BradH

The other day this red Trek followed me home. I needed it like I needed a hole in my head but I could not resist. Upon looking at it I guessed it was possibly a 1985 Trek 400. After looking up the serial number that guess proved to be correct. Other than having two right handed Shimano aero levers and a pair of 105 pedals I'd say it was in unmolested but in need of a service, original condition. However, a couple of things struck me as odd. A 1985 Trek 400 would have had 27" wheels. This bike has 700C. A 27" wheel & tire will not clear the seatstay bridge, I tried. A 1985 Trek 400 had the shifter bosses clamped on. These were brazed on. Other than the Dia Compe 500 brakes all of the components would be consistant with a Trek 500 of the same year (stem, bars, seatpost, hubs, rims, derailleurs, crankset). Also the chainstay says "Trek" instead of the model number. I'm curious if it could be a 450, not that it really matters. I also have a 1985 460. Here are some pre cleaning pictures.

BradH

BradH

Here we are all fixed up. Everything cleaned, bearings repacked, new bar tape, different saddle, new cables & housing, Dia Compe non-aero levers and a new chain. I also put on a different wheelset. The rear on the original set was just too rough. The hubs are good, I just need to lace on new rims. I had a set of Tiagra hubs, Sun rims, Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples I built up a few months ago. I'm running these with some 700-28s and 8, seven speed sprockets & spacers (13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 28). You can see the 700-28s barely clear out back.





Here is my '85 460 for comparison. Note "460" on the chainstay like every other '85 Trek. I put Shimano 600 stuff on it (derailleurs, hubs, brake calipers) and a set of 10 speed bar end shifters. The old crankset plays well with the 10 speed chain.

OldsCOOL

That looks very much like a 460 frame with that "through" chainstay, TT1 frame, black brakeset and headset. Without going to the site, I'm wondering why there isnt a model designation on that. My '85 460 had the dia-compe 400 set. Also, I'm thinking this may be a 400 series sport bike class by looking at the space between the back wheel and seat tube. My little 53.5cm was a tight fit with 700 wheels. Your rear derailleur isnt the "S" model from what I can see but then, this is the stuff of Trek mysteries. How about running the numbers on the ser no chart/links to see what it says?

BradH

The difference between this frame and my 460 is longer chainstays and the dropouts have holes for fenders. When I looked at the Vintage Trek site it indicated this serial number was a later production 1985 400 in 22.5. I'm not home to get the specific number right now but that's what I recall.

The seatstay bridge actually accepts a Dia Compe 400 brake better than the Dia Compe 500 brake caliper, but I left it as is. The 500 puts the pads all the way up. With the 400 the pads are in the middle of the adjustment range. It's purely an aesthetics thing and there would be no difference in performance.

The 450 makes me curious. It appears that no serial numbers were specifically made as 450 bikes, yet this one seems to differ from the other 400s I've seen. This thing would most closely resemble a 500 in geometry and construction (seatstay bridge location and shifter bosses) with a TT tubing.

The front and rear derailleurs are exactly the same as what came from the factory on my 460. I swapped them out on the 460. I swapped it over to 10 speed Shimano indexed.

On a side note, as configured the 4?? weighs in at 23.2 and the 460 at 22.4. Main difference being the tires & tubes between the bikes.