Have We Built The Perfect Gravel Bike? | Old MTB To Super Gravel Bike Ep. 3

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It's complete! Alex has been on a journey with the old mountain bike, but has he been successful with turning it into a super gravel bike? He's here to take you for a ride and break down all of the positive and negative aspects of the build! What do you think, let us know what you'd do differently!
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28 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 250

@simonwoodthrillerwriter 2 года назад

Over the winter I converted a mountain bike to a "gravel bike" but wasn't as extravagant. I converted a Cannondale M600 with a 3x8 groupset to a 1x10 GRX with tiagra shifters. It came out surprisingly well. I wasn't sure if the bike would handle well but it does pretty good.

@DavidWhiteOfFleet 2 года назад

I enjoyed that series. I'm not sure about the front forks, though. 😝

@michaeljohnson254 5 месяцев назад

thats why ur not a pro cyclist let alone a gcn presenter lol

@ZOB4 2 года назад

Interesting idea, but you should probably stop fronting with the "Budget" aspect - there is nothing budget about this build. You could easily have gotten a very capable, purpose-built gravel bike for the price of the groupset alone. "If you're budget won't stretch that far, something like this will work" - yeah, sure guys.

@REMODA92 2 года назад

Yes another GCN fairytale for those who lack an understanding of basic arithmetic & the cost of grx di2 groupset alone in the so called “ budget build”..🤦‍♂️

@malikhaidar 2 месяца назад

well, I'm not here for the price because bike part is unnecessarily expensive, but I'm here because of the idea. like how a converted mtb build would perform. I can find the cheaper part myself.

@ragwort3369 2 года назад

Old MTBs are really versatile bikes. I converted my fist gen Kona Lavadome into a drop bar expedition tourer a few years ago.

@MrBonacho 2 года назад

Congrats on the good work you are doing in the channel. But, how about the total cost of your project? How does this bike compare with a true gravel bike in the same price range (considering the total spent)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of making a project like this or simply buying a new gravel bike? Is it just for fun or is there any differential that justifies the number of hours it took, from the market research to the mounting?

@kobold2376 2 года назад

i agree with all the question you have asked, the vid really just felt like an ad, as there were almost no information at all

@recumbentrocks2929 2 года назад

I agree, we want to know how much all that fancy spec cost!

@robertsandiford6223 2 года назад

@@kobold2376 I think nearly all of GCN is an add. Everything sponsored, and they say everything is good (wonder why?)

@MrDox123 Год назад

I finished a build this Spring with a similar idea as this one. Starting with a bare aluminium frame (with great gravel geometry) with a stuck crank and a U-lock through it (university coop exchange for a $10 donation), I managed to pry those off and strip the frame down to the bare metal (3 weeks of elbow grease). Sourced a carbon gravel fork for it and went to task painting it last Summer and waiting months for parts to arrive from various different sources. I built it up with SRAM Rival 1x AXS XPLR and an IS to FM adapter for the frame (unusual adapter that thankfully does exist). Carbon seat post, bars and a Deda stem and a Selle Italia saddle finished the top nicely. Also sourced a couple of different 700C wheels sets (one set DT GR1600 aluminum and the other a set of Elite carbons), one fitted with "urban" Vittoria Terreno Zero's in 32C and the other with Pirelli Cinturato H's (just like on your bike) in 35C. Swapping between wheel sets does require re-aligning the brake calipers slightly but I'm enjoying the versatility of the two different tires and wheels. I haven't managed to take the bike out into proper gravel terrain where some knobby 42-45C will be called for but the bike has plenty of clearance for up to 48C tires. I'm hoping to get the bike out into the countryside this summer perhaps sporting a pair of the very nice looking and I hear excellent Ultradynamico Rosé tires. Coming from a 30 year old vintage Cannondale road bike with Ultegra 600, I'm loving the feel of hydraulic disc brakes and electronic shifting. It's somewhat analogous to driving a sports car with paddle shifters behind the steering wheel! 🙂 In short, very pleased with the project and the ride of the bike exceeds all my expectations. Oh, my cost for the entire project (paint included) was about $3K. Equivalent "turn-key" bikes seem to sell for about $4-5K depending on frame material.

