Commuter/Utility bike build -- SHOW ME YOUR AT-4s

[hortonbikes]

Dug these out the other day:

Anyone else got any to share? Other Scott bars and funky bar-ends would be fine too.

 

[hortonbikes]

Re: SHOW ME YOUR AT-4s

Ok, so this didn't exactly take off so I'll turn it into a build thread.

I've had these AT-4s on my original mountain bike back in the early 90s, but they've just been sitting around for a long time and I didn't really know what to do with them. I knew they weren't going on my current mountain bike, but they were too nostalgic and cool not to put to use. I had stuck them on the folding bike in the original post for fun, but knew that wasn't it. I have since sold the folding bike to a buddy who loves it much more than I even did...but I kept those bars.

This past summer this same friend and I were driving home from an offroad ride at a state park and saw a bike at the end of a driveway with a FREE sign on it. So, after stopping in mid-conversation and saying simultaneously "Did that say free?", we went back and grabbed this Ross Mt. Washington:

We had room on the rack so it came home. Luckily, it was the right size for me and the wrong size for him. It was missing the rear derailleur and the derailleur hanger was a bit bent. The rear shifter pod was shot. Other than that, everything was there. I bolted on an old Simplex derailleur that had an axle hook just to tension the chain, and ran it as-is as a three-speed. I got a couple of neighborhood rides in on it, took it camping a couple of times, and used it as a dedicated kid-hauler with my tag-a-long trailer.

Now, I'm ready to invest a little time and money into it and build it up as an urban assault vehicle. I've been looking at old rigid MTBs that people have turned into drop-bar city bikes lately and been inspired. I've got a parted out Raleigh Technium that I got a year or two ago that had LX components from '91, and all of that stuff is low mileage and better than what's on the Ross now. I've got a rear rack kicking around. I think I'll throw on the AT-4s instead of drops for simplicity's sake (no lever/bar compatibility issues) and and get 26" slicks to go in the commuter/utility direction.

 

[hortonbikes]

As she sits today:

I love the slack angles and the stable feel of this bike.

Straightening the derailleur hanger wasn't hard, but the threads were a little mangled. I did manage to thread the new derailleur on.

I cut the rubber grips off because I was impatient, and because I might add them back on to the 4's and squeezing grips around the bends in the bars is a complete PITA.

Here is the donor bike (from last winter, after I stripped it and briefly mocked it up as a singlespeed):

This is a 1991 Raleigh Technium. I actually love this frame, with the straight fork and the period-specific paint job, but its just too small. It was a cheap craiglist find, and it had spent most of its life as a garage ornament, so the components are pretty minty. It's all 300LX and Exage, and my personal favorite...Biopace chainrings! All of which will be migrating over to the Mt. Washington.

I'm swapping out the wheelset for the non-disc wheels that came stock on my current ride, a 2002 Stumperjumper FSR. They need a tune, but should be an improvement. The Ross is old enough to have 130mm rear spacing, but its not too much of a stretch to get the newer wheels in there. This also means switching from a freewheel to a cassette. I've got an aged 7-speed setup from another donor bike that I'll probably try out initially, but I imagine I'll need to just get new stuff.

Not sure how much of the tuning I'll do myself and how much will go to the LBS, but it should be a fun winter project. My barn isn't heated, so it will probably be a slow process.

 

[hortonbikes]

Wow, the difference between the iPad camera and a real digital camera are pretty stark in those two pictures.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Lighting would have a bit to do with it too, but yes, a real digital camera even an old 5-6mp one is better than most phone/tablet cameras still, may not be long though before they take over...

Luke.