I built something similar. It’s an old Nashbar hybrid frame with Tange tubes. I used a road triple crankset and FD with a 9-speed MTB cassette and RD. Bar end (road) shifters with indexed rear and friction shift up front prevented any compatibility issues. It’s fun and comfortable enough for all day riding.
That's almost a perfect do-all build. My Trek 520 touring bike is almost exactly like that. Bar-end shifters with 9 speed indexed on the rear and a triple with friction on the front. That bike takes me to work and back every day and all over town when needed. I can't imagine any front shifting being easier than friction bar-ends.
In 1997 I picked up a 1992 Trek 950 mountain bike frame for $30 and built it up with drop bars with bar end shifters, with the 26" x 1.75 wide tires, fenders, rear rack and it became my full time commuting bike. I also ride it on trails, dirt roads and it is also my main touring rig too. I still use it today. This hybrid conversion to gravel bike will do the same and bring many happy miles to its owner.
My first brand new bike was purple. I loved it. Someone stole it after I'd only had it for a month or two. It was a Target bike. I accused everyone I saw with that model in purple of stealing mine. I was 5 years old. Now I have a green bike and a blue bike. I think I need this purple one. 😁
I'm surprised you don't use the "criss-cross method method of running the shifter cables"[*], especially with side-exit brifters. It makes for much more gentler housing runs. [*] That is, the left front cable goes to the "rear" downtube cable stop & the right rear shifter cable goes to the "front" cable stop. Thus the housings goes across the head tube. Then on the way down to the bottom bracket cable guides, you criss-cross the bare inner cables so that they go into the expected places at the bottom bracket.
What's in a name? I have a hardtail bike that is also CALLED a "mountain bike", that I actually RIDE on the side of streets, sidewalks, and relatively slowly through easy off-road paths in my city, over small curbs, bumps, and usually dry dirt. (No real jumps or better front shock needed.) I'm trying different tire pressures in my knobby-like (but back tire is worn) tire. Most caution is for RAIN - I avoid at all costs and have an Emergency Poncho, RUTS that can take me down- like the edge of sidewalks or streets, CARS - I also avoid, especially in low-light conditions - so I have and use a mirror and USB rechargeable front and rear LED lights, and PEDESTRIANS and their DOGS, who may want/need the sidewalk or street side I may be on, and I may not see if we're moving quickly, so I try to make MYSELF visible and predictable, to all. Unlike most mountain bikes, I don't care about weight, and carry helpful items, often food, tools, and whatever, in a basket. I often bike to a grocery store and back home, saving gas and pollution, and getting exercise.
Converting a hybrid bike is also the approach I took in building my gravel bike. It's a 2004/05 Fuji Nevada sports hybrid/trekking bike. The key upgrades that took it into the gravel territory is changing the suspension fork to a steel one. The bike shed 1kg there. And of course, the bars. And voila. It even has a rather moden gravel geometry lol. At this point, the frame is what is left of the original bike. Love your videos and the unpretentious approach to everything bike related. Keep it up!
I have a 730 trek left it with 3x7 found some old bullmoose bars. Uncut . Changed up to trigger shifters.. koolstop brake pads. Feels more modern looks a bit retro.. love that bike
The "Ghost" shift; we often fit an 8 speed shifters on a 7 speed bicycles almost all the time. For one reason, is that when the wheel is worn out in the next services, we can quote a new rear wheel plus 8 speed cassette instead of a 7 speed one, and the customers get an 8 speed bicycles that cost next to nothing (an 8 speed shifter/cassette/wheel cost almost the same). It also future proofing the bike as 8 speed stuff have more choices of ratios.
You can use mini-V brakes with road leavers and that gets out of those *terrible* post-mount cantilevers. Proven mini-V's with road leavers include: Tekro RX5, Tekro BX3V/BX1V, Promax P-1, BOX Eclipse, Box Three, Shimano's BR-R573 (105) BR-R463 (Tiagra) BR-R353 (Sora).
Part 2 really pulled me in with all the solution finding opportunities. What's great is how you took them all in stride and just quickly pivoted to a new option. When you found the bur in the front wheel all I could think about was "Happy little bur is going to get a happy little rub from the emery cloth." I've toyed with the idea of converting my wife's flat bar hybrid to drop bar, but the re-cabling of the new breaks & shifters always put me off. I've watched you re-cable so may bikes at this point I feel like I could get it done with a few choice words along the way. Very similar feelings I had when I thought about building my first Personal Computer. Now I get excited about potentially building/upgrading every time new PC parts come out.
