I did a thing

I read stories about road ultra cyclists using softride bikes to go ultra long distances. Those softride road bikes and tri bikes had pretty limited tire clearances so I wanted to see how it would work out with wider tires. I found this mountain bike frame on Craigslist and pulled the trigger. I built it up as a sort of hybrid rando bike with mountain bike cassette and derailleurs, v brakes, a wide range Ultegra triple, and bar end shifters. The handlebars are old school WTB dirt drops which look awkward but are actually quite nice, with close set hoods for cruising at speed and wide set drops.

Well, it is definitely smooth. The active suspension is a little unnerving at first, the beam is actively pushing up the whole time. The tires (rat trap pass 26×2.3) are awesomely plush too. It carries speed pretty well and is surprisingly easy to throw around.

Unfortunately I didn’t get along too well with the geometry and handling. The short stack is pretty limiting in terms of cockpit setup. I tried putting one of those threadless riser adapters on but it just looked goofy. Plus the slack headtube angle (71 degrees) puts the bars closer the higher you raise the stem. I would be willing to play with the cockpit more but I didn’t get along with the handling due to the slack headtube angle and high bottom bracket. I measured 63mm trail (with a tape measure lol) and a bottom bracket height of 30.8cm! (That would be equivalent to something like 33mm bb drop on a gravel bike.)

Fun fact, the eBay seller wrote that it will clear 700×40 tires, though I can’t imagine what it would ride like with an even higher bottom bracket.

Anyway it was a fun experiment but I think this one is a catch and release. It would probably work better as a vintage cross country mountain bike, or maybe someone who prefers high trail bikes will dig it. I have it listed on the Boulder Craigslist all built up but I doubt anyone will want this oddball at the price I have it listed so I’ll probably end up stripping it down and selling the frame set.

Anyway thought you weirdos might dig this quirky bike 😉 I definitely learned something from this experience

by samplacette