@stefis6 2 года назад

Great build, BUT - 40tx42t is just not low enough, for a great bikepacking bike like that. I vote - go 2x. Bigger tyres = rockier steeper tracks = lower and lower gears. 1x on this bike is a bit like a Landrover Defender not having a low-range gearbox. You could put on a triple chainset and remove the biggest ring, and you'll have 42/28 or thereabouts. Which will be PERFECT. 42tx11t = 100ish" gear, while 28tx42 will get you up 20% rocky/gravel ascents too. This is the sort of gearing that this gravel/adventure bike, with this tyre-width and clearance, deserves and it will truly get you anywhere. You do not need 29er wheels. This is a problem with new gravel bikes these days - they are sold with gear ratios that are far too high. PS - done the same with a circa 2000 26" Raleigh RSP 250. Converted from V brakes to hydraulic, from tubed to tubeless, and from flat bar to a weird bar for drop position with MTB brake/gear shifters.

@paddy1991 2 года назад

Converted a mountain bike I got on the cycle to work scheme in 2018 into my commuter/gravel bike. Changed the tyres the road tyres at the start and gradually replaced parts as they wore out. The only original parts now, are Frame , seat post, saddle and handlebars.

@Al.M. 2 года назад

Beautiful area to ride a bike with those colorful flowers everywhere.

@francodellamura7471 2 года назад

Great built Alex. I did my first ever Gravel ride at Thruxton a few months ago on my cyclocross bike, I rode 700c x 38mm, they were adequate, but found all the different terrain, I would have preferred suspension forks, especially if you have a locking system attached, even better. After my ride my wrists and forearms were aching so badly! Compliments on the video, and keep up the great work!

@thomasnewton8997 8 месяцев назад

It looks awesome 👍

@CarnivoreDMD 8 месяцев назад

Just rebuilt my 1992 Cannondale M800 for Mnt biking & holy crap, it’s actually a gravel bike!😂

@migsestevanez5576 Год назад

Hey man! 26er old XC frames actually fit 700c wheel sets, i own a Scott Elite (from the early 2000's) and converted it into a gravel bike just a few months ago with 700x35c tires, and i think there's enough space to fit 40c ones

@TheEpieikeia 2 года назад

Was so spellbound by the idyllic sylvan bluebell background that I barely paid attention to the GrX upgrades, gravel handlebar and so forth on first hearing...! Had do play it a second time to fully appreciate Alex's characteristically meticulous handicraft -- apart from those protruding cables around the stem...

@JoeOaken 2 года назад

Would love to attempt a project like this, really enjoyed the series! Good stuff!

@mhn23visual 2 года назад

Weird choice of components really. Why go for a Di2 set on such an old bike? Mech 600 would have been more than sufficient, spec. for such an "old" frame design, where you had to sacrifice a bottle cage to make the junction box work. It doesn't make it "super" because you slap an expensive groupset onto it. But i assume this bike will get disassembled quickly after the video and the sponsored parts get put on a better frame.

@erich8258 2 года назад

GCN videos are entertaining, but they're often sponcon, and this surely is. Shimano paid to have the build done with Di2.

@MrNytrog 2 года назад

Full Suspension Gravel Bike! I am almost doing this insane act! I have a Full Suspension 26r Carbon Frame brand Astro. Is a nice Frame! I just love it.. but I got also a lot of quality suspension on it. Manitou Marvel Pro... Manitou at back... all the bearings from cane creek... the bike is insane. Buuuut is a 26 MTB. And I fall in love with Gravel... But I hate the gravel situation when you are in bumpy roads... then I think... WHAT IF! What if I create a Full Suspension Gravel Bike. I can lock out my rear and front suspension...

@countspokeula539 2 года назад

"if your budget won't stretch that far..." slaps di2 on it.

@Servicevelo 2 года назад

I don’t reckon it’s that small Alex. Many racers use a size down, look at Tom Boonen 6’4” and rode a 56cm. The proportions of that look good on you to me.

@jendralhxr 2 года назад

some ppl also intentionally use smaller frame than "prescribed" for the better maneuverability and tricks

@alexgraves6842 2 года назад

Beautiful bike, Alex. Great job. 👍👍👍

@xuchenglin6256 2 года назад

Cool video, but after watching that a question came to me “why not just ride that mountain bike in its original state?” So far the only obvious difference is the drop bar vs. flat bar, and the riding position as a result. For the tyre you can always change anytime. These are the only 2 things that actually matters when riding if you are not doing a commercial with commitment to the sponsors…. After all the hassle, why not simply change the drop bar and bang you are good to go?😂

@Teacherinasubie 2 месяца назад

I think that is pretty sweet. Although wondering if my old MTB might be too old. 1993 Trek Antelope 850.

