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Updating a 90s MTB for all-around use

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Updating a 90s MTB for all-around use
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flag matt-15
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Posted: Feb 15, 2024 at 12:51 Quote
I'm planning on moving in the near future, and bike storage will be limited to a (presumably shared) apartment storage room, which I don't trust enough to bring any of my expensive bikes until I can get a more secure private storage situation figured out. My dad has a 1992 Rocky Mountain Equipe that hasn't been used in years and wants it gone so I'm thinking of updating certain components to improve comfort, reliability, and performance, and bring it with me when I move out

This bike will mainly be used for getting around town, commuting, some light leisure gravel touring, and maybe a little bit of singletrack if I really start to miss not having easy access to my mountain bike

1992 Rocky Mountain Equipe

I've kinda split everything into 2 groups; upgrades I already plan on doing and stuff I'm on the fence about. I'm just looking for input on what is and isn't worthwhile to do

An asterisk (*) denotes a part I already have, whether it just be a spare part in my collection or is currently on a bike of mine that I can steal from

Upgrades I'm planning on, but feel free to make a case against if you have any better ideas:

-Replacement of all cables and housing
-Kenda K-Rad 26x2.3 tires* (assuming the frame has enough clearance, the current tires have cracking sidewalls so they need to be replaced regardless if the Kendas fit or not)
-Brooks B17 saddle*
-Raceface Chester pedals*
-Grips, probably some Ergon GA2 Fat grips*, but still undecided if I want to get something else instead
-New brake levers as I'm not a huge fan of the ones currently on the bike. The one I've been eyeing up are Avid Speed Dial 7 levers
-Non quick release skewers, whether that be a security axle or a more basic skewer that uses an allen wrench

Upgrades I'm undecided about, please give any advice for/ against these parts:

-Brakes. I mentioned brake levers in the last section, but as far as the brake itself I'm a bit more unsure. The most cost-effective option would just be to throw some fresh pads on the stock cantilever brakes, but I'm wondering if it's worth replacing the cantis with some newer v-brakes (Shimano Deore)
-A 1x drivetrain (8-10 speeds) would be pretty cool, although for the cost I don't think it's super worth it, especially as the only reason I'll be using this bike is so that if it happens to get stolen it wouldn't be a huge financial loss. Plus there's some charm in the stock 3x something drivetrain and top-mounted thumb shifters that I think would be a bit of a shame to get rid of
-Handlebars/ stem*. Being from the 90s, the handlebars are narrow and the stem is looong, and I'm used to more modern wide bars with a short stem. I'd have to figure out a way to fit a modern threadless bar/ stem to the quill system that's on the bike, but I've seen some adapters that should work. I'd still probably trim the new bars down a bit as 780mm seems a bit wide for a bike like this but maybe 760-740mm would work well. Stem length I'd have to play around with a bit and figure out what works best if I do end up going for it

1992 Rocky Mountain Equipe

1992 Rocky Mountain Equipe
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Feb 17, 2024 at 11:30 Quote
Also are there any other parts I should consider replacing due to the age of the bike? Like the bb or headset, even if they don't feel too bad? One of my goals with the bike is to basically do one big overhaul on it now so that it ends up being very low maintenance for the next couple years
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Feb 20, 2024 at 13:58 Quote
I dug the bike out of storage on the weekend and got some basic stuff done to it. I started by swapping over my 26x2.3" Kenda K-Rads that I had on a street/ dirt jump project bike I never really ended up using much, and they fit on quite nicely. After that I rode it down to my local shop and got some fresh brake pads for it as the original ones were very hard and didn't provide much stopping power. I also noticed that the cam on the quick release seatpost lever was incredibly worn down and couldn't be tightened as much as it needed to be, so I found an allen bolt and washer that fit and it seems to do the trick

photo

Once all that was done I decided to take it to the local trail system and see how it rode. I've gotta say, I have realized how incredibly grateful I am that we have modern mountain bikes. This ride was also a good eye-opener for what I need to change to get the bike to my liking. I could probably manage the handlebars and stem on road and basic hardpack gravel, but for anything rougher I'd much prefer wider bars and a shorter stem. I've started looking into options for that but quill stem options seem to be incredibly limited for what I'm after (1-1/8" steerer / 25.4mm quill diameter, and with a removable faceplate), might just have to go with a quill to threadless adapter if I go that route

