So a mate sent me this pic the other day, and I love it. Would love to build something similar, but on the cheap
Some sort of vintage mtb frame I believe. I know exactly ZERO about mtb’s, also know SFA about vintage/retro stuff.
What would I need to find to start a build like this? I have all the groupset stuff sorted in my mind, so thats no drama, just the frameset. I ride a 55ish TT bike normally. Even better would be the same with disc mounts, but Id image thats pretty unlikely…unless there is a modern frame around in this kind of geo?
Search EnduroAllroad. Heaps of people have done similar conversions – many on here too.
Take something like a vintage Stumpjumper and chuck some dropbars on it. And some Compass Rat Trap Pass or Schwalbe Big Apples on it. You’ll probably have to shim some parts and perhaps run MTB cranks and 7 speed, as older MTBer will have different some different standards from road bikes, either current or vintage.
After a read through it seems most ppl just go with the same sizing or slightly larger than the road bike. Looks like I have also located a 55cm TT frameset w some wheels for $50, should get me started
Regarding sizing I would go for the same length TT as you would have on a roadie, not longer. The other thing that you will see with any monstercrosser or #enduroallroad is that a MYB will generally have a much shorter headtube than a roadie of the same size, thus you’ll want to use a fairly erect riser stem.
on a slightly related note, how far can you push it when it comes to rim width vs. tyre fatness? I’d like to chuck some chunky (29er?) tyres on some spare 700c road wheels lying around.
If I put say a 29x2.1 tyre on a 700c road rim will it roll off and leave me dead? what have people tested?
You won’t die, early 29ers used road rims, but it’ll feel a bit meh, the light bulb shape a larger tyre makes on a skinny rim feels/is bad for cornering.
it wasn’t long ago that 19mm rims were fairly standard on XC bikes, but that was prior to tubeless being the mainstay so you ran higher tyre pressures. And as Mike says tyre squirm is urgh. Also if you’re running rim brakes on narrow rims you risk wearing through your tyre sidewalls pretty quick if you happen to misalign your pads.
Funny how this build is so compelling!
Hasn’t dated one bit!
I’m still dreaming about my Italian vintage mtb with obsolete Campagnolo Euclid components.
Cheers for the tips. I run my CX and road bikes pretty slammed so hoping i can get away with a road quill stem close to minimum insertion, time will tell
