converting mtb to commuter whippet

Stu92

HI all,

been commuting a few years now on my mtb, which i originally bought to go off road too.
But after several tumbles and rolls in the dirt, decided the mountains are no longer calling me.

So after a recent trip to spain and seeing a few charges flying around, i've decided to try and botch up a speedy version of my mtb, a spez hardrock sport 05. Obviously it would prob be cheaper to sell of my bike and by a purpose built commuter but weres the fun in that (And i quite like the frame).

My hardrock is pretty standard except some spd pedals.
But the plan so far is to, in no particular order:
1. Change to a flat shorter handlebar
2. Change fork for a rigid
3. Thinner and lighter wheels and tyres
4. Change the drive chain from a triple to a single
5. Take off the back v-brake
6. Lighter seatpost.

Sounds straight forward, but I'm not the technical when it comes to the mechanics.

So anyone done anything simialr?? or even better got any suggestions esp for the wheels? and changing from a triple (is it possible?)


Thanks,
Stu

Niffleman

Stu,

You might want to be a little bit careful before you take the back brake off. In my limited experience sudden stops can be a part of commuting. You might also be breaking the law, although others on here probably have a better knowledge than me in that area.

ride_whenever

It's breaking the law, but irrelevant for stopping, the fastest you can stop is with as much front brake as you can manage til the rear starts to lift.

Don't bother changing the handlebars and the seatpost. Rigids are good, exotic do some cheapish carbon fibre ones. Swapping is relatively easy, follow park tools and don't forget to move the crown race over.

Don't change the wheels, just put slicks on them, nice high volume ones 2.1" keeps the ride comfy.

Single ring is fine for commuting, or even go singlespeed.

Stu92

Never thought about the law breaking aspect, so will hold off on removing the rear brake.
The reason for wanting to change the wheels, seatpost is just to reduce weight and go a bit faster.

Quite like the exotic fork you mentioned, they could be 1st on the shopping list.

ride_whenever

reducing weight doesn't make you faster, it improves acceleration, but only minorly.

For the money you want to invest to do all this you could buy a roadie.

wgwarburton

Stu92 wrote:

HI all,

Hi!

.... Obviously it would prob be cheaper to sell of my bike and by a purpose built commuter but weres the fun in that ....

The "fun in that" is in riding a nice, light bike that was designed & set up for the job in hand.

(And i quite like the frame).

So keep it. It's bound to come in handy, even if only as a spare, when your regular commuter has spent the night frolicking with the puncture fairy....

My hardrock is pretty standard except some spd pedals.
But the plan so far is to, in no particular order:
1. Change to a flat shorter handlebar
2. Change fork for a rigid
3. Thinner and lighter wheels and tyres
4. Change the drive chain from a triple to a single
5. Take off the back v-brake
6. Lighter seatpost.

Sounds straight forward, but I'm not the technical when it comes to the mechanics.

There are a few technical challanges to address with this conversion, and you'll end up with something that isn't ideal for the job- the frame itself is overengineered for road use.
You're going to end up sinking a lot of money into components, unless you are technically astute and have access to a parts bin.

So anyone done anything simialr?? or even better got any suggestions esp for the wheels? and changing from a triple (is it possible?)

It's all possible, but I'd question whether it's sensible use of your time & money. Personally, I would (and have!) start with a donor road bike from eBay, freecycle or your local recyclers. With careful selection of the donor you should be able to do it very cheaply, you'll end up with a more entertaining ride and you'll have the Hardrock to go fetch parts during the project, as a spare bike and for any trailriding you want to come back to later.

Cheers,
W.

PS There are threads on this very forum on the topic of finding a good donor bike, I've penned some of them myself.

Stu92

ride_whenever wrote:

For the money you want to invest to do all this you could buy a roadie.

Not keen on commuting through traffic on a roadie.

Stu92

WGWarburton wrote:

Stu92 wrote:

HI all,

Hi!

.... Obviously it would prob be cheaper to sell of my bike and by a purpose built commuter but weres the fun in that ....

The "fun in that" is in riding a nice, light bike that was designed & set up for the job in hand.

(And i quite like the frame).

So keep it. It's bound to come in handy, even if only as a spare, when your regular commuter has spent the night frolicking with the puncture fairy....

My hardrock is pretty standard except some spd pedals.
But the plan so far is to, in no particular order:
1. Change to a flat shorter handlebar
2. Change fork for a rigid
3. Thinner and lighter wheels and tyres
4. Change the drive chain from a triple to a single
5. Take off the back v-brake
6. Lighter seatpost.

Sounds straight forward, but I'm not the technical when it comes to the mechanics.

There are a few technical challanges to address with this conversion, and you'll end up with something that isn't ideal for the job- the frame itself is overengineered for road use.
You're going to end up sinking a lot of money into components, unless you are technically astute and have access to a parts bin.

