Mountain Bikes to Cruisers - Questions

[rockethead26]

In cold snowy kommunistik Russia we have not much cruisers and this culture is just appeared. So few years ago I haven't seen a cruiser and I wanted to make my mtb looks a bit hot rod or something like that. I started with tyres, but a bit later a bought a cruiser. Well, the result was

Cool topic anyway.

Love the creme bricks! The bike looks great.

 

[Spincycle]

Fun projects! Rockethead26 I have some thoughts for you to chew on. You have two bikes with suspension forks. If you want to go rigid theoreticly you'll want either a suspension corrected fork or a triple tree fork. This is so you can maintain the current geometry. If you put a standard rigid fork on the bike you'll drop the front end a bunch which changes your steering angle and also lowers your bottom bracket height. You could possibly go with a Monarch style fork. I beleive felts Abraham comes in 1 1/8" threadless to match your headset. Secondly if you do end up getting rid of the front derailer you may have to buy a brake lever as some shifters are combined with the brake lever. Assuming you'd want to clean up the handlebars. Also if you want to go with a single sprocket up front you may have issues with it hitting the chain stays. Some bikes chainstays are wider than others closer to the bottom bracket shell. It depends on how close the rear wheel comes to the seatpost and what size tire the frame is designed for. I would say stick with the crank set you have and take off the chain rings you don't want if you want to keep the rear cassette/freewheel. If you want to go with a single speed or an internal gear, that's another story.

 

[rockethead26]

Fun projects! Rockethead26 I have some thoughts for you to chew on. You have two bikes with suspension forks. If you want to go rigid theoreticly you'll want either a suspension corrected fork or a triple tree fork. This is so you can maintain the current geometry. If you put a standard rigid fork on the bike you'll drop the front end a bunch which changes your steering angle and also lowers your bottom bracket height. You could possibly go with a Monarch style fork. I beleive felts Abraham comes in 1 1/8" threadless to match your headset. Secondly if you do end up getting rid of the front derailer you may have to buy a brake lever as some shifters are combined with the brake lever. Assuming you'd want to clean up the handlebars. Also if you want to go with a single sprocket up front you may have issues with it hitting the chain stays. Some bikes chainstays are wider than others closer to the bottom bracket shell. It depends on how close the rear wheel comes to the seatpost and what size tire the frame is designed for. I would say stick with the crank set you have and take off the chain rings you don't want if you want to keep the rear cassette/freewheel. If you want to go with a single speed or an internal gear, that's another story.

Spincycle,

Thanks for the excellent information and suggestions and for taking the time to do so. I need to start researching what's available in ridid suspension corrected forks. Thanks for the two possibilities. You may also correct about the brake levers, although I haven't looked at them close enough yet to determine if they are modular (where the shifter can be separated from the brake, or even if there is such a thing) or integrated (impossible to separate).

I want to see what can be done with the chainring. The simplest soluton may be to keep the current set up and remove the unwanted rings as you suggest. However, I may want some "cool factor" so I have to see how difficult/expensive it would be to change it out completely. I have a lot to learn.

This thread has already turned into a great reference.

Thanks again

 

[Ddivot]

In cold snowy kommunistik Russia we have not much cruisers and this culture is just appeared. So few years ago I haven't seen a cruiser and I wanted to make my mtb looks a bit hot rod or something like that. I started with tyres, but a bit later a bought a cruiser. Well, the result was

Cool topic anyway.

COOL bike. Love the gusset! I did not know Univega was still in the game?!? :?

 

[Green P1]

I did the MTB to cruiser thing with a freebie huffy last year to make a ride to take tailgating every Saturday during college football season. Its a really comfortable ride and really gets the compliments when I ride it up to the stadium.

I've changed it up a little since these pictures... guess I need to go back and update the build thread.

 

[rockethead26]

Green P1,

Awesome job. I think it looks great. I like the shifter on the frame instead of the handlebars, too.

 

[flatflip]

My mtn bike is a lot more fun now!

 

[socal_jack]

Here's one I did about 5 years ago bought a Redline Skookum frame that was discontinued and ripped a bunch of drivetrain off an old GT Avalanche that died of abuse, made somewhat of a BMX inspired cruiser with seatpost, bars and fork, a very fun bike.

Redline Skookum frame
Wheels/cranks/pedals/brakes taken from GT probably Sun Rhyno lite rim some type of SHimano cranks & hubs, cheapo one-speed conversion kit, bash guard maybe Nashabar. avid BB7s have since been swapped for Tektro to upgrade my one-speed MTB
Titec El Norte seatpost, Schwinn maybe BMX handlebars
Used DMR fork
Maxxis Holy Rollers

 

[interstate1976]

COOL bike. Love the gusset! I did not know Univega was still in the game?!? :?

Yep. You can still buy one in Russia. Here is the example http://www.velosite.ru/search/?none...bcats=0&price=0&brands=univega&year=0&custom=

 

[jackdaw]

My mtn bike is a lot more fun now!

