HourGlass
Dirt Disciple
Thanks!Hi, nice ride
I do think that those sporty 700c /28" bikes from the mid 90ties are anyhow underrated.
To me this is a much better basis for a drop bar conversion compared to a 26" MTB, as the bigger wheels are cleary beneficial for fast rolling and the frame is often a bit shorter.
I personally would have rather shopped for new tires in the Gravel Bike section at your bike dealer or online shop, rather than the skinny 29er version of a traditional MTB tire. There are such a lot nice choices nowadays. Also a dark brown Skinwall would have fit nicely style-wise.
But that's just my own taste...
Just the rust on yours raised a bit my eyebrows. What's your take, call it patina and get over it, or even start to like it?
I do wonder why I don't see more hybrid conversions. Perhaps they just fall a little 'off-trend', or a drop bar on an MTB represents something a little more radical? (despite the popularity of this formula) But you're quite right in their suitability as a base.
Ha! It's funny you refer to these tyres as a "skinny 29er version of a traditional MTB tyre" as I've run this model of tyre in the past on my commuter (a single speed steel CX bike) in 35c format so to me, they're fat cyclocross tyre! But in all honestly, at the time I still wasn't 100% about hanging onto this bike longer term and was somewhat reluctant to sinking a heap of money into it. The general condition of the frame was enough of a motivator to avoid over-capitalising in what is little more than scrap
Between my wife and I, this is actually the only bike in our fleet that doesn't have tan walls! If I had my pick through I'd be fitting a set of Soma Cazadero in 700x50 (however they're not offered with a darker brown sidewall sadly).
I gave embracing patina a go, but in the end I couldn't help myself so I've since inspected, prepped and applied kill rust to all the suspect scratches, chaff marks and paint chips, and given the rest of the frame a good cut and polish. It still wears its battle wounds but they're less prominent now that the orange rust is gone (bare metal is now black / blue from the iron phosphate).
When I found the bike, someone had rammed a 28-ish mm 'candlestick' seat post into the 27mm hole, flaring the clamp and causing a slight tear in the base of the slot (visible in one of my earlier images). I'm pretty confident that I've sorted this by drilling a stress-reliving hole at the base of the crack, and filing the slot just that little lower which has completely removed any trace of it.
That's awesome! I've only lived in Cambridge for about 5 years and that shop's presence has always been such a curious wonder to me.I actually bought some tapes from that shop when I was a young teenager. Moved away, now I'm back in Great Shelford. Where are those totally 'rad' trails in the pictures?!
The two wide-angle images are from the path that follows Hobson's Brook between Long Road and the Botanic Gardens. It's now gated (so bikes no longer welcome) but it was fun to blast along as an alternative to the busway or High Street if you were riding from the south into the city centre. The other "trails" are the Roman Road from Wandlebury out towards Haverhill which is about as off-road as it gets in these parts
My regular off-road loop follows the Stapleford - Babraham Path where you can pick up the Roman Road near Worsted Lodge.