miamibeachcg

I found this pink (Trek calls it 'soft red') Trek 900 at a local thrift store today, along with a cherry red Cannondale R300. I paid $49 for the Trek & $68 for the Cannondale. They both were covered in a later of dust but otherwise they are in mint condition & appear to have never been ridden!
Imagine my surprise when I googled TREK 900 & saw only tandem bikes - then a even bigger surprise when I found my bike and that it had only been produced for 1 year!
It appears all original but has some unusual brake that stick out on eac side of the tire - doesn't seem like the best set up for a mountain bike?
It also has an unusual serial # t71 11533 - what does the t71 stand for?
Can anyone tell me what my bike is worth?
Thanks, I appreciate the help.

[IMG]AA BICYCLE TREK 900 1AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 2AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 2AAA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 3AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 5AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 6AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, AA BICYCLE TREK 900 4AA by miamibeachcg, on Flickr, [/IMG]

miamibeachcg

Here is the Cannondale R300 I got with it - now THAT'S red!

[IMG]AA BICYCLE CANNONDALE R300 1AA resized by miamibeachcg, on Flickr[/IMG]

prairiepedaler

Hi, can't help you on pricing but i think that bike might be sort of a mid-level offering. I do see a front rack mount on the fork blade, two water bottle mounts and seperate rear derailleur hanger, so this bike is a little more than ordinary. Do you flip bikes regularly?

miamibeachcg

I go to a local thrift store every day except the week-ends (we have a yard sale/estate sale then) at least 30 minutes before opening to get first look at bike and other cool things I may find.

StarBiker

The Dale was the buy.

Juan Foote

Ols cantilever brakes. I wouldn't imagine the bike being worth much, but certainly what you paid if you ride it.

I purchased a green Cannondale, same model as that, some years ago for $250. The brifters quit working shortly after I got it and no amount of WD would bring them back. The wheels had spokes break shortly after. It was not (by appearance) in as good shape as your find. Stiff riding bike.

lostarchitect 

I wonder if OP might be confusing this bike with the TX900, which was made in the late 70's for only a couple years and is a very desirable frame? This looks like a mid 90's model to me.

Anyway, this is a mid level Taiwanese-made hybrid, and I think you got a good deal on it at $49. Treks tend to have good resale value. I'd say it's worth at least 3x what you paid.

himespau 

If you're going to try to make money on your purchase, I'd imagine StarBiker is right. Just because the Trek 900 was not made long, I don't think the rarity automatically gives it value. It was probably only made one year because it didn't sell, so you're unlikely to get a lot of folks reminiscing about their youth and bikes they lusted over in their formative years (which is where a lot of the collectors value comes in with these things).

trainman999

If you go to the vintage Trek site, https://www.vintage-trek.com/images/trek/Trek88_1.pdf and look at the catalog for 1988 the 900 appears to be the bottom of the line mountain bike

coolkat

Worth about 60-75 bucks max.

jet sanchEz

Lose the aero bars on the Cannondale and raise the seat about 3 inches and you will get $300 for it.

Put some big wide tires on the Trek, call it a run-about-gravel-grinder and you might get $150.

2cam16

That Trek isn't worth what you probably think. Nothing special.

T-Mar

The Trek is an entry level city bike. It's comparable to other 1988 models that were in the $250-$300 US price range. I'd put current value around $75 US.

Given that it was contract manufactured in Taiwan, I suspect the 4th character of the serial number is missing or lightly stamped and that it's October to December 1987 manufacture.

Charliekeet

Yeah, I’m envious of the OP’s score there, esp. the Cannondale. Good advice re how to adjust pre-sale. Or don’t even bother with the big tires on the Trek; it’ll still go for more than paid.

bargainguy

One of the problems on the 900 is the SunTour drivetrain. The rear shift cable is badly frayed and needs to be replaced, and if memory serves, you can't use a Shimano shift cable because the heads are different sizes and not interchangeable, and the SunTour shift cables are long out of production.

I believe you can get a universal (head on both ends, you pick which to use) shift cable relatively cheaply which would work, but this is something you might have to order instead of having in stock. Assuming you can get a SunTour or universal cable, tho, the SunTour Accushift drivetrain shifting was never as good as Shimano, and one of the reasons that while the frame might be OK (Tange #5), the drivetrain, not so much, unless you felt like switching the drivetrain over to Shimano, which wouldn't be cheap unless you had the parts on hand. The C-dale was definitely the better deal.

miamibeachcg

Both gear shift cables split when I tried them. I will probably get grip shifters put on it. Otherwise it was fun to ride around neighborhood - except that color!

Colnago Mixte

Plastidip is your friend here. My Trek 930 had a pretty ugly paint job, so I took off most of the parts and plastidipped it camo tan. Easy peasy, takes a couple hours and $10 worth of plastidip, and the original paint is still intact and untouched underneath. Think of it as a "car bra" for your bike:

imcsendes

By default the Trek has a Sugino VP crank set with matching BB and that is delicate Japanese tech right there. Which easily goes between 30-70 bucks depending on condition and market. I’d certainly put on some cheaper cranks as it wouldn’t concerm your average buyer and put the cranks on eBay. Or find a Trek collector who will pay 200 easily as this looks close to NOS.

wrk101

Rare Model + Low End = Low End. VP crank appears to have steel chain rings, I am not sure. If so, that will limit the crankset's value. The crank and the thumb shifters are the only parts on that bike with value.

cudak888 

Your advice is misleading and may result in losses for the OP.

Those Sugino VPs are about as rare as beer farts on a Super Bowl weekend. Complete triples can bring as little as $15 on eBay. Very few ever hit anywhere near $50, and the ones that sell for $30/40 often have free shipping (which means a $13 value to the buyer and a $13 loss to the seller, not including fees).

The entire exercise of pulling the cranks and BB off, photographing them, listing them on eBay, and then futzing around for a suitable replacement is not going to result in the windfall you're making the OP believe he will have. It won't happen. Heck, there are Campagnolo cranksets that wish they could bring such assured pricing on eBay.

As for the whole bike:

I've flipped enough unremarkable MTB/cruiser/hybrid stuff recently to know current mojo of the Miami market. It's flooded with these mid-1990's MTBs that seem to be outpacing the cockroach and Toyota Corolla for overall population in this county. It'll be a hard sell even at $50. $40 will get nibbles. $75? Be prepared to sit on it.

Also, at $40, expect every cheap Craigslist chiseler who comes by to offer you $30 - the day of the $5 haggle is gone here; it's now a $10 haggle. What's more, be prepared to have some idiot try to offer you $20 if you get them through OfferUp...that is, if they ever show up.

Also, those cantilevers aren't going to help sales. Unlike V-brakes, these won't work that well with 20-year-old dry pads. Buyers will instantly notice this, and the days of accepting cantis as old tech is gone - everyone expects V-brake performance. Expect the low offers.

-Kurt