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
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.
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.
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
@@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.
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.
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!
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.
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”..🤦♂️
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I just finished unbound 200 on a hardtail with gravel tires, drop bars, and a 100mm fork. basically a jack of all trades adventure bike. you can go anywhere, and have fun!!! 1000% the best way to enjoy all of the things!!!
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!
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?
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.
wow that's really cool, I've been looking for a video about this for a long time (changing an Mtb bike to a Gravel bike)... useful... yes, very useful...
I just swapped the handlebar in my Stumpjumper HT 2014 for a Corner Bar and it feels great, next step will be tires and maybe a rigid fork, although the bike has a Brain fork with shims modified for extra softness... I tried a gravel bike but I didn't feel confident off-road, but the HT modified or monster gravel is a different story...
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
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!
I actually did this type of thing not long ago. I converted a rather cheap 26" hardtail MTB to a still cheap, but purposeful gravel bike with 700c wheels and 32c tires. There were some quirks and tricks to play to get it to work properly, especially concerning the brakes, and the rear wheel axle, as I had a road bike wheelset lying around. The conversion was fairly cheap and it is a whole lot of fun to ride. To be honest, before doing this and riding the bike afterwards, I thought "gravel bikes are rather useless - I've got a decent MTB and a decent road bike, what do I need this for?" Turned out, I was very wrong - this is all the fun in between the two very distinct types of bike and riding. Nice video series! 🙂
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...
The project I started at Lockdown was an upcycling project with as few new parts as possible.... that makes more sense to me, in the end it was rims (700C) and spokes, a cheap steel fork , a 10 speed cassette and a rear derailleur that was new. I had everything else in "stock".
I've got a 26" early 2000's 7 series alu Raleigh frame I'm cleaning up to do something like this. I'm keeping the 26" wheelsize and plan to go budget micro shift 1X. I'm a roadie and can't decide if I should leave the flat bars or put on some drops... I think this build is a good idea if you have a frame lying around and keep it budget. But if you're already 500 into the bike to start, and plan to go electronic shifting and upgrading wheels, it feels like it would add up too much for the regular person.
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.
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...
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!
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.
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
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 🤪
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
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.
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
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
I have 2 bikes. 1 full suspension and 1 hardtail mtb. Hardtail I replaced the tyres for gravel and for the mountain bike, replaced the rear shock so I could fully lock it to feel like a hardtail or allow me to go on the bumps . I ride mtb only now as my injuries won't let me ride on the road bike position
That is absolute marvelous! Saw in one vid Doddy and Si with an MTB on drop bar but it felt sketchy. Cannot understand how come your making it superb when riding on it.💢💥✌
Love the build your own bike project. You could do this on a budget with a lower spec groupset. I've done this for my permanent turbo trainer bike, built from the spares box and ebay over time.
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
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. :)
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.
Kind of wild to see how far you can go with higher end Shimano parts. Obviously you can still do this with lower end or older parts. SRAM lets you manage it even easier due to how their parts mostly work together. The build is a bit of a red herring. Conversions will usually be a steel or alu bike from the 1990s with rim brakes. Cable actuated everything, not enough clearance for 650b, so on. But you know what? You can still have just as much fun graveling on a retro 26” drop bar build, no matter your budget.
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.
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.
On-One Inbred Frame Kona P2 Fork 26" DT Swiss X1800 wheels (all the rage in 2008!) Schwalbe Marathon Tour 1.75" 22/36 by 11-32 Deore 9 speed on Octalink cranks (175mm, everything was then wasn't it??) Shimano SLX (2010 SLX!) levers (big rectangular stupid reservoirs) and calipers (A01S pads...) RaceFace 740mm bars-or- Planet X "Geoff".....choice not dictated by STI's Except the newer bars all put together way before the gravel fad was introduced, and with the RaceFace bars it can do anything...could go more knobbly to 2.3" if going more off road but it reminds me of my first MTB in 1992.... back in the good old days when you had one bike to do it all lol
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.
I did this a few years ago with an old MTB frame; 650b/42mm tyres, 105/Grx groupset, TRP mech brakes and a rigid carbon fork. Couldn't find a decent 1 1/8 carbon fork so had to go Chinese on eBay - was crap. The caliper mount wasn't square so took lots of bodging to make it work. The bike was decent but not great, should have just bought an old CX bike & put 650b wheels on it with chunkier tyres. I now run a Bombtrack Hook EXT carbon with Zipp 303s. 8.2kg with a 11-46 cassette on the back, climbs like a goat!
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.
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.
Love a project, and this is such a money saver. Plus I child of the 90s mountain was the big thing I'm going to keep my eye out for a good deal. Plus the reuse of old frames love that people are obsessed with old steel road frames why not have that same obsession with old alloy mountain frames. One question would it be worth changing the fork?
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.
Awesome little series Alex. Kudos. Following this video I undertook my own build…but I outsourced it to Canyon. What was the muc-off thing on the back, tubeless repair?
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.
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👍
Sustainability is also a good argument, and if you have that in account this project could have been more sustainable (and economical), cause some of the old components were perfectly fine.
