heymurph

Hey all -

New here, so bear with me if this is in the wrong forum or not the kind of question addressed here at all.

I have an old Trek Elance 330 with a 25" Reynolds 531 steel frame that has been my one and only bike since high school in the late 80s! Long time, I know! (12 speed, Suntour shifter, Dia compe brakes, Al Chomoly fork.) It has served me well - still does for the most part, but thinking about finally getting a new one but only if it makes sense. Limited budget. Maybe $400-$500 at most that I'd be willing to spend on a new bike. Anyway, I'm wondering what differences -- improvements/drawbacks, etc. -- I would notice in a brand new aluminum frame bike with carbon forks etc. (something like a Motobecane Mirage from bikesdirect) compared to my old steel frame Trek??? Night and day difference?

I'm interested in doing longer, more frequent rides eg. 25-50 miles in the Madison WI area and just trying to evaluate whether or not to spend money on my old bike (probably needs new tires, a serious tune-up, etc.) or whether it just makes much more sense to get a new bike. I'd even consider selling the old Trek to finance a new purchase, if there's a decent return on a 28 yr old bike.

In terms of 'issues' with the old bike, the gear shift levers down below are kind of pain to use (they work completely fine, it's just a pain in the neck having to reach down to use them) and I feel like the back wheel alignment is 'off' somehow. Not a terrible wobble, but seems to ride closer to one side of the frame than the other. I have no problem jumping on this thing and going on an hour long ride, but I just wonder if I would be better served by a modern bike. Lots of paint chipping and some minor rust but it has been well looked after.

Not sure I've given enough information, but please advise if you have any insights. Thank you!

Tim_Iowa

In your situation, I'd buy a new bike AND fix the Trek up.

If you're considering buying a bike off the internet, you'll need to know some basic mechanic skills to assemble it. They're not very hard, and the internet bikes are usually pretty easy to assemble and tune.
The vintage Trek would be a great "training tool" to learn some of these skills on. You could learn the skills from the internet (Park tool has an excellent how-to section), or at a local bike co-op (should be several in Madison; Freewheel bikes is a good one).

For the Trek, it sounds like the rear wheel needs some help. The off-center could be a simple issue (wheel isn't centered in the horizontal dropouts = release the QR, re-center, close the QR), or it could be moderate (wheel needs trued), or it could be serious (hub or axle problems).

For the shifters, you could change the downtube shifters for stem shifters, thumb shifters, or bar-end shifters. There are even new 7-speed Shimano Tourney "brifters" (combined shifter/brake lever) that work with 7-speed freewheels.

Vintage Treks like your 330 Elance are loved for the ride of their steel frames, and for their classic appearance. FYI, although significantly lighter, most aluminum alloy frames will ride a lot stiffer than your Trek.

mstateglfr 

I would fix up a Trek vs buying a BD Motobecane Mirage.

A handful of reasons, but it comes down to this-
- The BD bike has entry level components. You could spend $400 on your current bike and come out with something that I would consider better. Or you could outfit your Trek with similar level components and pay less than $400. This assumes you do the work and not a shop.


You could put STI(brifters) on the Trek for shifting and braking. This would necessitate a change to Shimano components instead of SunTour. A new wheelset, shifters, front derailleur, rear derailleur, cables, and tape would be in order. Its a decently big project, but one that can be done with planning and learning both before the work and during the work.

STIs(the ones on the BD Mirage bike) are $70. Higher quality go from $110-180(for the midrange to upper midrange. Sora, Tiagra, 105).
A good wheelset is $155-230. You are obviously taller and therefore most likely not a lightweight even if you are in good shape. 36 spoke wheels like the Vuelta Corsa HD set from Nashbar could be good at $155. $220 would get you a wheelset with good rims, Tiagra hubs, and butted Wheelsmith spokes from UniversalCycles.


$155 for Vuelta HD 36spoke wheelset from Nashbar
$130 for Shimano Tiagra STIs from Chainreaction
$12 for tape from Chainreaction
$23 for 10 speed cassette from chain reaction
$26 for Tiagra rear derailleur
$23 for Tiagra front derailleur
$12 for cables and housing from co-op or lbs.
$50 for tires(too many decent types at $25/tire to list)


Thats $430. you would need some tools too. and take it to a shop to coldset(properly spread) the rear frame to fit the wider wheelset.