@davidcawthorne7115 8 месяцев назад

You could do this for so much less money than you spent. And still get an excellent gravel mountain bike. 😊

@kyllebrianhasim5989 2 года назад

How about putting rigid fork on it i think would look awesome

@stuartmisfeldt3068 2 года назад

Why not go with Campagnolo Ekar or SRAM? No electronic cable routing.

@rigenmurakati9618 2 года назад

Shimano sponsored this series.

@adam__smith 2 года назад

Shimano would have disapproved…..

@kidShibuya 2 года назад

Why would Shimano make a video about competitor products?

@fennec13 2 года назад

needs a different fork - a 100mm travel fork on this bike - you'll be over the handlebars if you stop too quickly on a downhill :X And with those parts you could have gotten a really nice alloy bike brand new with a GRX mechanical groupset (or indeed any mechanical groupset) for less... Is it worth it? Especially after you admit you should have gone for a 29er ? I guess not eh?

@wilsentwins 5 месяцев назад

Do we need to check the geometry if we want to cinvert mtb to gravel? Or just throw all the gravel stuff ?

@fideliovienna4631 2 года назад

Why didn't you start with an old Trekking/Crossbike? They already have 700C wheels and could be much more easier to. retrofit. I enjoyed watching the series, but i cant comply with the verdict that this was a good solution for a "budget solution" The conponents are so expensive that the build was easily 5000€ (and i think you would have to spend more) So, nice series for someone who is keen on building, but If i spend that much, i would rather buy a new gravel bike with adapted geometry and so on.

@glennpettersson9002 2 года назад

It's a good looking bike but a 29er or 700c hybrid might have been a better choice. Perhaps run it next to Doddy's Tomac replica for comparison 😃

Год назад

Hi, could you tell us please the weight of this bike after the conversion? Thanks in advance! Have a great day!

@PedroPrego 2 года назад

What conversor are you using to use a thru axle wheel with a qr? Link for the product please? Thks

@eddiea5076 Год назад

I'm curious of the drop bars y'all installed on this build? Anyone can identify it?

@najibnajmudin512 2 года назад

Look for super long seatpost and longer stem, then the size issue solved

@johnwesley2943 2 года назад

How much did it cost? I bet you could have bought a new bike for the price of the components. I went to get a service on my daily driver and had the unpleasant surprise of being told it would be better to buy a new bike. So much for make do and mend haha.

@paulovictor1664 6 месяцев назад

Meu projeto está parecido, muito bom.

@TBATTIECYCLING 2 года назад

Some bike that , almost as good as my Trek Checkpoint

@ebenezermamabolo2063 2 года назад

Give it to Blake at GMBN to test it around the mountain bike trails and put it to the test.

@user-wn5yr6sq9y 10 месяцев назад

How much teeth for crankset?

@ramadhan_lutfi1666 2 года назад

Any chance GCN network join the unbound gravel 200 miles?

@vyas555 2 года назад

Whats wrong with a 29 er cross country mountain bike?

@edwardsjohnpaul Год назад

Why did you keep that suspension fork? I'm in the process of doing something similar but for a fraction of the cost. Surly corner bars, 45mm tyres, and a rigid fork on a 26" Klein Pulse from 1998. All the rest (drivetrain, disc brakes, Di2) is unnecessary and expensive fluff.

@silver_c1oud 2 года назад

is this 26er frame bike?

@firstnamelastname9013 2 года назад

👏👏👍👍

@easternbrown 2 года назад

Being honest Alex, in the end it looks like a bit of a pinarello bodgema with all the zip ties and what not.

@danielgarrad 2 года назад

I'm no accountant, no wait I am , but that looks like it cost the same as a decent gravel anyway, don't think he says the cost all in but I'm thinking 2k ? Still not sure why you wouldn't just use a nice carbon HT, how often would you be on the drops.

@markfrench9004 2 года назад

I was thinking the same. Get a nice Boardman and save myself the trouble. But then again, I'm no bike builder.