I've also realized some of my planned upgrades can probably be skipped. I must have confused the brake levers I thought were on this bike with something else, and I actually quite like these levers so I'm not gonna change them. New brake pads (even the basic ones I threw on) did wonders for braking performance and I'm also gonna leave them as is. The cables and housing were in alright condition so I didn't bother replacing them for now, although if I do new bars I may need longer cables so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've also decided I'm not going to bother with a 1x swap on it. I would like to do a full restomod on a vintage MTB at some point, but I've realized I do have some sentimental value in this bike and don't want to change anything super major

Still planning on changing the saddle, pedals, and grips, but they are currently all on another bike that sees frequent use so I won't swap them until I need to
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Feb 20, 2024 at 14:03 Quote
Also please feel free to post pics of your own vintage MTBs that you've converted to more daily use commuters/ adventure touring bikes. I always love seeing cool projects like this and maybe something on it might inspire myself or others to do something similar!
flag barp
Posted: Feb 20, 2024 at 19:44 Quote
B17s are great, but I wouldn't put one on a bike at risk of being stolen.
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Feb 21, 2024 at 10:19 Quote
barp wrote:
B17s are great, but I wouldn't put one on a bike at risk of being stolen.

That's a good point, I really don't want to lose all the riding hours I put into the seat (not even to mention the cost), however I do want to run this saddle on the bike. I don't think theft risk is super high in the area I'm looking at moving, but maybe I should take the seatpost with me whenever I'm away from the bike for a bit (mainly either when in the storage locker, or if I'm gonna be stopped somewhere for more than like 15 minutes). Might start to get a bit annoying without having a quick release seatpost clamp, so I'll look into finding a replacement for that. Also I do run an opaque waterproof seat cover over it, so it generally looks pretty unassuming

Thanks for the advice, I hadn't really considered that before now Smile
flag barp
Posted: Feb 21, 2024 at 10:55 Quote
Cheers! I work at a bike shop so I've sold a few replacements for stolen saddles and seatposts.
flag dirttorpedo
Posted: Mar 4, 2024 at 13:46 Quote
B-17's look great, but aren't super weather proof. They also don't work for my rear end. I'm a big fan of the Cambium models because my bikes get parked in the rain. A saddle cover is an option is you really want the leather vibe

V-brakes are easier to adjust, but tend to make mounting fenders a pain. The Deore or even the Acera ones work great and are inexpensive. You will need different levers because of the different pull ratios if you do decide to swap

If you are going city bike you could stay quill stem and try some alt bars and either a dirt drop quill or a classic Nitto Technomic - lots of options in length and you can get your bars up high. If you don't want the european aesthetic of alt bars then you can go with a quill to threadless adaptor and your stem of choice. Maybe a riser stem would be good so you can stay with flat bars which have much more useful space for bells, lights, computers, etc. I try to stay away from risers on practical city bikes

Those kendas look super meaty for a city bike. I know you had them in the shed, but I'd be thinking about some Schwalbe marathons, Gatorskins or other speedier city tire. If I wanted balloons big apples and Fat Franks are popular options i'd consider.

I'm a huge fan of baskets for urban bikes. I'd consider mounting a wald basket or a porteur rack on the front for carrying shit.
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Mar 5, 2024 at 10:32 Quote
dirttorpedo wrote:
B-17's look great, but aren't super weather proof. They also don't work for my rear end. I'm a big fan of the Cambium models because my bikes get parked in the rain. A saddle cover is an option is you really want the leather vibe

V-brakes are easier to adjust, but tend to make mounting fenders a pain. The Deore or even the Acera ones work great and are inexpensive. You will need different levers because of the different pull ratios if you do decide to swap

If you are going city bike you could stay quill stem and try some alt bars and either a dirt drop quill or a classic Nitto Technomic - lots of options in length and you can get your bars up high. If you don't want the european aesthetic of alt bars then you can go with a quill to threadless adaptor and your stem of choice. Maybe a riser stem would be good so you can stay with flat bars which have much more useful space for bells, lights, computers, etc. I try to stay away from risers on practical city bikes

Those kendas look super meaty for a city bike. I know you had them in the shed, but I'd be thinking about some Schwalbe marathons, Gatorskins or other speedier city tire. If I wanted balloons big apples and Fat Franks are popular options i'd consider.

I'm a huge fan of baskets for urban bikes. I'd consider mounting a wald basket or a porteur rack on the front for carrying shit.

Thanks for all the input!

