In the car world, there’s a passionate crowd of enthusiasts who love taking an old car and restoring it, but with modern twists – think of an old Landrover but fitted with an electric motor, or a VW camper van fitted with an incredible sound system or an E-type Jaguar fitted with modern suspension and brakes. Apparently, this is known as a resto-mod. While it's not super common in our gravelly world yet, if you do a little research, you can find some amazing examples. Cannondale-loving Timo Rokitta decided he wanted to convert a classic 90s MTB into a fully modern gravel bike and sent in the details of his amazing project.

It was the late nineties. More than a quarter of a century. At that time, I was infected with the MTB virus. In the small Saarland town of Sankt Wendel, several MTB World Cups took place and I watched the stars of the scene back then. I was particularly impressed by the riders and bikes of the Volvo Cannondale team. Tinker Juarez and Cadel Evans dominated the competition on their hardtails with the well-known "Headshok suspension."

As a consequence, I bought myself a comfortable Cannondale full-suspension bike from the "Super V series." However, I was never truly happy with this bike. It was as heavy as lead at 14 kilograms and despite its carbon swingarm, it bobbed uphill like a sailboat in a storm on the open sea. After several Alpine crossings and MTB marathons, I ended up selling the "Super V."

At our event, the Nibelungengravelride last year, I had a déjà vu. A participant who joins every year arrived at the start with an impressive gravel conversion. He had turned an old Cannondale Killer V into a gravel bike. The bike was a real eye-catcher, both visually and technically.

In the weeks that followed, my determination grew to own a similar gravel bike that would remind me of my early cycling years. I delved into the topic online and discovered several such conversions, all highly individual and visually striking.

I started searching for a suitable frame on eBay and was lucky to quickly find a Cannondale F900 frame in size M. The seller was a really nice guy who knew a lot about Cannondale bikes, so I soon had a solid foundation in the form of a frame. For a bargain price of just €200, I had found myself a great deal.

Since converting a 25-year-old MTB into a gravel bike requires some expertise, I reached out to Torsten, the owner of the Cannondale gravel bike from the Nibelungengravelride. He spontaneously agreed to help me with the build and take care of the critical work on the project. My task was to handle the paint job and source the parts.

With Velociao from Berlin, I found a painter who repainted the frame and fork in the original colors of the Cannondale Volvo team. But as the saying goes: "Things always turn out differently than you expect!"

First, the paint job was delayed because the painter was renovating his workshop and then the decals for the frame took a long time to arrive. After that, the saddle that was delivered had defects and had to be exchanged.

Since Torsten, who owns 40 bikes himself, is a gifted mechanic and knowledgeable about old MTBs, all the issues that arose during this project could be solved. Among other things, a special spacer had to be made for the 1.56-inch Headshok head tube and the mounting issue for the ISO 2000 brake adapter had to be addressed. Finally, the specialists at Eighty-AID overhauled the Headshok fork.

After a good six months, the time had finally come. Together with Torsten, I took my old Cannondale gravel bike – now revived through the conversion – for a ride along the gravel paths by the Rhine.

The riding experience is fantastic. The small 26-inch wheels accelerate quickly due to their significantly reduced mass and offer perfect handling. The bike's stability is excellent due to the long wheelbase and never feels wobbly.

And so, after 25 years, the circle has closed for me. Sometimes, you just have to wait a little longer for things to turn out just right.

• Frameset: 2002 Cannondale F, special paint Volvo Cannondale Team by Velociao
• Front brake: Shimano GRX hydro disc
• Rear brake: Shimano GRX hydro disc
• Brake/shift levers: Shimano GRX / Hydraulic brake masters
• Rear derailleur: Shimano GRX 11 speed
• Cassette: Shimano XT 11s 11/42
• Chain: Shimano 11s
• Crankset: Shimano GRX, 172,5mm
• Chainring: Shimano GRX, 42T
• Rotors: Shimano, 180 / 160mm
• Bottom bracket: C-Bear 
• Wheelset: Custom 26  
• Hubs: DT Swiss 240
• Tyres: Rene Herse Humptulips Ridge 26 x 2,3
• Sealant: Marcellos´s Bike Stuff 3 oz front, 3 oz rear
• Pedals: Shimano XTR
• Handlebars: Tune Geweih 42cm
• Stem: Reverse 60 mm
• Saddle: Tune 
• Seatpost: Tune leichtes Stück 
• Weight: 9.5 kg