1987 Schwinn High Sierra - Drop Bar Monstour

I just built finished my first 26" build - see here - now I want to do it again for less money with a bike that fits me better :)

Enter the 1998 GT Palomar - an all steel, triple triangle, bottom of the line beauty!

I got this frame for a bargain - and ideally, I'd hope to continue this trend of cheap(ish) parts to make as sick a bike as possible for as little as I can...

Build Ideas So Far:

Option 1

1. Get a disc fork, & run it 'Mullet Style' - disc (business) in the front, and v brake (party) in the back...
   
2. Get cheap front MTB disc wheel & cheap rim brake rear + cassette
   
3. Get some nice wide drops and some brake levers
   
4. Stick a 9speed thumbie (already have this) in the middle of the bars
   
5. I also have a 1x chainring & cranks ready to go
   
   

Option 2

1. Get some sweet canti touring forks, full of mounts - Thorn, Surlys or similar
   
2. Get the frame resprayed to match the forks - maybe a sick fade or just full black
   
3. Wide dirt drops + proper brifters + touring canti brakes
   
4. Run a compact double up on the front chainring
   
5. Some nice full coverage fenders
   
   
   

What are peoples thoughts? I'd love to hear some other mad ideas, and see some inspiration...
Cheers y'all:)

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I'd just use cantis and drops with whatever cheap fork I can find. Would make the build cheaper and simpler, looks better too.
Also, anything but black.

Red GT's are rad, this is one of my favourites from PedalRoom

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well that's awesome - cheers mate!

I like the term ‘mullet brake setup’.

Mullet brakes is a great term and a great way to ride.

I have a Palomar that I absolutely adore. It's a bit crap, weighs a ton, has horrific components on it, but it's mine :) nice to see someone else building one up.

Regarding the brake setup I'd either keep it rim brake, or strip it and get a disc mount brazed on the back. The problem with rim brakes is that you're limited to fairly crappy 2nd hand wheels unless you want to build your own, but equally going the disk route is a lot of faff.

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UPDATE #1

So much for keeping this one cheap...

I've gone and bought the Thorn forks, Gilles Berthoud fenders, and Compass Rat Trap Pass tyres from @TomvanHalen for £140 - I think it's gonna look great though :)

I've also got a rather nice looking all black WTB wheelset with some unknown hubs for £12 (part exchange for Jtek shiftmate)...

Black Cane Creek headset is on its way too (£18), as are the tektro rl340 black levers (£15)

will update with pictures as and when...

I have a surly chainring, shimano crankset and a 9 or 10 spd thumbie that I was planning on mounting in the middle of the bars...

I've also got a spare black paul canti hanger and a pair of old mismatched shimano cantis in the parts bin somewhere.

Now I need a rear derailleur, cassette and chain for the drivetrain, and some nice bars...

I'm looking for compact or slightly flared drop bars, ideally available in black - and the wider the better - any suggestions?

Bar option?

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/ritchey-venturemax-comp/136390689/p?utm_source=google_products&utm_medium=merchant&id_producte=4692446&country=uk&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_dHXm7m_2QIVhLDtCh1CJgwjEAQYASABEgL30_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

i've got those - nice enough - not a huge amount of flare but defo more stability on the drops than standard rd bars
think mine are the wcs - 43 cm width - maybe lighter than the comp...same shape tho i think

maybe this would be good for inspiration
http://www.oldglorymtb.com/round-up-alternative-or-alt-mountain-bike-handlebars/

@dimblue @carson thanks for the suggestions guys - I do like the look of the Ritcheys to be honest.

The soma mtb drops are tempting too but harder to get in the uk...

edit

UPDATE #2

Some bits arrived...

The forks, wheelset, tyres, crankset, headset, new bb, brake levers, and the rear derailleur :)

I've cut down the massive seatpost that my lbs kindly gave me for free and removed the old rusty bb and headset cups with their help.

The big dilemma now is:

1) Go with drops and use shimano shifters (bar end probably) but have to use a jtek converter -
which i have found slightly annoying in the past.

2) Go with drops and use the matching right hand sram trigger shifter, fork out for the paul 31.8 mount adapter, and then use some kind of 3-speed bar end shifter (the sram s500 - if they even sell them individually?!) for the triple chainring up front.

3) Ditch the drops, stick on some risers and buy the matching sram trigger shifter pair like a good boy...

Hmmmmmmmmmm

here's how it looks so far anyway though :)

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hmm, i think drops look really cool on this. i'd stick with them personally.

what rear derailleur did you get? and do you have a compatible front derailleur already?

cheers mate - yeh i got the matching x5 front / rear derailleurs...

You could buy some (second-hand) TT500 shifters and then sell them on if they don't work. The price is pretty much constant at £20 for a second-hand set.

I think they're good to have as a backup option anyway in case your £90 brifter dies and you have a sportive coming up or something

Easyeast and probably best way: go with drops and Ultegra bar end shifters in full friction mode.

My drivetrain is fully compatible and after I tried friction mode I never wanted to go back.

BUT! Friction mode only works nicely up to 8 speed and maybe 9 aswell. Above that it´s a bit tricky to find the right cog.

Having researched this before I think the Ultegra bar-ends don't pull enough cable for a 10-speed SRAM mech, even in friction mode. Unless you mean that you're running a SRAM/Ultegra mix already?

I'm sure @cryptthing will be doing loads of Sportives on it!

Ha, excellent point, I forgot what the actual bike was. But you know what I mean - if you're about to go on a ride on it and it's broken. Depends how important the bike is I guess. If you've got 16 and would just ride a different one if this broke then there's no real need for spares.

On the other hand I have seen people do 100-mile road sportives on full suspension mountain bikes and hybrids, I'm sure this wouldn't be too out of place

haha your assumption is correct :) i'm the least sportive guy i know

@frankenbike @madman - Thanks for the input!

I really want this to be a bike I can use all the time and not have to worry about broken shit... so your advice is really appreciated before I take it any further!

I should have said the exact bits I have so far... (i am intending on running it 9 speed!)

SRAM PG950 9 Speed Cassette 11-32 Silver
SRAM PC951 9spd Chain (114 Links) 9 Speed Grey
SRAM X5 8-9 Speed Rear Derailleur Long Cage Black
SRAM S600 Chainset - 8 or 9 Speed) 42-32-22T 175mm

Are there any 9spd SRAM brifters that would just work with this straight up - and would the TT500 shifters work cleanly without the need for converters too?

I do quite like the idea of using one SRAM trigger shifter and one bar end shifter - or is this just really stupid?!

I don't think there's a drop-bar or bar-end shifter that works with SRAM 9-speed MTB derailleurs so I think you'd need a trigger shifter for the rear for definite.

The TT500 definitely won't work on the rear as it's 10-speed and the pull ratio is different. No idea about the front one though...

I've used it on 10 speed for a while. You get used to it. Downtube mounted, not bar end.

SRAM casssette, kmc chain and ultegra long cage rd (slightly bent too hence friction mode - worked fine).