MTB dropbar conversions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1vSHauv1VY

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>>1089250
If you want to use 700x38c tires, why convert a mountain bike? Just grab a cyclocross bike, there will be a lot fewer compromises. The BB will be a little higher and the tire clearances will be a little tighter than on a "gravel bike", but it'll be much closer than a converted mountain bike. Dropbar mountain bikes are fun, but they're not gravel bikes.

I ride a dropbar-converted mountain bike - a rigid frame meant for 26" wheels. Pictured here with 650B x 48mm tires, and I've also ridden it in the past with 700C x 35mm tires. The 35mm tires baaaarely cleared the frame. The 48mm ones on the smaller rims fit fine.

The BB is stupidly high off the ground for a bike that's mostly ridden on pavement and smooth gravel/dirt. The steering is also really slow compared to a gravel bike, because it has a slack MTB headtube and therefor a ton of trail. I'm about to throw on a non-suspension-corrected rigid fork which should drop the front end a bit and quicken the steering, but it might make the seat tube too steep. We'll see.

You'll also have trouble fitting shifters. Bar-ends work, as do things like Paul's Thumbies and Gevenalle that mount the bar end shifters in other locations, but you'll have compatibility issues if you try to run brifters with MTB derailleurs.

No, there's nothing inherently wrong with drop bars and front suspension.

If you need suspension then drop bars are unsuitable. If you mostly ride proper off road trails drop bars are unsuitable. If you want to run drop bars a mountain bike frame is probably going to be unsuitable.

If you just want to ride on gravel and dirt paths then get a CX bike or a road bike with clearance for some chunky off road tyres.

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>>1089250
The answer to your questions is that there's no problem putting drop bars on any bike - the difficulty is getting the fit right. On most mountain bikes the toptube is relatively short, so you'll need an unusually tall/long stem or stack to be able to reach the bars comfortably, and that can produce less-than-ideal handling characteristics if the bars end up too close/far from the steering axis. Late 80's mountain bikes are great for conversions because they had longer top tubes.

And there's nothing wrong with drop bars on bikes with suspension, but if you're riding somewhere rough enough for suspension to matter than you'll probably want flat bars anyways because your wrists flex most easily in a horizontal orientation. Not that there's anything wrong with drops for riding rough stuff, but it's more fatiguing to be on drops if you're spending lots of time on really rough trails.

See the video the previous anon posted for a little bit of discussion of some common issues with brake/shifter compatibility.

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>>1089269

dude mtbs , even 90s rigid have long toptubes.

mixed with a very high bb you get a huge saddle to bar drop and a way too long reach if you use a normal stem setup.

that's why they are usually very high and super short, like in the picture you posted.

I feel like northroad bar conversions are way better suited since you don't have to mix shifters and deraileurs and you can easily archive a comfortable position on the bike with multiple hand positions.

pic related , saved from a pybt a few months back