Making a MTB road friendly

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rykoala

A friend of mine has a dept store bike with front suspension, and he just got a new AL frame Wal-mart FS bike. I talked him in to using the FS bike for trails only and the other bike for road use.

We are going to be putting slick tires on it, along with a few other things to make it more road friendly. Not sure what yet.

Besides some smooth tires, does anyone have suggestions for turning your basic MTB into a more versatile ride?

Thanks alot :)

boudreaux

davef

Careful about high pressure in those road slicks! With "no-name" spokes and 100PSI I was breaking a spoke a week. Down to 60PSI and things are OK.

rykoala

Originally posted by davef
Careful about high pressure in those road slicks! With "no-name" spokes and 100PSI I was breaking a spoke a week. Down to 60PSI and things are OK.

yeah I keep them around 60, nothing too insane here ;)

rykoala

Originally posted by boudreaux
Narrower slick tires is about my limit on a mart bike.

No offense dude but that's not what I asked. I asked what mods youwould make not which mods you wouldn't make.

I know, my friend knows, that they are cheap bikes. We don't care, its all we have ya know?

neil0502

Originally posted by rykoala
No offense dude but that's not what I asked. I asked what mods youwould make not which mods you wouldn't make.

I know, my friend knows, that they are cheap bikes. We don't care, its all we have ya know?

The only other mod that I can think of off hand that would facilitate using that thing on the road is gearing

When you ride a heavier mtb on the road, you find yourself shifting between two gears an awful lot--wishing there were two more gears in between.

You probably have something like 12-34t gearing in the back (guessing here). For road, you typically have a wider selection of gears in a narrower range (11-23/25/27 -- something like that). You might be able to change out your cassette to road gears instead. Might be a $30 fix -- but then your bike's of limited utility off road.

I would think your front and rear der's should be pretty versatile. Others would know better than I here, but I think you're pretty safe as long as you stick with the same number of speeds that you have now (in other words, if you have a 9sp cassette, replace with another 9sp cassette). (Any help here??)

I'd go with the slicks, ride the hell out of it, fall in love with cycling, then post again--this time with the subject: "Carbon or Ti...."

Be safe.....

boudreaux

Doctor Morbius

Originally posted by rykoala
A friend of mine has a dept store bike with front suspension, and he just got a new AL frame Wal-mart FS bike. I talked him in to using the FS bike for trails only and the other bike for road use.

We are going to be putting slick tires on it, along with a few other things to make it more road friendly. Not sure what yet.

Besides some smooth tires, does anyone have suggestions for turning your basic MTB into a more versatile ride?

Thanks alot :) Rykoala,

I ride an MTB for road use all the time. As a matter of fact, I bought a 2003 Raleigh M60 on eBay last fall and it has never seen a trail. :D At 240 LBS I'm afraid I would tear up an 18 LB road bike. Also, I can dodge oncoming cars and traffic easier with an MTB.

The only mods I've made were very simple ones. I replaced the WTB Velociraptor tires with Kenda Kross tires. There are two types of Kenda Kross - ones with a thin middle section and ones with a wider middle section. I have the narrower (and older) version.

Second I went clipless with the pedals. That way I could still work on pedaling technique and perfect circles. Gives the hams a good workout too.

Third I replaced the stock saddle but I'm still not happy with it. Too much pain on the ol' sit bones and such.

Lastly, I'm replacing the wheels to something a little more substantial than stock. I have a set of Sun Mammoth rims laced to Deore LX hubs being FedEx'ed.

Out of all of these, the slick tires have made the most difference for street riding.

Keep in mind that if you plan to do very many upgrades then you would have been better off just buying a more expensive bike in the first place. You could easily spend $200 upgrading your Walmart bike. I would just do the minumum and enjoy it as is.

neil0502

Originally posted by boudreaux
Actually dude, I was being charitable. The best thing I would do is toss in dumpster and walk away.

"Boud-reaux'd" hard and put away wet.....

rykoala

Originally posted by boudreaux
Actually dude, I was being charitable. The best thing I would do is toss in dumpster and walk away.