I guess I should clarify when I say "around-town" I also include gravel roads in there, so more like an "all-road touring commuter" would be the best way to describe it. The K-Rads are definitely overkill for just street but they can handle the roughest trails I'd be willing attempt on this bike

In regards to the saddle, I appreciate the input but I've got about 1500km currently on my B-17 on another bike and quite enjoy it, and I do run it with a rain cover (even though I'm mostly a fair weather rider and try to avoid the rain if I can)

Funny you should mention a basket, it wasn't something I was initially planning but I saw another bike with a basket last week that I thought looked kinda cool and now you've mentioned it so I may look more into getting one. Just installed a rear pannier rack yesterday along with one of those stem/ bar mounted drink holder bags so I can carry drinks that don't fit in my bottle cages (this bike will eventually have 2 cages mounted in the frame)

Still debating on what I want to do with the handlebar situation. I quite like the look of something like the Velo Orange Klunker, but I'm going to see if I can get along with the current bars first. I recently raised the quill stem to its max height and it's a bit better. The issue I'm having with finding stems is that this bike uses a 1-1/8" headset which uses a 25.4mm diameter quill, whereas most stems I've seen are for 1" headsets with a 22.2mm quill. I've seen a couple of options but they are fairly hard to come by, especially if I want a removeable faceplate. It's starting to look like a quill to threadless adapter might be the easiest way to go but I still would prefer the aesthetics of a quill

As far as the brakes go, I definitely agree with your points. I'm still debating fenders so I'll take that into consideration for what direction I go with the bike. It took some time to get the brakes properly adjusted after I swapped the pads, and next time I have to do that I may just make the switch so I don't have to bother with it. Will probably go with Deore if I do make the switch
flag dirttorpedo
Posted: Mar 5, 2024 at 14:13 Quote
matt-15 wrote:
dirttorpedo wrote:
B-17's look great, but aren't super weather proof. They also don't work for my rear end. I'm a big fan of the Cambium models because my bikes get parked in the rain. A saddle cover is an option is you really want the leather vibe

V-brakes are easier to adjust, but tend to make mounting fenders a pain. The Deore or even the Acera ones work great and are inexpensive. You will need different levers because of the different pull ratios if you do decide to swap

If you are going city bike you could stay quill stem and try some alt bars and either a dirt drop quill or a classic Nitto Technomic - lots of options in length and you can get your bars up high. If you don't want the european aesthetic of alt bars then you can go with a quill to threadless adaptor and your stem of choice. Maybe a riser stem would be good so you can stay with flat bars which have much more useful space for bells, lights, computers, etc. I try to stay away from risers on practical city bikes

Those kendas look super meaty for a city bike. I know you had them in the shed, but I'd be thinking about some Schwalbe marathons, Gatorskins or other speedier city tire. If I wanted balloons big apples and Fat Franks are popular options i'd consider.

I'm a huge fan of baskets for urban bikes. I'd consider mounting a wald basket or a porteur rack on the front for carrying shit.

Thanks for all the input!

I guess I should clarify when I say "around-town" I also include gravel roads in there, so more like an "all-road touring commuter" would be the best way to describe it. The K-Rads are definitely overkill for just street but they can handle the roughest trails I'd be willing attempt on this bike

In regards to the saddle, I appreciate the input but I've got about 1500km currently on my B-17 on another bike and quite enjoy it, and I do run it with a rain cover (even though I'm mostly a fair weather rider and try to avoid the rain if I can)

Funny you should mention a basket, it wasn't something I was initially planning but I saw another bike with a basket last week that I thought looked kinda cool and now you've mentioned it so I may look more into getting one. Just installed a rear pannier rack yesterday along with one of those stem/ bar mounted drink holder bags so I can carry drinks that don't fit in my bottle cages (this bike will eventually have 2 cages mounted in the frame)

Still debating on what I want to do with the handlebar situation. I quite like the look of something like the Velo Orange Klunker, but I'm going to see if I can get along with the current bars first. I recently raised the quill stem to its max height and it's a bit better. The issue I'm having with finding stems is that this bike uses a 1-1/8" headset which uses a 25.4mm diameter quill, whereas most stems I've seen are for 1" headsets with a 22.2mm quill. I've seen a couple of options but they are fairly hard to come by, especially if I want a removeable faceplate. It's starting to look like a quill to threadless adapter might be the easiest way to go but I still would prefer the aesthetics of a quill

As far as the brakes go, I definitely agree with your points. I'm still debating fenders so I'll take that into consideration for what direction I go with the bike. It took some time to get the brakes properly adjusted after I swapped the pads, and next time I have to do that I may just make the switch so I don't have to bother with it. Will probably go with Deore if I do make the switch

Yes, those oversized threaded headset bikes are a bit frustrating now because they were a transitional technology so there weren't a lot produced resulting in a poor supply of vintage stems for gravel / urban conversions and nobody is making new stuff at that size either. I suppose you could try to shim a 1 inch quill and see how that would go. I think there are some threaded headsets that have a threaded to threadless conversion design - see link

https://www.innicycle.com/

I have a friend who used that type of headset for a Mongoose IBOC conversion. I think he's happy with it.

