Flat bar gravel bike gets TRANSFORMED into a drop bar hybrid! TREK Gravel Bike Conversion - Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ส.ค. 2023
- Gravel bikes are nothing more than drop bar hybrids and hybrids are nothing more than flat bar gravel bikes. Fight me. I'll prove it. Just watch me!
Seriously though, it's really hard to beat a modern gravel bike to hit that sweet spot of performance, comfort, practicality, durability and versatility. But, with a little bit of creativity and bike mechanic skills, you can get pretty close for next to nothing with an old hybrid or mountain bike and some parts off an obsolete road bike. Watch me as I strip down a 2000's era Trek road bike and fumble my way through an "easy" gravel bike conversion of a very cool, handmade in the USA, TIG welded True Temper OX Trek 750 hybrid. The end product was pretty fun and sold within a week! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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I honestly believe you're one of the most down to earth bike mechanics I've ever come across. Really appreciate the content you're sharing! Great inspiration.
I appreciate that!
"Gravel bikes are drop bar hybrids... fight me." LOL true story!
I personally would have said "Bite Me" to the YUPPIE Gravel bike morons.
My "gravel bike" is a 10-year old Surly touring bike. Canti brakes, bar end shifters, low gears, 3 water bottles.
what about the new rend for flat bar road bikes
For a home bike mechanic who just cleans and tunes parts, I'd enjoy seeing the parts your working on listed somewhere on the screen. It would help me
get familiar with all the parts your dealing with during your tear-downs and builds.
+1
That "7-speed" STX rear derailleur definitely would have worked with the road 8-speed shifters. The cable pull ratio is identical between those two. And the inter-cog spacing the same, so accuracy of movement is the same. The Tiagra will have a 28 tooth rear cog limit, the STX has a 34T limit. Using the STX RD would have allowed the customer to put a wider range cassette on if they found the low gear wasn't low enough.
In 2007 I purchased my first mountain bike with my own money. It was a Trek FX 7.3 Disk. I put drop bars, Shimano 105 10 speed with an XTR front and rear mechs. 2X XT cranks,. Thompson stem and seat post, Hadley hubs on DT rims. Then I put on some European CX tires and used it to rip on dirt roads. Everyone said it was a silly pointless bike. I loved it and rode the heck out of it, even did some long road touring on it towing a bob trailer. I still have the bike, and I’m about to put a 1x12 set up on it 😂.
Just came into a 90's Trek 750 Multitrack and am figuring out what to do with it. I saw the Trek in the thumbnail and had to watch! Much appreciate the content!
just found a '93 Trek 700 Multitrack at a local co-op and made some simple changes to make it a touring bike. can't wait to get it on the bike path this summer
"twenty bucks is my time." Buddy, you just revolutionized my entire approach. Expertise and tools have a cost and I have been undervaluing mine for a long long time. Don't charge by the hour, charge by the question.
I try to charge by the service as much as I can. Sometimes it takes 2 minutes, sometimes it take 20 minutes. It all averages out.
Totally spot on drop bar hybrid!!!
The original 750 wheels really would have been better as they are wider and that makes for a better gravel bike result. I believe that 750 is 135mm spacing and the road bike 130mm. So you'll have some mis-match there to deal with. You could have just left one of the 8-speed shifter clicks ignored (i.e., turn it into a 7-speed since the inter-cog spacing is practically the same between 7 & 8). Or, used Sheldon Brown's "7 of 8" cogs from the 8-speed cassette if you are concerned about the inter-cog spacing.
Or, you could have looked in your parts bin for an 8/9/10-speed body and switched that out on the 750 wheel.
Endurance road bikes equals gravel bikes... aka it's whatever you want it to be...
I have one of these small frame treks, installed a flat bar with sora short pull brake levers. 28mm tires and it’s a great loaner bike for someone small!
So I'm mainly a viewer of Personal Computer (PC) building content. Like the bike industry there is constantly new products to buy on a near yearly basis to keep your rig up to date. I've had this feeling that your video style reminded me of someone I watch regularly. I've really started going down the rabbit hole with your channel and after seeing your use of the sonic cleaner in this video I've figured it out.
Tech Yes City is a Tech Tuber that likes to go out and find used PC parts, cleans them up and builds them back into complete systems. I think his monthly used parts hunts and his Tech Yes Loving (cleaning used parts) have lots of similarity to your style of repair, building, and maintenance. It might be fun to watch you go out and find used bikes to refurbish/convert. For now I'm happy to go through your catalog of videos and enjoy the great stuff you've already put out there.
I am curious if you have any suggestions for storage of bikes/parts for other would-be Bike Farmers. I struggle to just manage a small family's worth of bikes and am curious if there is a way to sneak in an extra bike or 2 through storage/organization techniques that you may have found along the way.
