Gravel bike from old MTB

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12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
Refurbishing/repurposing discarded/unused bikes is a lot of fun. Many hours can be spent rewardingly tinkering, testing and problem solving. Unlike many other things in today's world, when you prevail, there is a visible, concrete result.
 
Location
Fife
Looks good! I'm in the middle of a similar conversion of an old mountain bike into a gravel type bike, just the brakes to fix and a bigger chain ring, I'll post the result here if I may
 
Location
Fife
And here she is
506536

Rode 10 miles on the local coastal route - great fun over cobbles, rock, Sandbags(don't ask!) planks, road and gravel!!
 
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wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Excellent work @ figbat - looks grand and I bet an immensely satisfying project :smile:

How did you sort the rear brake caliper mount - I'm assuming welding was involved..?
 
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figbat

figbat

Slippery scientist
I had mine out for its first organised ride today - the Kinesis Wildwood Gravelcross sportive. I did the mid-length route (60 km) and the bike performed fantastically. The tyres are not really mud tyres, being for road and hard-packed dry trails but I tackled some really gruelling mud today - miles of it. I was keeping up with people on bona fide gravel and CX bikes, which made me happy. The 1x setup really helped in the mud, not having a front mech to clog up. Plenty of people were suffering with this and with punctures, of which I had none.

1A368F17-39A8-4E3E-9BDC-C92D30A04AB7.jpeg
 
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figbat

figbat

Slippery scientist
Excellent work @ figbat - looks grand and I bet an immensely satisfying project :smile:

How did you sort the rear brake caliper mount - I'm assuming welding was involved..?

A device called an A2Z Universal Disk Brake Adaptor - it clamps on the frame around the left-side dropout and provides IS caliper mounts. I had to fettle it a bit with a Dremel to make it fit and line-up properly. One downside is that although the rear wheel is QR, I have to completely remove the skewer to get the wheel off. So far I haven’t needed to do this yet though.
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
A device called an A2Z Universal Disk Brake Adaptor - it clamps on the frame around the left-side dropout and provides IS caliper mounts. I had to fettle it a bit with a Dremel to make it fit and line-up properly. One downside is that although the rear wheel is QR, I have to completely remove the skewer to get the wheel off. So far I haven’t needed to do this yet though.
Thanks - didn't know such things existed!

That's a shame about the skewer although not the end of the world - looking at the images online I'd be tempted to get creative with the dremel, although it's an obvious thought so I suspect that material beneath the skewer hole has been left there for a good reason :tongue:

I'm currently deliberating over a "gravel" bike and my appreciation of nice things has drawn me towards a fairly expensive choice. Equally, anxiety over damage and theft hnestly makes something at the other end of the market seem so much more appealing - especially if it was the result of my own innovation and labour as in your case. I'm not surpised you enjoy riding it so much :smile:
 
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figbat

figbat

Slippery scientist
When I was planning it I had in my mind that this would be my "throw-away" bike - the pub bike, train station bike etc - one that I wouldn't mind losing. I've actually grown quite attached to it now though.

I did also think about slotting the hole for the skewer and I assume they haven't because it would mount in a variety of orientations dependent on seat-stay angles etc. Until it becomes a nuisance though I'll leave it as it is.
 
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