The other option is to find a used threadless fork and swap forks, replace the headset and never look back.

I hear you about the cantis - I'm using vintage cantis on a couple of bikes and the power is good when you figure out the whole straddle cable thing, but replacing pads without a 3rd hand tool is a pain. Still, the brakes are free.
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Mar 5, 2024 at 14:35 Quote
dirttorpedo wrote:
Yes, those oversized threaded headset bikes are a bit frustrating now because they were a transitional technology so there weren't a lot produced resulting in a poor supply of vintage stems for gravel / urban conversions and nobody is making new stuff at that size either. I suppose you could try to shim a 1 inch quill and see how that would go. I think there are some threaded headsets that have a threaded to threadless conversion design - see link

https://www.innicycle.com/

I have a friend who used that type of headset for a Mongoose IBOC conversion. I think he's happy with it.

The other option is to find a used threadless fork and swap forks, replace the headset and never look back.

I hear you about the cantis - I'm using vintage cantis on a couple of bikes and the power is good when you figure out the whole straddle cable thing, but replacing pads without a 3rd hand tool is a pain. Still, the brakes are free.

That threadless conversion headset looks promising, way cleaner look than the generic adapters I've seen. I'd like to keep the matching fork for this frame so this may be a winner if/ when I decide to change the stem and handlebars

I consider myself a pretty competent mechanic on modern bikes, but learning how to work on some of these older parts has overall been pretty enjoyable, even if a bit frustrating at times
flag barp
Posted: Mar 5, 2024 at 16:20 Quote
dirttorpedo wrote:
matt-15 wrote:
dirttorpedo wrote:
B-17's look great, but aren't super weather proof. They also don't work for my rear end. I'm a big fan of the Cambium models because my bikes get parked in the rain. A saddle cover is an option is you really want the leather vibe

V-brakes are easier to adjust, but tend to make mounting fenders a pain. The Deore or even the Acera ones work great and are inexpensive. You will need different levers because of the different pull ratios if you do decide to swap

If you are going city bike you could stay quill stem and try some alt bars and either a dirt drop quill or a classic Nitto Technomic - lots of options in length and you can get your bars up high. If you don't want the european aesthetic of alt bars then you can go with a quill to threadless adaptor and your stem of choice. Maybe a riser stem would be good so you can stay with flat bars which have much more useful space for bells, lights, computers, etc. I try to stay away from risers on practical city bikes

Those kendas look super meaty for a city bike. I know you had them in the shed, but I'd be thinking about some Schwalbe marathons, Gatorskins or other speedier city tire. If I wanted balloons big apples and Fat Franks are popular options i'd consider.

I'm a huge fan of baskets for urban bikes. I'd consider mounting a wald basket or a porteur rack on the front for carrying shit.

Thanks for all the input!

I guess I should clarify when I say "around-town" I also include gravel roads in there, so more like an "all-road touring commuter" would be the best way to describe it. The K-Rads are definitely overkill for just street but they can handle the roughest trails I'd be willing attempt on this bike

In regards to the saddle, I appreciate the input but I've got about 1500km currently on my B-17 on another bike and quite enjoy it, and I do run it with a rain cover (even though I'm mostly a fair weather rider and try to avoid the rain if I can)

Funny you should mention a basket, it wasn't something I was initially planning but I saw another bike with a basket last week that I thought looked kinda cool and now you've mentioned it so I may look more into getting one. Just installed a rear pannier rack yesterday along with one of those stem/ bar mounted drink holder bags so I can carry drinks that don't fit in my bottle cages (this bike will eventually have 2 cages mounted in the frame)

Still debating on what I want to do with the handlebar situation. I quite like the look of something like the Velo Orange Klunker, but I'm going to see if I can get along with the current bars first. I recently raised the quill stem to its max height and it's a bit better. The issue I'm having with finding stems is that this bike uses a 1-1/8" headset which uses a 25.4mm diameter quill, whereas most stems I've seen are for 1" headsets with a 22.2mm quill. I've seen a couple of options but they are fairly hard to come by, especially if I want a removeable faceplate. It's starting to look like a quill to threadless adapter might be the easiest way to go but I still would prefer the aesthetics of a quill

