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Morning All,
so i'm looking for my first MTB and been getting some good suggestions on that page.
However I've a slight curveball I wondered if I could get advise on.
I've got a Ribble CGR SL, carbon all road bike. It's nice but it does all jobs well rather than one job really well.
I've been using it as a winter bike, but i'm going to sell it as tbh, road riding in the winter is just unpleasant. Rather stick to the turbo and ride when the weather is better and use my faster bike.
However, my bottle cage bolts have pulled through the frame (they're in the frame rather than on it) so i'm not sure how much i'll really get for it.
With this in mind I was considering butchering it for parts, get what I can get for the frame and put it all onto a MTB frame.
It's running GRX which I understand to be a good gravel groupset, but not sure if it'll translate well to MTB? Could I just get a MTB frame and put the parts on and be happy? Not sure the wheels would be up to it (Mavic Aksium with 40mm wide gravel tyres)
any thoughts? or should I just sell it and get as much as I can, and stick to the other suggested MTBs on my other thread?
your cranks wont fit a regular mtb.
but i run GRX on my cutthroat which is more mtb than gravel and i use it as such.
The rear mech won't play well with a flat bar shifter. If you're doing a drop bar mtb then all good.
Presume this is 1 x ? As not all MTB frames are designed for a front mech
Can you rivnut the bottle cage bosses?,
I'm building up a drop bar mountain bike with GRX 11 speed brakes, I'm not worried about stopping or shifting while I'm offroad.
I assume you're planning on putting the drop bars on a mountain bike frame which is probably the biggest issue, the geometry is unlikely to be right and you'll feel stretched out and uncomfortable. You could get a drop bar mountain bike frame which will be suited to big tyres and drop bars. Alternatively find a gravel bike frame and swap the parts over, they will probably all fit depending on the frame and it would be better suited to heading off road.
I assume you’re planning on putting the drop bars on a mountain bike frame which is probably the biggest issue, the geometry is unlikely to be right and you’ll feel stretched out and uncomfortable. You could get a drop bar mountain bike frame which will be suited to big tyres and drop bars
Redshift topshelf bar pretty much solves the height/reach issues
also you will have flat mount calipers and need post mount adaptors.. not ideal..
tbh in my experience drop bar stuff sells for more than the equivalent MTB kit, i wouldn't bother, id be looking for a cheap frame (merlin malt maybe or such like) and chuck all my gravel bike stuff on there
Are the bottle cage mounts Rivnuts? They might be easily replaceable.
As well as the group set issues above, will the dropout spacing and axles be the same? Seatpost diameter? Compatible headset? Using an old bike as a done-er is not straightforward with today miriad of (non) standards.
hmmm doesn't seem worth it then. So thanks I'll not go that route.
and no they're not rivnuts, some weird ribble nonsense, they're actually in the frame itself, so there's reinforced carbon over the top, so the one that's come out has left a ruddy great hole. I've got the mechanic on it at the moment and hoping he can simply swap it for a standard rivnut and i'll leave it as is
I'll likely keep it if he does get it fixed. Decent bike to be fair and I paid well under the market value. But might look at more racey wheels when the weather improves. Part of the reason i'm looking forward to a mountain bike - I won't look at multi purposing my road bike anymore.
The rear mech won’t play well with a flat bar shifter
It will if you get the appropriate road group set flat bar shifter.
Redshift topshelf bar pretty much solves the height/reach issues
not sure it solves the reach issue, a short stem might get you most of the way there though.
I think if OP wants a mountain bike then they may be best off selling what they have and getting a complete MTB. Drop bar MTBs are great but a bit marmite and not great for a first MTB.
yeah I'm not so in love with my drops that I couldn't ride anything else, so i'll likely keep it and get a normal mtb.