Chris W.

I had been on the lookout for. 900 series frameset/bike, and landed an 89' 950 (which will workout perfectly with the 89' Deore LX group I have). If I had found a later model with the 11/8 steer tube, I was going to replace it with a Surly LHT fork. 1)for the lugged crown, an 2) so I could raise the stem up to seat level for road bars. Just a thought
Cheers,
Chris

TenGrainBread 

I snagged a different Trek System 1 stem from around the same time on ebay for $15 just now. It has less extension than the stock one (105mm instead of 140), so it might work. It also has a 26mm clamp instead of the 25.4 on the stock one so it'll fit the Portola bar. We'll see how it goes. If not I'll order one of those two bolt risers you guys mentioned.

Had a bit of time to give the frame some spa time tonight. A bit of naval jelly dabbed here and there, a wipe down, framesaver applied, and 2 coats of turtle wax. It still has a bunch of "beausage" to it, but it's shiny and clean now at least.

I'm really blown away by how beautiful the green speckle paint is:





I'm also surprised at how much I like the weird combo of forest green, brass, and lilac:

ppg677

I picked up a non-lugged Trek 930 for next to nothing. Paint is near perfect. I turned it into a single-speed MTB and it seems to fit me well for that purpose. I experimented with fitting it with drop bars, but saw no way it could work as shown below. So while the frame fits me well in the stock flat-bar MTB position, is it simply too small to turn into a drop-bar bike?

exmechanic89

I actually thought my wife's was black until we took outside in the sun for a ride, then I saw the gorgeous green color.

leftthread

Tengrain, If you need a donor for more parts there is a 930 on mke cl for $60. Address looks to be the same as South Shore cyclery.

TenGrainBread 

Thanks for the lookout. I have all my parts lined up right now so I should be good, though.

Paramount1973 

Here is my 930, set up as a drop bar commuter. The stem is a 1 1/8" ATB stem fom Nashbar. It has a 25.4 clamp, I think. I have it set up as an 8 speed.

P4120228 by galoot_loves_tools, on Flickr

ppg677

Huh, maybe that stem would work for me. On the other hand, my pic above shows a lot more seatpost :-(

The Golden Boy 

This bike is a great project- I also really dig the 'lugged unicrown' seat cluster.

Looking forward to seeing more of this!

Have you been to the store? I see stuff on eBay, I've driven past the store a few dozen times this year, but haven't stopped (generally on the way somewhere, and let's be honest... It's Cudahy ) I wonder what they may have for used stuff out/available, but not for BBC prices.







I really have nothing against Cudahy- if you're from around here you may remember the band Couch Flambeau-

leftthread

They have a cool vintage bike display that's worth a visit. Sometimes I'll park at the W and S in Fox Point and ride the lakefont down to them and back.

Velocivixen

Not to derail your thread but you inspired me so just bought a 1991 Trek 950 today! Super excited to "play" with it.

Can't wait to see your finished bike.

kermie

I have a 1993 Trek 930 I bought brand new in 1993! I upgraded the forks and made it a 930SHX. That thing has been very durable. Hell the Altus A10 still shifts perfectly. I now have it set up for more road than off road. Look forward to your rebuild, and I also like the funky Forest Green and gold and fushia

TenGrainBread 

Awesome! What components did it come with? Link your build thread here when you get around to it

Velocivixen

@TenGrainBread - It has Deore LX front/rear derailleurs, front hub, crankset (middle chainring replaced with Vuelta brand). Rear hub is Deore DX freehub with 7 speed cassette. Front rim is original Matrix and rear is a Weinmann replacement. Panaracer Paselas 26 x 1.5". Trek gel saddle, shimano brake levers and shifters. No markings on the shifters so not sure if they're original.

NOTE: go to the thread "Post your Trek here" and go to the last page - you'll see a bunch of photos.

Today I've trued the front wheel, repacked the hubs (grease was actually pretty fresh & plentiful), now gonna crack open the headset...I will start another thread I suppose.

TenGrainBread 

OK, picture time. Parts are rolling in. Progress being made. You know the deal.

