Drop bar Conversion on M-Trax ????

LOL, me too! I run a 90mm stem on an old 1990 Marin with drops - but these are shallow drop 3T Forma Randonneur.
With bigger drops I needed a stump-neck stem.

It depends hugely on top tube length. Probably the happiest conversions are on lower-end frame which tend to be a bit shorter. From that point of view a modern frame could be better, if it weren't for the thing having no brake bosses and expecting a long-travel fork.

Have you any pictures yet Neil?

player":1z5e9n3e said:

Have you any pictures yet Neil?

Click to expand...

All in good time

I only got the bars and stem yesterday and fitted them yesterday evening.

I am about to tackle to issue of the front mech, as I have found a road crank will not work with my frame, so I have gone for a triple mtb crank, with the granny ring removed.

So, the issue is chain line, or in simple terms, will a road front mech reach both chain rings? Or do I have to spend (more) money on an mtb front mech? :roll:

NeilM":1ulfaq4r said:

player":1ulfaq4r said:

Have you any pictures yet Neil?

Click to expand...

All in good time

I only got the bars and stem yesterday and fitted them yesterday evening.

I am about to tackle to issue of the front mech, as I have found a road crank will not work with my frame, so I have gone for a triple mtb crank, with the granny ring removed.

So, the issue is chain line, or in simple terms, will a road front mech reach both chain rings? Or do I have to spend (more) money on an mtb front mech? :roll:

Click to expand...

Neil, I got quite a few cheapy FD's if you want to try one and see if it works, I can let you have one for nothing if there's one that fits...

Rich, Whilst I found loads of interesting pics that made me laff, can't find one anywhere of the Raleigh RTB, sorry, but I will keep looking through the Cycling Plus mags...

LikeClockwork":gbws5hgz said:

[
Neil, I got quite a few cheapy FD's if you want to try one and see if it works, I can let you have one for nothing if there's one that fits...

Rich, Whilst I found loads of interesting pics that made me laff, can't find one anywhere of the Raleigh RTB, sorry, but I will keep looking through the Cycling Plus mags...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, I'll let you know.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that if I hit it with a big enough hammer... erm, if I engineer the solution correctly, I should be able to get it to work.

I know I can get a SRAM X9 mech to work on a 2 x 10 setup with a 28.6mm seat tube, as I have done two of these already. The question is whether I can get a SRAM Rival mech to reach all the way out to the big ring. Theoretically it should work, but as we all know, theory is one thing, practice is a different animal all together.

:facepalm:

This is what we used to call the 'Heath Robinson approach to cycle mechanics' when I worked in a shop. Just had to hope the customer didn't walk in as you were wielding the aforementioned big hammer....

Also known a 'forming', or to the layman bending!