Trying to convert road bike to trail bike!

newtonator

I have recently bought a new road bike but would like to convert my old one so it can be used for more day to day use.

I would like to have mtb handlebars to make it easier to ride but i don't know what shifters and brakes to get which will work with shimano 2300 deraillers and brakes.

I would like to do it as cheaply as possible and dont mind that much about spec!

Any suggestions welcome,
Thanks.

bennett_346

You can't turn a road bike into a trail bike, not even slightly.

The Rookie

As Bennet says, if it's a proper road bike, not a chance, you won't get wide enough tyres in the frame nor have enough width to pass through the brakes (need canti or V-s)........

raldat

Perhaps post a picture of what you have. If by road bike you mean a commuter and by trail bike you mean something to ride on gravel roads, you might be able to do something useful.

If however to mean a road racing bike with super skinny tyres and you want to go single track, like the others say, not possible. not enough space to fit a wider tyre being the first and biggest issue.

newtonator

Thanks for the response guys

I don't really need this to be great offroad but is there a way i could turn it into a sort of city commuter with straight handlebars?

The Rookie

Turning it into a flat barred commuter is easy....

Bars, probably a stem to corect cockpit length (maybe not), shifters and brake levers.

You'll need road flat bar shifters as MTB shifters won't work your front mech, likewise non linear pull levers.

How many speeds? There are some Tiagra flat bar shifters on ebay right now (10 speed)

Commuter section is probably the best place for your question (workshop and tech area).

jockywilson

Have recently converted an old Raleigh (8 speed cassette) from drop bar to flat bar as the frame was too big for me (60cm vs 5'11'' me). I already have a 56cm road bike, but liked the steel frame on the Raleigh and figured this was the only way for it to be rideable.

I'd already upgraded the front mech, rear mech and brakes to Tiagra, then raided the spare parts bin for the following:

Quill Stem adapter
90mm 31.8 stem
Giant Contact Ergo Bar ends
Charge Griddle grips

That only left the following to buy:

31.8 MTB riser bars (50p from Halfords, reduced from £17 in a bizarre pricing strategy a couple of weeks ago)
Shimano Sora R221 8x2 Flatbar shifters (£26.99 from chainreaction)

All relatively pain free and it's made a fast, comfortable commuter for city riding.

Will be selling the Sora shifters on ebay, so should hopefully recoup some of the cost.

The Rookie

jockywilson wrote:

31.8 MTB riser bars (50p from Halfords, reduced from £17 in a bizarre pricing strategy a couple of weeks ago)

No end of line clearance, you could get their excellent stems (same as Superstar and On-One) and a seatpost for the same 50p.

markhewitt1978

newtonator wrote:

I have recently bought a new road bike but would like to convert my old one so it can be used for more day to day use.

I would like to have mtb handlebars to make it easier to ride but i don't know what shifters and brakes to get which will work with shimano 2300 deraillers and brakes.

I would like to do it as cheaply as possible and dont mind that much about spec!

Any suggestions welcome,
Thanks.

I would have thought handlebars and shifters would be low on the list for conversion, first would be the tyres, fitting wider tyres more suitable for off road use, probably won't be possible with a road bike. Even then it'll be a hybrid rather than a MTB. By the time you've done that *and* gone flat bar you might as well buy a new MTB.