The setup pictured in the review, using bar end shifters, is very common. I've also seen vintage drop bar conversion where others have been able to modify or fashion clamps to use old thumb shifters which clamp near the stem of the drop bars (clamp is usually just before the bar increases in diameter near the stem). The issue is that where brake levers are attached, diameter of a mountain bar is slightly smaller than the diameter of a road bar. Soooo getting mountain specific brake and shift levers to mount on a drop bar is not straight forward.
Jones bars definitely give a different set of options both in terms of bike reach and also hand positions.
Been looking at some frame builders...might be the best way to go at the end of the day. A CX/gravel frame that will take a something like a 2.3 tire or a little larger. Custom geo, designed for drops, will accept larger tires, sliders for single speed option, threaded BB because threaded FTW, 12x142 rear...winner winner chicken dinner.
Will be cost prohibitive at the moment however. Probably looking at around $2k for steel unless someone knows of a quality custom builder that charges less. Right now I'm looking at 44 Bikes but I'm really turned off by the $300 extra charge for buying a frame only.
There's a couple that look interesting but none that check all the boxes. I can deal with 135 rear. But not a 1 1/8" steerer which seems popular on a lot of those bikes. Also really looking for something that has sliders for single speed option. EBB is out of the question. I'd consider a tensioner which obviously will work on just about any bike but would greatly prefer sliders. I had looked really hard at the Salsa Cutthroat before I got my Renegade. But no Salsa dealer within 2 hours kinda made me steer away. My local shops can get Salsa stuff....but they aren't actual dealers and it was order at my own risk so for the price...wasn't worth taking a chance that I didn't like the bike. The Salsa Vaya looks decent too. Up to 50mm tire but not a true mountain bike tire. I'd like something that will take something 2.1 to 2.3...or maybe even wider.
Did an 80 mile GG last Sunday and spent a good bit of time riding with a guy on a C'dale mountain bike with drop bars replacing the normal flat bars and road brifters replacing the mountain brake and shift levers. He seemed to be doing just fine and loved the bike - especially the Lefty fork which he could lock and unlock as required.
For riding gravel and roads he had 650b wheels which dropped the bottom bracket for a lower CG and a ride he preferred.
For me, one of the interesting sides of GG's is that there literally are all types of bikes. Titanium, carbon and aluminum fatties with flat bars and 4" tires. Mid fat's, some with drop bars and other with flat mtb bars. Road bikes with skinny 28c tires. A plethora of touring, CX and gravel specific bikes. And of course plenty of Frankenbikes with some very interesting mixes of parts. Yes, always fun to checkout the gear!
NoCoGreg wrote: For me, one of the interesting sides of GG's is that there literally are all types of bikes. Titanium, carbon and aluminum fatties with flat bars and 4" tires. Mid fat's, some with drop bars and other with flat mtb bars. Road bikes with skinny 28c tires. A plethora of touring, CX and gravel specific bikes. And of course plenty of Frankenbikes with some very interesting mixes of parts. Yes, always fun to checkout the gear!
Agreed. I really enjoy seeing the diversity of rigs at our local events. And just as interesting is that a number of those options that fall outside the perceived "norm" of what a gravel bike supposedly should be, apparently can work quite well. Of course, "gravel" can mean different things in different places...
Wasn't that long ago that running anything larger than 38c at a gravel event raised more than a few eyebrows from the "serious" riders (mostly recently converted roadies....). Now the 40-45c range of tires can't be adopted fast enough on most gravel rigs, and I see some riders using 2.0s with no apparent downside in our local conditions.
Reminds me of a saying about the "proper" way to drink whisky, which is probably a little too off-color for this forum.
Smithhammer wrote: Wasn't that long ago that running anything larger than 38c at a gravel event raised more than a few eyebrows from the "serious" riders (mostly recently converted roadies....). Now the 40-45c range of tires can't be adopted fast enough on most gravel rigs, and I see some riders using 2.0s with no apparent downside in our local conditions.
Reminds me of a saying about the "proper" way to drink whisky, which is probably a little too off-color for this forum.
Yeah, I can really appreciate the comment about wider tires. In my last GG I was running 38mm in front and 33mm in back (not by choice, but due to last minute "issues") and a couple times found myself descending at 30mph and getting into some soft gravel. Gotta get some larger rubber...
You'll have to PM me the "proper" way to drink whiskey. I've never been able to appreciate it and my daughter and son in law recently relocated to Tennessee so I hope to be making a few trips out to whiskey country. :-)
just to add a couple more options, soma fabrications makes a handlebar called the condor 2, which has a 50 mm ( 1.5" ) rise which works well in combination with a shorty stem to get the height one may need, it also has a good flare on the dropouts. and for an easy mount , external shift system, check out gevenalle shifters out of oregon, those mount on standard dropbar brake levers, have a really good heavy spring system for warding off chainslap, and i have taken them off for events to run singlespeed without dismantling the whole bike
I am really enjoying this 2013 Diamondback Mason Pro frame on a 425mm exxotic 45mm offset fork, with 42/28 11-36 10 speed gearing. I have new Vittoria Tattoo tires on, which are a blast on the chipseal I ride to the river in summertime. I do though have to swap the wheels to my mtb tires if I want to be at all aggressive on anything loose.
Lol, I wouldn't know! I had a back injury when I was 23, and in the interest of rehabilitation I began to ride without using the saddle. I stuck with that style for 14 years now. That is why these modern slack mtbs are so nice, you can slam them down and find pretty darn good geometry with tons of room to move around on top of the bike. I usually don't even have the seatpost mounted. That way I can really lean the bike and have freedom with my legs.
Hey, first time poster. Sharing my drop bar mtb build. It's a '93/94 litespeed obed. Running Ritchie Beacon bars, a carbon cx fork, DT Swiss 650 wheels, a full disc conversion (using a clamp on disc brake adaptor for the rear which works great), Sram shifters/gx rear derailleur. 40T 11/42 drivetrain. Brakes are TRP Spryes. Those cranks are OG raceface turbine downhill cranks from the 90's too. I have another set I've had in a parts in since the 90s but they were too long. Keeping with the vibe, it took me two weeks to find a set of 170mm cranks in yellow.
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