if you don't have a front load on, the front end of the bike lifts as soon as you dismount, because large rear panniers are so far back they are behind the rear axle....

cheers

cheers

[perpetual dan]

If you want to put drop bars on your mtb, have you thought about a flared drop? Like a Salsa Woodchipper or Nitto Noodle or whatever. I reckon they work very well on road and off, definitely better off-road than a standard drop.

On the Inbred I have hydraulic disc brakes and SLX 10speed, which seem unreasonably hard / expensive to swap to drop bars. But I think those bars were amongst the set I’m looking at, thanks.

[mcshroom]

You can use older STIs with mini vs as well. I have Tektro RX-5s on the front of my Dawes, working off of a 2300 shifter. Yes the pads need to be pretty close to the rim, and you need to deflate the tyre to remove the wheel, but the stopping power is better than the Oryx canti it replaced, and the mini v brake cured my fork judder issue.

I've found that the Tektro RL-520 levers are easier to fit cables to, and work better than the old Dia Compe 287vs I had, though that may just be because the DCs were getting on a bit.

[perpetual dan]

provided you don't want to use road STIs it can all be disarmingly simple.

...

Thanks!
I’m not fussed about STIs - as mcshoom says they can get a bit tight around a bar bag. Given that, and wanting biggish tyres, I’ve not spotted any particular advantages to mini-V or cantis.

[mcshroom]

If you don't want STIs then v-brakes and the proper levers are probably the best rim brake option IMHO

[Kim]

If you don't want STIs then v-brakes and the proper levers are probably the best rim brake option IMHO

Honourable mention to Magura hydraulic rim brakes, which perform like V-brakes but with better modulation, no cables to gum up and much less faffing about to adjust the pads.  Although personally I'd stick with cables on a tourer because of the roadside fettleability, that might not always be the best decision.

[The Family Cyclist]

I did exactly that with an inbred. Not just you who struggles with rear wheel but think some quality control issues make have occurred. If you do stick drops on be aware it may feel stretched.

I went for bar end shifters, v brakes and tektro drop levers with the right amount of pull

[Paul]

If you don't want STIs then v-brakes and the proper levers are probably the best rim brake option IMHO

Honourable mention to Magura hydraulic rim brakes, which perform like V-brakes but with better modulation, no cables to gum up and much less faffing about to adjust the pads.  Although personally I'd stick with cables on a tourer because of the roadside fettleability, that might not always be the best decision.

They are the business, but tricky with drops unless you find the rare levers.

[Brucey]

Tektro RL-520  £16.99

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brake-levers-v-brake/?page=2

cheers

[jsabine]

Not ideal for Maguras, thobut - I guess Paul was thinking of HS66s.

[Paul H]

Tektro RL-520  £16.99

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brake-levers-v-brake/?page=2

cheers

Or a fiver cheaper from Planet X
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BLTEKRL520/tektro-rl520-drop-bar-brake-levers

Or I have an unused set for sale that I changed my mind about using £10 in postage (also have some bars and stems and brakes and thumbie shifters which will be for sale when I get round to sorting them out)

[Brucey]

to fit magura flat bar lever to drop bars;

https://www.shapeways.com/product/WHZMFF8ER/magura-brake-lever-adapter-for-road-bike-drop-bar

cheers

[perpetual dan]

Or I have an unused set for sale that I changed my mind about using £10 in postage

YHPM

I’ve also ordered a Selcof Sterrato bar and stem, which has a short reach, not too deep drop and slight flare out - and so I hope gives roughly the right placement of my hands for the bike and use given some measuring this morning. Also not too spendy if I’ve misjudged the combined effect of all the angles in my straight line measurements.

[perpetual dan]

I found myself with enough time to make a start on this today. I gave it all a good clean and an oil. The handlebars are swapped, brake levers (thanks Paul) and bar end shifters on, new cables all round, new koolstop brake shoes instead of the old Shimano ones. I even put on a bell and bar-bag brackets. So that's the good news.
The bad news: I'd bought bar tape with squelchy under padding, as that's something I like. Except that half the squelchiness was missing from the pack. It was a bike shop purchase, so back there tomorrow lunchtime. And then, one of the v-brake spring wires snapped as I was changing the brake shoes. That lost me enough confidence in the brakes to not take it for a test ride.

[Brucey]

re broken V-brake springs;

you can normally make a new spring from piano wire.

However the springs are (in cheap brakes especially) not always made in proper spring steel, so you don't need to be as fussy about what you make a replacement from, either. Some modern 14g spokes (in cheap wheels) are made in steel that is of the 'hard-ish, tending towards brittle' variety. It is possible to make workable V-brake spring replacements from these spokes.

You have to salvage such material from old wheels though; spokes you can buy are almost invariably made from better material (for spokes) than this, and are not suitable for making springs.

cheers

[perpetual dan]

I've made some progress, and also sorted photos out (took about the same time). It rides OK - feels about right on hoods and drops. The brakes need a tweak, but are OK while the cables are stretching. I'll give it some riding and see how it goes.
Before:

and after:

more pictures on my blog https://betweenbeyond.wordpress.com/2018/11/05/my-old-mtb-rides-again/