I’ve got a hard tail I’m not particularly precious about, and could do with something more useable as a cross city commuter/occasional gravel type thing.
It’s a 650b calibre, with 1x10 deore.
Is it as simple as trying to get a (much) bigger chainring on, and popping on some road/gravel type tyres, possibly a rigid fork, et voila? Or is that a waste of time?
Cheers for humouring me.
Yep, that's it. mudguards by far and away most important on a commuter, Then it's tyres, chainring, fork in that order of importance IMHO
What's wrong with the gearing as it is?
I've been commuting on my gravel bike a bit. It has 700c wheels 38 at the front and 11-36 at the back. The gearing is fine up to 25mph or so down the big hill on the way to work.
This handy calculator let's you see how all the gearing stacks up.
My first 4 years of commuting were on a rigid MTB with rack and mudguards. The last 8 have been on a road bike with rack and mudguards.
The road bikes are a bit faster, but my commutes have never been more that 5 miles each way. Even if top speed was 5mph faster all the stopping and starting makes them pretty close in door to door time.
32t chainring and 11-42 on the back, seems a bit sluggish on road but I guess non-knobbly tyres would have a huge impact on that.
Start riding it to work as it is. You'll find out what you need first.
This time of year mudguards - nah not yet.
Change tyres for faster rolling, if you're mixing roads and light off road, a semi-slick (a slaughter or minion-ss) works well on the front as well as rear. Try something with a harder compound for longevity on the rear if daily commuting. If you're not tubeless then something with puncture resistance will be important if your shortcuts are regularly scattered with broken glass/thorns/nails/etc. Might have to compromise on something.
Up the tyre pressure 30/35 if including light off road, maybe harder if road only.
Get a cheap 36t chainring from ebay or aliexpress.
With MTBs I’ve only ever changed tyres and fitted mudguards and rear rack really. A good quick hybrid or balloon tyre is usually enough.
Then I bought a quality retro tourer which is better and faster and fully equipped, all for the price of a couple of decent MTB tyres!
I’d say ultimately the main thing you want is Full coverage mudguards and some slicks (partly so full mudguards will fit).
Getting soaked by spray gets old quickly when commuting and everything stays much cleaner
Otherwise, just ride it. And beware it will be wrecked in a few months as you never wash or maintain a commuter 😉
I’d look at seeing if some 700c wheels would fit.
Schwalbe Marathon tyres are essential on a commuter.
I did this with an SS Inbred I had.
Essentially changed the tyres (Schwalbe Marathons), fork, rear cog and put some mud guards on, I also changed the bars and nicked a Brooks saddle off another bike but the last two were just down to personal preference.
I’d look at seeing if some 700c wheels would fit.
I've never converted a 27.5er, but putting road wheels on a 26er is a big improvement. Bigger chainrings too.
One thing you also might want to do is put on some narrower handlebars and some bar ends, they can make for a more comfortable position if you commute is a long one.
Mary bars are a good option for comfort, the hand position is much more natural for just riding along than your average MTB bars.
Cheers, this may work out a lot cheaper than buying another bike!
Mary bars are a good option for comfort, the hand position is much more natural for just riding along than your average MTB bars.
Funnily enough, I want some of the OG bars on mine. I had Mary's but after less sweep than that, but the 720 flats on it seem to be causing some elbow pain
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link broke - pretty much as above rack, slicker tyres and a pannier.
What I do is instead of pedalling to the woods, I pedal to work. And occasionally pump the tyres to about 30 rather than 25! 😉
This time of year mudguards – nah not yet.
My dedicated commuter keeps them on year round (also serves as my winter road bike).
Mudguards are well worth fitting IMO, you never know when the heavens will open, and having that one bike that can go out in just about any weather with no pre-ride faff is quite useful, especially if it's for commuting.
As for the wheels, I'd just look for some 650b X 50mm "gravel" type slick/semi slick tyres, there's loads about now. No point in changing the whole wheelset especially as current fashions have created the right sort of tyres for the wheels you already have...
What size, bolt pattern/mounting is the current chainring?
Slick tyres then the rest later if you think you need them.