Originally Posted by
MrAwesome
That sounds awesome! Yes, that's why I have kept the frame all these years. I knew it would make a really good all-around bike. I am hoping it will be similar to when I was a kid with a BMX bike that I could just have fun riding around aimlessly or even for medium distance runs to the store or whatever. I have just been going back and forth on exactly how I want to do it. I want it perfect; I don't want to throw just anything on it just to make it work, so it's been taking a long time to do the research on what I need to make it work the way I want and also not look like it was cobbled together from the junkyard. So I realize it will also cost money; another reason I didn't just jump into it immediately.
I actually measured the wheels and tires a long time ago and realized it would work. I have read many things about it messing up the geometry and I couldn't figure out why. I guess I forgot about the outside diameter being the same and I just checked it yesterday and the wheels I have that are 700c are pretty much identical to large 26" MTB tires I have on another bike, so of course it will work fine without any issues with the geometry unless I try putting 29er tires on it (which wouldn't fit anyway). It's really the brakes that are an issue, as far as I can see. And since I am thinking SS, getting the right wheels with the right hub width could be challenging, as well, but if I have to, I'll use spacers on a standard MTB wheel or build it myself.
Keep me posted on your progress. I'm interested to see how it turns out.
Thanks for your interest! It has definitely renewed mine in picking this bike back up as a project. I'll probably build it back up again here soon just for fun and to keep the project going. These old Treks are wonderful bikes - they made a lot of them, so they are not really considered that rare or special. But the fact that you can get a decently lightweight cro-moly frame, made in usa, for $50-$150, it's pretty amazing.
The only thing that has been a bit of a challenge is the head tube - they sure made them short...which contributes to the aggressive lower front end stance. That is where a fork with a higher axle-to-crown height can come it, but they can be hard to find. This bike didn't come with it's original front end. It has some terrible old Rock Shox threaded fork that was a brick. It was a real diamond in the rough - a beautiful frame (Trek's highest end welded cro-moly mtb frame). I found a random 700c steel 1 1/8 threadless cyclocross fork to throw on there. It would be sweet to get something like a vicious cycles or a waltworks custom fork for it, but that might blow the budget a bit!
I picked up another Trek bike a year or so later - an olive green Trek 930 from 1998. Still made in USA. It was ever so slightly heavier than the '96, but would still make a fantastic commuter or lean and mean singletrack hardtail. These bike were jewels with lower quality/outdated (by today's standard) parts hung on them, but would really shine if brought up to more modern standards.
I did a raw/gun-blued frame on an older Centurion build that I did, and with a special coating is still free of rust. I think I might do the same with this Trek 990. It would look killer - gun blued frame with silver parts.