DeeDeeLaTurtle

I have a Trek 1400 with all OEM Shimano 105, a Biopace front and 12-23 rear 7-speed cassette (not a freewheel), 700c wheels with 21 tires. This is my commuter bike and I love it, but the wheels are now destroyed and if I have to replace them, I’d like to also look at making it more of an all around bike with better climbing cassette 32T or compact front and wider tires but not sure what it will accommodate since it is such a short chain derailleur and has a narrow frame for wheels and tires. I did experiment with an 8-speed cassette which I can run in friction shifting mode.

Climbing: I commute by climbing over Mount Hollywood Drive in Griffith Park daily and ride over Topanga and Latigo on occasion - for those familiar with LA riding.

A complete 1400 in decent condition on e-Bay runs about $300 and I’d like that to be my cap for the following:

• Update rear 7-speed cassette to 28 or 32T for climbing
• New or used in great condition dependable wheels (I have been told not any used rear wheel can be used on an older Shimano hub)
• Possibly new front and/or new chain to accommodate new rear cassette
• Anything else can the frame accommodate if I went wider

Thank you in advance for any wisdom. I really din’t want to buy another full 1400 for the parts and then have an extra frame.

Oh and I am a rider, not a wrench and know just enough to be dangerous (e.g., I know what a torque wrench is but not how to use one to specs ;-))

beicster 

I had a 1993 or 94 Trek 1100 which was a similar style to the 1400. I could only run 28's if I recall correctly. That might seem cushy compared to your current 21's. Ebay has tons of used 700c used wheels and you can always search on shimano wheelsets. You can use up to a 10 speed wheelset with a 7 speed cassette with a spacer. Since you are in LA you might be able to find something on local Craigslist.

For a rear derailleur, a mountain bike derailleur made after about 1995 or so should accommodate a 32. Probably some made before that would work but I recently had a 92 Deore DX that would not shift onto a 32.

Definitely replace your chain while you are at it.

Classtime 

What do mean the wheels are destroyed?
If you can use your current wheels, get a new cassette with a 28 and that will make a big difference. Get a new chain to go with your new cassette. Your frame should be able to clear 23 mm tires easy and maybe 25s.

Take yourself and your Trek to Bikerowave or Bicycle Kitchen. They are a couple of co-Ops that can guide you through this with tools, instruction and advice.

Soody

At the time, the answer for climbing gears on a road bike was a triple crank, not a wide cassette.
Something like below, which is 53/39/30 and 12-23 7 speed .
This is good climbing gears. You keep your tight spread at the rear. And triples work great with downtube shifters.
If you're commited to this bike, i suggest you go that direction. Find an old road triple with good condition rings, a taper that isn't badly worn, and a front mech for it at a co-op or something. Get a new chain and a new bottom bracket. Leave the rest as it is.
If you want even lower gears, many will take a 28, or a 26 granny and shift perfectly fine.

If you stay 7 speed and get a wide cassette, the 11-13-15-18 jumps are pretty awful for road riding.

I'd also question if this bike is worth all this. If you really like it, for whatever reason, go for it. Otherwise, there are likely better inexpensive starting points for an allrounder.

ryansu

Lots of options in a wider range rear cassette these days and if you switch your down tube shifters to friction (as opposed to index) mode you could increase to 8 or 9 speeds pretty easily on a newer wheel-set, To accommodate a wider range thought you will want, as suggested above, a long cage rear derailleur like a Shimano Deore or LX,

As for tires you will probably be limited to whatever your bikes clearance near the bottom bracket junction with the chainstays will allow, 25 or 28 maybe depending on the year of your Trek.Do some more posting to get to 10 total, like commenting on other posts and then you can put up some pictures on this thread and the forum can be that much more helpful.

I would also ask what you mean by the wheels are destroyed does that mean they are beyond a good servicing? lots of videos on line for truing wheels and rebuilding bearings swapping cassettes etc. It takes some time and maybe a new tool or two but a new wheelset will run you a $100 just for the no name brands and buying them used on ebay means paying a ton in shipping - I just went through finding a set for a 7 speed bike so I'm talking from recent experience, also if you are able to find a decent set of matching used wheels they probably need servicing too. YMMV

Good luck with the refresh of your Trek, having some decent climbing gears can make a big difference in how you experience your ride/commute. A word of warning, once you experience wider plusher tires you may never want to go back

rccardr 

I might be able to put a package together for you: new handbuilt wheels with Shimano 5700 hubs laced to Mavic Open Elite rims with double butted Sapim spokes, a Deore RD, new ten speed chain, and new or lightly used wide range cassette with a 34 big cog. Possibly also a compact Shimano crankset with 50/34 rings. Your existing FD will work with the compact crank. Might even have a good set of lightly used 700 X 25 tires, either Vittoria or Continental, to go along with the wheels, and also tubes. Cost would be pretty close to your max of $300, but the new wheels alone are worth most of that.

Will be back in the US next week, shoot me an e-mail at rccardr@cox.net if interested.

zjrog

I picked up a 92 Trek 1400 last spring... https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plu...d-redhead.html

It was a bike I desired, but couldn't afford when new. And it was a good ride, once I cleaned it up. It had a 9 speed cassette that shifted all gears in friction mode. But I put a 7 speed back on it, with a spacer. And it was great in index mode...

I fit 700x28 tires under it when I gave it to my son in law over the summer. They do fit, but are indeed a tight fit.

If I hadn't come across a different bike a month later, I might have kept the 1400. And I certainly would have modernized the drivetrain. Much like I did my old KHS...

Enjoy that 1400. Helluva a fine bike...

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Wow you replaced your 27 year old redhead after just a month? Fickle ;-) Thanks for letting me know about the 28s.

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Thank you beicster!

