Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that with my work/family schedule and the insanely hot and humid summers here in central Arkansas, I need to convert/sell my Ti hardtail in favor of a dedicated road bike. My road rides consist of mainly riding several laps around a neighborhood circuit Ive mapped out (lots of hills) and the weekly 3+ hour road ride on Saturdays. My Ti hardtail currently is running XT 8 speed (old skool baby!!) drive train, Avid Ultimate V brakes and a Fox Float 100 RL Fork using 1.0 slicks on my MTB wheelset.
Id like to keep it pretty cheap, $800 max, and if possible to keep the cost down use as many existing components as I can.
So the options that I have come up with (and open to any others) are the following:
>Put a carbon (winwood) rigid fork on my Ti hardtail, and a 48t chainring (the largest I can go up to on my compact Race Face crankset), some super light Conti 26 road tires and call it a day.
>Get a Giant TCX cyclocross frame (XL for the required top tube length to match my MTB geometry), using my existing drive train and brakes, purchase a cheap 700c wheel set (I saw a Shimano R-500 set new for $190). This set up would be more pricy than my first option, but give me the added gearing of 700c wheels. I could offset the $ option by selling the Ti frame and the Fox 100 RL fork.
Anyway, those are my current thoughts on the issue. Feel free to comment or offer any advice you may have.
Thanks ..
Id like to keep it pretty cheap, $800 max, and if possible to keep the cost down use as many existing components as I can.
So the options that I have come up with (and open to any others) are the following:
>Put a carbon (winwood) rigid fork on my Ti hardtail, and a 48t chainring (the largest I can go up to on my compact Race Face crankset), some super light Conti 26 road tires and call it a day.
>Get a Giant TCX cyclocross frame (XL for the required top tube length to match my MTB geometry), using my existing drive train and brakes, purchase a cheap 700c wheel set (I saw a Shimano R-500 set new for $190). This set up would be more pricy than my first option, but give me the added gearing of 700c wheels. I could offset the $ option by selling the Ti frame and the Fox 100 RL fork.
Anyway, those are my current thoughts on the issue. Feel free to comment or offer any advice you may have.
Thanks ..