Turning Winow TT129 to Road Bike

[Tririder]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a WinowTT129 frame set, admittedly without much research as I should have perhaps. The thing is that the geometry fitted me very well on paper and I liked the frame as a whole. I know that many think of the 28cc clearance as a backward development, but I personally don't mind it much. I also wanted to build a custom Chinese full built as a project. But oh my God the handlebars. It feels completely impossible to ride it, very twitchy and unstable. Turning is also very difficult and I noticed how the stem was scratching the fork, although I  managed to fix that. Anyway, i want to give it a few more tries out before starting this experiment, but given that the slack is 73.5°, which is very similar to a road bike, would you consider turning this frame into a road bike version? I know I need to get a different handlebar, new hydraulic discs and road shifters, but if it's worthwhile I'd be happy to try it out.

[bigApple]

It's a copy of the Simplon Pride 2, which is a road bike rather than a time trial bike, so yes, you can turn it into a road bike.

[RickyM]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a WinowTT129 frame set, admittedly without much research as I should have perhaps. The thing is that the geometry fitted me very well on paper and I liked the frame as a whole. I know that many think of the 28cc clearance as a backward development, but I personally don't mind it much. I also wanted to build a custom Chinese full built as a project. But oh my God the handlebars. It feels completely impossible to ride it, very twitchy and unstable. Turning is also very difficult and I noticed how the stem was scratching the fork, although I  managed to fix that. Anyway, i want to give it a few more tries out before starting this experiment, but given that the slack is 73.5°, which is very similar to a road bike, would you consider turning this frame into a road bike version? I know I need to get a different handlebar, new hydraulic discs and road shifters, but if it's worthwhile I'd be happy to try it out.

Hey man. I did this experiment a few years ago with an old Felt B12 TT frame. Change the handlebars and the levers (everything from Ali) and it worked like a charm. Very very fast, super aero bike and was very comfortable (if you compare it to a TT position). Just do your research and get the right stem lengh and you will sure need to rise it if you want to ride a few hours non stop.
Now I have this setup permanently on my trainer and it´s great.
Hope it helps.
Cheers

[Tririder]

Hey man. I did this experiment a few years ago with an old Felt B12 TT frame. Change the handlebars and the levers (everything from Ali) and it worked like a charm. Very very fast, super aero bike and was very comfortable (if you compare it to a TT position). Just do your research and get the right stem lengh and you will sure need to rise it if you want to ride a few hours non stop.
Now I have this setup permanently on my trainer and it´s great.
Hope it helps.
Cheers

Hey man, thank you for your reply, it was very helpful. Researching, it does not seem to be too much of an headache, it seems I only need to purchase the road shifter levers, the handlebar of course and the disc hydraulics. I think the result would be similar to your old Felt, quite an aggressive road bike, not an all rounder but fast and super aero. For sure I would imagine I need to raise the stem, you are right.
With hindsight I should have gone for the TT119 frame, but live and learn I guess.

[klindsey00]

Dunno why I keep seeing these "new" "TT" frames come out with 73 deg STA... the geometry is like a road bike, should work just fine with drop bars and a standard road position.

[Tririder]

Dunno why I keep seeing these "new" "TT" frames come out with 73 deg STA... the geometry is like a road bike, should work just fine with drop bars and a standard road position.

I have not read the other guy's post fully on here about this same "issue" but it seems that the newest "trend" is this sort of STA. Maybe it's got something to do with the triathlon boom amongst the gen pop these past years.