Been browsing FB marketplace all day for a decent MTB frame in my size, with no luck. I hit refresh and someone two blocks away from me had just listed this for free. Unbelievable!
Anyway, curious to hear your xbike suggestions! I think the brake calipers are long enough for a 700c conversion. I happen to have a set of cheap rims laying around. Otherwise, I'm looking for ideas!
Once it's done, I'll either give it to a friend or sell it at a loss. (I don't mind spending a little money on a hobby)
by Cruiser_Supreme
25 Comments
Step one: be 6’4”
>How should I xbike it?
https://preview.redd.it/9znnszwl01bg1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fabc2a6873ddcaf0266213ff20799df20984e45d
I have that exact bike in that size. It’s now a fixed gear with velo orange postino bars and rides great
I have that exact bike in that size. It’s now a fixed gear with velo orange postino bars and rides great
27×1-3/8” tires and chill. I’d probably do a cheap aero road brake lever to get rid of the suicide lever situation. Maybe *maybe* a falcon 14-40 7 speed freewheel, depending on your terrain and desired exertion, with a tourney or m310 which will indeed shift the 40t large cog. Keep it cheap man.
Ride it with pride and voilà it’s an xbike.
But as far as upgrades? Get rid of the suicide levers, get some nice modern drop bar brake levers like TRP, switch to bar and shifters, probably get some modern bars which are just way more ergonomic… but you’ll need to find something that fits that stem or swap the stem as well.
I don’t think I would change anything else, just focus on the things that would make it more comfortable to ride.
Ride it on trails, that’s how.
Get the fattest tires the frame can handle and do a tune up. Send it.
Convert to 650 b and make it a Randonneur bike !
It will absolutely shock you how versatile 27 x 1 1/4-in tires truly are. Go search for old photos from the Rough Stuff Fellowship and see folks riding that wheel size all over the world. Those do have room for the 1 3/8 tires too, but honestly – just get the basic Panaracer Pasela in 1 1/4 (32mm), use the various apps online that do the Frank Barton tire pressure calculation and go. Cheapest trick would be to remove the turkey levers and saw the posts down flush with the sides and add Cane Creek non-aero hoods, but you’ll get better braking with aero levers.
I rode a comparable Centurion Signet for a while in bottom gear on trails while accompanying my son’s cross country training. It worked GREAT on gravel.
VO Milano or Tourist bars would be my first move. OR save some cash and get MSW Urban Cruiser bars, save a few bucks that you can get short pull levers with, and you’re on your way.
I would wash the bike, upgrade that drivetrain, get some proper brake levers and pads, slap the plushest tires possible in there, then proceed to rip it.
swept back bars, single speed it and throw the fattest rubber thatll fit in there
1. Convert to 700c wheels if brake calipers reach.
2. Convert to flat bar in front.
3. Buy some cheap shimano trigger shifter combos.
4. The cheapest flat plastic pedal combos money can buy.
5. A blue lug reflective triangle that costs more than the whole bike?
nitto kite, 650b fixed, Andel track cranks, Dura Ace track drivetrain, 650b 32mm GP5K tires
Throw a front rack on it and use it to pick up six packs of microbrew, and call it a day.
I love your plan. It’ll end up 700c anyway, you may as well start there. The brakes look like they’ll do that easily. File the pads if they’re glazed.
I’m a drop bar guy (Nitto RM-3 flares), but put tourist bars on my main bike last year and it’s so good! I’d probably just take the suicide part off the levers and move them about 4” down the bar so they look good, you can reach them easily from the hooks. That’ll make the cable run a little nicer too.
The stem shifters are great. I have a friend with a custom bike running them. He loves them.
New saddle, new bar tape, new pedals… new bike!
Holy head tube that’s a big frame!
Looks like it would fit me.
How many cm talls do you have?
It looks like it’s an old 27 inch wheel.
Great! Often times a 700 C conversion gets you pretty good clearance. I’m able to fit 700×38 on an old 1985 Schwinn Traveller very similar to this one.
I had this exact bike pre x bike days. Was a daily rider. Great frame, loved everything about the bike.
Eventually I took a dremel to the dropouts so I could tension it as a single speed and replaced the rims/wheels. I don’t remember if it was a 27”-700c situation. The saddle was surprisingly good.
You could fit a massive frame bag in there
Put a vintage MTB flat bar, move the shifters onto some Paul thumbies and add a front and rear rack. Kenda Kross tires on the 27’s or swap out the brakes for long reach ones and go 700c with gravel tires.
Don’t xbike it, convert it to fixed. Get a fixed rear wheel and any random road takeoff front wheel, both 700C. Measure your chainline and get the right BB width for a 42mm track chainline. Get a 130mm BCD ring (Sugino Messenger is fine) and gear for 77″ give or take.
Add foot retention.
Single speed, flat bar, fattest knobbies you can fit
I do mid riser bars with quill stem adapter
Deore v brakes with avid speed dials
Trigger shifters
Altus dereillur
Gravel kings x 45
Dragster bars
2nd hand Shimano Sora brifters are really cheap in europe. Maybe some Soras instead of some regular brake levers and the biggest tyres the frame can handle.