During the lockdown MrsSb has been going out biking a lot more than before and has started using my Ti 456 as just way better than the heap of crap she had before.
This left me with nothing other than an oldish alu road bike (which is OK for what I need) but I decided to put my old steel inbred frame back into use and see what could be made of it.
All I was short of was some cranks (£30 off eBay) and I bought some Mary bars - everything else came from the bike bits box.
So it's 1 x 9 (38 renthal front an some crappy/heavy 9 speed cassette), Pompetamine fork, Stroker Trail brakes and mavic rims on Hope XC hubs with Michelin Country Rock tyres. Weight seems to be 11kg - is that decent?
Frankly, I love it - possibly just because I enjoy bringing stuff that didn't have a use back to life.
Cosmetically 'Mary' might be a bit challenged though!!
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We've just been out on a 35km road trip around our local lanes and MrsSB rode 'Mary' (!!) and said it was better than my Ti 456.
So now I'm wondering whether it would be worth putting 700c disc wheels on. Would this be a much better option for road-only rides (quicker/faster rolling)?
If so is there anything I should be looking for in a wheelset/tyres?
Budget is def a factor as I've only spent £60 so far 🙂
Edit.
Sorry.
That would make a cool gravelly Frankenbike with drops and 700c wheels on. Youve got enough stem length to get the drops in the right position.
What wheel/tyre combo have you got in there?
I've been wondering about a gravel conversion option on my ageing 456 as decent 26" stuff like tyres gets harder to find I've been thinking about 650x45 ish or 700x40 setups and whether they'd work. A bike that could spin quickly along narrow but crappy lanes and then handle farm track/smoother bridleways.
Leave as is! If it rides nicely then why change?
I did similar with my Old 1998 rockhopper (best bike in the world..!) at the start of the year.. and absolutley love it for bimbling about on roads.. canal towpaths and even some XC type trails in the dry.. its really surprisingly capable! and it flies along compared to the 26" wheels with MTB tyres..
running tubeless maxxis Re-fuse 32c Rear @ 45PSI (diamond patterned slick) and Rambler 38c front @35/40PSI (semi knobbly)
Why not just get some 26" road tyres? Those rims are not too wide, would be OK with something like 30 or 40mm tyres.
That's an unusual angle for Mary bars!
Although I did used to run mine upside down 🤫😄
Looks great. Get some 26inch wheel semi slicks for all round gnarr.you can get them for a few pounds now
That’s an unusual angle for Mary bars!
Think you're right.... they're going to be dropped a bit.
Why not just get some 26″ road tyres?
A new set of wheels is only going to be about £80 and it would give me the option of easily swapping from a road/firetrail setup to a slightly more off-road config.
Plus i like the idea of kinda keeping up with a slower roadie!
(which I hope 700c will help with)