In the end you would have the bike youve had for decades and components much higher than the BD Motobecane. You could replace the bottom bracket with a sealed one too, that'd be about $20, but it isnt necessary.
The frame condition, for me, would be the clincher. If its too nicked up and rusted, I would be hesitant.


Many will say that its not worth putting this money into an old frame because you cant get the money back out when you sell the bike. This is true. You also wont get the money back if you buy the Motobecane. You would sell it for a lot less than what you bought it for.

heymurph

Thanks, Tim_Iowa! Good info. Glad to hear that my bike has qualities still appreciated all these years! Also, thanks for the tips on the back wheel issue. Will take a look.

heymurph

Thank you, mstateglfr, for your thoughts and all the detailed info. Just did a quick search on the STIs and found a nice video about how to replace. (I borrowed a bike recently that had these, and while I didn't quite master the use of them in the roughly 30 minute bike ride, I certainly could understand their appeal.) Also, I am indeed a big dude - pushing 6'5" and 230 lbs so my body certainly puts a lot of strain on a bike! (And a strain on me when grinding up hills!) I do like the idea of bringing my bike up to date with better components, especially if -- in the end -- it would be an as good or better bike than same money spent on something from bikes direct. Pretty handy too, so think I'd be able to do it with the proper Youtubing and whatnot.

More I think about it, I probably would need a new sealed bottom bracket (had no idea what that was called until about 5 minutes ago!) because I feel like there is some slop or give sometimes -- kinda squishy, for lack of better term -- when I'm pedaling hard.

I will try to post a photo of the bike later, in case anyone is curious.

Thanks again.

bikemig 

You can get that bike working as well as a new one if you want to for well under your proposed budget. Plus you get to keep riding a bike that you have since the 80s; very few of use can say that.

You will need to overhaul the bike and replace all the consumables. The bottom bracket probably needs to be replaced; new wheels will be probably be needed. You can to with 130 mm rear wheels like @mstateglfr recommended or fix them up like @Tim_Iowa suggested.

126 mm whelsets are also available and would look good on a classic bike like these for $120 from velomine, https://www.velomine.com/index.php?ma...oducts_id=3135

Personally I'd get these.


You can go with brifters or stay with friction and go with bar end shifters like these, Dia Compe Bar End Friction Shifter Set > Components > Drivetrain > Road Shifters | Jenson USA


I have no idea why the first 3 posters to respond to the OP are from IA,

GravelMN

For long, comfortable rides, I'm a big fan of old chrome-moly. You got some good advice above. With a steel frame you can easily have the rear triangles cold set to accommodate a 9 speed hub. A new wheelset can make a big difference as well. There are cable stops that will replace your downtube shifters allowing you to put more modern integrated shifter/brake levers on the handlebar. New bar tape, maybe tires and/or a new saddle and your bike is good for another 20 years.

I defininately wouldn't replace it with a low-end bike like the Mirage. If you really want to go new, for about $899 you can get the Motobecane Gran Premio from BD which has a 105 brifters, and derailleurs and a decent FSA crankset.

heymurph

Here are some photos. Looking at a bit more closely, it is maybe showing its age more than I realized. Anyone see any glaring problems?

I'm excited about the advise received above. I will dig into researching a bit more but in some ways it all looks fairly straightforward. Think it is probably the way to go. Thanks again for the above comments. More welcome too! Cheers!

bikemig 

This is a fine bike and it looks great for a bike that has seen continuous service for 30 plus years. I'd recondition the frame and the parts. It will be worth the effort.

Standalone 

My vintage treks are all in worse shape, and I love them. Wisconsin is a wonderful place to ride a Trek.

I recommend doing nothing to the bike other than addressing the one issue you've raised, the DT shifters. (the rear wheel being on one side is almost certainly a matter of having it clamped in at an angle, you just have to put the wheel in right)

One awesome option that puts the shifters within easy reach yet keeps the old simple technology are sold by Gevenalle. They're used by CX riders -- it's like sticking your trusty friction shifters on the fronts of modern brake levers.



This way, you save your neck and shoulder (I ride 25" bikes, too, and the reach to DT's is pretty far....) and get a nice shifting action from the tops of your hoods. I have bar-ends on some bikes, but find them little better than DT shifters in terms of neck/shoulder discomfort -- and worse in terms of stability and line-holding when shifting. DT's are a one-hand deal.

The only reason not to use Gevenalles is if you race seriously and need to be able to shift from the drops in a sprint. But whatever. You could probably road race with them anyhow.

Anyway, the gevenalles will cost $200 and allow you to keep everything else 100% the same.