So anyone done anything simialr?? or even better got any suggestions esp for the wheels? and changing from a triple (is it possible?)

It's all possible, but I'd question whether it's sensible use of your time & money. Personally, I would (and have!) start with a donor road bike from eBay, freecycle or your local recyclers. With careful selection of the donor you should be able to do it very cheaply, you'll end up with a more entertaining ride and you'll have the Hardrock to go fetch parts during the project, as a spare bike and for any trailriding you want to come back to later.

Cheers,
W.

PS There are threads on this very forum on the topic of finding a good donor bike, I've penned some of them myself.

Never really thought about getting a donor bike, but I feel I have an opportnity to learn about the mechanics of the bike, so treating it a side project/ hobby.

Maybe a mtb isn't the best starting point, but its where i'm going to start from

wgwarburton

Stu92 wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

For the money you want to invest to do all this you could buy a roadie.

Not keen on commuting through traffic on a roadie.

? That's what they are for!

We're not talking carbon-fibre, low-spoke-count, 18mm-tyred exotica, here. Just a lightweight, comfortable machine that's been designed to cope with potholes rather than rock-strewn trails in the Highlands...

Don't underestimate how much more fun it is riding roads on a nice, light bike designed for the job. You'd said before that you won't be riding off-road any more.

Look at it this way- if you were driving a Land Rover cos you lived up a farm-track and then moved house and started commuting by road, you wouldn't expect to just change the tyres on the car and end up with a Golf, would you?

You'll learn as much through buiding up a second bike as converting the current one, and it'll probably be more useful experience.

Cheers,
W.

biondino

Buns seconded. Road bikes are light, narrow and agile, so they're perfect for commuting through traffic. And on the rare occasions you get some open road, they're in a different league.

supersonic

The Hardrock frame is 5lbs plus of thick aluminium. Even once you have bought all that stuff, it won't be as light as even Decathlons base level £250 road bike which is 23.9lbs with pedals.

If you don't fancy drop bars, take a look at some flat bar road bikes like the Giant FCR.

nyanza

Hi there,
Would have to agree with others that converting your Hardrock is way over the top for your commuting. London is full of bouncing commuter folk on chunky metal for no good reason, and it doesn't look like much fun to me.

From up thread it sounds as though you want to have a go at building up a commuter from an MTB base. Some of the steel framed Konas or Specialized from the mid-90s make excellent lightweight commuters - they weigh in around 23/4lbs complete, and are really fun to ride. I've restored two very cheaply, having spent 100 on ebay for the basic bike to get the project going, with a change of drivetrain when it arrived. eBay's getting cheaper as Winter's closing in and the demand is less.
You can source spare parts on here at Bike Radar and I got most of my parts here:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=40e9acf20bf8c33582b0f458de57fc48
Some is new old stock (NOS). If you don't want a project then just ignore me!

The Rookie

I'm currently commuting on a hybridised MTB and am building a new one from a proper Hybrid frame, the new frame is a heaviesh 1.8Kg, the old one a chunky 2.5Kg, but its the rest of the kit that counts, for example I'm going 1x9 to shed about 1lb in weight on rings mech shifter and cables (i know the gearing I use now and that 1x9 will be OK)

If all goes to plan my comuter will be about 21lbs, that is using an ally Onza fork (manufacturer sells on ebay) as a 1.2Kg saving over suspension.

My commute is along country lanes, so while a road bike is entirely possible (I borrowed a mates to try), its bloomin uncomfortable through potholes and cowpats etc Tyres make a huge difference to weight, I have some 1" to try that weigh in at 340g, 1.5's typically weigh 500g, I have a puncture resistant 1.95 that weighs 1Kg.....all 26".

Having said that the latest dedicated commuter bikes are just road bikes with flats, check out the Halfords Boardmans as an example!

Simon

el_presidente

If you fancy doing it then go for it. Sure it will be a bit heavy but you will have fun doing the conversion and will learn a lot, most importantly you will have a bike that is yours, unique and that you will know inside out.

I spent a year commuting on a tiny 17" frame hardrock (I'm 6ft1), it was a little bit small but superbly nippy and manouevrable. Mine was singlespeed, very slick tyres (spesh fat boys 1"), rigid forks (on-one carbon), and the narrowest handlebars I could get away with. Loads of fun & recommended.

