My new old Trek bicycle

I bought my Trek bike back in the early eighties, but I haven't used it for awhile. I decided if I'm going to start riding again, either I need a new bike or the Trek needs some upgrades, and I couldn't see spending two grand on a new made-in-China bike when the Trek's made-in-the-USA frame is in good shape.

Bike technology has changed a bunch since the eighties. I've long wanted indexed shifting, and to switch from 27 inch tires to modern 700c tires for which there's a much wider selection. And I've never been happy with the gear range on the Trek; its lowest gears are too high for climbing serious grades. Doing a little research, I found it would be fairly straightforward to switch the six-speed rear to an eight-speed setup. It did require spreading the rear fork by 5 millimeters to fit the wider axle used on newer bikes. In the end, I replaced the tires and wheels, front and rear derailleurs, shifters, rear sprocket cassette, crankarms and chainrings, brake calipers and brake levers. And retaped the handlebars.

The bike is now a joy to ride. The indexed shifters work perfect (no more slipping into high gear at the wrong time), and the 700Cx32 tires are more appropriate for gravel roads than the old 27 inch racing slicks. With the new gearing, the bike climbs like a mountain bike in its lowest gear and the highest gear is just slightly taller than the old high gear. I hope to put a lot of miles on it this summer.

Here's pictures before and after the upgrades. Note how much smaller the chainrings (front sprockets) are now. Also, the brake cables are no longer sticking up from the brake levers.

Put 22 miles on my old Trek Sunday. First time I had done that in a long time. I bought mine in 96 or 97, it was the last of the US made Treks, and the last one the store had. The other ones in stock were made overseas, so I bought mine in a color I really didn't care for based on that fact.

At 66, I find this much more comfortable. My normal ride is 30 miles in 2 hrs. It's a really good work out without my hands, feet and posterior getting numb.

I have a '98 Trek 520 that I bought in 2011 when I decided I wanted to get a real touring bike that would be more reliable to replace my '76 Schwinn Super Le Tour. A couple of years ago I replaced the bottom bracket assembly, cranks, and pedals, and some time before that I replaced the rear wheel. It's been my only bike for 9 years and has been very reliable. Here's a picture from my annual trip where I ride to the Adirondacks, camp for 5 days, and ride back.

Interesting Mark-B, you put a lot of time and money in to the rebuild. Bet you could have gotten by cheaper if you just bought a good used 2010 or so era road bike, but its lots of fun to rebuild an old classic. Yes, you did say in your posting "i've long wanted index shifting" so I get that. But its 2020 now, im sure you investigated Shimano STI shifters (shift levers integrated with brake levers) or SRAM's same product. Maybe its because the you could not spread the rear chainstays more than 5 mm to accomodate a nine speed cassette? I dont beleive you can get an 8 speed STI package any longer. In fact finding a 9 speed might be tough. Anyway, for your next bike, take it from someone who's been there - upgrading from indexed downtube shifting to STI is like going from a model T to a '57 chevy. Good luck and watch out for the texters on the road.

Where is the motor and the "Ape Hangers"?---Tee

Comfortable Ride---

Now that's some serious bicycling! Beautiful canoe, by the way.

I'm curious as to why you changed out the bottom bracket. In retrospect, I kind of wish I had installed a modern splined BB, which would have given me some different chainring options. But instead I just replaced the crankarms with newer square taper ones.

> Interesting Mark-B, you put a lot of time and money in to the rebuild. Bet you could have gotten by cheaper if you just bought a good used 2010 or so era road bike, but its lots of fun to rebuild an old classic. Yes, you did say in your posting "i've long wanted index shifting" so I get that. But its 2020 now, im sure you investigated Shimano STI shifters (shift levers integrated with brake levers) or SRAM's same product. Maybe its because the you could not spread the rear chainstays more than 5 mm to accomodate a nine speed cassette? I dont beleive you can get an 8 speed STI package any longer. In fact finding a 9 speed might be tough. Anyway, for your next bike, take it from someone who's been there - upgrading from indexed downtube shifting to STI is like going from a model T to a '57 chevy. Good luck and watch out for the texters on the road.

Well, it wasn't terribly expensive; the wheels were the most expensive items and they had to be replaced regardless.

