Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on February 8, 2010 at 4:17am

Excellent idea! Turning a 90s mountain bike into a tourer is actually quite easy if you avoid one thing; putting drop bars on. The diameter of mountain bike brakes and shifters is too small to put on a drop bar and the pull of drop bar brake levers is not enough to pull mountain brakes.

What you will probably want is bar ends, or much better yet, a trekking bar. These bars, sometimes called butterfly bars or multibars, are popular on European 26 inch touring bikes.

Amazon has some, quite cheap. XLC Multi Functional Trekking Bar, 580mm, 25.4, Black

If you do that, all your old components will fit back on the bars. The trekking bars provide a lot of hand positions and reach for when you need to get down into the wind.

After that you'll want to get some slicker tires. I strongly recommend Schwalbe Marathons, or Marathon pluses. Schwalbe has a huge line of offerings. Their plusses are very much puncture proof.

Throw the usual racks and the B17 on there and you'll have a great touring/expedition bike.

What I described above is almost exactly what I did with my bike. You can see pictures of it on my flickr.

Permalink Reply by pistola on February 8, 2010 at 4:29am

Conversely, you can try to tour with a trailer. The majority of my tours have been with bike trailers of various sorts. You can pick up a used Bob trailer for $200-$250 online. Putting fenders and a rear rack maybe difficult on your Mtn bike. Does the mtn bike frame have eyelets for rack bolts? If you switch out your knobbies you may have a bit more clearance for fenders and a rack. Racks and a good set of waterproof panniers will set you back roughly the same as a Bob trailer, maybe a little less.

Pete

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on February 8, 2010 at 5:33am

I think that a lot of people have converted mtn bikes to touring bikes but there are a few th9ings to consider that i cam across when converting my '93 MB-1 to touring style bike. I equipped it with a periscope style stem, cruiser bars, a low-rider front rack, pleischer rear rack, and 60mm wide fenders. I liked it for the most part, but have such switch to a 70s era french road bike which i like a lot more.

Mountain bikes of that era usually have super long top tubes and stems. If you want to run drop bars, you'll probably need a new stem, such as a nitto technomic, to bring the bars closer and higher.

My MB-1 had super quick steering caused by a steep head tube angle. This made for sharp handling under city-riding conditions, even with a front load, but i wouldn't want to have that kind of handling with a multi-day touring bike.

Mtn bikes also require lots of tread (distance between pedals) to make room for a triple crank, beefy chainstays and fat tires. The tread width might cause knee problems on a multi-day tour. But, it might not, just depends on your knees.

Mtn bikes are slow! The smaller diameter tires really make a difference. On a day long ride, you might get to your destination an hour longer than it could take you on a 700c touring bike.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on February 8, 2010 at 8:07am

Dropbars are a possibility, but it is not going to be cheap.
You'll need a bar, possibly a new stem, integrated shift levers with travel agents, or bar-end shifters, with something like these (they do pull enough cable for cantilevers). Probably $200 or more. You may want to follow Adam's suggestion instead.

Permalink Reply by Glenn on February 8, 2010 at 9:39am

thanks everyone for the tips and advise. I'd post a pick of the current bike but its at my dads for winter storage. I do know it has triple crank set (which would be replaced either way), plenty of braze-ons for bottle cages racks and what have you, It almost matches up with the LHT, minus its not as sturdy and the geometry is a little off.

I was thinking of getting LHT compatible components this year for this mtn bike, and next year just buy the LHT frame and switch it all out to that. What ever doesn't work switching over I would try and get the next year to make for one finished bike.

I guess I don't need drop bars. If I can make it simple and cheap Ill do it but if it crosses a certain amount I'll prolly pass.

ps
I love the butterfly bars. they look comfortable to ride with

Permalink Reply by Duppie on February 8, 2010 at 10:20am

FatTireFool said:

I do know it has triple crank set (which would be replaced either way)

I am sure you mean replacing the triple crank set with another triple crank set? No matter which coast you get to (pacific or atlantic); there will be times when you need that 'granny' ring, especially when doing loaded touring. Depending on your ability you might want a small gear like 32-32. Most mountainbikes then and now already have a small gear that falls in that range

Permalink Reply by Dylan Gimpel on February 8, 2010 at 2:53pm

Definitely a good idea for the price. Not only will a 90's steel mountain bike be comfortable and versatile, it will also be easier to find parts for along the way. I'd recommend the Trek 800. The larger sizes have upright road-bike-like geometry, and they're really easy to find.

Good luck!