The Rookie

To add to my last, if you check out the weight weenies listing, like for like (cost for cost I guess) the MTB frames are about 400g heavier than a road frame, the bulk (pun intended)of the weight difference is in the finishing kit, as an example in my spares I have a stem that weighs 326g, one that weighs 225g, my current weighs 204g and on-one do one (for a tenner!) at 147g (all 1 1/8 to 25.4mm)....add all that spread up on the kit all over a bike (bars, cranks, mechs, levers, chainwheels, wheels etc etc) and that's why MTB's outweigh roadies by a much bigger margin than just the 400g of the frame - but choose the right bits and it doesn't have to be so! http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/102437.html is 120g, a 'good' set of low rise/flats in ally 250g......cheaper ones upto 325g

Simon

mjsark

My brother-in-law pulled a mountain bike out of a skip - i borrowed it to try commuting 22 miles each way. It killed me!!

Got used to it and gained in fitness and stamina, then bought a trek 7.3fx hybrid. Although over the journey it only took about 5 minutes off, its so much easier on the legs.

I am improving by spinning where as before it was all power and ignorance!!

When I get to work I am relatively fresh and not constantly eating to regain the calories.
On the mountain bike I was spending a fortune on food!!

I would say I am getting fitter and a better cyclist by being on better kit. Rather than just brute force.

You never know I might manage a true road bike in the summer!!

I would say get a bike for purpose, you could mix it up if you have 2 and get fitter in all ways!!

The Rookie

Yes but I'm guessing that that MTB in the skip was probably a steel framed BSO coming in at close to 40lbs in weight, not a modern ally frmaed one, my Rincon is biggish but still 'only' 12.5Kg....

Simon

sitzmark

Stu, like you I have a frameset (1991 Trek 930) that I have liked for many years and recently “updated” to be more versatile – i.e. road and off-road (xc). It would also handle commuting nicely as configured.

If the measure of your project is financial ROI, then you can stop here. The market for the bike you will end up with is virtually zilch, so “worth it” will be a personal thing. Lost opportunity dollars toward a new bike can be substantial too. I haven’t added it up, but my expense has easily exceeded $500. I could have made most of the changes for much less, but I’m kind of a retentive type. Except for lacing the wheelsets, I’ve done all the work myself.

As you’re doing, you have to evaluate your outcome by what you’re starting with. In my case the early Trek 900 series frame is lugged OX double butted CroMo – forks too. In MTB terms it is quite light. Before 1993, the headset angle was not designed for suspension, so I didn’t have that burden. The overall frame design is really more “cyclocross” than MTB – longer wheel base, frame clearance, all cables routed over the top tube, brake and frame fittings designed to accommodate 26” or 700C wheels, etc. At the time, Trek wouldn’t have admitted to cyclocross influence because hard-core “mountain bike” was all the rage. However, I chose it because of the cross underpinnings

For a “jack of all” this bike turned out good - a quintessential road bike it is not. For reference, when I started (with knobbies and all) I could comfortably average 14-16mph on rolling terrain with 1-3k of vert over 30-50 miles. After the changes I’m comfortable averaging 18-19mph and can sustain 19-23 on the flats. Rode a 100 mile century with it over 6,000 ft of total gain and averaged 17.5mph. For a Frankenstein’s monster it is smooth riding and responsive.

So the changes made (in order of attack):

- Michelin XCR 26x1.4 slicks
- swapped out the majority of mid-level Suntour components for high-end (in the day) Suntour XC Pro components (lighter and higher precision)
- XC Pro grease guard BB
- Look Qurtz Carbon pedals
- re-geared chainrings on a 110/74 triple crank with various combinations of 50-38-36-30-28-24 to fit terrain expected
- re-geared rear cassettes to 12/28 for most rides, but can go anywhere from 12/19 to 12/32 (7 cogs)
- Thomson elite seat post (had been riding a very minimalist saddle anyway)
- DT Swiss XR4.1 (26”) rims laced to 32-hole XC Pro grease guard hubs (2 sets – one road and one off-road)

I left the straight bar with bar-ends adjusted for forward stretch (22” frame). Saddle to bar drop is around 4”.

Enjoy your project!

Craggers

2. Change fork for a rigid

If you get a rigid frok make sure the axle to crown distance is similar to what it is now.

I swapped the crap RST forks on my hardrock for some rigid cro-mo ones (also crappy) without checking the axle/crown length first and ended up grounding the inside pedal all the time on corners (obv. only till I got used to cornering with the inside pedal up!)

The Rookie

Onza sell their forks through ebay, designed to replace short travel suspension, I'm running Smart guys ILO an 80mm the frame is designed for....

BLING alert, getting a carbon seat post to shed another 100g!

Simon

Gussio

Craggers wrote:

2. Change fork for a rigid

If you get a rigid frok make sure the axle to crown distance is similar to what it is now.

I swapped the crap RST forks on my hardrock for some rigid cro-mo ones (also crappy) without checking the axle/crown length first and ended up grounding the inside pedal all the time on corners (obv. only till I got used to cornering with the inside pedal up!)

Kona Project 2's do the job nicely for £50.