Vitus Mach 1 town bike conversion to gravel?

I was lucky enough to get one of these cheap from CRC, as in £138 cheap! After the first ride on the Monsal Trail, it did get me wondering if I could do a cheap conversion to a single speed gravel, just to see.

So, some cheap flared bars needed, and maybe some better ergonomic brake levers with hydraulic brakes. I’d need to tape the bars (never done that before).  Then some gravel tyres.

Any pointers what bits and bobs would be good value for this?  It’s just a very mild, almost nonexistent itch, that I might have a scratch of if it’s cheap enough to do.

Can you do second hand? I have the OEM bars which came on my gravel bike sitting around after I swapped them for carbons in the CRC selloff. 31.8 clamp I think. Similarly the OEM Terreno Dry tyres. If nothing secondhand hydraulic comes up, there are good Chinese cable/hydro calipers now.

Your problem will be drop bar hydraulic levers with 7 speed gears . Don’t think such a Brifter exists. Probably the most economical way would be some single speed hydraulic brakes like TRP Hylex’s with a bar end gear lever. Don’t think the existing thumb shifters could stay as drop bar diameter is larger at the grips than flat ones.

https://activesport.co/epages/80c85f8f-7a95-4b1c-9c30-e64b314f3f2e.mobile/?Locale=en_GB&ObjectPath=/Shops/80c85f8f-7a95-4b1c-9c30-e64b314f3f2e/Products/TRP-HYLEX-160&ViewAction=ViewProductViaPortal

I’ve got some Surly Corner bars gathering dust in the cellar which I’d let go for a good price. Means you can stick with everything else on the bike. I’m in Sheffield.

It’s a single speed, so gears aren’t a problem. I have in mind creating a rocket ship of a bike!

Existing brake levers would still work though.

Why mess about fitting drops? Change the tyres, put better brakes on, done.

Unless you’re on some mega mile epic where you want/ need multiple hand positions to reduce fatigue, drops add nothing IMO.

I have just been given a Vitus Mach 1, in copper colour, which has been outside for a year. I think some shiny new brake cables and a new BB and we are good to go.

I am not sure if it is a bike I would invest too much time and money on…?

What’s the reach on the frame like?

Just slapping drops on an MTB frame is often disappointing IME as even with a really Stumpy stem and compact drops you can end up quite stretched out.

It’s worth wasting half an hour on geometry geeks comparing reach with equivalent Gravel bikes to be sure before you crack on.

Also SS hydraulic drops bar brakes are pretty thin on the ground, you’ve got TRP hylex and… ?

You might be better with cable levers if it’s just an experiment, cheaper and easier to obtain…

I would suspect reach etc will be messed up switching to drops. Leave it as it is – put some suitable tyres on. Rocket ship, drops won’t make it faster you know, that’s yer legs. Suitable tyres will make a huge difference.

Get some Soma Sparrow bars, invert and use the original brake levers. Or go for some hylex drop bar brakes. But if test you like it first. My SS rigid mtb is set up with these bars and normal hydraulic levers. Works great.