Nice! I have this same exact bike, a 1994 Trek 750, that I bought new when it was produced. About 7 years ago I converted it as well to a gravel bike. On mine, I swapped out the stem for a threadless adapter with a drop bar. I kept the original crankset and cassette and went with 7 speed Shimano Tourneys. The back derailleur worked great but I had the same problems getting the front one to work properly. After trying two different other front derailleurs I decided I couldn't keep buying them in hopes that one would finally work so I went back to the original and settled for just using two of the three front gears. This worked out okay because I mainly used the bike for bikepacking on gravel where I spent the majority of my time in the middle gear anyway and occasionally shifted down to the smaller one. It's been a great, reliable bike and a fun learning experience. Unfortunately a couple years ago I messed up the front brake bosses trying to convert the cantilever brakes to Tektro minis so now it's sitting in the garage while I try to figure out how to fix it.
Your videos are more than entertainment. They are educational.---I guess that road front derailers have a longer lever from the anchor point to the pivot point compared to MTB derailers. It's guess but I will check sometime. Also : twisting the cable housing can help a slightly frayed cable to go through.
I never get it when people say these are harder to deal with than V brakes; and such. I love them. I find getting them in alignment much easier, and they stay that way through most anything except pad wear.
V brakes set up quickly....it makes a difference when you are on the clock. All those variables if correctly implemented will give you excellent braking with cantilevers , but the extra time involved will be noticed in a build multiplied by the number of bikes.
The cable pull ratio is slightly different between road and mountain shifters. To get the correct travel you have to match the front derailleur with the type of shifter being used.
Shifters/Brifters with trim (4 clicks) it's sometimes possible to get three-by to work. My dad's bike has STX mixed with dropbar Microshift and was a hell to get it working but it works.
There's no good bike shops where I'm at so I just apply my mechanical aptitude and yrs of experience.. do all my own stuff.. hopefully soon I will aquire and then be able to get started on the enjoyment of once again owning a S 9six .40 which are even more rare than the already rare sweet spot variants . Which will suit me perfectly.. considering my really crazy and rowdy cycling days have past and I managed to survive.. lol.. no ramps jumping over cars on a all chrome predator with tuff mag 2's I ve only had real Schwinn bikes excluding a huffy which I use cause my last S9six Schwinn was stolen. Really like this guy's video's and would like to see a video with a S9six featured . Oh 700c 's on a rugged off road bike with gears is a Mt bike that chooses not to identify but acts like a scooter with skate board wheels on gravel. .. ( FYI )
To accurately position the brake levers, hold a ruler against the straight part of the bar at the bottom, and measure from the ruler to the tip of the brake lever.
I've ran into the exact same problem with shifting on the front chainrings on my drop bar converted Trek 820 mountain-track. Only able to use the small and medium chain rings, but super difficult to get to the large chainring. I've been wondering if I had to switch to a road style front deraileur or not. Thank you for the run through on that!
I like steel, I'm planning a drop bar conversion with a 2009 Jamis Coda. It's a Reynolds 520 butted frame. They're wildly undervalued on the used bike market ($80 - $120) easy) and the geometry is very similar to their current Jamis Renegade S4.
Thinking ahead, when I built a bike from the frame up for long distance cycling, I specifically chose to purchase an 8-speed freewheel on Amazon so that if I upgrade it my wheels, I could put an 8-speed cassette on it. If I found something with a free hub. Then I wouldn't have to change the brifters or have any ghost clicks.
I know you use furniture polish on bike frames, but can you use it on chromed steel bicycle wheels? I've got a vintage Peugeot road bike with slightly corroded wheels. I'm thinking of cleaning the wheels of any specks of corrosion, then spray furniture polish on a cloth and rub it in to provide a protective layer?
Doable, given time, adjustments and parts, if I was motivated by a specific need. But conversions may be impractical or difficult to prepare for / know in advance, resulting in "extra" / wrong parts, and also, because, problems are difficult for me to properly troubleshoot, using my limited parts to try without buying more. In other words, harder to justify part purchases, FOR ME, MY budget and MY limited USES. - I have to try to only buy parts and equipment that I will get some use / value from. When I die, someone will have to go through my extensive tool collection, and may erroneously think I had things I didn't use, or have a plan to use, more than once.
