Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track Restoration and Upgrade

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Finished Bicycle
Side View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before

Hello Again,

I have six restorations lined up right plus the busy season for tune ups.  Parts are starting to come in for three of the restorations so I am going to try and see if restoring all three together as parts come in, see if it will prove to be more efficient.  Hoping so!

This is Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track.  Multi-Tracks from this era are fantastic bicycles, versatile and comfortable.  This Trek 700 will receive new wheels, road tires, new cables and housings, a new chain and cassette, new brake pads and wider handle bars.  I think I am missing more in there but will show up in the post below.

The frame is in fantastic shape other then very dirty.  Cleaning and polishing will go along way in making this frame look great.  Whats wonderful about this frame and bicycle is that its a lugged steel frame. I am and will always be a steel frame guy.  No ride quality like steel and its a perfect material for what Kurt will be using the bike for, running around town.  The frame is basic straight gauge tubing Cro-Mo 4130.

The wheels are badly damaged, the rims, especially the rear are badly warped and egged, they could be brought back to ok shape, but at this point being a 20-25 year old wheels they're worth replacing.

I stripped the bike of its components and cleaned the frame at this point.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before
Front View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before - Frame View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before
Crank View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle Before
Rear Brake View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bike Before - Handlebar View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Stripped of Components
Dirty

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Dirty
Bottom Bracket

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame
Cro-Mo Sticker - Not High End Tubing
But Nice Sticker

That is where the bike is now, work will start moving pretty fast on it now.

The Trek 700 frame had a lot of black grease or tar on it.  It took a good amount of Goo Gone and a lot of elbow grease to remove it. When the frame was cleaned I need to use a paint cleaning polish and then a regular polishing wax. The frame polished nice.  It does have some chips and nicks and a little staining in the white paint, but otherwise looks great.  I know its dated, but I really like the blue and green decals against the white, I like the look.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Polished

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Polished - Decals

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Frame Polished - Seat Stays

Same as with the Trek road bike and Paramount MTB I started work on the bottom bracket and headset components at the same time.  The components are in good shape, the chrome and metal components went into the crock pot while the black painted components where cleaned and hand polished.  The black components have a few scraps and chips but look good polished.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bottom Bracket & Headset
Components - Before

The bottom bracket and headset cleaned up nice, the few chrome pieces polished nice as did the black colored components by hand.  I repacked the headset bearings in new grease and the headset functions very smoothly.  For the bottom bracket I replaced about half of the old bearings, after new grease the bottom bracket turns nicely.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bottom Bracket & Headset
Polished

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Headset Cups Pressed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Headset Bearings Packed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Headset Complete

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Bottom Bracket Fixed Cup
Installed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Bottom Bracket Complete
Poor White Balance Photo

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Complete

The cranks are next on all three bicycles.  The Trek 700 Multi-Track has a stamped and riveted crank. It can not be disassembled for cleaning and polishing and being painted it can only be hand polished.  The crank has been cleaned the best it can with out being able to disassemble it.  Next the black color will be hand polished.  It should look pretty descent after polishing.  I am a little surprised how heavy the crank is, much more heavy then a typical stamped and riveted crank.  Something else I have seldom seen is the crank arms are thick, so thick that the back side of the peddle threads are covered and not drilled all the way through.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Crank Before

The crank took sometime to polish by hand.  It is not as nice as it could be if the crank was the type that could be disassembled but it is clean and a lot of the dullness has been polished out.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Crank - Cleaned, Polished & Installed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Crank Installed

The new wheels came in today, after looking at them I realized they are not the wheels I ordered.  The rims are actually nicer but the rims are also 4 mm narrower. I have an email out to Kurt if he wants to keep the narrow ones.  He originally wanted narrower tires then what can go on the original 25 mm size wheels, so maybe it will work out, otherwise I will return them.  I also installed the new seven speed cassette to make sure it would fit on the different wheel.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
New Front Wheel

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - New Seven Speed Cassette

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Wheel Installed

Over the weekend I happen to find a taller mountain bike stem or quill that works with cantilever brakes in alloy silver.  Kurt mentioned he would like a taller quill on the Trek 700 but I could not find a taller one in black.  I am going to ask if he would consider the silver in the same email about the wheels.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Silver Quill Option

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Quill Options

I have stopped working on three restorations at once, its not faster working at three at a time, in fact it is much slower.

The replacement wheels for the first set that they sent me that where the wrong wheels.  The wheels are very nice.  I also installed Continental Touring tires that I am super impressed with.  The tires are very heavy duty, I think they will stand up very nice to city riding, I am thinking of them being my main tires I put on city bikes.

