I have a 1993 (ish) Diamondback Sorrento that I would love to rebuild as a gravel bike. The only problem, I don’t know how. I would like to keep the original rims if possible, although I believe they are compatible with freewheels, which may make it difficult to upgrade the drivetrain, which I would like to do. If anyone has any tips, or knows of parts that would work with my frame that would be greatly appreciated.
by Powerful_Fan_3442
1 Comment
You could ride gravel on that bike as-is. Looks like it has hardly any miles — so you could first wear out this good ol’ 3 x 7 drivetrain, and then replace. BTW, pretty sure it takes a cassette freehub, not a thread-on freewheel — but it’s limited to seven cogs.
How are the shift levers working? Often by this age, the thin grease inside has thickened and hardened, and only some of the gears are reachable. Can often be thinned with spray lube.
Or maybe you’re hoping to use a drop handlebar so it looks more like present-day gravel bikes (and so, different shift and brake levers)?
Maybe you’re looking to replace the fork with one that has disc brake mounts, so you can at least run disc up front?