here is fun little question: what would you change about this?

[andrewbaines]

i currently have an old entry level hardtail.

(here are the specs: IBEX Bicycles ).

i planned to singletrack with it but mostly use it in urban places.

now i would like to ride centuries and longer distances purely on the street.

what would you swap and replace to make this more road / long distance friendly?

get a rigid fork? (it currently has rock shox judy fork which is a waste of energy for flat pavement)

so far i have bought slicks.

i am not quite ready to purchase a $1000+ roadbike. but for now would it be cheaper to buy a lower end roadbike for my long distance needs?

if not, what would you change first?

 

[alfeng]

i currently have an old entry level hardtail.

(here are the specs: IBEX Bicycles ).

i planned to singletrack with it but mostly use it in urban places.

now i would like to ride centuries and longer distances purely on the street.

what would you swap and replace to make this more road / long distance friendly?

get a rigid fork? (it currently has rock shox judy fork which is a waste of energy for flat pavement)

so far i have bought slicks.

i am not quite ready to purchase a $1000+ roadbike. but for now would it be cheaper to buy a lower end roadbike for my long distance needs?

if not, what would you change first?

Well, you could do what I did to an extra Hardtail frame that I had ...

I installed a carbon fiber ROAD fork, Tektro "long" reach brakes, 700c wheels (I had to lace a 700c rim onto a 135mm rear hub), a Road crank (118mm BB normally used for a "Triple" crankset)), Campagnolo shifters ...

I suppose that only the XT front derailleur, the rear hub, the seat post clamp & the seat post can be considered to be MTB parts.

I made the conversion with "spare" parts that I already had, but if I/(you) had to buy stuff off of eBay it could certainly be done for less than $600 ... probably, closer to $300 if you are wise shopper.

 

[Umvelo]

I just put the slicks on my mtb and Bob's your uncle. It works very well as a road bike, without any further changes.