2003 Sequoia Sport. I have a more modern road bike that I ride often so this bike gets neglected. I started volunteering at the local bike co-op to learn wrenching as I have no experience. And I had the idea to slowly convert this into a gravel bike. Good project to learn wrenching? First thing I wanted to attempt is 650b rims with wider tires.
by laughing_c0w
11 Comments
Looks like you can fit some decent tires. 650b wheels will require different brakes
Looks like you have some frame clearance if you can find the right brakes to make it work.
Wasting your time depends on your goals. Trying to build a fancy bike? Yes, wasting your time. Trying to learn bike maintenance and build something that rides well, no probably not wasting your time.
Rim brakes make it harder to fit a “normal” sized gravel tire, but its certainly doable and would be a fun project nonetheless.
I say go for it, you can always keep it as a spare bike if you upgrade in the future.
I would say yes personally, mainly because of the calipers. If it had mounts for v brakes or cantis, you could achieve more of what you’re after. I don’t think you’ll be able to change this to 650b, well easily anyway, I’m sure there’s a way but not a clear straight forward one
Never gonna have gravel tire clearance 700-28 is about rim brake max 700-38 is on the small size
Piece of cake just weld some disc brake tabs on the rear dropout, buy a new fork that already has disc brake tabs and viola 650b gravel bike. I mean you wanted a project right?
Look at the frame clearance for the rear tire at the bottom bracket. I don’t think you have enough clearance for a decent size tire to fit.
Unless you have great metalworking skills, I don’t think this frame will suit you.
Hard to say. I’d tell you to get a cheap carbon gravel frame, something inexpensive but “modern” with disc brakes and thru axle at a minimum. Since this is an old road bike it shares little with modern gravel bikes. You could still learn wrenching but you’d probably end up with a goofy half-assed bike at the one of it all. If you were looking to put together a light cyclocross then maybe you could pull that off with what you have here.
Probably. Since you already have the bike, maybe you can test fit some fatter tires and see what will clear. In addition to the brakes, the chainstay bridge can be a problem.
Make an ok all road bike, not quite a gravel bike. Looks like it’s got the same-ish clearance as my trek alpha 1.1 and I fit 700×32 gravel king tlc’s on it. Might have suck by with a 34 but only because those tires are near slicks