Advice for converting my Carera Vulcan moutian bike for road use

[gazza81]

hi all, just signed up looking for advice.

im looking to get into cycling and want to do a few mods to my carera vulcan to make it a bit more road worthy as i cant afford a road bike, also will be a good little project to keep me busy!

so im going to stick some road tyres on it obviously! but i want to change the front forks to rigid ones but dont know where to start, if anyone can help out please? its got 26" wheels.

i want to keep it cheap as poss, id like it to look like this when im done
http://richardclark78.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/converting-to-single-speed-budge-diy.html

thanks all

 

[DCLane]

Slick tyres would be the simplest and probably cheapest starting point; have a look at Schwalbe CityJet's or similar.

Non-suspension rigid 26" forks aren't expensive but it will depend on the headset thread and whether you have disc or v-brakes.

 

[gazza81]

Yeah been looking at them, also the continental ones.

Its the front forks i really need help with i dint know where to start!

Its a 20" frame and V brakes, i forgot to say in op

Headset thread? Sorry totally new to taking bikes apart!

 

[shouldbeinbed]

You'll probably find your local; non superstore type; bike shop has a good stash of second hand fixed forks just lying around when people have converted their fixed to sus. Ask and if they do then go in with your bike and find one that is the right diameter and cut to the right length for your frame with a spacer or two if it's a tad long & a more sit up and beg style suits.

Consider bar ends too for windy days to get you hunkered down just a bit.

Maybe just me, but its not clear from what you post vs the link to singlespeed conversion if you're intending to run SS or gears.

If you are intending to use it with gears, consider switching the rear cassette to one that has a couple less teeth per sprocket so you'll roll along faster for the cost of a granny gear that you'll never use in road trim.

 

[gazza81]

You'll probably find your local; non superstore type; bike shop has a good stash of second hand fixed forks just lying around when people have converted their fixed to sus. Ask and if they do then go in with your bike and find one that is the right diameter and cut to the right length for your frame with a spacer or two if it's a tad long & a more sit up and beg style suits.

Consider bar ends too for windy days to get you hunkered down just a bit.

Maybe just me, but its not clear from what you post vs the link to singlespeed conversion if you're intending to run SS or gears.

If you are intending to use it with gears, consider switching the rear cassette to one that has a couple less teeth per sprocket so you'll roll along faster for the cost of a granny gear that you'll never use in road trim.

Thanks a lot, no not going to change to single gear, i will definitely do what you suggest, not sure what you mean by granny gear tho lol

 

[gazza81]

Just measured the length of fork i will need, 200mm, it has what looks like a couple of spacers on and potential to go as low as 145mm is this something worth doing?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Thanks a lot, no not going to change to single gear, i will definitely do what you suggest, not sure what you mean by granny gear tho lol

Granny gear is usually the biggest sprocket on the rear, its a very easy very slow speed gear - if you see a rider pedalling like mad and moving at 5 mph, they'll be in the granny gear. It has its uses but for what you suggest you'll be doing it'd be almost useless in road conditions

 

[steve50]

Hi gazza, you are doing much the same as I have done here https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/my-project.183089/
best advice I can offer is either source your parts from your local friendly cycle shop or ebay (be careful with ebay) I purchased decent Schwalbe city tyres from ebay @£16 for the pair, aluminium forks from local bike shop came in at £20, shop around ,lots of bargains to be had. I did find after swaping the front suspension forks for the lightweight forks it has made the bike a lot lighter but it has also made the front end and consequently the handling / steering very light twitchy, i have got used to it now but I wouldn't take a hand off to scratch my nose on a potholed road.

 

[gazza81]

Thanks guys, I'll enjoy having a read through that link steve!
Got the tyres today, had a ride round the block was a bit strange mayb getting used to them, think i need to pump them up really hard too seemed a bit close to the rim on cornering!

 

[Cubist]

Be careful with your fork choice. Essentially the Vulcan is a 26 inch wheeled MTB, and if you put a road fork on the front end will take a dive. In order to keep the same geometry you need to measure the distance between the dropouts and the bottom of the headtube. This is known as the Axle to Crown measurement or A-C. It is higher on a MTB so that the bike and frame will behave itself with the fork at full stretch, not including the diving effect of the suspension compressing, which can be anything up to 100mm on your bike as it's currently setup. You'll therefore need a MTB specific rigid fork. These can be expensive carbon jobbies, which do wonders for the weight, but the price tag will make your eyes water
http://pacecycles.easyspaceshops.co...ObjectPath=/Shops/100056984/Products/RC31-420

or a more realistically priced Cro-Mo version- still lighter than your suspension fork, but a more wallet-friendly price tag:
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOOOCR26DO/on-one-cromo-26er-mtb-fork-disc-only

Other than that, my advice would be to simply swap the tyres for city jets, (£8.99 each at Halfords) and reduce the drivetrain to single front and add a wide range cassette to the back.

 

[gazza81]

Be careful with your fork choice. Essentially the Vulcan is a 26 inch wheeled MTB, and if you put a road fork on the front end will take a dive. In order to keep the same geometry you need to measure the distance between the dropouts and the bottom of the headtube. This is known as the Axle to Crown measurement or A-C. It is higher on a MTB so that the bike and frame will behave itself with the fork at full stretch, not including the diving effect of the suspension compressing, which can be anything up to 100mm on your bike as it's currently setup. You'll therefore need a MTB specific rigid fork. These can be expensive carbon jobbies, which do wonders for the weight, but the price tag will make your eyes water
http://pacecycles.easyspaceshops.co...ObjectPath=/Shops/100056984/Products/RC31-420

or a more realistically priced Cro-Mo version- still lighter than your suspension fork, but a more wallet-friendly price tag:
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FOOOCR26DO/on-one-cromo-26er-mtb-fork-disc-only

Other than that, my advice would be to simply swap the tyres for city jets, (£8.99 each at Halfords) and reduce the drivetrain to single front and add a wide range cassette to the back.

cheers mate, how did you fit the V brakes to them forks in the picture? on the link it says they are for disc brakes.

so today ive fitted road tyres, pumped up to 70 psi now and wow what a difference! ive also chopped the handle bars down by 2" as were really wide and fitted a little speedo i forgot i had!
just need to sort the forks out and get a new saddle

oh and i rode down to my local bike shop and asked about the forks but they looked at me like a nutter and wasnt much help lol

 

[Cubist]

They are the V brake option. I kind of assumed your Vulcan had discs..... The ones with canti bosses are the same price.

 

[clid61]

If your current forks have a lockout , just lock them out ,as good as rigid fork and No hassle !