Good morning all,

I've found recently that I enjoy wrenching on bikes in my spare time. I made the mistake of setting foot in the one LBS around that sells used bikes a few weekends ago and found this:



There's a lot of rust on the frame and I'm having a lot of trouble removing the crankset (which has me worried about the state of the inside of the tubing). I've gone as far as removing the fork and cleaning the surface rust off, but I'd like some opinions for the plan I have for this frame before I spend any more time on it.
I'm thinking about stripping the frame, repainting, and turning this into a singlespeed touring bike as there aren't a lot of hills in my neck of the woods.
The serial # on the BB is T0JW66526, which according to the Trek Vintage site I believe means this is an early '90s low-end steel frame?
Here are some more pics:



(I'm not in Ohio, but I am going to try to save this sticker. It makes me wonder about this bike's story )






Thanks for your time!

My first impression is that is looks pretty solid. I think even the "low-end" Treks used lightweight steel tubing and are pretty good quality. Yours doesn't really look all that rusty, at least on the outside. You should pull out the seat post and shine a light down into the frame to see how it is inside. You'll need a special tool to remove the cranks, but they are cheap. If you clean up the frame and touch up the rusted spots it will probably look pretty nice. Do get a new chain though. It looks like somebody painted part of the fork already. There is an anti-rust treatment called Frame Saver that you can apply to the interior of the frame, lots of folks here use it.

If you SS it you will need a chain tensioner for the rear Drop out. Not hard to find and not too expensive. Better option in to leave the rear DR on and use the shifter up front for touring.

Mid 90's is a good guess for the age. Good project starting point. Just don't let the fixing cost outstrip the buying better cost !

Low end Trek which means it's a pretty good bike. This can make a great commuter/beater/around town bike. The biggest problem is that you don't want the cost of the project to exceed what it would cost to buy this bike (or a similar quality hybrid) complete 2d hand. That's really impossible to do if buying new parts and very difficult even if sourcing 2d hand parts. You may be able to find a "donor" bike for a good source of parts. My advice is hang this on the wall and look for another old bike to work on though.

1995ish Hybrid. A nice riding, tough, all purpose frame. I like them so much i have two 700s for my grocery getters. I think it has a Shimano cartridge BB, so get the splined tool, a long enough bolt and a washer to bolt it to the bb, and remember drive side is reverse threaded, so go to the right to loosen. Some PB Blaster penetrant may help too.

Also, it is likely the plastic spring retainers on the brakes are shot too, which are unobtanium. Cheaper to just buy a set of Tektro Oryx brakes and replace the entire brake caliper.

https://www.treefortbikes.com/product...t-or-Rear.html

Thanks for that link. If the frame ends up not being too rusted on the inside then I'll continue on with the build. This will be my first foray into working with cantilever brakes and I was wondering where to get them!