Picked up this fully rigid Brodie hybrid a couple years back for $20. Decided I want to build it into either a gravel bike or a nicer hybrid. It’s going to be a rails to trails bike so I’m not thinking anything super fancy and wanted to see what parts people have lying around.
Looking to switch to something like a 1x10 drivetrain or a bar and stem or any road gear for a gravel bike conversion.
You may find the reach on your bike is a little short if you convert to drop bars, an alt bar like the Surly Corner Bar Surly Corner Bar | Dropbar Mountain Bike Handlebar | Surly Bikes may be a better option. This will also allow you to keep your current drivetrain and controls.
If you do choose to switch to a drop bar and you find that your current drivetrain isn’t compatible with drop bar levers/shifters you could check out the drivetrain options from microSHIFT. They are pretty reliable and have a very reasonable price.
Another option would be a set of Tektro brake levers, with the proper pull ratio, and bar end friction shifters. Bar End Shifters And Friction Shifters - Everything You Need To Know -.
The Rail Trails are pretty vanilla as far as gravel goes, so tire selection isn’t a huge concern. The only other thing I’d look at would be a set of fenders to cut down on grit and dust.
I’d second the microshift option, and the issues with reach. If you want some more suggestions I’d go check out r/xbiking on reddit, this is sorta what they do best. Though they may lead you astray and you’ll end up spending way more than you expected (though that’s just bikes in general)
Thanks for the Reddit tip!! I actually found someone that built a gravel bike from the same frame with 1x10 micro shift levers and deore parts for the rest. So this is definitely the direction for the build but I’ve also been looking at the Chinese group sets from l-twoo and sensah.