First off, I found an NOS early 90s Deore XT caged bearing headset in a local shop today. I was looking at their Compass tire stock and happened to ask if they had any 1 1/8 threaded headsets without much hope. Dude went downstairs and came up with a couple of cheapo black headsets for $20 and the Deore XT box for $40. It's a beaut. Pics when it's on the bike. (The stock steel unit that came with the bike is toasted inside and out.)

The wheelset I got on ebay arrived and is even better than the pictures showed. Rims look almost untouched. It's early 90s Deore XT hubs laced to narrow-but-beautiful period Mavic M231s. At 17mm internal width I would hesitate to put anything over 2 inches on it, but it should be perfect for the 26x1.75 Fairweather tours that are in the mail. I locked on a new 7-speed Hyperglide cassette a few minutes ago.







I also got a shorter Trek System 1 stem (made by Kalloy) from the same time period in the mail. It has the right clamp size for the Portola bar and slightly less rise, but should be good. The old Dia Compe levers also got new gum hoods (that were a giant pain in the butt to get on, even with lubrication).

TenGrainBread 

Bike is getting dressed up tonight and should be fully done in a couple days. Teaser shot:

[IMG]

All that's left is the brakes and hooking the cables up. I went a little overboard so this is going to be rags to riches.

Velocivixen

@TenGrainBread - You hit it out of the ball park with your color combination of the bar tape, tan hoods & copper bell. Just outstanding given the overall color of the bike with the color of the decals.
I always prefer bikes that are a color vs black/white/silver. Yours has a lovely color.

TenGrainBread 

She's done.

I've been riding it a bit and am really enjoying it. The top tube has me a bit stretched out. I don't mind the drop but the reach is a bit much. I could get a stem with less reach but I'm thinking of trying moustache bars next. For now the Portolas are pretty fun. Climbing and descending in the flared out drops is really comfortable. Also these IRD shifters are so smooth.















Full build list:
-Early 90s Deore XT headset (NOS) and derailleurs
-Sugino XD600 triple
-Early 90s Mavic M231 rims/Deore XT hubs
-7 speed HG cassette
-SRAM 7/8 speed chain
-Early 90s Trek System 1 cromo stem (made by Kalloy) and Trek-branded cable hanger
-Soma Portola bars
-IRD Silver bar end shifters (ratcheting friction)
-Crane Suzu bell
-Newbaum's eggplant tape for bars and chainstay protector
-Paul Neo Retro cantis (touring version in back) w/ Kool Stops
-old Dia Compe non-aero levers with new Dia Compe hoods
-Velo Orange braided housing and cables
-Nitto S83 two bolt seatpost
-B17 special with copper rails/rivets
-Velo Orange Retro bottle cages
-Panaracer/Fairweather "For Cruise" 26x1.75 tires. Essentially Paselas but in brown.

The bag on there is a VO Croissant bag, which already has seams on the zipper flap separating after 1 ride. Definitely getting returned. I also have a Dajia stainless rack that will go on to put the bike in touring mode.

TenGrainBread 

If anybody is curious about the way I handled the bar tape: double layer of the Newbaum's on each side wrapped from the bottom, and I finished by applying some super glue to the end of the tape so I wouldn't need electrical or twine.

Kdogbikes

A stunner build.

Chris W.

Beautiful build!!! Hopefully you'll get used to the stem length, as that plum tape is beautiful!
Cheers,
Chris

TenGrainBread 

If anybody is curious, I decided to move this back to upright bars with some VO Porteurs and city brake levers. Pics from a 2 day tour from Madison to Chicago that I took this weekend:



At the first Glacial-Drumlin trailhead:


Rock Island:


In a sorry state after riding 20 miles of gravel during a rain storm north of Racine:


Limestone mud:


Rainy cockpit:


Later as I cruised through the Gold Coast suburbs north of Chicago:

Wright Bros

TenGrain, The bike looks good. Too bad the drop bars didn't work out. Check out some Planet Bike fenders, they fit great on my '92 930 even with 1.95 knobbies.

TenGrainBread 

Thanks for the recommendation! Clearly would have benefited from fenders on this trip, haha.

OTS 

Please

Are those VO bars on the re-build reincarnation ?

thanks