I have a 2003 trek 5500, dura ace 7700, but the chrome is starting to flake off the chromme plated bits and the shifting is getting terribly sloppy, im able to score sram red for the bike for about $1200 but only if i do it by 10 tonight. Would it be a total travesty to break up the lance frame/gruppo combo or should i just not get nostalgic because i race and 9 speed DA parts are few and far between these days?

I don't think this is the correct forum for discussing a '03 bike and SRAM bits. why is shifting sloppy? how many miles? when was the last tune up?

+1. I have no idea what SRAM red is worth (other than by checking ebay). Try the road bikes forum.

Well its the lance setup from 99-03, so i kinda figured that might have some nostalgic value to it remaining all dura ace 7700. Its got 7k+ miles on it and when perfectly clean it's shifting sloppy because of wear on the drivetrain. It's just getting increasingly difficult to find parts for the 7700, and since I race it, having 10-sp would be an advantage for neutral wheel support, because everything is 10 these days. My question is really more of whether I'll get shunned for breaking up this gruppo (which i have loved for 7 years) for sram red

Called my mechanic at lbs he said id be getting it around their cost and couldn't come close on price

Yeah, you might have better luck in Road or Mechanics forums, though of course there's plenty of cross-participation. My new bikes are older than your classic bike.

Yeah, i get that sorry for the wrong board, think of it as a future classic? (pending lance doesn't get convicted of doping)

Lots of Dura Ace 7700 series out there on ebay. Nice stuff, but certainly not rare.

I just rebuilt a bike in 9 speed Dura ace for about $400. There was not any problem finding it on Ebay, Craigslist. Some of it I got from jensonusa.com.