I recently built up the Trek XO1 Cyclocross frame that was given to me. I built it up with a nice Shimano 105 group set and road it about a 100 miles. I will say it is extremely fast but in the end the ride is horrible, every bump is bone jarring, after only twenty miles I would get off the bike and my legs would feel great but my elbows and shoulders would ache from feeling every bump. I can never imagine using this during Cyclocross season.
So now I have this nice group, actually I have two nice modern group sets. The first is the Shimano 105 that was on the Trek XO1 and the second is a very nice condition Shimano Tiagra 9 speed group I got for an amazing price that I just had to fix one thing on.
For a long time I wanted a classic steel frame with a modern group set but never really had the chance to afford a modern group set. Now I need a frame, I have been searching for a little while but knew that I wanted a Trek from the late 1970's or early 1980's. I happen to find a 1980 Trek 412 with Ishiwata .022 steel at a good price and in 24 inch / 60 cm. I think the Trek 412 was a good price because it had a real mix match set of components like miss match brake calipers and even a Schwinn Le Tour crank.
I love the early Trek frames from when the frames where hand made in Wisconsin and Trek only concentrated on road bikes way before they became the huge company making all the frames in Asia for there hybrids and mountain bikes and all that. These frames are such high quality and have such a great ride, I think they are way over looked for vintage or making a modern bicycle out of them.
The frame is in great condition for 1980. The headset is not original but will work fine, I am keeping the stem or maybe a taller Nitto stem down the road. The handlebars are Sakea Road Champion, my favorite so I will keep those. The bottom bracket is a new modern cartridge style but for the crank i will use a different sized bottom bracket cartridge will be used. The brake calipers are a mix of Die-Comp 500 and a Die-Comp G, they will be replaced with a new Tektro Dual pivot nutted set.
I am going to put the Shimano Tiagra 9 speed group set on the Trek 412. A Tiagra rear derailleur with a short cage will be installed, I am going to use the original Sun Tour front derailleur, it just looks cool! I found two Sun Tour Cable brackets that will be needed.
The wheel set will be a Shimano hubs with Alex double wall rims with fat 35mm Kenda 700c tires.
And of course a new Brooks B17 saddle or maybe a new Brooks B67, I know, a B67 but I have been using the B67 more then the B17 lately because I have been doing a lot of slow long touring rides and it just very comfortable.
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Handlebars |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Front Brake |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Front Wheel |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Shift Levers |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Saddle |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Before Rear Wheel & Derailleur |
I do not have a ton of photos because on my own bicycle I can not afford the time to take the photos and edit them.
I started by installing the integrated Shimano Tiagra 9 speed Shift and brake levers. The levers installed easy, I already like the look!
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Brake Levers Installed |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Front Brake Caliper - Installed |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Rear Brake Caliper - Installed |
I installed the rear Tiagra derailleur, it looks good but I wish I could have used the original rear derailleur, the original has so much more character.
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Rear Derailleur Installed |
The line of photos I took leads me to this point, in other words I forgot to take some photos. At this point I have the Trek 412 wired, wheels on and just waiting for the chain so I can test ride it.
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle Wired |
The first ride was about 31 miles, the Trek 412 performed perfect. The Trek shifts like butter, the large tires ride like cushions but are not slow, the frame absorbs just about every shock. I road through a over flowing stream and went through about 6 inches of water like nothing.
Below are final photos or at least for now before I make a few more changes. The lighting was not the best at this time so I will retake in the morning in my favorite spot to get better photos.
Also the bike is pretty dirty and muddy in the photos from the 31 mile test ride, i found some good mud and dirt!!
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification Bicycle 90% Complete - Front |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete Handlebars |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete Front Brake |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete Stem |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete Drive Train |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Bicycle 90% Complete Brooks B17 |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification Bicycle 90% Complete - 022 |
To make the Trek even more versatile I got some used wheels that will handle 19-23 mm wheels for riding smooth road centuries, which isn't often or for when I do Triathlons and other smooth road racing. The wheels have Ultegra Hubs and some nice light rims. I probably wont use them often because I will never get the wide tires I like on them and I really am not a fan of change super tight wheels like this on the side of the road. But the wheels where an incredible price and will be nice to have, I may use the wheels on the Gitane frame I picked up. The wheels are in incredible shape too!
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Optional Wheel Front |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Ultegra Front Hub |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification Optional Wheel - Rear |
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| My Trek 412 Restoration Modern Modification - Ultegra Rear Hub |
I think I may have finally built the bicycle I have always wanted, an all around bicycle that does everything I want that fits my riding style. Or maybe I should say this is the closest I have gotten yet!
Check back for more in the future.
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat size are the wider tires? I have a 1976 Trek 500 and an '83 500. I can get 32mm tires with 27" wheels, but with fenders can only do 28mm. Working on a new set of 700c wheels, can maybe add 4mm for tires with fenders.