I cleaned and polished the crank. The crank arms turned out fantastic and also has the darker color of the alloy, the darker color of the alloy has grown on me and now I really like it a lot. The crank hardware also polished very nice and installed the crank is beautiful against the blue color.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Crank - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Crank - Exploded |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Crank - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Crank - Compelte |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Crank - Installed |
The seat post is in good condition and cleaned and polished very nicely. The saddle is in good shape and should restore nicely but I have not made a decision on the saddle yet.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Seat Post & saddle - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Seat Post - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Seat Post - Polished |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Seat Post
Installed |
The brake calipers are very nice Shimano SLR calipers. These calipers where the precursors to today's modern dual pivot calipers. I say that they are precursors as a few things where worked out here. The shape, size and angle of the caliper arms prevent all the flexing of the older caliper brakes that looses braking power. The brake pads are also starting to look more modern and add a lot of stopping power.
I disassembled the brake calipers and started cleaning the pieces. With the pieces cleaned I worked through all the polishing grits and the pieces turned out fantastic. The calipers assembled look amazing polished and assembled and installed look fantastic against the blue paint.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Exploded |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Complete |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Caliper
Installed |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Caliper
Installed |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Brake Caliper
Installed |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Brake Caliper
Installed |
The rear derailleur is a very nice Deore derailleur. The extra long cage is to take up the chain slack with the triple chain ring crank. The derailleur is rough and dirty and not spinning well but after cleaning, flushing, lubricating and polishing the derailleur works perfectly and looks great. The ally polished beautifully and looks amazing installed. It does have the darker alloy color that I like.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Deore Derailleur - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Deore Derailleur - Exploded |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Complete |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Installed |
The front derailleur is actually a Shimano Light Action derailleur, like the many many derailleurs I have rode I rode this one for a while to and it worked very well. I cleaned the derailleur and got to the polishing, a few grits of polishing compound and the derailleur looks great. I lubricated the pivot points and the derailleur works great also!
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Complete |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Installed |
The shift levers are very nice Shimano Light Action levers with a rear 7 speed indexing action. The levers are very dirty and dull and the action is a little sticky. I flushed the levers and all the moving pieces and lubricated all the pivot points and the levers now function perfectly, no stickiness. I then polished the alloy levers and they look great, installed the levers look perfect against the polished blue paint.
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Shimano Indexed Shift Levers
Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Shift Levers - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Shift Levers - Installed |
A part of a restoration that is not noticed but makes all the difference is the hardware bolts, these bolts polished are not necessarily noticed but if they where not polished would stand out like a soar thumb. These hardware bolts look great against the blue paint.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Hardware Bolts - Polished |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Water Bottle Cage
Bolts - Installed |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Water Bottle Cage
Bolts - Installed |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Rack Hardware
Bolts - Installed |
That complete the main body components, below is a photo of the Trek 400 so far, I love it!!
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle So Far |
The wheels are nice Mallard 500 wheel hubs with nice satin black Matrix rims. The alloy is very dirty and a little etched and stained. I cleaned the hubs and then polished the hubs. The hubs polished pretty nice considering how they started. I then cleaned all the axle components, I really don't think the Trek 400 has many miles on it at all, the bearing tracks are barley broken in. I then cleaned the spokes and the rims and trued the wheels on the truing stand. The wheels spin great. The new tires should be here Thursday.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Freewheel - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Old Grease |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Old Grease |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Bearings Packed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Axle Components - Cleaned |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Complete |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Rim - Before |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Old Grease |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Bearings Packed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Complete |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Wheels - Complete |
Tomorrow I will wire the Trek 400 and install the freewheel and chain, I will also decide on the saddle. Tires and handlebar tape should be here on Thursday and then a few minutes to finish it up. Check back soon.
With the handlebar tape and tires arriving I was able to finish up the Trek 400. I chose the ice gray cable housings like I have been choosing a lot lately. They just look good with everything and especially a color like this.
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - New Bits & Pieces
New Cables, Cable Housings & Handlebar Tape |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Wired |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Wired |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Half Handlebar Tape - Installed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed |
The pedals are in great shape. A little hand polishing, some lubricating and grease on the threads and they look great!
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Pedals - Polished |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Pedals - Installed |
I looked through a ton of tires but chose these Michelin Dynamic gum wall tires in 23 mm size. I think they have the best look for the era of the Trek and will be ultra fast. Fantastic installed!
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - New Michelin Tires |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Front Tire - Installed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Rear Tire - Installed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Tires - Complete |
The original saddle is in great shape and needs to go with the Trek. I cleaned the saddle and polished the seat rails. The saddle has a velvet feel that I can't remember what it is called at the moment but came back very nice. Looks great installed.
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Saddle - Cleaned |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Saddle - Installed |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle - Complete |
With the 18 inches of snow we got on Super Bowl Sunday I am unable to test ride the Trek 400 but I have rode many Trek 400's in my time and they all ride great, nothing like lugged steel! The Trek 400 will also be a very quick and nimble bike with the 23 mm tires and the build over all. The Trek easily stand tuned which usually means not much adjustment on test rides.
Now the looks of the Trek, the paint is just stunning, I have never come across such perfect paint condition on a 25 year old bike! The black handlebar tape really sets everything of and the gum wall tires I think make a great addition with the black rims. Its amazing to say a bike this color is a mean looking bike but it is!
The Trek 400 is Priced at $425.00.
Details.
22 Inch frame or 56 cm.
The Trek received a total restoration as shown above.
Shimano 12 Speed Indexed Shifting.
Shimano Deor Rear Derailleur
Shimano SLR Areo Brake Levers.
New Deda synthetic leather gel black handlebar tape.
All New cables and cable housings.
All New brake pads.
All New Bearings.
New tire tubes.
18 Speed Index Shifting.
700 x 23 mm wheels & tires.
Alloy wheels.
Bio-Pace crank 52 x 40 x 32 Triple Crank Set
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Handlebars |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Stem |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Tube |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Brake |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel Hub |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel Rim |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Shift Levers |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Half |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Saddle |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Seat Lug |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Drive Train |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Triple Crank |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Derailleur |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Derailleur |
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1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Fast Back Seat Lug |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear Brake |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear Wheel hub |
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| 1989 Trek 400 Restoration - Bicycle Complete |
Thank You for all the interest and fun!
John Z.
Amazing restoration John! Beautiful. Thank you for sharing it. I am self taught as well and know the mech stuff but have yet to learn how to restore aluminum & paint. Finally, you are absolutely right--there is nothing like lugged steel!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful job on the cleanup. But for the record, it looks like it's a 1988 model, not 1989.
ReplyDeleteCatalogue link: http://www.vintage-trek.com/images/trek/Trek88_1.pdf
amazing job
ReplyDeleteSo amazing. I love my 1986 pro series Trek. I believe these bikes are more aero and faster than the modern light weight aluminum bikes. I am riding my Trek, and it runs better than my Canondale with Ultegra set up. The Ultegra shifters busted after about 3 years. Awesome work. I wish I could do this to my bike.
ReplyDeleteI'm 99% sure this is the exact bike I own and ride everyday around Denver, CO. The 2 shop stickers are the same as my bike (besides the make model and color). I'm curious if there is a serial number or any kind.
ReplyDelete