@joffbrown 9 месяцев назад

So how much you selling it for ? As it’s to small for you 😊

@capflamme Год назад

I like the idea of a build project, but...Buying a 500£ old alu frame, a brand new Ultegra groupset, wheels, tyres, saddle, seatpost handlebars and all the little bits of hardware plus specific tools is certainly the worst idea you could have to get a decent gravel bike, money wise. Just buy a complete bike and you will get a brand new carbon frame for the same price or less. You also spare yourself the hassle to wait days for parts that actually don't fit together.

@davidcawthorne7115 8 месяцев назад

Not sure 40 up front is enough with 11-42 rear. A triple or double chainset up front. Would give more appropriate gearing for most folk. 🙃🌈

@mnbv5555cxz 2 года назад

The Muc-Off thing on the seat disqualifies this for a supernice - WTF is that?

@childofeternity 2 года назад

I'm gueesing it's a tubeless sealant/inflater can.

@tiagosantos6273 2 года назад

Try to do it under 500€

@neilk22 2 года назад

650b wheels for gravel died with the cannondale slate - a total non starter

@AlpineTrails Год назад

Honestly not quite what I wanted to see. The bike looks great but basically is an old hardtail with high end gravel components. Wish you'd have gone more mid range and replaced the forks, talk about geometry, feel on the trail. Judging by the price of components, you can easily buy a race ready gravel without all the work.

@wstephenson Год назад

Agreed, I wonder why they didn't discuss the longer reach and low head tube on MTB frames.

@DigitalB11 2 года назад

Why did you go for Di2? Externally routed Di2 cables isn’t the best look, nor is it practical for gravel riding. Mechanical gearing would’ve been much better.

@mtwhrj 2 года назад

RocknRoll bike, til you found tarmac

@nickcolburn8340 2 года назад

Poor mans version. Buy a cheap early 2000’s MTB and fit some drop bars 👍

@joaosobrinho8678 2 года назад

Without the total cost of the build, the video is a bit pointless and useless for people to compare a build with a new bike. I know the video was sponsored, but the cost would be helpful for people to compare with, and also, compare the overall cost with some currently available options in the market. If there are no limits on the cost of the build, then why doing the build and not getting a new proper bike with the same restriction: none? In the end, Alex tries to compare the end result with a new bike, but… €€€€ ?!

@timhough1243 2 года назад

Proven once again gravel bikes is marketing 😂 old mtb with different gears

@Digi20 2 года назад

well a gravel bike is a slightly more relaxed road bike with bigger tires and more suited gearing. of course you can archieve this with an old mtb, atb or touring frameset and the right components too. nothing wrong with that?

@chris1275cc 2 года назад

Did you miss the 2 video's where he changes EVERYTHING except the frame and fork with top of the line parts? But yeah its just the gears 🙄

@AndreiNeacsu 2 года назад

Anyone remember cyclocross bikes? No?! Then the marketing bs was strong in the last 10 years.

@chris1275cc 2 года назад

@@AndreiNeacsu Or touring bikes. The original argument with the whole Gravel Vs Old School MTB was NEVER that they are just the same thing, but that you can do the same type of riding on both, and yeah outside of competition you can, how we got to sticking £100s-£1000s worth of parts on a next to worthless frames to try and prove a point that did not needed proving I will never understand.

@kidShibuya 2 года назад

I can never understand how people say this while also believing that XC and downhill bikes are different things...

@drooghead 2 года назад

I built a gravel bike. Step 1: buy an old hard tail mountain bike. Step 2: job done. Step 3: ride it.

@Bonky-wonky 2 года назад

I bought a future (2027 ish) gravelbike…a dropper equipped 29er xc hardtail.🥳

@thetechfromheaven Год назад

I bought a Giant Iguana from early 2000's, by sticking a 1x meme and some Altus stuff, and doing a custom paintjob, now everyone thinks its a modern expensive gravel bike!

@oo0024 Год назад

I bought a Halfords carrera subway and put wide drops on it absolutely heavy but it’s brilliant

@hein_mcleod Год назад

Old hardtail, change to droppers and "gravel" tyres. Bob's your uncle!

@markfrench9004 2 года назад

I'm interested to know how much the whole thing cost. This certainly wasn't a budget build.

@littleshopofrandom685 2 года назад

if you had to pay real prices, 5-7k. Kinda a dumb build in that regard.