The cable pull ratio is different between Shimano road front derailleurs and Shimano MTB front derailleurs. I wish someone would explain the history on how this happened... If you're really careful you can use an LX front derailleur with road shifters for a double crankset, but I've never seen anyone manage to make it work for a triple.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
Believe it or not, this is the best video on the internet about setting up cantilever brakes.
I know, it was a masterclass. So happy he did that.
With the drop bars and long stem isn’t the reach a bit far? I suppose no big deal for fairly tall person. I really enjoy your videos
I built something similar. It’s an old Nashbar hybrid frame with Tange tubes. I used a road triple crankset and FD with a 9-speed MTB cassette and RD. Bar end (road) shifters with indexed rear and friction shift up front prevented any compatibility issues. It’s fun and comfortable enough for all day riding.
Very smart build!
That's almost a perfect do-all build. My Trek 520 touring bike is almost exactly like that. Bar-end shifters with 9 speed indexed on the rear and a triple with friction on the front. That bike takes me to work and back every day and all over town when needed. I can't imagine any front shifting being easier than friction bar-ends.
Nice! I've got an old Tange Prestige Nashbar touring frame and I'm deciding what to do first. I was thinking I might paint it.
I have a 93' Tange specialized crossroads, starting my conversion to road bike in a week or 2. Just concerned about inline barrel adjusters.
Cool conversion! I've still got my Scott Chenango from the mid 90's that I've been thinking of turning into a gravel bike.
In 1997 I picked up a 1992 Trek 950 mountain bike frame for $30 and built it up with drop bars with bar end shifters, with the 26" x 1.75 wide tires, fenders, rear rack and it became my full time commuting bike. I also ride it on trails, dirt roads and it is also my main touring rig too. I still use it today. This hybrid conversion to gravel bike will do the same and bring many happy miles to its owner.
My first brand new bike was purple. I loved it. Someone stole it after I'd only had it for a month or two. It was a Target bike. I accused everyone I saw with that model in purple of stealing mine. I was 5 years old. Now I have a green bike and a blue bike. I think I need this purple one. 😁
I'm surprised you don't use the "criss-cross method method of running the shifter cables"[*], especially with side-exit brifters. It makes for much more gentler housing runs. [*] That is, the left front cable goes to the "rear" downtube cable stop & the right rear shifter cable goes to the "front" cable stop. Thus the housings goes across the head tube. Then on the way down to the bottom bracket cable guides, you criss-cross the bare inner cables so that they go into the expected places at the bottom bracket.
I think this conversion turned out really nice. The frame color is super cool and the style of the stem and bars gives it a classic vibe.
Yeah great color scheme!
What's in a name? I have a hardtail bike that is also CALLED a "mountain bike", that I actually RIDE on the side of streets, sidewalks, and relatively slowly through easy off-road paths in my city, over small curbs, bumps, and usually dry dirt. (No real jumps or better front shock needed.) I'm trying different tire pressures in my knobby-like (but back tire is worn) tire. Most caution is for RAIN - I avoid at all costs and have an Emergency Poncho, RUTS that can take me down- like the edge of sidewalks or streets, CARS - I also avoid, especially in low-light conditions - so I have and use a mirror and USB rechargeable front and rear LED lights, and PEDESTRIANS and their DOGS, who may want/need the sidewalk or street side I may be on, and I may not see if we're moving quickly, so I try to make MYSELF visible and predictable, to all. Unlike most mountain bikes, I don't care about weight, and carry helpful items, often food, tools, and whatever, in a basket. I often bike to a grocery store and back home, saving gas and pollution, and getting exercise.
Hey bud. I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for making them feel genuine with real world workarounds
Converting a hybrid bike is also the approach I took in building my gravel bike. It's a 2004/05 Fuji Nevada sports hybrid/trekking bike. The key upgrades that took it into the gravel territory is changing the suspension fork to a steel one. The bike shed 1kg there. And of course, the bars.
And voila. It even has a rather moden gravel geometry lol.
At this point, the frame is what is left of the original bike.
Love your videos and the unpretentious approach to everything bike related. Keep it up!
