Noir Lethal

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/bik/1699056548.html

I am 5'3 tall, this looks perfect. What do you guys think?

USAZorro

If that's the type of bike you're looking for, that seems definitely worth seeing in person.

Can't tell you how much it's worth though - that's a question for the Appraisal area.

EjustE

That is pretty nice. These look like "Bianchi Special" Columbus stickers on the frame and the fork. And if you put a road stem, some drop bars on it and a better saddle on it, nobody would know that it is a hybrid and not a touring bike

rumrunn6

yeah, if the bike is right for you the price is fine, especially with the warranty. be sure of the sizing and that you want a straight bar bike. those look like cross tires to me - is that what you want? if this is a shop, then they might have other bikes worth looking at.

Noir Lethal

I went ahead and bought it for $220 a lot more than I wanted to spend on something like this, but I love the classic brands. Probably going to be used as a secondary bike, because I am addicted to fixed gear riding.. The frame is in really clean condition only some light scratches (nothing at all major considerings it age) and one area of weathering paint (drive side of the fork). Little rust here and there on the components, but I guess thats ok. Any idea what year it is? It made in canada right? I am guessing mid 80s to early 90s? Its the original saddle and its super padded and comfy. The thing is SO freaking comfortable compared to my track bikes. My only complaints are the handlebars/stem look a little lame and as nice as the seat is I am not sure if I should replace with something more narrow. What should I do to make this more like a proper touring bike instead of comfort hybrid?

wrk101

Looks newer than the mid 1980s to me. No need to guess, I would just look up the component codes on any of the original parts on the vintage Trek site.

Troll through the touring section of this forum, and there are numerous threads of people turning MTBs into touring bikes. The process with a hybrid will be very similar. Adding drop bars will cost serious $$. At that point, selling the bike and buying a drop bar touring bike could make more sense.

Bikepedia shows the model was made well into the 1990s. 1993 was seven speed, so your bike is perhaps a couple of years before that: 1991 or 1992 perhaps. 1993 model had an MSRP of $375.

USAZorro

Adding drop bars could cost serious $$, but not necessarily. I imagine I could do it for under $20.00... or I could spend $400.00. Depends on your network and mechanical skills.

thenomad

19" frame? Measured from where?
Old MTB tend to have a longer top tube so I feel really stretched out. You may be fine on standover but not ok on reach.
see it and determine what you can make work. Def a nice find though.

Noir Lethal

Thinking about getting a lower stem off cragslist or ebay, but I am foreign to the world of quills. Im not sure the dimensions/type for this bike that would suite a more "racer" riding position. Thing about the stem is the brakes are connected to it so I am guessing this impossible to replace at a sensible price. Not sure about the bars yet, if they are lowered they might be fine, but the stem (angle) needs to go. The bars are so High I feel like im on a harley. To my surprise the original tires are on the bike with the bianchi advantage branding. Can't believe these survived almost two decades. Should I replace them and toss them out? They perform fine but they look nasty and there kind of messed up. They say 700 x 35c, heng shin Taiwanese. I like the wide tires for this type of bike. Most parts on the bike are from japan, sakeo so its hard to figure out the exact year. Some shimano parts though, still looking. Tossed the pedals already, they were some nasty random plastic ones.

EDIT:
Just as we suspected the bike's sakae crank set is may 1989 I think so this is probaly a 1990 I suppose.

Chris_in_Miami

I agree with USAZorro, but then I've got enough spare parts to do the conversion for almost no cost. Another alternative would be to add a set porteur bars, and find a cheap stem (you'll need a hangar for the brake cable though,) that would allow you to keep the brake levers and shifters.

I think a more important upgrade would be to replace the tires, the sidewalls look pretty dry and cracked.

