I was recently given this 86 Miyata Nine Twelve from a coworker. I'm a complete beginner in relation to any bike work. I've ridden enough to know that I prefer drop bars (had an 80s schwinn roadbike that was stolen a few years back) for their versatility and comfort, but I'm not sure where to start with replacing them. Is there any beginner pitfalls I need to look out for when replacing the brakes, or any sizing considerations? Thanks!
by TexasPoon-Tappa
12 Comments
So this was a drop bar bike. Which means the geometry is suited for drop bars.
It’s not a hard job assuming it’s original parts and they worked around the issues of going flat.
Edit, so yeah with downtube friction shifters all you need to do is swap the bars and brake levers. Pretty simple.
You’ll likely need to replace the brake cables as well because they’ll be a different length, but otherwise very simple job
Not as bad as it could be since you have downtube shifters. Drop bars probably won’t coexist with your basket.
you’ll need a quill adapter for your size head tube (measure it or get it from the specs), and then you’ll need a stem, spacers, drop bars, brake levers, new brake cables and some brake cable housing. RJ The Bike Guy on youtube does a lot of older bike modifications so he probably has some videos on this type of work, but it’s not super complicated… the cables will follow the existing routes, the new housing will go where the housing is now… probably the most complicated parts will be getting the stem height correct and wrapping the bar tape
It wouldn’t be too hard. You would need to source drop bars with the correct diameter for your stem, you’d likely want to replace your brake levers for the appropriate ones for drop bars, although you could technically put your current brake levers up on the “tops” of the new bar (only if the clamp diameter matches the new bar). If you replace your brake levers you’ll need to get new brake cables and very likely new cable housing. After that you’d simply need to wrap the bars and you’re done. Like other commenters said you’ll probably have problems keeping that basket, and you luckily don’t need to worry about your shifters as they’re conveniently on the downtube.
you can buy a 25.4mm set of drop bars which means you can keep the quill stem ( I saw another poster suggest using an adaptor and a separate stem which would allow you to grab a 31.8 clamp set of bars.
The biggest issue I see is the basket possibly getting in the way. I do these kinds of swaps for people all the time. Be prepared to need to make adjustments because you won’t have it dialed perfectly to the correct height off the hop. So leave yourself lots of extra cable housing slack when you set the bars in case you want higher drop bars.
Just did the opposite on my Miyata haha. Pretty easy just a few things to consider:
– If you’re keeping quill stem, you’ll be looking for 25.4 drop bars. Otherwise you’ll need to have an adapter setup.
– Bars will need to be wide enough for your basket if you keep that
– Probably want to swap from horizontal mtn bike brakes to drop brakes. Consider if you want to swap your downtube shifters for brifters/ bar end shifters.
– Your cable length with change so you can assess your cable housing and cables and trim to length
nice bike , i like the way it is now !
One thing that nobody else has mentioned yet is the basket.
Depending on how wide your basket is, it may well interfere with the drop section of drop bars, so you’ll need to get the tape measure out and choose some drop bars that are wider than the basket. The rest is pretty straightforward as others have said.
Just make sure that you’ll fit the bike after the conversion. The reach will increase considerably and since you have the saddle all the way down, I would assume the bike is already big for you.
Simple, really. You can swap out the bars no prob. It’s probably a 25.4mm clamp diameter. The brake levers will need to be changed to road levers and re-cabled. New bar tape. Some have suggested changing the stem to a longer stem? That’s a bad idea. If anything, I go shorter on drop bars, but in this case it looks acceptable to start.
Pro tip. Get everything together before you begin. Bars, tape, brake levers, grease, bar end plugs, cable, cable housing and all the tools you will need. Flat head screw driver, Allen key set, adjustable wrench or wrench set.
I think those nitto stems are always 25.4mm – you can still stick a 26mm bar in there, you can either shim it or just button it up tightly
FWIW, whoever put it together put together a pretty nice looking bike. You should take it over to r/xbiking and see what they say 😉
I would definitely ride it around for a little while though, it looks like the perfect city bike imo. Go run an errand on it and see if you still want to swap the bars.
Beautiful bike!