Your Trek will ride with a lively spirit that no cheap motobecane etc will ever have. I'm pretty certain it's the perfect bike for you.

mstateglfr 

Its amazing what wd40 and a rag can do for cleaning off and out a frame. Clean it up and i bet itll look a lot better. Red is a second to black in terms of easy color to match. An auto detail paint pen or testors paint will get close enough to match from a couple feet away. You could touch up some or all of the nicks. Or leave em as proud war wounds.

Wd40 and a rag shoved into the tubes spun around is a quck way to clean out the inside of tubing which is as important as the outside.

Parktool.com, sheldon brown, youtube, and this site- 4 places to get detailed info on what you need and how you do what you want.

Bikemig's suggestion of velomine wheels is a good option too since it keeps the frame from being spread (nothing wrong with spread, its just easier not to) and moves your shifting up higher with the bar ends. You could keep all the current components that way, if thats appealing.

Have fun- lots of options to consider!

eschlwc

- fully overhaul it.
- new sunrace freewheel and sram pc-850 chain from ebay
- new consumables (tires, hoods, fizik tape, cables, housing)
- either refurbish the wheels or build new ones using sun rims and sapim race spokes.

and there you have it -- new bike.

heymurph

Wow. Thanks to everyone for all the great info! I can't say I understand all of the nuggets of info (yet) but this thread provides a great resource for homework and things/parts to research. I completely welcome the unvarnished opinions and recommendations.

Couple quick follow-up questions, for now: 1) what all is meant by consumables? Tubes, tires, and what else? 2) How much lateral or side to side movement is typical for a crankset? Mine crank arms move about 1/4 in. to 3/8 in. side to side and it just seems like a lot. Would this require a new crank set or just the bottom bracket mentioned above? 3) Lastly, is this particular forum the right place to ask these kind of detailed questions as I move forward?

Appreciate the encouragement. Cheers!

wait, one more, I keep having to login to use this forum, seems like anything longer than 5 minutes or so requires a new login - any way around that?

heymurph

Just looked up Freewheel. Sounds perfect and is only a few minutes away.

oddjob2

Another approach, more money, but sell the old stuff and recoup $100-$150:

Buy a shimano 105 wheelset from velomine.com for $150.

Buy a Shimano group, Tiagra or 105 from ribble or other Internet vendor, $330-$435

Buy some new tires, $50.

A whole thread about conversions below.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...i-s-ergos.html

eschlwc

often the stuff you replace over time: tires, inner tubes, cables, housing, grease, brake lever hoods, bar tape, and chain.

a sunrace freewheel is about the cost of a new chain, so i'll include that too.

the bb may just need to be overhauled and properly adjusted.

c&v has two subforums, one for appraisals and one for everything else.

there's a 'remember me' check box when you login.

RoadGuy

Many people might want to restore their old friend to it's former glory, but be torn with a desire to try out some newer technology.

Here's a Trek 510 with the same size frame as your Trek 330 in Madison that looks to be in pretty good condition with an asking price of only $225.

Trek 510 Large Road Bike--old

You could buy it, ride it, then pull the parts off it (use them to upgrade your 330), and put some brifters with dual pivot brakes calipers, and derailleurs, wheels and a cassette with more gears on it.

I'd probably stick with 8-speeds. a 130mm spaced 8-speed rear wheel is going to slip right into your frame without any modification. 8-speed chains are less expensive and last longer than the 9-speed and up variety, and new 8-speed parts are still available, as well as lots of good used 8-speed parts.

The other Option would be to look around for a slight newer bonded aluminum Trek bike with a steel fork (about the same weight or slightly lighter than your 330, with about the same stiffness) that already has brifters, and dual pivot brake calipers (91 or 92 to 97 model years). This would be a Trek 1200 or Trek 1220 (triple crank). You could also look for a Trek 1000 (double crank) or Trek 1100 (triple crank) which have bonded aluminum frames and steel forks (but will probably have downtube shifters and you could upgrade them to brifters if you want.

My favorite rider right now is a 90 Trek 1100 that I bought for $40 with a Suntour 7-speed Edge Group. I upgraded it with new wheels with Shimano 8-speed cassette, and 8-speed Shimano downtube shifters, derailleurs and dual pivot brakes.

