Quick swaps to change an Enduro to a Roadie?

mossmanguru

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi y'all
Recently I've been looking at adding a road bike to my collection, for the simple reason to clock up more K's during the week through 1 hour rides along the bike way and also commuting. Mainly for fitness and just the love of riding. I live 30 mins from the closest trail and by the time I head out there and back I would lose to much time in an arvo or morning (before/after) work.
I currently have a Santa Cruz v10 and also a Yeti SB6c, both being gravity/ enduro bikes they don't pedal as well on the road and therefore I lose interest in it.
My question is, what "Parts n Stuff" would make for easy mods to the Yeti to make it more road friendly. Its relatively light, has an air shock so I can lock that out, fox 36's which as easy enough to harden. Something along the lines of tyres, stem and bar combo (will putting weight over the front help?) gearing? (currently running XX1) any ideas much appreciated.
 

John U

MTB Precision
Is this to make riding to the trails easier? Are you going to ride it on the trails once you get there?

If you're going change it to purely ride it on the road it'd be cheaper and probably more enjoyable to buy a cheapish roadie. You won't end up with something good for the road in a bike that has a 36 on it (judging by the fork that it'll go pretty hard)
 

LPG

likes thicc birds
A $100 gumtree bike with some new tyres and chain is going to work out better IMO and you won't worry about leaving it out the front of a shop or similar if you want to grab something while you are out for a pedal.
 

stirk

Burner
What you propose is criminal, sell the mountain bikes and buy a roadie.

Make sure you put aside $500 from the sale of the mountain bikes for sweet fluro Lycra for your roadie adventures. $500 should buy you a pair of Knicks, jersey and one pair of socks. Enjoy your new lifestyle.
 

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
A hard waste recovery, tuned up with a couple of hungy in odd and sods, will be light years ahead of the Yeti for commutes and short hour long blats. You'll only ruin the Yeti and have wasted your money on the Mods when you put it back to original spec. Try your local tip, there's usually a shit ton of <$50 bikes people have never ridden before putting in the shed, only to trash a couple of years down the track.

Oh, get off the drugs, they do bad things to your common sense.

#knuckleswasadrunkenchunt
 

NUTTTR

Likes Dirt
Quoted as an awesome observation.
Yes, but what he doesn't realise is it's still boring riding on a road bike!

Road biking is very different, it's not for me, I don't enjoy it much but I do do it occasionally. My recommendation would be to chuck some conti mix-use tyres with a smooth centre and a little outside grip. Put those tyres on the yeti and it'll pedal ok... Seating position and suspension are not ideal, but for some serious scares you can then ride it on the trails... Just don't try to stop or corner
 

XYGTHO

Likes Dirt
Spend the money you would trying to make the Yeti better for the road on a second hand roady mate. Thats what Id do anyway. I managed to pick up a new Norco roady with 11sp 105 for $800. Deals are out there.
 

Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
Meh. All you need is a BMX sized wheel to put on the front when hitting the road.

Will sort the geometry out. Stash the current front wheel in some bushes at the trailhead, and swap them out for the dirt runs.

Sorted.
 

Paulie_AU

Likes Dirt
My wife sold her last roadie which was full 10 speed ultegra in mint condition for $350 in December last year. Seriously just look for a second hand alloy roadie for around those $$.

Or if you don't want to go full roadtard. Grab a secondhand hardtail (preferably with Triples so you get a 46T big ring) and put slicks on it but it is a shit compromise.

Extra road K's will help your dirt K's. I am on my Roadie 4 days/week + BMX one night (not summer) and when I hit the dirt on the weekend I am not the one suffering through climbs.
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
I've actually got a roadbike and never ride because it's just a PITA, I don't like the seating position, cleats and the skinny wheels on the bike paths. I prefer to ride an old flat bar hardtail with slicks and carbon forks, just gear them up for the road. I run a 48,36,26 Deore crankset and dropped the 28 and now it's 2X.
 

99_FGT

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I think roadifying one of those bikes is going to be difficult, and cost more than a base level (105, alloy) roadie.
Shortlist would be
Tyres (wheels? - 29er or CX wheels with 28mm ralphs)
Gearing - if you keep the XX1 you'll probably want to go up 2-4 teeth on the front. If you are swapping wheels, the other option may be a narrower range cassette and shorter chain, but they don't go down to 10 so you're going up further on the front.
Cockpit - minimal changes
Suspension - if it's got lockouts that'll do, just up the platform a bit.

All of these are basically patches, I've had commutants before and they are good for short rides (10-15km) but once I started going above that I bought a roadie.
I was only able to get out for a couple of hours on the weekend, and I was suffering when I did get out trying to keep up with mates. To me the roadie is a tool ;-) (albeit an expensive one these days) that makes my trail time a lot more fun.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
I've actually got a roadbike and never ride because it's just a PITA, I don't like the seating position, cleats and the skinny wheels on the bike paths. I prefer to ride an old flat bar hardtail with slicks and carbon forks, just gear them up for the road. I run a 48,36,26 Deore crankset and dropped the 28 and now it's 2X.
You're not riding it often enough... which is fine, I guess. Everybody is different.

When I took the road bike again after eons on the mtb only, it had sturdy 28c tread tyres, high'ish and wider bars and rode the mtb shoes and cleats. Since I ride it more and more often, I made my road bikes lower, went to skinnier tyres and started using road shoes/cleats.

I'm definitively faster (not by much, but that is not an issue with the bike) now and I'm more used to the handling of it. I prefer my road bikes as they are now.

Making a MTB to convert it for road duties is polishing a turd. Sorry, it's just what it is. Yes, there are guys who have completed a Fondo on full knobbies in less time than I do on lycra and 23c tyres, but they would beat me on any bike anyways.
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
You'll end up looking/feeling like more of a twat riding an SB6 with slicks than you imagine you will riding a road bike ...
 
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