Converting my Mountain bike to a Gravel bike

[Mongoose!]

5 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Ai ai ai .... 'monstercross' bikes are like single speed bikes ..... you don't BUY one, you BUILD one 😜

Correct. And a cyclocross bike as a gravel bike is also not the best idea - been there with a CAADX...

[ChrisF]

Johann at risk to life and limb ... I wanted to do the same, i.e. from a hardtail to a gravel bike.

 

I ended up with TWO key deciders :

 

1.  A fellow Hubber with MUCH more gravel experience than me pointed out how little time he spends in "the drops", and that on many of his later gravel bikes he uses straight bars.  Now as you have seen in previous posts on this thread is not welcomed amongst the Hub-gravel-police ....

 

2. Around our area even the edges of the tar can do with some front end suspension, never mind the gravel ....

 

Thus I ended up with a good old hard tail with a 1x11 setup, and a 40 ring up front for some top end  (may just go for 42 when I replace the ring).

 

I like the Spez Sawtooth tyres, but they only go to 45C.  I am now running 50C Panaracer Gravel king tyres.

 

 

 

Okayyyy .... I will go sit in the corner ... apparently this is not a gravel bike .... what the heck, it serves MY purpose.  COMFORTABLE ride .... decent top end .... useless for aero, but being built like a brick that was never going to happen in any case.

[ChrisF]

21 minutes ago, Milosh said:

If you change bars,  fork,  brakes, and gears you will be close to this but not be N+1 or one to sell 

https://rookcycles.com/collections/rook-scout

 

Sad reality is that the parts for a conversion will cost almost as much as the Rook .... 😏

 

Might be cheaper to sell the old bike, add the conversion money and buy a new Rook ..... though N+1 is ALWAYS the better option 

[Dusty]

5 hours ago, Johannbothma said:

Is there anyone close close to Benoni  Gauteng who can help me sourse parts and help with the build. I'm looking to convert my Mountain bike to a Gravel bike. 

This is an awesome frame. If you wanted to, you could get it in at well under 10kg.

[Koos Likkewaan 2]

53 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Ai ai ai .... 'monstercross' bikes are like single speed bikes ..... you don't BUY one, you BUILD one 😜

I could not agree more. The satisfaction of building, riding, changing, riding and so on.... can not be achieved by buying either of these (monstercross or singlespeed.)

[Johan A Marais]

My gravel conversion, 29er HT frame with carbon fork, 1x12 speed (grip shift), 38 oval chainring, carbon handle bar with short stem and chrome Cura 4 brakes. 

Still work in progress, but just under 10kg as is... 

Rides sommer baie lekker 😀

[gerriemtb]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

Okayyyy .... I will go sit in the corner ... apparently this is not a gravel bike .... what the heck, it serves MY purpose.  COMFORTABLE ride .... decent top end .... useless for aero, but being built like a brick that was never going to happen in any case.

MY purpose, COMFORTABLE ride - How dare you?!

[The Ouzo]

but isnt a mtb with straight bars and narrower tyres just a rigid mtb with narrow tyres ? i.e. not a gravel bike

[ChrisF]

9 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

but isnt a mtb with straight bars and narrower tyres just a rigid mtb with narrow tyres ? i.e. not a gravel bike

 

But isnt a road bike with wide tyres just a road bike with wide tyres ....  

 

 

 

 

Way back when that is what we used on gravel roads, with standard road tyres .... decades before the industry dreamt up a new cash-cow .....

[cadenceblur]

Shared previously on another thread, my conversion, not the must cost effective, but a fun process!

[bullet77]

[bullet77]

This looks the same, I also have a gravel bike but don't like it.

Referring to @cadenceblur bike above.

Edited August 31, 2023 by bullet77
forgot to hit reply

[Dappere]

3 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

I’d have kept the suspension fork and rather swapped the bars for drop handle bars. This way you can run nice and wide tires and have the benefit of being more aero in position. 

Surely you would need to increase your stem length given how upright you normally sit on a Mtb? This way you are a bit more stretched out and more aero. Unless I have it all wrong?

The drop bars have increased reach compared to a straight bar. Most road bikes have reach between 80 - 100mm, the latter being considered long reach.

For gravel specific drop bars, generally with a flare, they have a smaller reach around 70 - 80mm. Specialized has a short reach version of their gravel drop bar at 65mm. When Trek released their new Checkpoint, they increased the top tube length and compensated by reducing the reach of the handlebar the bike ships with to 75mm. There are also gravel bars available at even shorter reaches of between 40 - 55mm, but they aren't as common.

There is a cyclist, Chris Hall, who pointed this out in one of his videos:

 

 

[RobertWhitehead]

Mine is a true Franken-bike, I can't find a kiekie now but it is a Schwinn Fastback road frame with a wider carbon fork some sweet Mavic road wheels with 38c gravel tires a flat bar and a 2x10 set up. Mtb 11/36T at the back with a road 39/52T in the front. Flat bars, mtb shifters, child seat and a number plate 3D printed by a fellow hubber "Café Racer" . 

[Dappere]

4 hours ago, cadenceblur said:

Shared previously on another thread, my conversion, not the must cost effective, but a fun process!

+1 for adding a dropper. Good looking bike - how does she ride?

[TyronLab]

Search for the "How to Build a Monstercross Bike" thread, heaps of info there. I have spent a LOT of time researching this and partly doing it.

Why are you looking at converting your current bike vs buying a gravel bike? A drop bar MTB's advantage over a purpose-built gravel bike is 50mm+ tyre compatibility and being able to run "normal" MTB suspension, not the super expensive gravel specific forks.

If you want a convertible bike you can play around with an MTB / gravel config, then go for it. Just beware that the ease of getting this done and the cost of getting it done are inversely proportional. 

Seeing as you're running a short stem with minimal spacers under it you're 99% likely going to be uncomfortable on a drop bar conversion on this frame. Running flat bars, gooi some inner bar ends on there, big chainring, rigid fork and gravel tyres and have a jol.

Least amount of faff? Buy a Rook Scout. Trust me when I say, bang for buck and capability, you'll be hard pressed to find something better.