I also installed the new seven speed cassette, I had to add a spacer to get the cassette in the correct spot, I am hoping it will work out the way it should.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Wheel & Tire Installed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
New Seven Speed Cassette

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - New Cassette

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Front Wheel Installed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Wheels & Tires Installed

Next I installed the new seat post.  The original seat post is pretty short, this will allow for a higher riding position.  The new seat most is a one Allen screw micro adjust seat post.  So much nicer then the old seat post.  At the same time I cleaned and polished the seat post clamp and brake cable bracket.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - New Seat Post - Old in Front

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Seat Clamp - Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Seat - Seat Post - Seat Clamp - Brake Bracket
Installed

The rear brake caliper is next.  I am a bit concerned about the rear brake caliper, I noticed at disassemble the tension adjustment screw was missing, I am hoping I have one that will fit in my chest of small salvaged parts, I have not found one yet.  Otherwise the caliper cleaned nicely, it has gun metal colored paint so it had to be polished by hand, it polished okay.  All of the metal pieces of the caliper polished really nice.  I installed the caliper to a point and will complete the install when cables are run. The second photo below shows the new brake cable and the new brake pads.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Brake Caliper - Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Rear Brake Caliper - Installed

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Brake Caliper Installed

Tomorrow the front brake caliper, derailleurs and levers and hopefully cables run.  One note, Kurt likes the new stem height and level, I am currently trying to find matching silver handle bars that fit, but so far no luck.

A lot was done on the Trek 700 Multi-Track today starting with the front brake caliper.  The brake caliper cleaned up nice and polished decently. I also installed the new brake pads before installing on the bicycle.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Front Brake Caliper Installed

After the brake caliper it was on to the derailleurs and brake levers.  The front derailleur was first.  The front derailleur was grimy and had a little grit to the pivot points.  After a strong cleaning the derailleur looked good and the metal polished nice and the paint polished nice by hand.  I flushed the pivot points with oil to remove the grit and now the pivots function perfectly.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Derailleurs & Brake Lvers
Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Front Derailleur Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Front Derailleur Installed

The rear derailleur was pretty grimy and dull but the pivot points where really smooth.  The jockey wheels where removed and overhauled and the metal surfaces and paint where polished.  I oiled the pivot points, greased the jockey wheels and rear installed the rear derailleur, it functions very smooth.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Derailleur - Before

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Rear Derailleur
Cleaned & Polished

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Rear Derailleur Installed

With the derailleurs and brake calipers installed I cleaned and installed the brake levers and then started running cables and cable housings.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - New Jagwire Cable Housing

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Derailleur Cable Installed

The brake calipers are an older generation of cantilever brakes, but because they are older they have a wonderful adjustable yoke you do not see much anymore.  It is the silver disc in the photo below.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Rear Brake Cable Installed

Along with install cables I had to overhaul the shift levers.  The levers where functioning but not smoothly.  First one of the levers on the rear shift unit was bent, I carefully straightened it and that solved a stuck lever problem.  Next I flushed the shift lever unit many times with WD-40 to clean out the gunked up grease and grit and then flushed lubrication oil through it many times and worked it into the mechanism.  The shift levers work great now.  The front derailleur shift lever is an early model that has an odd action, its a long through to move the chain from the small to the medium ring and a very short through to move it to the large ring.

A note about the cable housings around the handle bars.  I cut these section of cable housings longer then the old, the new stem at its lowest is taller then the old so the cable housings needed to be longer then the originals, I also left them longer to be able to adjust the stem higher if wanted.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Levers Installed
Cables Run

The new chain came next.  The new 7 speed cassette has a larger large cog then the old cassette, I looked for an original size, but there are not many options these days for seven speed cassettes, the larger size required a different length chain then the old so I could not use the old chain as a length guide, but that is easy to figure out with knowing where to start.

With the new chain installed I was able to test the drive train for the first time, so far everything is smooth and shifts well, the big test comes on a test ride when more force is applied.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
New Chain

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Repeated Photo But Shows Chain

At this point I installed the new peddles and attempted to install the new rear rack.  Even though both peddles are new they both need to be lubricated and one need to be adjusted to remove a grind.  The rear rack ended up not fitting the Trek 700, the frame is smaller and has a low angle to the seat stays so the rack would not reach the seat stays with out being badly slanted.  I ordered a different one that should reach fine.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Peddles Installed

Below is a photo of the Trek 700 so far.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Bicycle as of Now

So what left to do.  The brake system needs some buttoning up and adjustment, the brake caliper bolts need to be LocTighted into place when everything is adjusted perfectly.  The cables of the brakes and derailleurs need to be trimmed after everything is tuned well.  Handle bar grips need to be installed.  I am going to try around here to find a new plastic pie plate for the rear wheel, the old wheel did not have one to salvage.  I will install the water bottle cage and kick stand and give the test ride and final adjustment. And of course take final photos.  Should be done tomorrow baring any problems.


Today I finished off a lot of the final touches and gave the brakes and calipers a final tune.  I could not give the bicycle a test drive with the rain today so the final final tune will come after the test ride.  Today I polished out all of the cage bolts and misc bolts, cleaned, treated and installed the handle bar grips and trimmed the cables.  The new rack showed up late this evening so I will install that in the morning and hopefully it will be nice enough tomorrow to test ride and take final photos.

The Trek 700 Multi-Track has been finished up and delivered.  Below are the final photos.

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Finished Bicycle - Side View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Finished Bicycle - Angle View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Finished Bicycle
Handle Bar View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track
Finished Bicycle - Headset View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Finished Bicycle
Drive Train View

Kurt's Trek 700 Multi-Track - Finished Bicycle
Rear Rack View