[Closed] Using a MTB frame to build up a CX bike

keep it flat bar thats would solve your brake issues, if you can't find anything else you can buy a pair of acera disc brakes for £40 new.

a 12 year old frame - 26"??

Personally drop bars on 26" wheels never looked right to me - someone over on retro bike built up a zaskar with drops and looked awful.

And also 26" wheels will just be a mtb with drops not a cx bike..

The main issue you'll have if you use drop bars is that it'll be very long assuming that the frame was right for you as an mtb. Unless of course you fit a very short stem but that in turn will affect the handling.

mtbs typically have longer top tubes than road/cx bikes for a given 'size' and don't forget that on road bars, the hoods are a good few cm in from on the stem/bar clamp.

If you're going to do it, I'd suggest sticking to a flat bar.

(for road bars and disc brakes, it's not really an issue - you just use road levers and BB7 roads, TRP Spyres or other road disc calipers

I put semi drop Soma Sparrow bards on my 26" mtb , with the intention of Cx. For proper drops, you'll need cable disk brakes. Mine is singlespeed to avoid the shifter issues (and there are plenty of SS Cx racers), It's hard to find tyres, but Schwalbe make one. I was planning on using a 700c fork and a new set of larger wheels.

A 69er Cx may not look so hot 😉

I've built up mtbs with drop bars, a short high stem worked fine, handling was fine.

I'll be fine.

[url= http://jampears.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/seduced-by-darkside.html ]linky[/url]

I have too, and love it. Frame with shortish top tube, short stem, midge bars. Big wheels tho

I sort of did this by turning a Bonty Privateer into a sort of, well, *whispers* [i]hybrid[/i]

700c disc wheels, 32c touring-type tyres (but something mildly cx-type knobbly would fit too), 1*9. Flat bars though. It's fine for gravelly lane type blasts, may well be used as a commuter too.

thanks all - I'm guessing that converting a road bike for CX might be a challenge with frame-tyre clearance around the stays/seat-tube/bottom bracket area?

I find my road bike a bit flighty on my country lanes, and fancy being able to add a few bridleways onto road rides

here's an old trek mtb reused as a drop bar hybrid - not disk, froggleggs with an adaptor for 700c, planet x carbon fork, ultrega sti, xt chainset and mechs - rode this a lot road and off road but as a very old frame geometry closer to a tourer/hybrid than mtb - replaced with a kinesis pro6 as wanted disks

[URL= http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq47/robertedj/2009%20bike%20rides/21032009001-1.jp g" target="_blank">http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq47/robertedj/2009%20bike%20rides/21032009001-1.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

give it a go if doesn't work then look around for a disc cx frame

i'm about to buy a tiny 29er, for drop-bar conversion for my tiny wife.

i know i'll need to change a few things (bars, shifters, etc.), and bodge a few more, but i reckon it's a great idea!

the 29er in question is a 'small' pinnacle lithium.

obviously, it's probably a better idea just to buy a tiny cx bike, but no-one makes them.

(or at least, none that'll take discs)

I did this to a lovely 1990(ish) Dave Yates Diabolo. Ruined a great bike.

would the geometry etc be all wrong?

That was my experience. Handling was iffy, but mostly the riding position was too long and low. 26" wheels looked wrong too.

In a former life this was a early 90's Giant MTB
[URL= http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/SDC11972_zps891dc094.jp g" target="_blank">http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/SDC11972_zps891dc094.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Its running 700c wheels with 32mm CX tyres ,clearance between the chainstay brace is very close and in hindsight I would remove it as its not really needed, clearance on the seatstay brace is fine.

It has previously been modded with a EBB and gear mounts/cable guides removed and a disc mount/guides added.

Steering a bit slack with the Salsa fork but you soon get used to it, the frames possibly going to be for sale in the near future.
[URL= http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/625c1fd1-c6c2-4481-afbb-fa9d205078b3_zps457e8f4b.jp g" target="_blank">http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/625c1fd1-c6c2-4481-afbb-fa9d205078b3_zps457e8f4b.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Another pic showing the chainstay brace and tyre, it is close but does clear with no rubbing.
[URL= http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/SDC11979_zpsd51b4bf3.jp g" target="_blank">http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/herusix/Project%20CX/SDC11979_zpsd51b4bf3.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

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