I have a 730 trek left it with 3x7 found some old bullmoose bars. Uncut . Changed up to trigger shifters.. koolstop brake pads. Feels more modern looks a bit retro.. love that bike
The "Ghost" shift; we often fit an 8 speed shifters on a 7 speed bicycles almost all the time.
For one reason, is that when the wheel is worn out in the next services, we can quote a new rear wheel plus 8 speed cassette instead of a 7 speed one, and the customers get an 8 speed bicycles that cost next to nothing (an 8 speed shifter/cassette/wheel cost almost the same).
It also future proofing the bike as 8 speed stuff have more choices of ratios.
You can use mini-V brakes with road leavers and that gets out of those *terrible* post-mount cantilevers. Proven mini-V's with road leavers include: Tekro RX5, Tekro BX3V/BX1V, Promax P-1, BOX Eclipse, Box Three, Shimano's BR-R573 (105) BR-R463 (Tiagra) BR-R353 (Sora).
Part 2 really pulled me in with all the solution finding opportunities. What's great is how you took them all in stride and just quickly pivoted to a new option. When you found the bur in the front wheel all I could think about was "Happy little bur is going to get a happy little rub from the emery cloth."
I've toyed with the idea of converting my wife's flat bar hybrid to drop bar, but the re-cabling of the new breaks & shifters always put me off. I've watched you re-cable so may bikes at this point I feel like I could get it done with a few choice words along the way. Very similar feelings I had when I thought about building my first Personal Computer. Now I get excited about potentially building/upgrading every time new PC parts come out.
Nice! I have this same exact bike, a 1994 Trek 750, that I bought new when it was produced. About 7 years ago I converted it as well to a gravel bike. On mine, I swapped out the stem for a threadless adapter with a drop bar. I kept the original crankset and cassette and went with 7 speed Shimano Tourneys. The back derailleur worked great but I had the same problems getting the front one to work properly. After trying two different other front derailleurs I decided I couldn't keep buying them in hopes that one would finally work so I went back to the original and settled for just using two of the three front gears. This worked out okay because I mainly used the bike for bikepacking on gravel where I spent the majority of my time in the middle gear anyway and occasionally shifted down to the smaller one. It's been a great, reliable bike and a fun learning experience. Unfortunately a couple years ago I messed up the front brake bosses trying to convert the cantilever brakes to Tektro minis so now it's sitting in the garage while I try to figure out how to fix it.
Your videos are more than entertainment. They are educational.---I guess that road front derailers have a longer lever from the anchor point to the pivot point compared to MTB derailers. It's guess but I will check sometime. Also : twisting the cable housing can help a slightly frayed cable to go through.
I wish drop bars had lines at the bend so levers could quickly be positioned perfectly.
I never get it when people say these are harder to deal with than V brakes; and such. I love them. I find getting them in alignment much easier, and they stay that way through most anything except pad wear.
V brakes set up quickly....it makes a difference when you are on the clock. All those variables if correctly implemented will give you excellent braking with cantilevers , but the extra time involved will be noticed in a build multiplied by the number of bikes.
I put inline barrel adjusters on my Vbrakes instead of the travel pully helper. SO on that bike, I have them on all 4 cables. :)
I always convert those type of brakes to V brakes, so much easier to adjust and deal with plus they work better too.
The cable pull ratio is slightly different between road and mountain shifters. To get the correct travel you have to match the front derailleur with the type of shifter being used.
Shifters/Brifters with trim (4 clicks) it's sometimes possible to get three-by to work. My dad's bike has STX mixed with dropbar Microshift and was a hell to get it working but it works.
This was awesome. Thanks! By all means please share more projects like these. This is really cool
Very enjoyable to watch you covert this bike over to a gravel bike! The end product looked great!
There's no good bike shops where I'm at so I just apply my mechanical aptitude and yrs of experience.. do all my own stuff.. hopefully soon I will aquire and then be able to get started on the enjoyment of once again owning a S 9six .40 which are even more rare than the already rare sweet spot variants . Which will suit me perfectly.. considering my really crazy and rowdy cycling days have past and I managed to survive.. lol.. no ramps jumping over cars on a all chrome predator with tuff mag 2's I ve only had real Schwinn bikes excluding a huffy which I use cause my last S9six Schwinn was stolen. Really like this guy's video's and would like to see a video with a S9six featured . Oh 700c 's on a rugged off road bike with gears is a Mt bike that chooses not to identify but acts like a scooter with skate board wheels on gravel. .. ( FYI )
To accurately position the brake levers, hold a ruler against the straight part of the bar at the bottom, and measure from the ruler to the tip of the brake lever.