As far as the brakes go, I definitely agree with your points. I'm still debating fenders so I'll take that into consideration for what direction I go with the bike. It took some time to get the brakes properly adjusted after I swapped the pads, and next time I have to do that I may just make the switch so I don't have to bother with it. Will probably go with Deore if I do make the switch

Yes, those oversized threaded headset bikes are a bit frustrating now because they were a transitional technology so there weren't a lot produced resulting in a poor supply of vintage stems for gravel / urban conversions and nobody is making new stuff at that size either. I suppose you could try to shim a 1 inch quill and see how that would go. I think there are some threaded headsets that have a threaded to threadless conversion design - see link

https://www.innicycle.com/

Interesting product, but it says it's "compatible with most road and some MTB bikes that originally came equipped with 1" threaded headsets and quill stems. Forks must be 1"-24 TPI threaded with a 7/8" (22.2mm) inside diameter. "

i.e., not oversized (1-1/8")
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Mar 5, 2024 at 16:34 Quote
barp wrote:
Interesting product, but it says it's "compatible with most road and some MTB bikes that originally came equipped with 1" threaded headsets and quill stems. Forks must be 1"-24 TPI threaded with a 7/8" (22.2mm) inside diameter. "

i.e., not oversized (1-1/8")

Thanks for mentioning it, I did not notice that when I was looking Razz

Guess there's always the generic quill to threadless adapter I can still use... I never would have expected that finding a stem would be the most difficult part of this build
flag matt-15
O+
Posted: Mar 6, 2024 at 15:23 Quote
Little update with some photos here

photo

Was placing a Raceface order for a neoprene chainstay protector and just decided to grab a second pair of Chester pedals rather than wait for my other pair to be freed up from the temporary bike they're currently on

Raised the stem to the max height (only 1" higher than before, but better than nothing). Added some utility with a rear pannier rack (with trunk bag installed in the photo), stem drink bag, and lights front and back

Also a bit hard to see in the images but I found some green valve stem caps that match the logo on the bike

photo

photo
flag dirttorpedo
Posted: Mar 8, 2024 at 8:14 Quote
barp wrote:
dirttorpedo wrote:
matt-15 wrote:


Thanks for all the input!

I guess I should clarify when I say "around-town" I also include gravel roads in there, so more like an "all-road touring commuter" would be the best way to describe it. The K-Rads are definitely overkill for just street but they can handle the roughest trails I'd be willing attempt on this bike

In regards to the saddle, I appreciate the input but I've got about 1500km currently on my B-17 on another bike and quite enjoy it, and I do run it with a rain cover (even though I'm mostly a fair weather rider and try to avoid the rain if I can)

Funny you should mention a basket, it wasn't something I was initially planning but I saw another bike with a basket last week that I thought looked kinda cool and now you've mentioned it so I may look more into getting one. Just installed a rear pannier rack yesterday along with one of those stem/ bar mounted drink holder bags so I can carry drinks that don't fit in my bottle cages (this bike will eventually have 2 cages mounted in the frame)

Still debating on what I want to do with the handlebar situation. I quite like the look of something like the Velo Orange Klunker, but I'm going to see if I can get along with the current bars first. I recently raised the quill stem to its max height and it's a bit better. The issue I'm having with finding stems is that this bike uses a 1-1/8" headset which uses a 25.4mm diameter quill, whereas most stems I've seen are for 1" headsets with a 22.2mm quill. I've seen a couple of options but they are fairly hard to come by, especially if I want a removeable faceplate. It's starting to look like a quill to threadless adapter might be the easiest way to go but I still would prefer the aesthetics of a quill

As far as the brakes go, I definitely agree with your points. I'm still debating fenders so I'll take that into consideration for what direction I go with the bike. It took some time to get the brakes properly adjusted after I swapped the pads, and next time I have to do that I may just make the switch so I don't have to bother with it. Will probably go with Deore if I do make the switch

Yes, those oversized threaded headset bikes are a bit frustrating now because they were a transitional technology so there weren't a lot produced resulting in a poor supply of vintage stems for gravel / urban conversions and nobody is making new stuff at that size either. I suppose you could try to shim a 1 inch quill and see how that would go. I think there are some threaded headsets that have a threaded to threadless conversion design - see link

https://www.innicycle.com/

Interesting product, but it says it's "compatible with most road and some MTB bikes that originally came equipped with 1" threaded headsets and quill stems. Forks must be 1"-24 TPI threaded with a 7/8" (22.2mm) inside diameter. "

i.e., not oversized (1-1/8")

Good catch. I would check and see if there is a 1 1/8th version being made too. I just used the first link I found as an example and didn't look at it too closely.

To the OP - bike is looking really nice.
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