Converting an 80's Road Bike to Gravel Grinder

Budget Gravel bike build based on an 80's Bridgestone road bike.

[acetylcholine]

I just cold set a 1981 schwinn super sport frame, and I was SHOCKED at how far apart i had to spread the dropouts in order to gain about 7 mm of cold set distance. I managed to get to around 128.7 mm before i lost my nerve and stopped. Newer wheels slide right in now, but spreading that frame to over 170 mm was scary. Steel is amazing.

[Jonm]

Somebody please buy this man a nut driver or socket set. lol Sweet build man, Im looking to do something similar this spring. Cheers

[jimmansi]

Love that build & old steel bikes, nice job!

[douglasyoungblood]

Fantastic series! I have an 86’ Trek 310 which was made by Bridgestone. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

[elit]

You did a very nice job ! Thanks for the knowledge. Have fun and be safe .

[connergiven]

Thanks for this video!!! I'm doing the same thing to my 1988 Schwinn World Sport, and your video is going to be super helpful in the conversion.

[vermonthillsumc]

as a newbie I really appreciate your commentary and insightful comments. Thank you.

[kierenkd]

Really useful video! Ive just been given a 1980s raleigh candice mitre bike. Nothing special - pipe steel but Id like to save from the scrape heap without investing much

[spacerconrad]

My old 200, which I'd singled out for use at the airport, is undergoing a similar morph. 700x35 GravelKing SK, the old longer reach brakes I already had on there, and 1x9 Advent with a bar end shifter. I think it'll be a blast.

[FjbLivesAgri]

Thanks for sharing i plan to convert my road bike to gravel bike

[yardsalecycles]

nice build I did this with a 80's hybird Diamond Back

[cjbriggs]

Looks super sharp! im regretting selling my old roady and buying a new gravel bike. i miss the geometry so much!

[Pshpshpshpshpshpshpsh]

I did this but with a vintage MTB, kind of wish I went the vintage road route, I like the geometry much more.

[jacksharmonoquinn]

I've been looking at a late 70s... early 80s model Schwinn road bike. .. for this purpose. .. it's a friend's, it's been in his an attic for awhile

[corynardin]

I have an old Schwinn passage steel touring bike. It has cantis and was original 27". I could never get the brakes adjusted just right when I put on 700c wheels and I didn't have great stopping power. I ended up buying a newer gravel bike with hydraulic disk brakes and it is so much nicer.

[tlister]

Another option is to use older 700c wheels which have the correct spacing, but you have the thread on cassette. Great video!

[rickjenkins]

I love Bridgestone. Still own my 86 MB1.

[hermanoben]

Brave of you, taking an adjustable wrench to the dropouts instead of taking a little more time to at least bodge a version of cold setting the rear triangle properly 😅 Hey, if it worked, it worked. On the plus side, what I really like about this video is how quickly and simply you get the conversion done - people shouldn’t be put off a bit of DIY.

[Fhalmonacid]

Thank you for sharing this build. Are your rims 13 to 15 mm wide? Or what width did you use on the wheel set?

[fabiomaragna]

Awesome job! How did u manage to measure the right height of the quill to threadless stem adapter?
I'm about to re-modernize my old MTB.