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I am actually swinging by Bicrowave to get their thoughts. I did go to Bicycle Kitchen and maybe I went at the wrong time but I felt that they were much more interested/capable of helping folks implement what they know they want to do rather than problem solve through decisions that aren't yet made :-) Great people, don't get me wrong, just a different need.

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Thanks. I just reached out to learn more.

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I've never owned a triple on the front. I guess I have insecurity issues or riding on a bike on which I used to race and then putting a triple on it ;-) I know lame, but this isn't the therapy thread for used to be competitive cyclist, but maybe I can cross post there ;-) And that also answers your second question, I've only owned four bikes (1) a Trek 1200 which was stolen and then replaced in the late 1980s by (2) this Trek 1400. Then (3) I bought and raced triathlons on a Kestrel Talon SL from 2004 to 2019 when the entire frame disintegrated under me and Kestrel sent me (4) a 2011 replacement frame. So in summary, I have two bikes, a Kestrel Talon SL that I don't want to keep using to commute on, and the Trek 1400, which I still love to ride and would love to commute on - yes I have an unnatural attachment to inanimate objects. Thanks also for the thoughts on a wide cassette and how annoying that might be. A lot to think about.

nlerner

Don't know if you'd have the clearance, but if you're getting new wheels, you might consider a 650B conversion. That could potentially allow you to run wider tires along with the various cassette, derailleur, shifter upgrades that others have mentioned.

squirtdad

@DeeDeeLaTurtle this would be a pretty good deal/set up. @rccardr is a great guy. I have bought multiple items from him....all great.....

canklecat

Since you're replacing the wheels you can go with 7-speed freewheel or cassette hubs. Either works with the Shimano 105 group you already have.

I've used Shimano and SunRace freewheels, both are fine. If anything the SunRace chromed cogs shift better and run more quietly.

On my Trek 5900 with Biopace 52/42 chainring, the Shimano 14-28 freewheel works fine, good gearing steps without any awkward or abrupt steps. With the 14 smallest cog I do a little more coasting on steep downhills since I'm spun out at 130 rpm, and pedaling on my bikes with 12 and 13 small cogs didn't really gain much speed over tucking in and coasting.

The 42T Biopace smaller chainring seems to help a bit at lower cadence on climbs. With the 28T small cog it's good enough for climbs in my area -- mostly roller coaster terrain with lots of short, steep climbs, not many longer than a couple hundreds yards. No mile-long or longer continuous climbs at all. Even those marked on Strava as 2% over a mile actually have some flat areas or slight downhill grades before climbing again. Even toward the end of a 100 mile ride Sunday the 42/28 gear was good enough for our climbs when my legs were pretty dead.

My Univega has a 50/40/30 triple chainring and has gone from a 7-speed 13-28 to 8-speed 11-32. Occasionally I've used the 30 chainring and 28 or 32 rear cogs, but only because that bike is already 30+ lbs and was loaded down with groceries or other gear. My road bikes are around 20 and 25 lbs so I don't need the smaller chainring or rear cogs larger than 28.

Regarding wheels there are lots of good wheelsets with good rims from Alpine, Araya, Mavic and others that'll use 7-speed freewheels or cassettes. I have those low profile 32 spoke double wall rims from Araya and Alpine with 7-speed freewheel hubs. Great rims, solid and dependable on rough roads. I see comparable used wheelsets often on craigslist and Facebook ads for cheap.

For climbing you can lighten the load just a bit by switching to a different front wheel. I've been swiping an older Bontrager Race Lite Aero front wheel from a Trek Equinox tri bike that had a cracked frame. Only 16 spokes, bladed spokes, modest aero profile rims. They feel only a little lighter when I lift them, but on the bike they feel and roll much lighter than that. Combined with a good lightweight 700x23 tire, it's probably good for up to a 1 mph boost on my usual 20-50 mile rides, and a little faster on good days.

And the rim profile isn't high enough to be sketchy in strong crosswinds -- on Sunday's century ride we had 15-25mph crosswinds across some rural open prairie roads and while I could feel it a bit on the front wheel it wasn't nerve-wracking. Some other folks with true high profile aero rims commenting on fighting the wheels to hold a line. Nobody was riding tight or drafting too closely in that wind.

So if you don't mind mismatched wheels, a semi-aero lighter weight front wheel can help a bit on climbs.

zjrog

I found the frame a month later, and then took a couple months to gather stuff to make it a ridable bike. But having a good bike at the time, and my son in law fell in love with the Redhead after I loaned it to him, it does him more good to ride it than for me to let it sit waiting it's turn... If he decides on another bike later, he will give it back to me...

thook

i second the 650b consideration. imo, anything less than 35mm tires is a pretty rough ride for gravel. i guess maybe it depends on the gravel....and maybe how hardcore you are...lol

around here in the ozarks 38/40mm tires are pretty ideal offroad. not only for soaking up the rough, but for traction and float over soft sections. 650b would still keep a nimble feel, vs 700c, which admittedly does feel "tank'ish" comparatively if you're used to the way a smaller diameter feels.

i do like the way 700/38mm etc. diameter lends towards stability offroad, though

oh, and with 650b you can stick with more roadie type gearing for the climbing

rccardr 

Am back in the US now, and turns out I have everything listed above -new wheels, 11-34 cassette, Deore RD, 50/34 crankset, etc. (tires are 23c Conti Gatorskins).
Did not receive an e-mail from you, and you don't have enough posts to receive PM's.
So send me an e-mail at rccardr@cox.net and we can take this offline.
Or if you've already worked something else out, please let me know.
Thanks
Doc

DeeDeeLaTurtle

Thank you. Caught up in work and also trying to find a way to make sure I have a source to help install everything you are recommending. I will reach out via email. Thank you again.