[Wheelspeed]

Hi folks,

I have an old 26'er frame that's a good, '90's cross-country layout, and can't accept very wide tires. And I have a bunch of 26'er parts... enough to make a bike except for a fork. I don't have a decent fork. My extra rims are like 19mm ID. I'd probably build it up with mountain bike shifters first, but I do have a set of drop bars laying around from a road bike, and an assortment of long stems. (100mm - 160mm or so) So, maybe one day I'd look into whatever was needed to make shifters work with drop bars.

So, with a rigid fork, everything looks good for making it a gravel bike but I know a 26'er isn't ideal. And I guess a decent rigid fork could be $150-$300.

I've seen some threads where people said "don't bother using a 26'er mtb for gravel", but I chose this title to grab some attention from anyone who maybe converted a 26'er mtb to a gravel bike and actually liked it. At least liked it enough to be able to enter gravel rides/races, just for fun (not worried about finishing well), and enjoyed riding it.

Anyone convert an old 26'er mtb and actually like it as a gravel bike? And, if you did NOT like it, please share that also so that I don't go down a wrong path. If it just sucks, then it's better to know that up front.

I already have a backup bike that's an old 26'er mtb, so this extra frame wouldn't be useful as a backup bike. And I have a nice 17-lb carbon road bike that can fit 700x30 tires but not any larger than that. It's pretty so I don't really want to use it on any gravel rides. As far as buying a gravel bike or buying an old 29'er to convert to a gravel bike, I'm just not enthused. I'm only enthused enough to use this old stuff I already have unless it's going to suck, and then I prefer to not go through the effort of building it.... I'd just try to sell my old frame. (Titus Eleven, ti frame... maybe worth $250 or so.)

What do you guys say?

 

[crank1979]

Sounds like you're rebuilding it as a 90's 26" mtb. Nothing wrong with that. Chuck some semi slicks on it and go gravel (or XC) riding.

 

[SteveJewels]

I am building up a 2011 26er so I understand where you are coming from. The frame is NIB and I started collecting parts several years ago and then had to put it aside for a while.

Given the compromises you need to make to get your frame dressed out and the fact that you are at square one, you might think about finding a frame more suited to your goal.

 

[Hobine]

Nothing wrong with 26er gravel bikes. Many of them can fit 650b wheels although it doesn’t make much difference but opens up tire availability.
I’ve built a couple over the last several years.
A 89 Trek 950 that I fully restored and a 95 Dean Duke soft-tail.

 

[walkerwalker]

Do it. Sure, if you purchased a modern complete bike you'd likely spend less and get better components, but it won't be as rewarding. If you find sourcing the parts and building it yourself to be the fun part, that is.

I have an '04/'05 Fuji Nevada 26er that was a hardtail. When I bought a nice full suspension, I decided to take the Fuji in the other direction. I now call it my 'gravel' bike and use it for canal trails and rail trails, although it's still flat bar and mtb parts. I've had some roadies chase me down on the canal trail and say I'm pretty fast, "especially for a mountain bike. if you had a bike like mine, you'd be hard to keep up with."

Rigid Carbon fork from carboncycles.cc (no complaints yet, at 900 miles this year), box two 11 speed drivetrain, AB oval chainring. Carbon fiber seat post, x01 cranks, ec90 bars w/bar ends. Kenda Kross 1.75 tires. I built the wheelsets myself with cheap parts--alex rims, shimano hubs, ebay spokes. Mechanical disk brakes. Ultralight stem and bottle cage. It's not the lightest or fastest but it went from 33 pounds to 25. Between that and ditching the old 3x8 it's pretty darn respectable on the gravel.

 

[Huascaran]

this was an old 26” moots that I pu drop bars on. Honestly this was a better gravel bike than the Fargo I have now.

 

[fuzz_muffin]

Yes.

 

[LyN]

This is mine. An old DBR Zetec Pro 26" MTB converted to a 700 gravel bike.

I'd rather use a short stem to compensate for the reach of the drop bars and it sure has a bit of a high BB, but it works. I've used an old 10v MTB transmission and have attached the shifter to the central part of the bars with a 31,8 seat clamp filing the edge of the clamp.

 

[Timothy G. Parrish]

2006 HardRock 26er converted to ride gravel/road. You can fit MTB shifters on drop bars. You'll have to spread the bracket open and slide it along the bars almost to the stem, but diameter is the same, and they should fit. Brake levers are a different story. A 90s MTB frame probably has geometry closer to today's gravel bikes, which would work better. You may be limited on the front chainring size. 46t is the max I could fit on this without hitting the chainstay. I got the rigid aluminum fork off Amazon for $90.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

 

[Hobine]

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Sure, if you purchased a modern complete bike you'd likely spend less and get better components

Are you saying that equipping the 26er frame he already has would be more expensive than a complete new bike? Approximately how much did your Fuji upgrades put you back? I have a sixers or two in the fleet waiting for this treatment, curious what I should budget.
Anyone else discover that converting an old 26 to gravel grinder costs more than a new graveler?

