Bike Build Ideas: Urban Day-Tripper

by Igor

Road bikes converted to flat bars are gaining a lot of popularity in urban environments. The combination of an upright position and ease of control makes this type of build a great option for those riders who mainly ride in the city and want to be a bit more comfortable on group rides.

This Pass Hunter Disc setup is our interpretation of an urban day-tripper to conquer any road condition that may crop up. We laced up some 650b wheels to be the basis of our build. By using the smaller wheelsize, we could increase the cushion of air the bike rides on. We selected the WTB 47mm Horizon tires, which end up being about the same circumference of a narrow-tired 700c wheel. Cobbles and potholes are vanquished, and hopping on and off curbs poses no threat.

The Postino handlebar is a great bar for converting drop bar road bikes to flat bars or just as an all-around city bar. It's the goldilocks bar for city rides - not too wide, not too narrow.

We opted to go with a wide range gearing because Annapolis and the surrounding area does have some hills. Our 50.4bcd 46/30t up front and 11-36t in the rear - enough to climb a tree.

Clint scrounged up some super clean Campagnolo downtube shifters which we mated to our shifter mounts to make the dangler and pusher move around.

The 7700-series Dura-Ace derailleur was never designed to work with a 36t cassette, so we used a Wolftooth Roadlink to extend the range of the cage. Shifting is fine, but not quite as fast as pairing the same derailleur with a 11-28t cassette. Then again, you're not shifting all that much around town, anyway.

You may have seen this constructeur-style stem that we were thinking about re-making on a previous blog post. After a couple samples, it ended up being far too heavy and expensive. But it looks really cool.

I'm thinking of making the "Bike Build Ideas" a more regular addition to our blog. We have several demo, sample, and show frames around that we look forward to building and re-building to give our readers some ideas for their own projects.

Complete build list:

• Pass Hunter Disc Frameset
• Postino Handlebar
• Grand Cru Disc Touring Hubs (Front and Rear) laced to Diagonale Rims, DT Swiss double-butted spokes, brass nipples
• Velox Rim Tape
• WTB Horizon tires, 650x47mm
• Grand Cru 1 1/8" Headset, Mirror Finish
• Grand Cru 50.4 bcd Crankset
• 118mm English Threaded Bottom Bracket
• Grand Cru Sabot Pedals
• 7700 Dura-Ace derailleurs
• White Brake and Shift Housing
• Avid BB7 Calipers
• Grand Cru Regular Pull Brake Levers
• Campagnolo Downtube shifters (one mounted on downtube)
• Downtube Shifter Thumb Mounts
• One Shimano Downtube cable stop
• Black Cork Blend Grips
• Grand Cru Seatpost (pictured above is the MK1 model)
• Microfiber Touring Saddle, Narrow