lax

That Trek is one handsome bike! I love how the pump colour matches the headtube.

djb

I'm not into classics by any means, and find all and any bikes interesting, but the paint scheme, the "Trek" font, the small yellow highlights, really do make that one pretty bike.
Totally classic look, meaning that it could be a contemporary bike, as the two colour scheme and Trek name etc just plain look handsome.

how many speeds- five I presume? I cant see properly. That XT rd looks like a 90s version no? And the crankset looks like a 90s crankset also, certainly not a 80s halfstep model that a lot of bikes came with back then.

mike_c

You are spot on. It is a 6 speed freewheel. All the paint and decals are original. I always thought its a nice looking bike, particularly the lugwork.

The crankset and derailleur were upgraded in the 90's. The best upgrade was to buy better wheels. I wanted bullet proof wheels, so I went with wider rims, Phil Wood hubs, 40 spokes.

I hope the bike goes another 40 years!

djb

I imagine you could go 7 speed. I started touring on 6, then 7, and the rear wheels then were 120 or 125, forget. I'm not familiar with Phil wood stuff, but if you could go to 7 or even 8, the jumps between shifts will be smaller, which is just plain nice and easier on the knees.

Enjoy it in its renewed life no matter if changes are made or not.

mike_c

I agree and I have considered making that upgrade. But, I decided 18 speeds should be plenty, so I left it alone. I have a couple freewheels that I use, depending on if its a flat or a hilly route. The 13-23 was perfect for Florida, with nice tight spacings.

Indigo82

Beautiful TREK!

djb

I imagine the 13-23 is 13-15-17-19-21-23, which is fine. That's great if you have a larger freewheel also.
What is the crankset? Teeth wise?

mike_c

The chainrings are 28-38-48, 175mm. It works well. The original was 28-44-50 I think. The "half-step plus granny" gearing that it came with seemed slower, because shifting up in the front takes half a crank revolution, whereas shifting in the rear is almost instant.

mike_c

Thank you. I agree :-)

djb

ya, the 48/38/28 is a pretty standard hybrid crank, that happens to be a really good range anyway. If there are bolts for the chainrings, you can always source a 24t. My 1990 bike with 7 speeds was just past the half step era, but had a 50/40/28, so changing to a 24 was easy and didnt require any fiddling with anything. If you ever go that route, look into those chain catcher thingees, they attach to the frame here the small ring and stop overshifts, super simple and super effective.

phile

does this count?

mike_c

Thank you :-)

mike_c

I agree. A 24 for the granny gear would be useful, lower is always better as long as the RD can take up the slack. I always try to use one less than the lowest gear, so that I have a "bailout" just in case.

I will check out the "thingees". Haven't had a thingee on the bike in a while :-)

hagenandeggs

Beautiful!

djb

there's lots of them, one is called a "dog fang", but searching will show others. Just have to have the right diameter of seat tube to mount it, although would be easy to shim if needed.

mike_c

Thank you!

RRJohn

TimothyH

Two bottle cages were omitted in favor of a frame bag and Platypus soft bottles for camp.

I've a lot to learn and things like moving from a tent to a tarp are probably inevitable if I continue to bikepack with any regularity. If so then something like a Surly Krampus is probably inevitable as well and this will be returned to high-geared group ride trim.

For now it should be fun tramping around the mountains of North Georgia.









-Tim-

jan nikolajsen 

DSC01737 copy by jan nikolajsen, on Flickr

Left to right: Krampus, OnOne Inbred, Santa Cruz Highball.

Ready to go to the Maze; actually for a backpacking trip. We didn't have a vehicle suitable to drive in there so we rode to the Maze Overlook, stashed the bikes out of the way and dropped in for 5 days.

djb

Tim, can't tell from the photos, but if you don't have anything under the various straps, consider some tape to avoid abrasion/rubbing of the paint.
Must be fun riding that bike. Non round chain rings?

phile

at the border between belgium and netherlands. Cycled yesterday 112 km from rottRotte stayed at a hotel in antwerpen. Headed back home today. About 4 hours to go.

str

TimothyH

Thanks for the advice. Are you offering it from experience with Apidura? I ask because the straps are supposed to be "carbon friendly." I'm not sure what that means exactly but I do need a block of foam between the handlebar bag and head tube.

Rings are 46/30 Absolute Black ovals. Cassette is an XT 11-42. Low gear is about 19.5 inches. With normalUltegra road gearing it flies. I'm pretty sure there is a Krampus or similar in my future and the Niner will be returned to high-speed done in a day duty.


-Tim-

djb

I wrote a response to this a number of days ago, but it aint here.
No, no personal Apidura experience, their stuff looks well made, but re rubbing, I've put tape on lots of times for cables and panniers and such when I started to notice paint rubbing off a few times over the years. Ihave only one bike with a cf fork, and am extra careful of it with panniers and whatnot, I figure its worth being proactive to keeping abrasion going on.

re the rings, I havent ridden oval rings since about 91 with Biopace, and my knees didnt like it, but Im aware that the design of oval rings has changed a lot, and it would be interesting to try them now with more riding experience, I had some knee issues with it back then, but it was probably a combination of diff factors, and I cant go back in time so who knows how much the Biopace played a part.

anyway, neat setup, and yes a Krumpas would be fun going the wide route. I one day will set up my Troll with Jones bars and 2.5 or 2.8 and do a different sort of riding.
cheers

kurtisgimp