https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1344164676241180/?mibextid=dXMIcH

Here's another one. Comes with clipless pedals I don't need, new extra tires and tubes. They want $125 firm. Weird part is that they claim it's a 54cm but they say the 5'9 wife and 6'1 husband ride it comfortably. Claim a 33 inch standover height. That, to me doesn't add up. Im driving to Ohio on a job assignment so it's on my way. Assuming it fits, is $125 reasonable. From the Internet it has 27 inch wheels when ch is a negative. Would the stock wheels at least be aluminum? It's tru-temper frame is unfamiliar to me. Is that just fancy talk for hi-tensile steel?

$125 is a fairly good price if the bike is in good condition. Looks like 700c wheels to me. I base this comment on the valve stems so I could be wrong. Anyway, nice bike and, were it offered to me for that price, I would be refurbishing is right now.

Depends. To me it isn't because it is a buyer's market so I just wait for something better to pop up at that price. For somebody looking for practical transportation they could do a lot worse and in fact could not do much of anything at the bike shop. They probably don't even have a bike for $125.

Mind you, my "doing better" would probably be a bike in worse shape. My "better" means vintage over ready to ride condition. So you have to define what is you are trying to fulfill before we can talk about worth

1988 Trek 400T I think, but the little chainring has been removed for some reason.
It's double-butted Cromoly. With the long chainstays are a little on the whippy side, which I didn't care for as a youngin' but now I don't mind as much. Hopefully that kickstand didn't wreck those stays too much.
Hard to tell if it's a 21" (54ish) or 22.5" (57ish). It could be 22.5", as these have pretty tall forks (which means relatively shorter headtube) with ample tire clearance (I fit 35mm knobbies on mine)

Hoods look great, saddle looks good too.

If I was looking for a comfortable vintage steel bike I'd be tempted. If it's been up for a while see if they'd take $100, point out that it needs at least one tire, that rear tire looks a little rough.

Here's the catalog:
https://www.vintage-trek.com/images/trek/Trek88_1.pdf

I don't even own a bike stand. I have done and can do the basic maintenance one can do on a vintage bike with standard non-bike tools. That's the main reason why I like older lower level bikes. They were built to be ridden and could be maintained at home with little more than a set of wrenches, pliers, a screw driver and maybe a set of hex wrenches on rare occasions. I dont want to have to do a complete teardown but don't mind cleaning and adjusting. But the less of those things I have to do, the better. The Raleigh I just sold weighed in at a hefty 32lbs so I'd like something a little lighter. Hoping to find either a Chromoly/aluminum frame and aluminum wheels and maybe closer to 26 lbs.

Trek claimed 23.8 for the 1986 model. I seem to remember mine weighing 24.5 with the knobby tires on it, but they were pretty light folding CX tires..

Agree with offering $100 and seeing what happens. I’ve owned at least 3 Trek 400s. The earlier one did have 27” wheels.

Ok, we are getting closer to a definition of worth and value as it applies to you.

You can have your cake and eat it too by picking a bike that is modern enough to have 700c wheels and 8 speed cassette on the back, which implies it having a hub instead of a freewheel, which lowers the fixing and maintenance needs. The 700c is just easier to source and often cheaper.

As you probably know the standard for quality is double butted (or triple butted) tubing. Long story short chromoly steel is way stronger than high tensile steel. They weight the same (1 cubic inch of high tensile == 1 cubic inch of chromoly, weight wise), but being stronger it can be shaped thinner in the middle, fat at the ends so it can be brazed/welded. The result is a lighter bike frame, which is what you want (sorry if you already knew this).

If you can wait you should, more bikes are always popping up.

This one is a much nicer bike than the earlier SS and looks close to ready to ride I would say it is a fair deal at $125 and should make a nice basic rider. The True Temper is fairly nice chr-mo tubing and as said these curb at 24-25lbs so pretty good weight wise.

I agree. There is no money to be made on this at $125, probably not even at $100.

The photos in the ad are not great. I cant tell if the rear derailleur and crank are oxidized or just very dirty. But, for a lower end Trek you should be able to find one in an excellent condition bike in todays market if your patient for $150. bikes are not selling well right now.

I just picked up a 92 (about the same year) Trek 2100 in very good condition for 120. Deals are out there right now. In my market, that 400 would sit on marketplace and not move - the seller would jump at $100.

it’s a good bike though. Doesn’t appear to need much, good condition, frame has the nice details Trek used in that era. If the fit was good, I’d probably grab it at 100

That's a regular ol' '88 400 and not the 400T. The 400 did come in this color scheme in '88, also. Looks like it has the original Matrix wheels, which should be 700C. Got indexed Shimano shifting this year, too. True Temper is pretty alright tubing. The Trek 400 is a decent all-rounder. If it fits and doesn't need much work, I'd offer a little less than the asking price.

Hmm, maybe I'm seeing things but that looks like a triple crank with the little ring removed. Surely Trek didn't ship 400s with triple cranks with the granny omitted, did they?

I see what you mean. Could have been a bad day at the factory. This particular bike is wearing the Shimano Light Action RD that came on the 400. 400T came with a more tour-appropriate long cage Deore. Aren't many other differences between the two models.

Another 88 400 posted, looks like another bad day at the factory, or that’s just the way Trek did it.
Tim

Heh, maybe they got a deal from Sakae - a few thousand triple cranksets, but only some with granny gears on 'em might've been cheaper than buying half actual double cranks.

Not everyone is looking for a flip. These are nice bikes. Comes with new tires and tubes? That could be worth $100 by themselves. You have a working link for the ad?

If it was in my area at that price I would offer $100 and probably be willing to give up $125 if this was something I wanted. I do complete overhauls on my projects with tubes, tires, bar tape, chains, cables, brake pads, etc.I don't flip bikes hoping make money. For some reason I think the OP is looking for a rider and if so, I think they should be prepared for most of the items I listed.

I do not see where it says these are new tires and tubes and the tires I see look mismatched. I recently paid more for a bike than I wanted because the pictures showed that it should have decent tires so I figured that in to make myself happy. Guess what it needed?

It says "new extra" tires and tubes, so I guess those are not shown. If the seller thinks this is 27" and it's actually 700, the buyer should probably check the extra tires to see if they're the right size.

If this is in good shape and fits, $125 is a reasonable price for an end user. We would probably list it for $180 at the co-op. On Craigslist all the buyers are flippers because trash picking is half the American economy nowadays, so it probably wouldn't go for that much.

The original poster should keep in mind that most of the commenters here already have more bikes than they need, so waiting 6 months for another bike to come along $20 cheaper makes sense for them. If you actually need a bike and this is in good shape and fits, then the price is reasonable.

I agree that you will probably have to spend a little more time and money on the bike, but that's the same with just about any Craigslist/Facebook bike.

Sorry. I didn't see that in the OP. And you sound like my wife.

The bike in the OP is either a 58 or a 23". Look at the length of that headtube.

ahem, 22.5"

No, he flips but does not do maintenance or upgrades. He wants bikes he can make $25-$50 w/o effort. Nothing wrong with that, FWIW.