zs3889

I'm looking for an old steel mountain bike to convert into a touring bike. I looked up vintage-trek.com and it's a 1995 Trek 850 chromoly steel. The seller claims that the bike has new cranks, chain, front derailleur, cable, housing, and brake pads. He is asking for $180. How much would you pay for it assuming that it has all the new parts? The bike looks to be in really good shape in the pictures but I'm going to check out the bike maybe tonight.






Thanks!

IthaDan 

I can't be mad at $180. The days of the $100 xt equipped rigid mountain bike are ending quickly.

Not sure what you mean by convert to a touring bike, but I believe this bike has a 1 1/8" threaded headset/fork if that at all matters to you relative to your plans.

USAZorro

If you're looking to change the size of the rims as you convert this, you will find some "complications" due to the brakes and mounting locations.

oddjob2

Go for it, the 850 is a rugged bike and the one you're looking at looks clean and in good condition. I still have mine biught nearly 20 years ago. Make sure to check out this thread too. I haven't sold an 850 lately, but I have sold a 930 for over $200, so make your best deal and enjoy.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...nversions.html

wrk101

Myself, there are SO MANY rigid frame MTBs out there, I would look for one with mid fork rack braze ons, several models came with those. Also look for one with a relatively short top tube. MTBs tend to have long top tubes. If you have a long torso like me, its not that big of a problem.

It really depends on how much time and effort you want to put into looking?

zs3889

Not sure what you mean by this...

The threaded headset/fork should not be a problem. The bike seems ready to go as a touring bike. Parts that I'll have to add/replace are rear and front racks, a better saddle, a nashbar trekking bar and maybe slimmer tires.

zs3889

No I'm going to keep the 26" wheels, if that's what you are implying. Thanks!

USAZorro

Cool. That was exactly the point. Sometimes, what seems to be the most obvious information can get overlooked. Would prefer that others can learn from my past mistakes, rather than learn from their own experience.

zs3889

The seller is willing to let it go for $140! I will check it out tonight and if it's legit and fits me I'll definitely take it. Thanks!



Not sure about this but is it even possible to put 29" wheels on a bike that comes with 26" wheels? I would think that the chain and seat stays are not going to be long enough to fit a 29" wheel.

IthaDan 

We here at BF have been saying for a long time now that rigid mountain bikes are seriously undervalued. That's beginning to change as more and more people are realizing they're very useful in commuter roles. I have a feeling they're only going to climb in value, though probably not as dramatically as road bikes did in the middle of the fixie craze.

Long story short: $180 is a decent price today (a year ago it would have been $25-50 ambitious) because the market is changing to value rigid mountain bikes more.

USAZorro

There are other potential options. My Trek MTB (I think what I have now is a '95 850) has the frame clearance to accommodate 700c wheels with up to at least 35mm tires (not sure if mud guards would fit though). Some of the less-common metric wheel sizes that are used on some rando and touring bikes would also be feasible if one only considers clearance. Sticking with 26" wheels still gives you a pretty good array of tire choices and spares the hassles of rigging different brakes and re-locating gear shifting mechanics.

FastJake

Agree with ItheDan that while old rigid MTBs are still plentiful they're not as cheap as they used to be. Higher end ones in particular are starting to command more money than they did a few years ago. I think people are starting to realize they'd rather have a rigid fork than a boat anchor, garbage, 5 pound bottom-of-the-line Rock Shox.

Big +1 to this. Make sure the fit is correct! But it sounds like you're not planning a drop bar conversion so you might be ok.

I am still waiting to find a MTB with a reasonably short enough top tube that I can try a drop bar conversion.

zs3889

Gotcha! I don't spend a lot of time on BF but have always wondered why the market for old road bikes is better than the market for old mountain bikes.




Yeah I don't think I'll go with drop bar. I'm 5'9" and the bike is 18". On paper it should fit me well but I'm going to check out the bike tonight, thanks!

So it turns out the new front derailleur and the new crank are Shimano Tourneys. AFAIK the Tourneys parts are the lowest end parts by Shimano but I think they should still hold up relatively well?

wrk101

No, Tourney parts do not hold value well. They are cheapies, should work just fine as even the low end Shimano stuff is pretty reliable. But holding value? No. Now a vintage Sugino triple crankset that you find on a lot of nicer vintage mtbs, those are holding their value extremely well and going up. Anymore, I'll pick up old mtbs just to get the Sugino crankset and some odds and ends.

FRANK CANNON

No more than $80, even then I would keep looking. Low end all around.

FastJake

They should hold up fine, but it's a bummer. I see this too often. A nice vintage MTB that came with LX or XT has some worn out parts. So they replace them (usually the shifters) with bottom-of-the-line new stuff. Ugh. I find it most offensive when bike shops that sell used bikes do this. They should know better! Or putting replacement Sora STI on an early 1990s road bike that came with 600 Ultegra tri-color. No! Don't do it!

Price of $180 was on the high end to begin with. With the changes I would say the price is too high. I wouldn't pay it and would hold out for something nicer.

FRANK CANNON

This bike never had any LX/XT this most likely had the Alivio recall cranks which is why that new tourney is on there.

zs3889

Yeah this model came with Alivio set. The rear derailleur is still an Alivio.

oddjob2

No need to guess:

1995 Trek 850 - BikePedia

zs3889

I just picked up the bike and was able to get the price down to $125. I think it's a good deal because I like it. The bike itself is pretty much immaculate, as if it was never ridden in the past 20 years. I'm already falling in love with the paint but who can resist the 90s paint jobs.

It could be a tad too small for me though. I'm going to ride it around town to see if the fit was really bad. If it was too small, I shouldn't have a problem reselling it without losing money.

Thanks for all the suggestion in this thread!

FastJake

Sorry, I wasn't clear in my last post. I didn't mean to say this bike had LX/XT. But I've seen that on other bikes.

zs3889

Here is me on the bike without my head:

oddjob2

$125 is a deal. So what does one do with 2 gallons of Costco vegetable oil?

Jicafold

Maybe he's going to bread and fry that tennis shoe. Don't you know you can fry anything nowadays.

That'sa really nice color on that bike. I do like the Alivio and STX groups. Be nice if that bike had a vintage triple crank.

bikemig 

@IthaDan is right. Prices for vintage mtbs are trending up. There was a time when you could find a top end mtb for around $100. I bought a 1988 stumpjumper comp with a tange double butted frame and a full deore xt group for $125. Those days are gone. The prices on these bikes are trending up. So $180 isn't a bad price for this bike.