Drop Bars, 1990's MTB's, & "Gravel Bikes"

Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3

I cruise Facebook Marketplace every day to monitor used bicycle prices so I can be more effective in pricing used bicycles for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. 

Since I am there often, I see a lot of trends and one of these is the trend to put a 1X drive train on a 1990's MTB, slap a drop bar on it, and call it a "gravel bike". Tack on about $200.00 minimum more than it is worth, and try to sell it as a viable bicycle for gravel/MTB. 

This is something I thought would go away, but since it persists, I feel as though a few things need to be pointed out about why a bicycle like what I am seeing put up for sale on Facebook Marketplace isnot a gravel bike. It isn't even a good MTB because most of these drop bars are set up with no regard to ergonomics.

It is an issue because "gravel" sells, so I get that, but if there ever was a case of "buyer beware", this is certainly one that fits the bill.

I've written a lot about proper drop bar fitment to flat bar designed MTB's and you can find that under the "Archived Drop Bar Articles" tab under the blog header here.  The article that speaks most directly to the issues of 1990's MTB's and drop bars can be read HERE. 

It is pretty obvious to my eyes that many, if not all, of the 1990's MTB's I see being offered as "gravel bikes" are set up with total disregard for where the drop bar ends up in space, and shows no knowledge of where one should ride a drop bar equipped MTB when it comes to hand placement on the bars.  

Tall stack height, proper lever placement = GOOD

Then we can look at geometry. Those old 1990's MTB's were based on a geometry which many people have no idea about, so this leads to a lot of mistakes when it comes to assuming that one could actually make a 1990's MTB into anything nearly as nice as a properly designed gravel bike. 

At the risk of reading like some sort of gatekeeper here, there is a big difference in a bicycle designed from scratch to do a particular task versus one that has been, at best, haphazardly adapted to be something it was never meant to be. 

1990's MTB geometry was set up so that a rider would have a lot of weight over the front wheel, a flatter back than not, and lots of exposed seat post. This "forward biased" seated position was done for racing, not for the average person to enjoy casually. In other words, the cycling industry was foisting a bike not well suited to the average person, as it is wont to do, and has done off and on for decades. Slapping a drop bar on one of these relics makes matters worse, and especially if one does so with no regard to adapting the drop bar to address the issues with that old "NORBA geometry". 

Actual 26"er drop bar conversion shown with issues.

Not that a 1990's hard tail MTB cannot be enjoyed. They can make wonderful bicycles, but you need to know what you are dealing with, and how certain choices in equipment need specialized adaptations to work their best. 

If one understands what they are working with, makes wise choices, and decides to use a 1990's bike for gravel, this can and sometimes does work out well enough. But beware of the shiny, nostalgic "retro-modded" 1990's drop bar "gravel bike" offerings. Most are not done very well, in my opinion. 

Most of these conversions do not take the drop bar adding more cockpit length into consideration. Most do not get the drops up high enough either. This tends to stretch out riders too far, and the drop extensions become, essentially, useless. 

And let's not ignore the many 700c gravel bikes which are set up weirdly. Just because a bike has 700c wheels and was intentionally designed as a gravel bike does not give immunity from poor set up. 

So, that's what I am seeing and now you can be aware of why such conversions often fall short of being viable for most people as not only a "gravel bike", but as a mountain bike as well.