SkyDog75

$400-500 doesn't buy you much of a new bike, but it could turn your ol' Trek into a very nice ride. You can buy a whole 10-speed Shimano Tiagra groupset from Ribble Cycle for $331. That includes shifters, derailleurs, bottom bracket, crankset, brakes, and chain. You'll need a new rear wheel to take a 10-speed cassette, and conveniently there's a checkbox to add a Shimano RS010 wheelset for an additional $106.

Shimano Tiagra 4700 10 Speed Double Groupset - Components - Ribble Cycles

If you want to go with less expensive options, you can spend less money and still wind up with a nicer ride than a $500 new bike. Here are a few possible options:

• Replace your downtube shifters with bar-end shifters. Nice SunTour barcons can be found on eBay in the $40 range. Run them in friction mode and they'll play nice with your existing derailleurs.
• Go with Gevenalle shifters as suggested above.
• Pick up a set of Microshift SB-472 integrated brake/shift levers for $60 or so from eBay. Pair them with Shimano SIS front & rear derailleurs, which are plentiful on the used market, and a 7-speed freewheel which should screw right on to your rear wheel.
• Browse your local used market for a nice used bike that doesn't use downtube shifters. $400-500 can buy a lot of used bike in most markets.

As for cosmetics... If a thorough cleaning and careful touch-up doesn't make your ol' Trek look nice enough and "patina" isn't the look you're going for, you can get the frame repainted or powder coated. I've got a local shop that'll sandblast and powder coat a frame & fork for fifty bucks. Even if you paid three times that, the end result is a "new" 531 frame for less money than a new low-end aluminum frame.

exxongraftek

I had a similar vintage 531 US-built Trek.
The sad part of the above sentence is the word "had."
The play in your crank could be a mal-adjusted bottom bracket or loose crankarm bolts.
Make sure your crankarm bolts are tight before riding your bike again.
Bottom bracket bearing assemblies are inexpensive, relative to the cost to replace chewed-up crankarms. Don't ask me how I know this.

mparker326

As a fellow 6"5' rider, I recommend keeping your old Trek instead of getting a new bike. Newer bikes are smaller in size than what you are used to riding. They have more of a few sizes fits all approach. You will wind up with a lot of seat post showing and a too short cockpit.

As tempting as upgrades are, for the type of riding you are planning to do, your existing bike will be fine. Find a bike coop and take it in and have them show you how to overhaul it. You will be surprised at how nice it will ride once it has been tuned up and has new tires.

heymurph

Thanks all for weighing in. My plan for now is along the lines of the above. I plan to first take everything apart and do an overhaul of the existing components as best I can. Hopefully learn a lot in the process too. I can foresee getting a new wheelset as the back wheel looks to be in pretty bad shape (spokes are all rusted and, also, it's not original like the front one. (Can't remember when or why I had this done...) I like the look of the original one better.

If I do get a new wheelset, I guess at that point I need to think long and hard about eventual changes after that, i.e. new groupset with brifters etc. Pretty certain I would never go super-fancy though, I have to say. Perhaps splurge for Tiagra level at most. Also, don't think I would be too crazy about the end-tube shifters -- if I make the change, I want to go all the way up, methinks.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted I hope. I look forward to diving in when the time allows.

SkyDog75

A new wheelset would likely have a freehub meant for cassettes with 8 or more cogs, so "eventual" could very well mean "at the same time as the wheelset".

You've got a nice frame with lots of restoration/upgrade options that'll turn out great. Have fun wrenching and riding!

Walldog

I just laced up some NOS Shimano hubs to Velocity Dyads for my '86 Trek 500. It's good for another 30 years.

heymurph

Question about rims/wheelsets - I really like the look of the original Rigida rims that came with this bike. (Rigida 13-20 700c). I still have one of these on the front but not the back. Short of tracking down a used one for the rear, are there any similar new ones being made like this? The Sun CR18s appear to be of high quality and respected, but there's just something about the curved wall profile that just looks better to me than the boxy looking Suns.

I just stumbled onto these: Amazon.com : Sta-Tru Silver ST725 36H Rim Rear Wheel (700X25) : Bike Wheels : Sports & Outdoors This would be under $90 for a set. Favorable reviews, but I'd be leery of the quality at that price. Anyone have any experience with this brand? Of course quality and durability more important than aesthetics ultimately so I could see using the Suns but I'm so new to this vast world of bike parts and such that I thought I'd check what good (and not $$$) alternatives there might be.

heymurph

Okay, learning continues...single wall vs double wall. The sta tru are single wall which is probably why they are cheaper. Guessing a big guy like me is definitely going to want more than single wall.