I don't need your charity.

To all the others who posted something constructive: thank you.

rykoala

Originally posted by Doctor Morbius

Out of all of these, the slick tires have made the most difference for street riding.

Keep in mind that if you plan to do very many upgrades then you would have been better off just buying a more expensive bike in the first place. You could easily spend $200 upgrading your Walmart bike. I would just do the minumum and enjoy it as is.

That's my plan. No need to polish a turd too much. But I'm a tinkerer ;) My friend just wants to make his a better road bike w/o spending too much too. Thanks alot!

Doctor Morbius

Originally posted by rykoala
That's my plan. No need to polish a turd too much. But I'm a tinkerer ;) My friend just wants to make his a better road bike w/o spending too much too. Thanks alot!
The most important thing is to just get out and ride them, whether they're Cadillacs or beaters! Ride the bikes, have some fun and gain some fitness. Sounds like a great plan to me.

I have one of these Schwinns (see link) on order. Should be here in June. Obviously, I'm not going to be competing in a century or time trial on it. But I guarantee this... I'm going to enjoy the living cr@p out of that bike! :D

http://www.schwinnbike.com/heritage/attachment.php?postid=46100

dabac

Originally posted by rykoala

Besides some smooth tires, does anyone have suggestions for turning your basic MTB into a more versatile ride?

If it's really versatility you're asking for I wouldn't change anything else than tyres. But if you're looking to road it up a bit I'd also consider doing something about the front end. Maybe see if I could find a regular fork somewhere, perhaps switch to a longer, downwards angled stem. Depending on your stamina, I might even consider adding one of those triathlon aero bars(?)

Looking over the gearing is a good tip too. Sheldon Brown has a good compatibility page. But that can wait a bit until you've figured out what you want.

gclark8

I'v done,
the tyre thing, 559x30 continental slicks,
suspension seat post,
road seat,
Cleated pedals/shoes,
next, better rims/wheels, with road cassette, 11-28,
then flat bars to reduce the frontal area.

All on a Merida Kalahra I bought for A$250... some food for thought..

cheers
George

drewjc

My advice would be the same as most of the guys above. dont spend too much but enjoy what u have. If it is possible and practicable upgrade to stuff that would be easily fitted to a new/better bike some time in the future as this might save u some time/money in the long run. Another thing i just thought of was bar ends.......doing any sort of mileage on flat bars tends to get uncomfortable and bar ends are a good position change for climbing or even riding on the flats.

rykoala

Thanks alot guys I really appreciate the responses. Most of them are getting saved in a text file.

Drewjc, you mentioned bar ends? Are those the things that stick forward at a forward angle at the end of the handle bars? My bike has those, I don't think his does. But that can be changed ;)

drewjc

Yeah, thats what bar ends r. Really good for climbing (or any riding) especially for extended periods. Just creates a nice change of position. Have u got toe-clips or clipless pedals (u will need shoes also with clipless type)? if not then maybe these would be worth thinking about as u can take them with u if u ever get a new bike. they help attach your feet to the pedals to create a more efficient pedalling stroke. Hope that helps.

neil0502

One other thing, RyKo: checked out your website. Congrats on your first 30 pounds lost! Best of luck on the next 70. I can think of no better motivator to get you out there when it's 115F in Nevada!

We'll look for a post from you next year with the subject "How do you all keep weight on when you're clocking 400 miles/week."

:)

rykoala

Thanks neil0502!

I hope to have the next 70 gone by the end of the year, but that's an agressive goal I might not meet. I'll weigh signifigantly less though and I'll be in such better shape! That's my main goal.

400mi/wk? I don't think I have TIME for that kind of mileage. Barely had time for what I did this weekend, see my post in the cafe ;)

Originally posted by neil0502
One other thing, RyKo: checked out your website. Congrats on your first 30 pounds lost! Best of luck on the next 70. I can think of no better motivator to get you out there when it's 115F in Nevada!

We'll look for a post from you next year with the subject "How do you all keep weight on when you're clocking 400 miles/week."

:)