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?😂
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
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
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.
Only tires?
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.
I'm interested to know how much the whole thing cost. This certainly wasn't a budget build.
if you had to pay real prices, 5-7k. Kinda a dumb build in that regard.
@@littleshopofrandom685 might as well buy a gravel bike instead
@@littleshopofrandom685 just get sponsored by Shimano, then get the whole groupset and wheels for free 😅
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
@@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.
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.
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!
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.
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”..🤦♂️
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.
I want this bike!) I’m 15 years old and I love riding a bike and watching tech videos) hello from Ukraine!
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.
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.
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.
Have you finished it already??? I am planing to do the same with my 2017 rockhopper...
How were you able to find this bike model?
@@richarde1355 the power of ebay. Bike was a pos. I sold it on and bought a 3T.
Great little series…..regardless of cost it was fun to watch for tips alone!! #moreplease 😀🤞🏻
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.
Old MTBs are really versatile bikes. I converted my fist gen Kona Lavadome into a drop bar expedition tourer a few years ago.
I enjoyed that series. I'm not sure about the front forks, though. 😝
thats why ur not a pro cyclist let alone a gcn presenter lol
I just finished unbound 200 on a hardtail with gravel tires, drop bars, and a 100mm fork. basically a jack of all trades adventure bike. you can go anywhere, and have fun!!! 1000% the best way to enjoy all of the things!!!
It looks awesome 👍
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!
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?
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
I agree, we want to know how much all that fancy spec cost!
@@kobold2376 I think nearly all of GCN is an add. Everything sponsored, and they say everything is good (wonder why?)
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.
wow that's really cool, I've been looking for a video about this for a long time (changing an Mtb bike to a Gravel bike)... useful... yes, very useful...
I just swapped the handlebar in my Stumpjumper HT 2014 for a Corner Bar and it feels great, next step will be tires and maybe a rigid fork, although the bike has a Brain fork with shims modified for extra softness... I tried a gravel bike but I didn't feel confident off-road, but the HT modified or monster gravel is a different story...
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.
Great end video for your build Alex. Can't wait to see what is in store next for it!!
Beautiful area to ride a bike with those colorful flowers everywhere.
I think that is pretty sweet. Although wondering if my old MTB might be too old. 1993 Trek Antelope 850.
This could be the future of Gravel Bike. Hope bike maker build like this in the future. Look forward to it.
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
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!
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.
I actually did this type of thing not long ago. I converted a rather cheap 26" hardtail MTB to a still cheap, but purposeful gravel bike with 700c wheels and 32c tires. There were some quirks and tricks to play to get it to work properly, especially concerning the brakes, and the rear wheel axle, as I had a road bike wheelset lying around. The conversion was fairly cheap and it is a whole lot of fun to ride. To be honest, before doing this and riding the bike afterwards, I thought "gravel bikes are rather useless - I've got a decent MTB and a decent road bike, what do I need this for?" Turned out, I was very wrong - this is all the fun in between the two very distinct types of bike and riding. Nice video series! 🙂
Would love to attempt a project like this, really enjoyed the series! Good stuff!
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...
The project I started at Lockdown was an upcycling project with as few new parts as possible....
that makes more sense to me, in the end it was rims (700C) and spokes, a cheap steel fork , a 10 speed cassette and a rear derailleur that was new.
I had everything else in "stock".
I've got a 26" early 2000's 7 series alu Raleigh frame I'm cleaning up to do something like this. I'm keeping the 26" wheelsize and plan to go budget micro shift 1X. I'm a roadie and can't decide if I should leave the flat bars or put on some drops...
I think this build is a good idea if you have a frame lying around and keep it budget. But if you're already 500 into the bike to start, and plan to go electronic shifting and upgrading wheels, it feels like it would add up too much for the regular person.
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.
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...
I built a gravel bike. Step 1: buy an old hard tail mountain bike. Step 2: job done. Step 3: ride it.
I bought a future (2027 ish) gravelbike…a dropper equipped 29er xc hardtail.🥳
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!
I bought a Halfords carrera subway and put wide drops on it absolutely heavy but it’s brilliant
Old hardtail, change to droppers and "gravel" tyres. Bob's your uncle!
Not with a 32t chainring you didn't 🤯
Looks like fun to ride. Came out cooler than expected.
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.
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
On another note besides the great build.....what a gorgeous scenery! 😍
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 🤪
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
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.
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
What an excellent series well done !
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
I have 2 bikes. 1 full suspension and 1 hardtail mtb. Hardtail I replaced the tyres for gravel and for the mountain bike, replaced the rear shock so I could fully lock it to feel like a hardtail or allow me to go on the bumps .
I ride mtb only now as my injuries won't let me ride on the road bike position
I run a GRX rear mech and an XT cassette on my gravel bike and it runs a treat...1x10 set up...
Beautiful bike, Alex. Great job. 👍👍👍
been waiting for this nice series
What a great build well done 👍 looks awesome..
Black rigid fork it will be amazing
Cool project! Maybe do a gravel race on it and video that.