Hey, post this over in the Chrome frame gallery! And what's that cool rack??

 

[flatflip]

My mtn bike is a lot more fun now!

Hey, post this over in the Chrome frame gallery! And what's that cool rack??

Ahh, the CFG. Got the rack from Buster1 in the for sale forum. I reminded me of the in-cool racks of my childhood. That's why I love it

 

[flatflip]

My mtn bike is a lot more fun now!

Hey, post this over in the Chrome frame gallery! And what's that cool rack??

Ahh, the CFG. Got the rack from Buster1 in the for sale forum. I reminded me of the in-cool racks of my childhood. That's why I love it

"It reminded me of the un-cool racks of my childhood".

I couldn't find the edit button in tapatalk.

 

[rockethead26]

There are some really nice photos of mountain bike conversions being posted. Lots of great ideas.

Might I suggest that when you post a photo of your conversion, that you add a bit of info about changes that you made to help all of us newcomers, like sizes/brands of new rims if any, tire sizes/brands, make of handlebars, brake levers, chainrings or anything else that you changed out. It would make this thread really helpful for everyone interested in doing this type of conversion.

Thanks everyone!

 

[StepChld]

I did the MTB to cruiser thing with a freebie huffy last year to make a ride to take tailgating every Saturday during college football season. Its a really comfortable ride and really gets the compliments when I ride it up to the stadium.

I've changed it up a little since these pictures... guess I need to go back and update the build thread.

Go Mean Green! :wink:
Nicely done.

 

[MadMax '58]

.........

 

[Spincycle]

Here's a couple snapshot's of the conversion I'm working on. The green bike is the front sprocket donor. I found it in a construction bin. Its an early 90's 6 speed. The red frame bike is your run of the mill 21 speed mountain bike. Thats the one i'm using for the conversion. I also found that in a construction bin. I got really lucky because the sprocket just clears the chain stays. I'm talking about a 1/16". The chain also lines up with the coaster wheel that I'll be using. That's the black wheel that's on there. I've got some other parts on order for it. It will have a completely new front end. If the sprocket didn't line up or clear I could get a wider bottom bracket axle, or a smaller sprocket. The coaster hub can be dished to match the chainline if needed.

 

[Godzilla]

Dr. T,

Awesome cruiser conversion! What are those rad looking things running from the bottom of the forks to the stem? Gives it a very retro look but I can't say I've seen their like before as I'm relatively new to the mod scene. Thanks for the inspiration!

Best Regards,

G'zilla

Hey rockethead26,

This is rather 'straight forward' re-purpose (compared to what some of the folks do on here :mrgreen: ).

You mentioned a fork swap, from what to what? From suspension to rigid? From rigid tubular to vintage blade or springer (which looks pretty cool BTW)

Here's before and after shots of my Diamond Back MTB turned 'path bike'. I'm in the process of upgrading to U-Brakes even thinking about fenders... I'm running a single ring in the front and 6 speed cassette in the rear. It's plenty of gears for my needs.
Before:

After:

Let me know if I can help out.

Cheers,
Dr. T

Hey rockethead26,

This is rather 'straight forward' re-purpose (compared to what some of the folks do on here :mrgreen: ).

You mentioned a fork swap, from what to what? From suspension to rigid? From rigid tubular to vintage blade or springer (which looks pretty cool BTW)

Here's before and after shots of my Diamond Back MTB turned 'path bike'. I'm in the process of upgrading to U-Brakes even thinking about fenders... I'm running a single ring in the front and 6 speed cassette in the rear. It's plenty of gears for my needs.
Before:

After:

Let me know if I can help out.

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

@Godzilla,
They are (were) an old set of truss rods.
Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[horsefarmer]

Dr. T
Any details concerning the setback seat post on your Diamondback "path bike"?

I have a Raleigh with a stuck aluminum post. its a little too high now and bike has a taller frame so I'm thinking of cutting it off and moving the seat back a little. I have an old one piece crank I may cut off and use for the setback post.

 

[Duchess]

This is technically an early hybrid (Giant Innova), but in the early nineties, the only real difference with a low end mountain bike was 700c on skinnier tires over 26". I changed mostly everything but the frame, fork, and wheels. Cantilever brakes are original, but the levers are not. Deraillers are also original, but the shifters are modified downtube shifters. Bars are Nitto Albatross, stem is a quill-to-threadless conversion so I could get an open-face stem for easier handlebar swaps and moves (I originally had it flipped, but I like it better now). The red stays are reflective tape as are the yellow on the wheels and the pedals are wood block (red oak) that I made from a set of cheap cruiser pedals. The lights are 12V running off li-ion packs, one in the front pannier and the other under the rear fender (I still need to put some side plates on to hide the ugly). It is my least valuable bike, but is my most ridden. It rides great, is comfortable, and everyone seems to love it. Surprisingly, the total weight with all the heavy lighting junk is only 35 lbs.

In an earlier guise, but it's the best pic I have of the shifters. I made those knock-off Brooks grips, but they would get moldy, so I no longer have them.