1991 Trek Composite 2100 Restoration

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle After

I started work on this 1991 Trek 2100 composite last week before the Holiday weekend but with travel I am just starting the post now.  With a little research I was able to date it to 1991 with the red lugs and silver decals.

I recently modernized Bill W's Trek Composite and found it to be a very interesting and very nice bicycle, Bill's Trek Composite can be seen by clicking here.  At first glance I liked the Trek 2100 Composite and after a closer look at the components I really like the Trek 2100 Composite!!  This Trek 2100 sports all Shimano 105 components and a nice Matrix wheel set.

The Trek 2100 is in somewhere between lightly rough and rough condition but with a restoration it should be better then new!  The frame is in good condition, I closely went over the carbon tubes and found no damage, the lugs are in good shape, the components have a few rough spots but should come back to life and the wheels need an overhaul badly but no major problems.  The original cables where frozen into the cable housings so the Trek has not been ridden in a long time.

The Trek 2100 Composite will receive a total restoration with new cables and housings, new tires and tubes, new handlebar tape and a new saddle.  I have been getting into race shape more and more lately and can't wait to take the Trek 2100 Composite for a test ride when it is complete, I have a feeling it will be really fast!!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Handlebars

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Stem

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Hub

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Wheel Rim

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Bicycle Before - Fork

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Shift Levers

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Bicycle - Before - Crank

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Derailleur

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Brake

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur

 The first thing I had to do before even breaking the Trek down was to try to remove the seat binder bolt.  The seat binder bolt just spun in place with out unthreading.  The binder bolt on the Trek has a bolt and a bushing on one side, the bushing is a pressed fit into a keyed recess, the keyed part of the recess in the lug was stripped.  As I looked at it more the design of this seat binder bolt is really stupid, it looks to me that the keyed recess would strip very easy if to much force was applied and by to much I mean not much.  It was a nightmare removing the seat binder bolt as there was no leverage to hook to on the recessed bushing, I had to drill a hole into the recessed bushing and insert a metal punch and have some hold the hex bolt in place while I hammered the recessed bushing loose, it took for ever.

I have not figured out what I am going to do to replace the seat binder bolt yet, a replacement of the same will not work because of the stripped recess keyed area in the frame, I have a long conventional seat binder bolt that I think will work but I will have to drill the hole in the seat lug slightly larger, I think this is the best option though.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Seat Binder Recess
Keyed Side - Stripped

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Seat Binder Bolt
Old

After stripping the frame of the components I was able to see the frame is very dirty and dull but I think under all that dirt a really beautiful frame!!  The carbon tubes look to be in good shape and the seat lug paint has only a few scratches, chips and is dull but should polish really nice!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame Before - Seat Lug

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame Before - Seat Tube

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame Before
Brake Bridge

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame Before - Drop Outs

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Fork - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Fork - Before

The frame cleaned up nice, it took a good amount of polishing to get it to really shine and the carbon tubes look great.  I am super happy with the frame and I love the darker color red.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame - After

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame After - Head Tube

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame After
Seat Lug

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Frame After
Bottom Bracket

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame After - Brake Bridge

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame After - Drop Outs

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame After - Fork

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Frame After - Fork

First thing I got the headset and bottom bracket into the crock pot, both seem to be in descent shape under all the grease and dirt.  Both the bottom bracket and headset cleaned and polished beautifully, I packed the bearings in new grease and installed both.  The headset and bottom bracket look fantastic installed and function perfect.

The stem is not my favorite but it does have going for it that it is extremely light, I just do not like painted stems.  The stem cleaned and polished okay, I had to do some touch up paint on the stem.

The handlebars cleaned very nice and only required a little hand polishing.