I converted my 2021 Verve and I love it. Kept the 3x8 and since I didn’t have a donor bike for parts I used MicroShift R8 shifters and Tektro mechanical calipers. I do miss the hydraulic brakes so I’ll probably instal some Juin Tech R1s.
Looks like a dream touring bike.
My thoughts on the old frame. I wonder why folks do not gobble these frames and even bikes for using on a smart trainer like Zwift. I would never put my "good" bike on a fixed trainer. Cheers.
On some road bikes, a 650B conversion can sometimes bring new life into those bikes. I did it to my old Trek 420 and boy that really brought it back from the dead. I ride it on the roads and on dirt trails. I built up the wheels, front wheel with a dyno hub and use the Gravel King 650B x 38. Ultra smooth ride and I have ridden many miles of dirt trails and roads with no fear.
What 650B rim-brake rims did you use?
@@lastfm4477 Tektro R559 long reach brakes. At first I was worried about its stopping power but they have been great! I have ridden many Rando brevets, up to 600k on them. I had no issues on the Catskills NY, and climbs/descents in PA, MA and in CT.
@@767bob Sorry, I was asking what rims you built your wheels with. All the 650B rims I find are disc-only.
@@lastfm4477 Grand Bois. They are hard to find now. I built my wheelset in December 2016.
"Hybrids are flat bar gravel bikes"...couldn't agree with you more!
Gravel bikes are drop bar hybrids
Hybrids are flat bar randonneurs!
Ministry t-shirt, sweet! 🔥
"fight me"....with the Wisconsin accent cracks me up....
100% True. I wanted a gravel bike so I bought an 8 year old Diamondback Insight Hybrid off of FB Marketplace that was in exceptional shape. Put some 40c cyclocross tires on it, dropbar and took a 7 speed junk road bike i had with 3x on it. Swapped over shifters and basically good to go.
Has a more relaxed geometry, very comfortable and an excellent do everything bik.
MINISTRY!!!!
We bought a 2007 Trek 1000 in that size in july in that that color, Mystic Blue $250, it's a beautiful color. My wife hates the Sora shifters. So we bought a 2001 2300 with ultegra $220. Since it is a 650b 23mm tires, all the good stuff will go onto the 1000. Then see what the Trek 2300 will sell for, or gift it to the g-daughter lol
You know what sucks? Refurbishing my old mountain bike I had since the mid nineties, making it look good and function good as new, then discovering a cracked head tube! Now everything I did and the money I spent on it is down the drain!
BTW, the bike was 7005 aluminum.
Wow, would have loved to had the opportunity to buy a 300 road bike for my fam. They're small and needed a new ride recently. Was priced great but I understand about the sizing issue. Was actually thinking about doing the same drop bar conversion to a Trek Flat Bar Hybrid.
"Jesus built my gravel bike..." 😂
The gravel is a terrible thing to taste.😝
With the use of a torch and a new fork ...my Raleigh C50 hybrid became a cyclocross bike with a sloping top tube....
I've got a Hard Rocx hybrid, with 3x8 shifters and hydraulic brakes. I'd like to do this to my own, but I'm having a hard time finding 3x8 shifters for hydraulic brakes for drop bars. Is this just too odd a combo, or could it be doable? I've got a high end CNC machine available, and mechanical experience, so if there is some way to modify something to fit, I'm in a good position
That's such a shame seeing that small frame bike being torn apart and parted out! It's hard for me to find small frame bikes! That is unless I buy new.
That’s a pretty broad statement, although I’m not sure it’s entirely inaccurate. Nonetheless, despite the generality of your premise, I should note that modern hybrids do convert well to gravel. They take wide tires, the geometry is not dissimilar, and you can beat them up.
A few years ago, I repurposed a Trek 7.4 into a drop bar gravel bike. It’s now 1x9 with MicroSHIFT Advent. It works fine. My son will soon be riding it on the Katy Trail in Missouri.
The Katy Trail is a beautiful ride
another fine video
Calling it as it is!
Flat bar gravel bike is how my Ribble hybrid rolls
Hi i may be interested in the road bike frame
Does frame geo tend to be similar from hybrids to gravel bikes? The former is designed around flat bars, and the latter around drop bars (usually), which makes me wonder whether stem length or other components may need to be changed when converting from flat to drop bar or vice-versa.
Yes, definitely. Frame geometry is very different from 1992 to 2022. Lots of theory to discuss regarding that topic. Lots of tweaking, measuring, riding, changing, etc. to dial in a bike fit for a given purpose. It's not universal, which can be difficult for the average consumer to understand. More experienced riders will appreciate the nuance more than most.
