Road bike to gravel bike conversion

[Moult]

Any of you had success with converting an older model road bike to a gravel bike?

[Prince Albert Cycles]

Somewhere is an article about a lady who rode the Swartberg Gran Fondo with an old steel road bike that she converted to a gravel bike .

[AB]

Got this Old Zini frame converted by Emile from Whippet Cycles 

[Wayne pudding Mol]

1 hour ago, Moult said:

Any of you had success with converting an older model road bike to a gravel bike?

I think the problem is often tyre clearance for proper gravel tyres 

You can use 650b rims and get adapters to make the brakes fit

a project I also want to do 

[Jewbacca]

I have a steel disc road bike that takes up to 38c gravel tires or 42c x 650b tires.

It's a small. It is awesome. I'm about to put it up for sale.

[AllTerrain]

15 hours ago, AB said:

Got this Old Zini frame converted by Emile from Whippet Cycles 

At the risk of sounding silly, what exactly was converted here? Or did they just fit gravel tires? Where the brake mounts moved higher to give more clearance? 

15 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

I have a steel disc road bike that takes up to 38c gravel tires or 42c x 650b tires.

It's a small. It is awesome. I'm about to put it up for sale.

What frame is this, or is it a custom made. I need something like that, but in a large/55-56cm frame

[Butterbean]

3 hours ago, AllTerrain said:

At the risk of sounding silly, what exactly was converted here? Or did they just fit gravel tires? Where the brake mounts moved higher to give more clearance? 

What frame is this, or is it a custom made. I need something like that, but in a large/55-56cm frame

Looks like gravel tyres, maybe 32c or 35 if they're extremely lucky... Gravel bars, and single chainring conversion.

[Moult]

The 1x chainring doesnt make sense to me on the gravel bike. Especially not here in the Garden Route. We have plenty climbing and nice flats too. 

[Patchelicious]

Simply ride the bike from tar onto gravel… viola #groading 

[Patchelicious]

20 minutes ago, Moult said:

The 1x chainring doesnt make sense to me on the gravel bike. Especially not here in the Garden Route. We have plenty climbing and nice flats too. 

I went 1x, if I could make that choice again, I would go 2x

[AllTerrain]

5 hours ago, Butterbean said:

Looks like gravel tyres, maybe 32c or 35 if they're extremely lucky... Gravel bars, and single chainring conversion.

Okay, I thought as much, but that’s not exactly what I would consider converting, in my mind converting a frame includes making some kind of modifications to the actual frame to make it suitable for a gravel bike. This is just fitting different components to make it fit for purpose. When I put a faster rolling tire on my Mountainbike, for a couple of days riding across the Karoos back roads, I don’t call it a conversion. 
 

I’m not asking about the conversion to sound cocky though, I’m considering the same type of build myself, and the biggest issue I’m facing is how to getting decent tires to fit. Which means either sourcing a disc ready frame, giving you some Freedom in terms of rim size and tires, or figuring out how to make cantis fit over 40 or 42 profile tires….

[AllTerrain]

3 hours ago, Patchelicious said:

Simply ride the bike from tar onto gravel… viola #groading 

The whereabouts series of films has had me questioning the need for the existence of gravel bikes in the first place……

 

These dudes ride road bikes across continents, on all types of roads, weather etc, But don’t even consider expecting most Gauteng roadies to ride thier bike across the gravel parking lot to join the cycle lane on a Saturday morning when they take on the cradle. I’m not joking, I have seen guys actually carry their bikes across the parking lot. It’s mad…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5135168/
 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by AllTerrain

[Butterbean]

1 hour ago, AllTerrain said:

Okay, I thought as much, but that’s not exactly what I would consider converting, in my mind converting a frame includes making some kind of modifications to the actual frame to make it suitable for a gravel bike. This is just fitting different components to make it fit for purpose. When I put a faster rolling tire on my Mountainbike, for a couple of days riding across the Karoos back roads, I don’t call it a conversion. 
 

I’m not asking about the conversion to sound cocky though, I’m considering the same type of build myself, and the biggest issue I’m facing is how to getting decent tires to fit. Which means either sourcing a disc ready frame, giving you some Freedom in terms of rim size and tires, or figuring out how to make cantis fit over 40 or 42 profile tires….

Yeah the thing is, even a lot of actual built for purpose gravel bikes don't fit 40c tyres. If you want a full on, proper conversion, youll have to find out a way to fit centre pull cantis, or actually, you could cold set the rear triangle to fit a disk hub and weld on a disk brake mount... Its hard, but doable and done before. (just saw a video from Oldshovel on YouTube that did just that). Then its on to get a replacement fork that is disc friendly and you're away with your conversion. 

In terms of gravel, i reckon wide tyres and suitable brakes are the only REAL difference. Geometry, bars, and groupsets make a small difference, which, when added up will make a big one. But groupset is by far the least important, and im a firm believer in 2x for gravel anyway. Bars are a personal preference but rapide will have you sorted cheap. Nothing you can do about geo, but old steel has plenty of compliance and should ride great despite the angles...

 

[Mountain Bru]

1 hour ago, AllTerrain said:

The whereabouts series of films has had me questioning the need for the existence of gravel bikes in the first place……

 

These dudes ride road bikes across continents, on all types of roads, weather etc, But don’t even consider expecting most Gauteng roadies to ride thier bike across the gravel parking lot to join the cycle lane on a Saturday morning when they take on the cradle. I’m not joking, I have seen guys actually carry their bikes across the parking lot. It’s mad…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5135168/
 

 

As someone that has carried my road bike across a gravel parking lot at the cradle, I find this offensive ???? ????????

Tyre choice matters though. If you're riding the worlds heaviest tyres - gatorskins - you can ride wherever you want without worrying too much. But if you have something quicker and softer, like GP 5000s, I think being more careful is a good idea, especially if you don't feel like starting your morning ride by fixing a puncture. 
 

[Butterbean]

1 hour ago, AllTerrain said:

The whereabouts series of films has had me questioning the need for the existence of gravel bikes in the first place……

 

These dudes ride road bikes across continents, on all types of roads, weather etc, But don’t even consider expecting most Gauteng roadies to ride thier bike across the gravel parking lot to join the cycle lane on a Saturday morning when they take on the cradle. I’m not joking, I have seen guys actually carry their bikes across the parking lot. It’s mad…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5135168/
 

 

Yeah but just cause you can do something, doesn't mean you should. You could likely drive to Cairo in a polo, but id rather have a landcruiser since they're widely available. 

That being said, the tourde France was for many many years a gravel race, you know, before the roads were paved... So roadies have been doing this since inception... 

[AB]

14 hours ago, AllTerrain said:

At the risk of sounding silly, what exactly was converted here? Or did they just fit gravel tires? Where the brake mounts moved higher to give more clearance? 

What frame is this, or is it a custom made. I need something like that, but in a large/55-56cm frame

Gravel tyres, drivetrain, brakes, rear triangle had to be expanded to have enough tyre clearance.

Still not sure if this counts as 'converting', apologies ????

Edited July 4, 2021 by AB