I was trying to go with a "minimally invasive" approach, so I decided to stick with downtube shifters which narrowed my options considerably. Sunrace was pretty much the only option there (other than Dura$Ace) and they have an eight-speed shifter. I didn't realize until I ordered the parts that Sunrace also makes a 9-speed downtube shifter, otherwise I might have gone that route. Pretty much all the rim-brake rear hubs are 130 mm, so I could have gone with more speeds. My rear wheel will accept up to 11-speed cassettes. So who knows, I might do another round of upgrades in a year or two. But probably not. It's more likely I'll buy a new bike and retire the Trek to our condo in Florida.

I mostly ride my Diamondback, (older mountain bike with no suspension), but I have an older Schwinn Continental and Trek road bikes. I don't like the dropped handlebars anymore.

Mark B,
I don't blame you for fixing up your Trek. A nice old steel bike is worth saving and riding. Anyway, in the past I worked part time in a bike shop as a mechanic for a few years and one thing we ALWAYS did to a new bike and one in for work/tuneup is to check the alignment of the dropouts, front and rear. They need to be parallel. If they are not it can set up stresses that will cause a dropout to crack/break and put strain on the axle. And make the quick release mechanism seem mushy. Any good shop can align them in about a minute with tools that clamp into the dropouts, shows alignment, and allows them to be bent into alignment. I bring this up as you have spread the rear triangle to allow a wider hub, (a common and acceptable practice), and if this wasn't done your dropouts will not be right. And not all shops do this as a regular thing. The higher the quality of the bike the more likely it is to be right from the factory but the quality level isn't a guarantee, they ALL need to be checked when new. At least that was the way it was 20 or so years ago. Suspension forks other suspension components are an exception as some you would to bend. Possibly you are aware of this as you seem into it. Enjoy your USA Trek.

> Anyway, in the past I worked part time in a bike shop as a mechanic for a few years and one thing we ALWAYS did to a new bike and one in for work/tuneup is to check the alignment of the dropouts, front and rear.

Thanks Tom, that's a great tip. I'm not sure I can trust my local bike shop to do this check. They're nice hippies, but I think they may have killed a few brain cells back in the day. I see Park Tool sells a rather expensive tool for this purpose, but I can't justify spending a hundred bucks for a one-time use. I'm thinking I may be able to fab something up with a couple of bolts that will be good enuff.

> I don't like the dropped handlebars anymore.

I can't say I ever liked them!

What is that?

I can just see someone riding that! Ron MN

The bottom bracket on my '98 is a cartridge type, so when the bearing got a little sloppy the only way to fix it was to replace the whole thing. It wasn't very expensive, and I was afraid of the old one giving out when I was 100 miles from home. The new BB I bought still has the square tapered ends, and the new cranks do too, so the options were limited but I found a set of arms with a chainring group that was pretty close to what I used to have. The 520 is a triple chainring which is a lot handier with a heavy load than my old Schwinn which only had two. I saw you said that you don't like drop bars, I find that when I'm riding all day I like having flexibility about where to put my hands and how far to lean over, it seems to help me not feel as worn out. This bike had bar end shifters when I got it, as did my last one, but I am not sure if they were factory or if the original owner put them on.

So you fixed up your bike .I fixed up mine too -ten speed Japanese frame Peugeot wheels , longer pedal arms etc. Another one ,Schwinn Sting Ray 80 spoke wheels, new tires . But in reality when I get to my garage I'm going to get on my bike -- the one with the engine made by KTM . You will never ride that because you have a bike. Why pedal when you can cruise .

I have a couple of Peugeots that I have spent countless hours on. Use to go to the friday night amateur races at the velodrome in the Lehigh Valley. Lots of fun. I came to the realization that bike riding and milking cows didn't necessarily go to together.. I think I was about 17 at the time.

I used a bike when I grew up on Dairy farm.
It was a motor bike and used it to chase cows that got out or bring to the barn when it was milking time.

> But in reality when I get to my garage I'm going to get on my bike -- the one with the engine made by KTM

When I'm impatient, my three-banger Triumph gets me where I need to go. Very quickly.

> What is that?

That is watchya call an "e-bike".

> The new BB I bought still has the square tapered ends, and the new cranks do too, so the options were limited but I found a set of arms with a chainring group that was pretty close to what I used to have.

Rather than change out the bottom bracket, I used 110mm BCD crankarms with this oddball 46/30 chainring. It allows a 30 tooth chainring to be mounted on a 110 BCD crankarm. In retrospect, I think I should have gone to a splined BB, but I'm real happy with this setup so far. With a 34 tooth rear sprocket it's good enough for the so-called hills we have in Michigan.
bikinGreen 46/30 chainring

Nice motorcycle - it must be nice to not have the wind beating on you.