@streglof 2 года назад

@@littleshopofrandom685 might as well buy a gravel bike instead

@a1white 2 года назад

@@littleshopofrandom685 just get sponsored by Shimano, then get the whole groupset and wheels for free 😅

@Arthur-kl4uo 2 года назад

Di2 certainly not a groupset of the people. You can buy a proper entry/midrange gravelbike if you're keen on spending that amount of money. It'll be interesting to see if they could've gone from thrash to treasure like they did a few years ago with the "cheap bike to super bike" challenge

@littleshopofrandom685 2 года назад

@@a1white Well, i would have thought the point here was taking and OLD mountain bike, and popping some drops and skinnies on it and comparing it... not taking a relatively new mountain bike frame and putting top end "gravel" parts on it. just a weird thing to do and doesn't really serve any purpose.

@cjohnson3836 2 года назад

The thing I like most about this bike is that the paint scheme reminds me of the old suzuki gsxr from the mid/late 90s

@recumbentrocks2929 2 года назад

I did a very simple change to my mountain bike to make it a gravel bike....I changed the tyres. From 2.1" down to 40cc. It has made it much easier to ride on tarmac and still capable of going off road.

@incurseio Год назад

Only tires?

@erlendsteren9466 Год назад

On my allroad commuting Mtb I changed both the tyres and the front chainrings to larger 28-38-48. Good on both Tarmac, gravel and tracks. Narrow old flat bar, positioned low.

@mtb717 2 года назад

I want this bike!) I’m 15 years old and I love riding a bike and watching tech videos) hello from Ukraine!

@jascollinscork 2 года назад

Great little series…..regardless of cost it was fun to watch for tips alone!! #moreplease 😀🤞🏻

@dhtmbowen Год назад

I liked this series so much I’ve bought an identical bike and will do a conversion to it but actually on a budget. Advice gratefully received but absolutely not spending £2000 on a groupset for a bike that cost £100.

@mikefreitas1331 Год назад

Have you finished it already??? I am planing to do the same with my 2017 rockhopper...

@richarde1355 Год назад

How were you able to find this bike model?

@dhtmbowen Год назад

@@richarde1355 the power of ebay. Bike was a pos. I sold it on and bought a 3T.

@tonypatten250 2 года назад

I have done something similar. took my old 2001 rockhopper comp disc, rigid on-one steel forks and fitted spare Sora shifters and rear mech . kept old spesh cranks but with single 36t ring. Old 9spd MTB cassette gives me quite the limited range but I don't do big hills on it. I had old Shimano cable calipers to mate to the Sora shifters. The throw is a little off but not awful. I have enjoyed doing it so much and it's the bike I have the biggest soft spot for. I have allez for road and newer rockhopper for off road so the "gravel" bike doesn't need to be awesome at its role. Have a go, especially if parts are freely available. I can always go back to flat bar and alleviate some of the niggles. Even put the 2001 bomber z1 back on!

@hobo_overland 2 года назад

I love it, and I've really enjoyed this series. My 'gravel' bike is exactly that, it's a carbon Empella 26er with drop bars, Shimano 105, Avid BB7s and 650b wheels. It all works perfectly together and is a joy to ride. I call it the GarvelBastard

@dafiltafish 2 года назад

No GCN, you have not made the perfect gravel bike, this is not a budget build in the slightest and for the cost of those parts, you could have a fantastic gravel bike instead of an over-specced and mutilated hard-tail. If you (anyone reading this) want to turn an old MTB into a drop bar bike, get cranksets that actually fit and don't try widening the rear end on anything but a steel bike unless you know how to use a torch. Also consider matching the preexisting drive-train to drop bar shifters, microshift is your friend, and failing that there is always non-indexed shifting. Projects like this require a level of creativity not displayed in this video series and honestly I am disappointed in GCN for greenlighting this.

@sos8747 2 года назад

3:33 I think you may have a strange definition of "nice and tidy"

@glennoc8585 2 года назад

Should've just put the mechanical shifters on.

@two-eyedRoy 2 года назад

V. Cool. Now... give it to The Samson (or whomst'd've one from GMBN that fits it) for some berm flogging and I'd be intrigud by their thoughts of the positives and flaws. The Wheels-Tyres thing: Non issue really. Unless you're racing it for wins, how does it matter? As long as you enjoy it and it feels alright.

@seanthomas4716 2 года назад

Why oh why was it not cleaned after being stripped??? 🤷‍♂️

@CaptainShiny5000 2 года назад

I would much rather try to find a 28" Trekking/Touring Bike with a rigid fork and cantilever brakes and go from there. That might bring you closer to the actual Gravelbike experience.