Chris_in_Miami

thenomad brings up a good point, you should look for a fairly short stem if you go with drop bars, a hybrid's top tube will be a bit long.

thenomad

Sorry, I didn't look at it closely enough. It's a good candidate for your average 'Cross build. I'd go with Barend shifters on drop bars and aero brake levers. You can get a simple cable hanger that is fork mounted and would actually give you good braking on the cantilever brakes. Look into the cyclocross forum for more ideas. keep the tires as is and run them till they wear out.
Nice and comfy to have big tires that let you go offroad, paths, down stairs etc.

Change the saddle to a good one that fits you. Longer rides may be painful on that "comfy" saddle.

rumrunn6

congrats on the bike!
good luck with the build!
start posting your own pics of it - that CL ad will expire and this thread will need pics

Noir Lethal

Hey, so I added another cage, removed the kickstand , removed all the rusty reflectors (Don't plan on night riding), swaped the pedals with what I had, lowered the stem, minor adjustments, and cleaned it up a little. In retrospect, Im guessing it was made in Taiwan, but for my purposes as a secondary bike, I don't mind. It surely as proved its frame quality two decades later.



Tiny bike I know look at comparison to my window sill!

Long way to if I want to get here:

Chris_in_Miami

Looks great! And that stem doesn't look bad with drop bars.

EjustE

About those tires... They were OEM (in 700cx38) on my 1990 mule, and I liked them so much that I bought 15 pairs in 1993 when I found out that there were being discontinued. Great tire for touring, commuting, path riding and long distances. Alas, I am at my last pair and will probably need to search for something else soon.

If you planning on doing any sort of distance riding, you would need more hand positions on the bars that there are available now. If you want to keep your flats (I did, mainly because I loved the M500 surefire shifter system on mine), you can be creative and spend very little $. Here is what I have done with my mule:



I got 6 hand positions, and the cost to do something like this today is about $20 and would take about 10 minutes and a couple of allen wrenches.

Grand Bois

There's nothing wrong with built in Taiwan. They're as capable of building bikes as anybody.

Grand Bois

Practical but hideous.

mickey85

I put drop bars on my hybrid for about $30. $5 for a set of aero brake levers, $25 for bar end shifters, and the bars for free from the co-op. I'd seriously recommend it. I wanted to go with downtube shifters, but the frame has oversized tubes, making it not feasible.

rumrunn6

is it my imagination or is the "rake" on those forks pretty significant?

wrk101

Yes, I could do it for free myself, as I have a workshop full of parts. But anyone wanting to have their favorite shop do it would be in for serious $$. At that point, buying a nice used touring bike would be a better deal.

Noir Lethal

Just a thought. I can get a used drop bar for about $10. If I just replace the current bar with the drop cant I technically just use these shifters and brakes on the flat part of the bar to save money? Then I would just need to focus on a new saddle and new tires. I went for a 10 mile ride, today pretty smooth. But at when pedaling through the lowest point, I felt a clanky resistance in my drive side pedal arm. Not sure if the pedal is loose or something is wrong with the drivetrain or cranks.

mickey85

It would depend on the bar size. If your drop bars were from a cheap bike, chances are they were narrow and would work, but if they're from anything decent, they'd have a diameter too big for the clamp size.



As far as the post above saying that MTB's usually had longer top tubes - remember, this is a hybrid. Typically, the hybrids had road sizing with MTB clearances. At least the ones from the early 90's did.

At minimum, for a drop bar conversion, you'd need the bars, brake levers, and shifters.

Noir Lethal

https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/bik/1700683230.html

I emailed about them about clamp size but have not received a response, they look to have a uniform diameter. I know its not really a proper setup but for the budget I want on this bike, I might try it for a little while.

Chris_in_Miami

You might not be able to fit drop bars to that stem if the clamp section is very wide. The radius of the bends may be too tight to go through, but there's only one way to find out...

By the way, I'd be pretty certain the bars are 25.4mm, but I think they may be steel with an aluminum band at the center. Functional, but cheap and heavy. Bring a magnet with you to check...