the unofficially cool MTB drop bar thread

[frkl]

Ha. Ya, I'm currently wrapping bars in cotton tape, finishing with twine and champagne corks and mixing shellac for the finishing touch.

I was majorly influenced by Bridgestone bikes BITD and like some of the BOBish things that Grant and Rivendell have been promoting over the years. He was definitely way ahead of the curve on the whole gravel thing. I also like the aesthetic of lugs and steel hence why I'm here. His writing definitely sounds very dogmatic and I was pleasantly surprised to hear him in Russ' recent interview on the PLP vlog. Too bad I didn't buy a used low normal derailleur before the run on them started.

Don't get me wrong, i like lugs, cotton take, and shellac a lot.

But it's things like this



The juxtaposition of the amazing detail of the frame with the Nitto bar and the digital watch on a foam shim. But that is all very intensionally done too, of course.

There is certainly a statement being made.

 

[manuelschafer]

iv got a NOSish, XTR m951 if some of you wants to try this....

 

[manuelschafer]

Don't get me wrong, i like lugs, cotton take, and shellac a lot.

But it's things like this

View attachment 618998

The juxtaposition of the amazing detail of the frame with the Nitto bar and the digital watch on a foam shim. But that is all very intensionally done too, of course.

There is certainly a statement being made.

RAD, so you show a cockpit on that the original fork was left way long in order to keep it comfortable keeping bars all up in SPACE?
#BlueSkySpaceRad

 

[hamster]

Interesting. I've been toying with the idea of trying a rapid rise after hearing what GP of Rivendell says about the design (apparently he's designing one for production).

I've never noticed the springs weakening in my high normal vintage mechs. Why do you think this is an issue with low normal vintage mechs?

In a high normal mech the spring and the chain tension work together, once the mech has moved a little the chain tension wants to seek a smaller sprocket and so the whole thing moves. In rapid rise, the whole mech action is powered by the spring and it has to fight the chain tension.

In other words, provided the spring isn't broken it's usually enough to get a conventional mech to function.

 

[averagebiker]

Well that's it, I am just going to have to definitely convert one of my project bikes into a drop bar, rigid MTB!

 

[frkl]

In a high normal mech the spring and the chain tension work together, once the mech has moved a little the chain tension wants to seek a smaller sprocket and so the whole thing moves. In rapid rise, the whole mech action is powered by the spring and it has to fight the chain tension.

In other words, provided the spring isn't broken it's usually enough to get a conventional mech to function.

you know, the cage exerts tension on the chain, encouraging it to go to the smaller cog in the rear, since this releases energy from the cage spring.

I am half convinced I should waste an afternoon and take out the tension spring on an old spare, making it neutral-normal, and see if the cage tension is enough to get it to shift high.

 

[hamster]

We may be talking at cross purposes - the spring I mean is the parallelogram spring, not the cage one.
But I had the exactly the same thought as you about removing the (parallelogram) spring!

 

[frkl]

Well that's it, I am just going to have to definitely convert one of my project bikes into a drop bar, rigid MTB!

Welcome to the land of abandoned technology! It's fun here

@benjabbi tried it out recently and didn't like it, so he may have a "cockpit" he'd like to sell.

Bontrager Race OR

Thought I'd have a try at the drop bar thing on this, think it might need a stem with slightly less reach but I'll give it a go and see what I think. If that fork has adjustable brake bosses you could have a 27.5in wheel up front and that would be really really interesting.

www.retrobike.co.uk

 

[frkl]

We may be talking at cross purposes - the spring I mean is the parallelogram spring, not the cage one.
But I had the exactly the same thought as you about removing the (parallelogram) spring!

no, i understand what you mean. the main spring in the parallelgram. the musing about the cage spring providing enough tension without the parallelogram spring was separate. Seed planted. Plant will now turn into a weed unless I try it....

 

[Tsundere]

2 earlier drop bar projects, both were a lot of fun to put together and to ride, the Roberts was especially rapid, the Team Marin needed a taller stem but was still a hoot.