@ronbell7920 Год назад

If you do try the Magura H33's hydraulic rim brakes, they are awesome!

@stellawallington8869 2 года назад

I’ve got a merlin titanium mountain bike from the mid 90’s, worth a go?

@bonkasaurus_wrecks 2 года назад

For all your talk of clean aesthetics, there sure are a lot of fiddly cables and zip ties evident. Mechanical shifting would have meshed with the existing frame cable stops and reduced the number or work arounds. A double would give you more room between the chainstay and the crank, as well.

@lukestreet8473 2 года назад

Where's the dropper post 😐

@shanemtbike3021 2 года назад

Yes awesome, I built 2 gravel bikes out of old Mtbikes. One is a yr2000 Marin Columbus tube frame with gravel bars, GRX group and 700x40 wheels, rigid Soma fork, I had to weld a disc rear mount. The other a Soma cromoly Mtbike frame, old very light Manitou 3"Suspension fork, GRX disc group, gravel bars and 27.5 x 2 mtb tyres. Love em both. My fully Mtbike just sits in the shed now.

@maxab7e63s5 2 года назад

My conversion I had to use v brakes and you should see the lenght of the seatpost I had to purchase but I absolutely love riding it.

@billmccaffrey1977 2 года назад

Actually, the early mountain bikes did not have shocks - they were after market options like Rock Shock. My Trek 950 was one of these shock-less bikes and I loved it. Now that would have made a good gravel bike with only a few mods.

@Pillokun 2 года назад

I am seeing the gravel bike centric channels responding to this build series by claiming they debunked that good old 90-early 00 are fit to be good Gravel bikes. I have already seen a plenty of examples where these gravel bike centric channels made fun of such builds. I my self have a super duper capable gravel bike(straight mtb super wide handlebar though) and it is so fun on gravel/fire road. To tell the truth it is way too fun as it uses a rigid fork instead of an 8-12cm fork which the frame is best suited for and that can scare one from time to time when not holding the handlebar on uneaven ground as it becomes pretty much a road bike with longer chainstains as the 90s mtb actually were looking at the geo.

@erics9214 2 года назад

A little over a year ago I repurposed my old 90s era mountain bike as a gravel bike. I didn't have Shimano sponsoring me, so I used Claris level road components. Looking back, I would probably use Sora. Retaining the triple crank on the front gives me a very large, usable range of gears for any terrain. On a rebuild I might consider a compact double. I'm running tubeless Panaracer Gravel King tires in a 26x2.1. At low pressure these tires give quite a bit of compliance and at higher pressure the rolling resistance is more than acceptable. The bike was a fun build and has been very enjoyable to ride. I've ridden every thing from multi-day gravel tours to a 150 mile single day mixed surface ride.

@gustavgo 2 года назад

No GCN-scale of truth? or is weigh-ins not allowed for gravelbikes?

@feedbackzaloop 2 года назад

or a freehub sound check... Kids these days!

@goldenmath4091 2 года назад

love the idea Alex, do it again with budget parts, you can get frame etc from Julian house right here in bath build it the they way we would, you could build something really useful for well under a grand I have just done it with a voodoo frame, not high end, but alot of fun

@AleksiJoensuu 2 года назад

Really cool project! It would have been an interesting addition to tally the total cost of the project if you'd had to buy all the parts at retail, and an (even approximate) rundown of the labour time you put into it. Then you might have compared all that to what sort of new bike one might have gotten for the same sort of cash, or how much one might have had to spend to get a similar new bike in order to save oneself the work.

@frozenbean 2 года назад

This reminds me of my first nice cross country hard tail, but with drop bars on (I also had an XT groupset, since GRX didn't exist, and Hayes discs). That was a seriously fun bike for fire road and singletrack. Cheers on the build, Alex!

@rickbennettartmusicvideo7720 2 года назад

Cool project! Maybe do a gravel race on it and video that.

@ammgarage 2 года назад

On a topic of wheels picking up a 29er for the build would mean you are choosing rather fresh mtb not an old one which I guess was not the idea. Whole thing of converting an old mtb comes from a fact that you actually already upgraded to a newer one and you are left with perfectly good bike that no where near as good in mountains bu can be still used for something else

@slawomirb1984 7 месяцев назад

Done such conversion and cheaper. Old Kellys Quartz 2008 VB. One year riding, one ultramarathon and now made another improvements and more weight loss. Soon new vids will come how it performs

@klaasdoeden3113 2 года назад

It would be interesting to try to convert my Surly ICT to a fat tire gravel bike where I could either go fat or go plus. Perhaps I am just crazy. Thinking about it after my short intro to Unbound Gravel last weekend.