That is absolute marvelous! Saw in one vid Doddy and Si with an MTB on drop bar but it felt sketchy. Cannot understand how come your making it superb when riding on it.💢💥✌
Ooh same tyres as mine, great choice GCN M
Love the build your own bike project. You could do this on a budget with a lower spec groupset. I've done this for my permanent turbo trainer bike, built from the spares box and ebay over time.
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
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. :)
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.
Kind of wild to see how far you can go with higher end Shimano parts. Obviously you can still do this with lower end or older parts. SRAM lets you manage it even easier due to how their parts mostly work together.
The build is a bit of a red herring. Conversions will usually be a steel or alu bike from the 1990s with rim brakes. Cable actuated everything, not enough clearance for 650b, so on.
But you know what? You can still have just as much fun graveling on a retro 26” drop bar build, no matter your budget.
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.
Why not go with Campagnolo Ekar or SRAM? No electronic cable routing.
Shimano sponsored this series.
Shimano would have disapproved…..
Why would Shimano make a video about competitor products?
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.
Hi Alex why don't you wrap the cables with insulating tape. It looks nice and tidy..
I’ve got a merlin titanium mountain bike from the mid 90’s, worth a go?
Did this bike run on a Thru Axle front and Rear Wheelset? Looks like EP1 and EP2 showed TA hubs... hmmm
On-One Inbred Frame
Kona P2 Fork
26" DT Swiss X1800 wheels (all the rage in 2008!)
Schwalbe Marathon Tour 1.75"
22/36 by 11-32 Deore 9 speed on Octalink cranks (175mm, everything was then wasn't it??)
Shimano SLX (2010 SLX!) levers (big rectangular stupid reservoirs) and calipers (A01S pads...)
RaceFace 740mm bars-or- Planet X "Geoff".....choice not dictated by STI's
Except the newer bars all put together way before the gravel fad was introduced, and with the RaceFace bars it can do anything...could go more knobbly to 2.3" if going more off road but it reminds me of my first MTB in 1992.... back in the good old days when you had one bike to do it all lol
"if your budget won't stretch that far..."
slaps di2 on it.
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.
Just rebuilt my 1992 Cannondale M800 for Mnt biking & holy crap, it’s actually a gravel bike!😂
I did this a few years ago with an old MTB frame; 650b/42mm tyres, 105/Grx groupset, TRP mech brakes and a rigid carbon fork. Couldn't find a decent 1 1/8 carbon fork so had to go Chinese on eBay - was crap. The caliper mount wasn't square so took lots of bodging to make it work. The bike was decent but not great, should have just bought an old CX bike & put 650b wheels on it with chunkier tyres. I now run a Bombtrack Hook EXT carbon with Zipp 303s. 8.2kg with a 11-46 cassette on the back, climbs like a goat!
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.
some ppl also intentionally use smaller frame than "prescribed" for the better maneuverability and tricks
How about putting rigid fork on it i think would look awesome
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.
Love a project, and this is such a money saver. Plus I child of the 90s mountain was the big thing I'm going to keep my eye out for a good deal. Plus the reuse of old frames love that people are obsessed with old steel road frames why not have that same obsession with old alloy mountain frames. One question would it be worth changing the fork?
Should've just put the mechanical shifters on.
Sound odd but a link to the route you took would be great. I live near the white horse and would like to try the route my self.
Looks really cool!
What conversor are you using to use a thru axle wheel with a qr? Link for the product please? Thks
Do we need to check the geometry if we want to cinvert mtb to gravel? Or just throw all the gravel stuff ?
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.
If you do try the Magura H33's hydraulic rim brakes, they are awesome!
Awesome little series Alex. Kudos. Following this video I undertook my own build…but I outsourced it to Canyon.
What was the muc-off thing on the back, tubeless repair?
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.
GCN videos are entertaining, but they're often sponcon, and this surely is. Shimano paid to have the build done with Di2.
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👍
Good job! You know quiet a lot about bikes
Very nice bike 🤩
Why isn't the charging port on the junction box? That seems to always sit in a much better protected area than the bar ends.
Normally the box is inside the frame, so can't be reached with the charging cable.
Hi, could you tell us please the weight of this bike after the conversion? Thanks in advance! Have a great day!
Sustainability is also a good argument, and if you have that in account this project could have been more sustainable (and economical), cause some of the old components were perfectly fine.
Can’t see that working with an old school mtb with real 26’ wheels and v-brakes
Just went for a deep dive in my bike builds, found my 26ee/29er build from 2013. Built from parts
Drop bars in dirt where not a real thing
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?😂
I'm curious of the drop bars y'all installed on this build? Anyone can identify it?
cable tie: Si say "goodbye" although I don't know why. they tied the cables to the bike. :)
Fun series :)
All those Shimano cables. No way. SRAM for the win.
Why oh why was it not cleaned after being stripped??? 🤷♂️
How much teeth for crankset?
Having googled about and knowing this is triple chainset and 9 speed cassette I would say this is 2011 ish. Is it? 😊