Hybrids have longer top tubes (as does any bike designed around flat bars) and sometimes shorter stack (i.e., bar height). This is so that the flat bars are as far out from the saddle as the drop-bar brake hoods are. I really expected that overly long stem to be swapped out for a shorter one from the parts bin. Now the reach to the brake hoods is rather extreme.
definitely a nice frame
Dumb question, what's with all the different names on these bikes?
There bike's skinny tires or fat tires ,cruiser or mountain bike.
Hybrid?
Okay just curious, you consistently wait till after you remove pedals etc to remove the chain as opposed to just popping it off before. Just curious why, figure you've got a reason.
No reason
These hybrid conversions are great but they need a new steep and short quill or threadless conversion. The reach is way too long just sticking drops in the MTB stem, plus choices on bars going 25.4 to 26 are just meh. Get a short cheap 17° threadless stem plus a Profile Design converter then some flare bars and good to go!
He likely didn't have any flared bars in his used parts bin. Those are a fairly new thing. But spot on that this build needed a short and angled stem.
In my opinion I’d use a 90mm reach stem….just sayin’🚲
Or shorter.
Pretty sure the top tube is significantly longer than a typical road bike in this size. Kinda kringed when was sliding that stem on to,hopefully he didn't leave any gouges in thòse turns. Would have been a good choice to find a shorter stem that he could leave the bars wrapped to change out the stem ..Definitely this one is way too long .
As a 3 time Trek owner with 1991 thru 1995 950s and 970s, WHY 'convert' these instead of keeping it as is or upgrading their orig parts to vintage period correct XTR? (I hate drop bars and think drop bar gravel setup is the latest trendiness)
Depends on if you’re team flat bar or team drop bar. I find drops very comfy and they give me more positions to move my hands around. But I understand how flats give a more upright posture and some people find that more comfy.
Having done both I think the best use of 970s etc 26ers are just to replace all the consumables like pads and grips then put on BMX style street tires like Schwalbe Billy Bonkers and make them urban assault bikes
He's doing this as a business - i.e., to make $$$. Do you really think he has vintage period correct XTR in his used parts bin? The frame's paint wasn't in pristine condition. So no one is going to pay a suitable amount for this bike with vintage period correct XTR on it.
What is the name of your bike shop?
I like most of the videos I have watched but this video is a reason I hate buying used crap, you never know what crazy things have been done. I just bought a brand new Schwinn 21 speed for 300 bucks, yes trek may be a better bike and I plan to buy one when I can afford it.
That brand new Schwinn is garbage though
@@bkefrmr It seems OK, Not as good as my old Raleigh M50 Was but I am disabled and on a fixed income. trying to get riding again after 30 years and do not want used crap that has no warranty and all beat up looking like crap. the Schwinn AL Comp 27.5 inch Men's Mountain Bike, 21 Speed is what I have and the best I can do ATM. you sell a couple bikes and you made more money than I make in a month.
If anyone is still looking...
Trek Hybrids that have been sitting in the garage since Chrismas of '88 in pristine condition are generally available for gas money at the Thrift Stores around here. Buy it and spend a little on a service and tune up (if you can't do it).
...or just strike up a conversation at the local bike shop and small engine repair (as opposed to Cycle Center) and see what he can do for you on a quality used bike or what he can do you on a decent new bike if your not picky (manufacturers are always trying to unload something).
Also talk to a local rental company if you have one. A friend picked up a new in the box hybrid for under 50 cents on the dollar in the off season.
Hybrids are not cool so you don't have to pay the cool tax.
MINISTRY🤓🤟🤙
Even if gravel bikes are just drop bar hybrids, which they aren't, what's wrong with that?
Nothing at all
I agree, its just another marketing scam by the bike industry. People shoild not fall for it.
Jeepers! There are *many* geometry differences between hybrid frames and gravel frames. There are even noticeable geometry differences between traditional cyclocross frames and modern gravel frames. So there are reasons why serious gravel ride riders would want a "real" gravel bike. What is a scam is the industry's push that you can't use a hybrid, or drop-bar hybrid conversion, or existing cyclocross bike to do gravel rides.
@lastfm4477 its still a scam, you can change the geometry without changing the class of the bike just to have a selling point to consumers. 100 percent scam!
i don´t get that gravel hype. i´m a mountainbike guy and never liked racing bikes. they are the worst, especially if you try to do a testdrive after you´ve done an inspection. sitting on that thing like a monkey with safety shoes on klick pedals wich are smaller than pedals on a kids bike. also try shifting while pushing the brakelever to the inside is just stupid in my opinion. and all the sudden people buy these racing (gravel) bikes with wider tires on them and try to go offroad with a bike wich has no suspension... well good luck :D
"klick pedals wich are smaller than pedals on a kids bike" -- you know those were developed for mountain bikes, right?