dcon32

Hi!

First time poster here.

I found a 1992 Trek 5500 for sale by owner for $400. Based on the pictures, everything on the bike looks to be in good condition. Is this bike worth buying as my mainstay road bike? I want something I truly enjoy riding. I don't have a great road bike right now, and I am really getting into cycling and loving it. So I'd like to find one I enjoy. Is this potentially the one? and for this price? Or should I look for something newer? Thanks!

Kimmo

92 is pretty old... Might be worth it if the bike is fairly mint.

If it's rocking STIs they're probably gummed up and in need of attention though.

Lazyass

If it's mint condition and original with the Dura Ace group it's worth $400. The shifters could very well be gummed up but not hard to get them right again. Beware that finding replacement brake hoods is pretty much impossible. If you're lucky enough to find NOS ones on ebay they'll probably cost a small fortune. No one makes them anymore.

But unless you're wanting to get into the vintage thing, which is cool, you're better off looking for a bike made this decade with 105 or Tiagra or something.

dcon32

Right on, thank you so much!

1500SLR

The hard thing to tell with an old carbon bike is whether there is any cracks in the frame. Without getting the frame properly looked at I would not be buying a 25 year old carbon bike. The other problem with old bikes like that is that they are built on the 1inch standard for your head tube rather than 1 1/8, your seat post will likely be 26.8, and your handlebars 25.4. All of this can be accounted for but in doing so you will spend more money on your forks, seat post, and handlebars to bring them up to a modern standard. That's if you want 31.8 bars, and also a nice seat post such as a Thomson Elite, and some 1inch carbon forks which are getting hard to come by. Then you will need a quill that can take 31.8 bars, or a converter.

This is all before you get to work on your groupset to make it something that is actually easy to ride on a day to day basis. Whether that is simply just using a Claris 11-28 cassette and 52-39 rings up front you will need to get a new cassette and chain rings as a likely bare minimum. The standard cassette for riding in the early 1990s was 12-23, or 12-25, we've come a long way since then and 12-23 or even 12-25 is a bit crap to say the least most people ride with an 11-28 or even an 11-32 now. You can get that and there is enough gears in between with an 8 speed. However a 10 or 11 speed is better. Its more than likely than not that your shifters will be pretty gummed up and need replacing, so might your derailleurs also based on age and whether the bike has been maintained, not just ridden regularly and yes you may want to replace the derailleurs which means a total groupset.

It's cool to repair/upgrade old bikes, but you have to ask yourself how much you want to spend on it. The things I am talking about have the potential to turn a $400 bike into a $1500 bike in one day to get to square one and then you can go into your bike shop and buy a modern entry level aluminum road bike with a better setup for $1500 most likely unless you're incredibly lucky and no what you're doing at the same time.

I am the ultimate retro grouch but even I know when to hand out good advice about over capitalising on old bikes. Ultimately, its a cool old frame, I would ride one if I was given one in mint condition, but it may well be better off leaving it to someone who knows what they're doing. OCLV carbon frames (standing for Optimum Compaction, Low Void) are still on the same page as bikes built today, to the same geometry as most modern road bikes. Your biggest problem is that your components on it are 25years out of whack and it takes someone with the right skill set and knowledge to make a modern bike out of that frame.

I could do it... but I am not everyone whether you kept the 8speed Dura Ace, and everything else classic and restored it, or otherwise upgraded it to modern standard there is a whole lot of effort that the average person on this forum probably does not see in a bike like this and even if you did keep it retro, there are still parts that as others have said such as rubber bits and shifter hoods that are made out of perishable materials you would need to pay for new old stock that is simply going to make the process expensive anyhow. On the other hand... There are people who do it. These people like myself love what they do.



https://www.pedalroom.com/bike/1995-...clv-5500-26319

Purely for reference sake here's the Trek 5000 series from 2007. You can pretty much see an evolution of the same carbon bike from 15years prior.



https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2...k/5000/details

exmechanic89

Does the bike fit you, OP? Make sure you know your size before shopping..