Brodie01

As I stated in a post elsewhere in this forum, I scored on this Trek Elance 400 yesterday from my neighbor. I believe it is complete with all its original equipment.

Brodie01

TugaDude

Great score. Love the investment cast lugs and build quality. The components are so-so, but very functional.
In my opinion the frame far overshadows the Shimano light Action bits. I do, however really like the hubs. Good stuff there. Enjoy! BTW, based on the condition and original bar tape, it was a garage queen. Shame. Not so much for you but for the previous owner.

Brodie01

The posted pictures I hope illustrate the bike and all the components it has. It appears to me that there is not much use on this bike. I think the tires are the original ones that came with the bike new. If so, there can't be very much mileage on this bike. I noticed a bike shop sticker on the frame, so I plan to check with them to see if they remember the bike (or customer) and what they can tell me abouts it history. I rides beautifully aside from the shimmy I discovered yesterday when I took my hands off the handlebars to connect my helmet strap. I checked the headset for play, the wheel bairings and the rims for trueness. I found the spokes to be fairly loose so I did some careful adjustments. I will do some further testing on the bike today.

trailmix

Nice score! Bike appears to be in very nice shape.

The Golden Boy 

That is a cool, cool bike. Congratulations!

I've got the 1986 version- It's a fantastical bike. The best combination of the Trek Logo and the colors.

I'll totally talk your ear off about this bike.

Like TugaDude says- the frame is a great frame- the only reason it's a 400 series bike is the components. And even the components are NOT bad. The frame is a double butted 531 frame- the 86 has Tange CrMo fork and stays, the 87 says it's Trek CrMo. Just a few years earlier and a 531 frame with CrMo or Mangalloy fork and stays would have been a 600 level Trek.

My secret plan is to upgrade everything on my bike to Shimano 600/Suntour XC Comp/Sprint/Superbe level stuff. Right now I have TriColor 600 brakes (dual pivot in the front, single in the back) and levers, XC Comp RD, XC Pro FD and Command Shifters. It's a nice riding and great looking bike.

RobbieTunes

According to the 1987 Trek Catalog, the main tubing is Reynolds 531; Trek just chose to hide the 531 lower on the seat tube. I have the 330 Elance, also Reynolds 531, Trek lugs, and "Tempered" stays. With an Ultegra 9-sp group and Ksyrium Equipes, it's a shade under 22 lbs. Great stability, but agile enough for a pace line. You have a fine bike, as is, and a great platform for whatever you want to hang on it.

https://www.vintage-trek.com/TrekBrochure1987.htm

Brodie01

Yes it was a garage queen.

badger_biker

Great find - a real beauty. I have the red/black version of the '87 that I built up from the frame. I went with a triple and bar end shifters and they are a sweet riding bike. I hope you get your shimmy ironed out. I've felt it on mine when I have a trunk bag on my rear rack with a load in it but generally not a problem at all. Enjoy that 26 year old new bike!

auchencrow

If the usual suspects for front-end shimmy (head tube facing, frame alignment, headset bearings) don't pan out, take a hard look at your rear wheel for spoke tension and trueness of the rim. (Just another possibility).

That's a really nice bike, Brodie. A terrific, pristine example of a 1980's steel Trek - and with what I think are pretty elegant investment cast lugs. While I am not a big fan of Shimano I do like their old Light Action DRs. They're not as "light" as their name implies, but the shift quality is good and they're built to last. I would elect to keep them on that bike.

Brodie01

Right now my plans are to keep the bike as it is. I'm going to take it out on a 25 mile ride today and see how it goes. When I took in this bike I thought I would keep it for a back up bike, but the more I ride it, the more it may become more of a daily rider.

Mike
I have been around the "vintage" mind set with vintage cars and motorcycles, so I value the original state of this bike. If I do change things I will keep all the original equipment to eventually restore the bike to its original state. Next week I am taking it in to a lbs to have a tune up performed, then we'll see how it performs.
I feel like a found a pot of gold with this bike.

The Golden Boy 

You did hit the proverbial 'pot of gold' with this bike.

Again, this is a PERFECT bike to upgrade in that its a really nice frame, that Trek hung middle of the road components on to get it to meet a lower price point. While it is in really nice shape, it's not mint "museum quality" nice shape. If you want to go more "modern" with it- it's there for you, if you want to upgrade it with more "period" components- it's there.

Prior to 1986- a 600 series Trek would have had a 531 main frame with the forks and stays made of either CrMo or Mangalloy and had components around the Shimano 600 level. SIS shifting was a BIG leap from any of the previous 600 series bikes- so you can really make the claim that these newer 400 series bikes are "better" in some ways than the much more expensive, but older, 600 series bikes.

IMO, you should check out the difference in feel in the stock brakes on your bike to, say, Shimano Ultegra or Suntour Superbe/Sprint stuff. While I had a reach problem using TriColor 600 brakes that I had to work around, the feel in the braking is night and day.