I am happy with all the results.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Stem Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Handlebars - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Headset Cups - Pressed

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Headset Bearings
Packed

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Headset - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Bearings - Packed

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Stem Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

Next I got to work on the brakes, they are really nice Shimano 105 Dual pivot calipers.  I had to disassemble the calipers about half way to get to all the pieces that needed polishing.  I flushed all the moving points and polished the paint by hand.  The calipers look fantastic with the little bit of rust removed and the calipers installed against the frame.   I love these breaks.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brakes Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brakes - Exploded

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brakes
Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brakes - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Front Brake - Installed

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Rear Brake - Installed

The crank is also a Shimano 105, a very nice crank.  This one is painted and is in pretty good shape for a painted crank.  I cleaned all the pieces and then polished the paint by hand.  The crank looks fantastic complete but i really do not like having to polish painted components by hand, it actually takes longer then polishing a metal or alloy part.  Crank looks great installed!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Crank - Exploded

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Crank - Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Crank - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Crank - Installed

The derailleurs are really nice Shimano 105s.  Great derailleurs.  The rear derailleur besides dirty and gritty movement is in good shape.  The front derailleur is a little rough, some surface rust and took a lot of flushing to get to work smooth.  In the end the derailleurs look fantastic and function perfect, a really nice set of derailleurs!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Derailleurs - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Derailleurs - Exploded

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Derailleurs - Polished

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Derailleurs - Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Derailleur
Installed

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Rear Derailleur - Installed

At this point I installed the brake levers.  The Shimano 105 brake levers are fantastic brake levers, they feel so smooth when braking.  The brake levers took a lot of cleaning, a lot but they turned out great and the brake hoods also turned out great.  I like it!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brake Levers -Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brake Levers
Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Brake Levers
Installed

The wheels are a nice set of Shimano 105 hubs laced to Matrix rims.  The wheels are very dirty and the grease is long done but over all the wheels are in surprisingly good shape.  I cleaned and packed the bearings in new grease, trued the wheels and installed the new tubes and Continental tires.

The wheels look great and even better installed!  They spin extremely smooth and the satin black rims look perfect with the colors of the frame.  Perfect!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Rear Wheel - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Rear Wheel
Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Rear Wheel Rime
Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Old Grease

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
New Continental Tires

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Cassette - After

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Rear Wheel - Compelte

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Front Wheel - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel Rim
Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel
Old Grease

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
After

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel
New Grease

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Front Wheel Complete

At this point I am still struggling with the seat binder bolt so I got to work on wiring the bike.  I replaced the cable housings with a slightly darker charcoal gray then the original gray, I think its perfect for the color of the frame, perfect!  I really love the look of the bike at this point.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - New Bits & Pieces

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bike Wired

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Bike Wired

It was time to get on that seat binder bolt problem, it really kicked my but for a while.  What I had to do was drill one side of the seat lug binder bolt hole slightly wider and modify an extra long seat binder bolt.  The solution works well, it does take a 5 mm wrench on both sides of the binder bolt at the same time to tighten it but its a heck of a lot better then a seat binder bolt that doesn't work.  I am pretty happy with the solution just wish it was a better design straight out.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Seat Post - Before

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Replacement Seat Binder Bolt

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
New Saddle Installed

Only things left to do is installed the black handlebar tape, give the Trek 2100 a good test ride and take the final photos.

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Handlebar Tape
Installed

The Trek 2100 rides very fast and responsive.  It took a lot of fine tuning to get it to shift smooth but now it shifts very smooth.  I rode the Trek 2100 fast and hard to see what it would do, I like the ride, an interesting ride and feel with the carbon tubes and the steel lugs and aluminum fork.  I really like the components, they all function fast, responsive and just the way they should.  I like the Trek 2100 Composite a lot!!

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Handlebars

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front Brake

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Saddle

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Drive Train

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Brake

1991 Trek 2100 Composite Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Wheel

I really like the Trek 2100 Composite, it surprised me a little in its ride.  I love the look of it also with the deep dark red, carbon tubes and black wheels, a great look!

Thanks for the interest,
John Z.