@larryt.atcycleitalia5786 Месяц назад

"Neat and tidy"? Not great IMHO. This thing seems a LONG way from perfect or budget. I built a real cheapo version using mid-90's MTB. Kept the 26" wheels and V-brakes along with triple drivetrain (with a smaller cogstack out back) using Microshift bar-cons and Tektro road-style levers designed for V-brakes. Liked the results enough to blow the budget angle on a repaint of the frame but the entire thing still cost me less than $1000 in total. And I'm still riding it despite (as you noted) liking gravel enough to have replaced two road bikes with gravel bikes set up with fat slicks. So I say DO IT...but do it on the cheap or just forget about it and buy a genuine gravel bike and spend the time RIDING instead of wrenching.

@patthewoodboy 2 года назад

its a mountain bike with drop bars , my mountain bike thats fully rigid and flat bars does the same job , but can do more twisty stuff single track than any gavel bike , its the reason I sold my Whyte Friston

@cospinan 2 года назад

Nice job, However, you guys from GCN have diminished this type of bikes in past... the same type of bike you have built in this video. Anyway This type of bikes are great. I have done 3 of them... and they are great

@barryfrancis7899 2 года назад

I did the same with an old rigid mtb but on a cheaper scale the only problem I had was that as it was a steel frame and I didn't change the wheels it was a heavy bike to ride so I have ditched the wheels and frame now and am looking to do the same again but with a better frame set and wheel set Great inspiring vid

@SlickCycler 2 года назад

Is that a can of Muck-off cleaner on your seat post? I've seen other GCN presenters carrying this too. Is this a new trend?

@Exgol2005 2 месяца назад

Took same route. Downside: speed. Using 2x chainring (42/28T), can't just keep up with true gravel bikes. So higher cadence rate is required.

@martinfisker7438 2 года назад

I rode a hardtail MTB first, then a gravel bike. There's two reasons I like the gravel bike: 1) Asphalt doesn't suck to ride 2) The incapability of the gravel bikes make normal trails fun, instead of having to ride MTB tracks

@karlr6810 2 года назад

Gotta disagree - my Salsa El Mariachi with Conti Race Kings 29x2.2's are fast on asphalt and handles well on all other types of ground, no issue. I do have a gravel-specific bike (custom built-up Jamis Renegade) however, the El Mar is the one bike I can easily ride almost anywhere without worry. None of my three bikes are road...which is okay because I'm not a roadie anyway. :)

@brush_popper 8 месяцев назад

This video inspired me to convert my 29er chinese bike to a gravel bike...just a budget conversion , cant afford high end conversion kit. Nice video thou👍

@adomingo5579 5 месяцев назад

Did this bike run on a Thru Axle front and Rear Wheelset? Looks like EP1 and EP2 showed TA hubs... hmmm

@bricke87 2 года назад

Honestly, this is totally useless for the commoner - I am using an old steel 26er bike from the 90s as a commuter and I will definitely look at some sort of conversion as I believe those bikes have still life left in them but this "conversion" shown here is totally BS. What I would love to see is: 1. Getting a steel bike from the 90s 2. Upgrading it where it makes sense with budget-sensible choices (9x2, 10x1, v-brakes or cable actuated disk, maybe 650b wheels) 3. Ending up with a 500$ budget bike that you enjoy and that would cost you 1500$ to buy something of similar performance in the market. Buying a cheap alu (!!!) 26er with a dart fork and spending 3k in upgrades is straight dumb, a missed opportunity for sure.

@mechanicOn2Wheelz 2 года назад

Awesome bike build cool seeing you using a old pina like that 🤪 (i work at a shop that stocks pinarello is always cool to see older models) Only thing i would say other than the size is that you could wrap the di2 cable to the brake hose with some electrical tape (at least from bars to frame) give it a nice look hides the extra calle length too 🤪

@thomasalancox127 7 месяцев назад

Interesting but not helpful because the build components are too expensive and the bike too new. Might as well just but a gravel bike. Would have been more helpful to have taken an old hard tail with rim brakes and built from there with 105 level parts. Most of us have old MTBs sitting around