 

[walkerwalker]

Parts add up quick. I spent around $1000 upgrading the Fuji, and I thought I was patient and hunted around for good deals, sometimes new, sometimes used. Many people told me it'd be cheaper to just buy a new bike, but I enjoyed the building (learning) process and have sentimental value in the frame.

Of course it all depends on the quality of parts you desire, but even going with basic or used stuff it's difficult to keep things cheap. Bike 'manufacturers' (really assemblers), have the advantage of buying in bulk and paying wholesale prices. I didn't catalogue all of my parts and prices, because honestly I felt better not knowing the total cost, but some basics....

-Carbon Fork from carboncycles.cc ~$200 ish
-(2) hubs, rims, and spokes from ebay/webstores $200. This was low end parts. I laced it myself, you'd be hard pressed to find decent quality complete wheelsets for $200 or less.
-Box Two 11 speed drivetrain $150. (good luck finding that deal)
-used X01 cranks from pinkbike $150 (great deal I think)
-used EC90 carbon handle bar $40
-(2) Tires $40 each. (cheap)
-used Hayes mechanical disc brakes $40
-New Absolute Black oval chainring, ebay $30 (a steal)
-New FSA carbon fiber seatpost, ebay $40 (another steal)

That's already $930, plus a bunch of other accessories, bottom bracket, bar ends, grip tape, new cabling and housings, pedals, stem, stem cap, frame protection. The only thing I kept were the frame, headset, and the saddle. Not to mention some specialty tools acquired for the job.

I didn't look at new bikes, but I'm told you could get a gravel bike with decent quality components for $1000 ish.

 

[Wheelspeed]

Thanks for the inspiration folks! Some nice looking conversions posted.

@walkerwalker- You misunderstood my post. I have all the parts left over from old bikes; except a decent fork because two suspension forks wore out from age so I tossed them.

 

[walkerwalker]

Well that's even better! No reason not to do it. If nothing else, once it's done if you you don't like it, you could sell it or gift it to a cyclist-to-be in need of a ride.

For the record, most of the parts that came off of my 04 fuji ended up on my wife's '93 Diamonback. It too was in need of some love and now my wife comes with me on the bike paths. So I support using old parts as well as keeping old frames going.

 

[bitflogger]

This is from long before modern gravel bikes. I still have the OG WTB drop bars and the Fat Chance is on our trainer. The drivetrain is home made micro drive before groups existed. Dura-Ace 7 sp freewheel, Sun Tour MTB, and Scott brakes. I took off the TA ring long ago and run it 2x.

Confession: While I still own it, our Fargo and my Moots Routt 45 get nearly all the action these days.

 

[ranier]

I have a old Trek 930 that was converted for gravel bike duties just before the pandemic started. Stripped off old parts and added some new parts to "modernize" it - new crankset, drivetrain - Advent 1x9, stem/bar, some new bags and Gravelking 26 tires. Reused the bottom bracket and canti brakeset. The newer parts were parts bin stuff and cheap not fancy parts. Rode it a lot during quarantine in '20 and last year and even did a overnight trip on the C&O. Disc brakes and 29/700c wheels isn't necessary to have fun.

f you have an old frame and parts, I'd say go for it. It makes for a good project and the end result is what you make of it. I also converted two other 26er frames to 650b and 700c drop bar bike but those were disc brake frames so a little more modern. Both Covid projects, I was bored and needed something to put my mind on other than working from home mostly.

 

[MTNMANX26]

Here's an old Rocky Mountain Hammer Race I've converted to drop bar

 

[Overkill]

My 2006 Waltworks - it has seen many iterations and still love riding it. It's in a bit of mullet mode in this pic: 26 rear and 27.5 front.

 

[Mors]

hi guys, i'd like to build a monstercross, or ikd how'd you call this, in italy an old mtb converted into a cx/gravel is a monstercross, but, anyway, do you have some tips about frames, brakes (aliexpress? yes, no, maybe? idk) and rigid fork? yes or no, if the frame has already it on...
thanks to everyone.
P.S Sorry if i made some mistakes, but i'm not really good

 

[MTNMANX26]

se

hi guys, i'd like to build a monstercross, or ikd how'd you call this, in italy an old mtb converted into a cx/gravel is a monstercross, but, anyway, do you have some tips about frames, brakes (aliexpress? yes, no, maybe? idk) and rigid fork? yes or no, if the frame has already it on...
thanks to everyone.
P.S Sorry if i made some mistakes, but i'm not really good

Hello. I'd start with a frame that is slightly smaller than you'd normally ride. A rigid fork would be fine carbon or steel. If you can find a frame that is disk ready and use road style disk brakes. I built up a monstercross bike using an old Rocky Mountain Blizzard that has Reynolds 853 steel tubing, Microshift bar end shifter 1x9 setup, 650b front wheel 26" rear wheel, Avid bb7 disk brakes, Exotic carbon fork, and Tektro RL520 brake Levers.