I've ran into the exact same problem with shifting on the front chainrings on my drop bar converted Trek 820 mountain-track. Only able to use the small and medium chain rings, but super difficult to get to the large chainring. I've been wondering if I had to switch to a road style front deraileur or not. Thank you for the run through on that!
Loving the videos - real bike spannering 👍
Me at 26:43...pauses vid, orders KNIPEX pliers. Really like this gravel build, cheers.
I always forget about them. Some folks use them as a go-to. Very nice tool!
Love conversion builds.
I have done a very similar build. Did it makes sense? Not so much; but I learned a lot.
I like steel, I'm planning a drop bar conversion with a 2009 Jamis Coda. It's a Reynolds 520 butted frame. They're wildly undervalued on the used bike market ($80 - $120) easy) and the geometry is very similar to their current Jamis Renegade S4.
I have a Jamis bossanova that I got for 300, steel frame with carbon fork. Perfect commuter bike. People just hate Jamis
I like those Michelin Protek tires for my road bike- seem reasonably priced too
I did the exact same conversion with my hybrid, except it's a modern disc brake frame
Nice conversion.
Keep up the good work. I really enjoy your videos
I really like what you did to the bike.. looks solid & sharp.
What would or what did you sell that for?
The the leaver arm that the cable anchors to is shorter on the road bike front derailleur.
Awesome Bike. Great job.
I just picked up a 19" Prestige Breezer. I am in between turning this into a Gravel Monster
Thinking ahead, when I built a bike from the frame up for long distance cycling, I specifically chose to purchase an 8-speed freewheel on Amazon so that if I upgrade it my wheels, I could put an 8-speed cassette on it. If I found something with a free hub. Then I wouldn't have to change the brifters or have any ghost clicks.
Great looking bike
I know you use furniture polish on bike frames, but can you use it on chromed steel bicycle wheels? I've got a vintage Peugeot road bike with slightly corroded wheels. I'm thinking of cleaning the wheels of any specks of corrosion, then spray furniture polish on a cloth and rub it in to provide a protective layer?
I'm still learning on these types of bikes how to fix upgrades?
Doable, given time, adjustments and parts, if I was motivated by a specific need. But conversions may be impractical or difficult to prepare for / know in advance, resulting in "extra" / wrong parts, and also, because, problems are difficult for me to properly troubleshoot, using my limited parts to try without buying more. In other words, harder to justify part purchases, FOR ME, MY budget and MY limited USES. - I have to try to only buy parts and equipment that I will get some use / value from. When I die, someone will have to go through my extensive tool collection, and may erroneously think I had things I didn't use, or have a plan to use, more than once.
Great work!
Love your videos, Thanks!
The cable pull ratio is different between Shimano road front derailleurs and Shimano MTB front derailleurs. I wish someone would explain the history on how this happened... If you're really careful you can use an LX front derailleur with road shifters for a double crankset, but I've never seen anyone manage to make it work for a triple.
It would be cool if you finished your videos with a 360 close up shot of each bike build, thanks
Decent build. Nice to watch a pro at work.
Pro? Guilty as charged! Thanks for watching!
Unlike on a cat, cutting off tire "whiskers" is OK? lol What are they "for"?
what brand is that super fancy cable/housing cutter?
Hozan
This stem will be too loooooooooong.
What are flat bar gravel bikes then, just fully rigid old MTBs?
The bike to the wheels: "Welcome back, buddies."😢😢😢
SUbscribed very easy paced video.
Did you wind up selling it, or is it for sale?
Sometimes this phrase will help you out - " I cut it off TWICE and it's STILL too short"
I have a 1x9 drive train but I don't now with chainring I jus in the front a 32 or a 40 thoot?
Awesome
Vent spews
Why do u use presta valves and not shrader valves are better i think so anyway
Industry standard. Outside of box store bikes you don't see Schrader stems
I'm confused 😮
Flat bar bikes are for people who don't ride bikes.