Picked up an old school mountain bike: Trek 7000

[HardDrive]

Happy camper. I've been watching craigslist for an old school rigid mountain bike in good shape. Picked this one up this morning. Needs a cleaning, but runs great. Kid was using it as a commuter bike. Doesn't look like it's seen dirt in a long time. Just need to change the tires and find a single track...

Any recommendation on durable 26" MB tires?

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Nice Bike!
I love the old school vintage MTB's and have several myself.
As for tires, there are a lot of good ones and I am unfamiliar with the latest and greatest, however, I would be looking for two things, - Kevlar bead (as opposed to wire bead), and also something NOT tubeless compatible if possible (It's just extra weight if you are running tubes- however, with all the trendy tubeless stuff,finding a non tubeless might be tough).

When I was racing, I liked Michelin Comp S lite tires. They spun fast, were light as heck, and held up okay. I don't think they are available.



Also, I got a freeby bastard step child tire a long time ago that I never would have chosen, but it worked surprisingly well- basically a slick with some side tread. I was always Impressed how well it worked in dry hardpack singletrack.
I don't even really remember the name- just saying that I was surprised to find more tread isn't always better in some situations. I think a lot depends on what conditions you will ride in.


Good luck!

[tabs]

$20.00?

[nota]

for street riding 26'' mt bikes I like slick tyres for better braking in dodging traffic

even my ALAN an older screwed and glued alloy frame road racer wares over sized 700x35c
for a bit extra contact patch that required a bit of filing to the bottom of the brakes to fit

I just got a iron horse with a front disk brake to swap on to
my fisher paragon a 24 lb hard tail with a swapped RS judy with disk mounts

[mistertate]

My mom got me a black one of those for high school graduation, too sentimental to let it go.

[HardDrive]

U.S. Made Alcoa aluminum frame!

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Happy camper. I've been watching craigslist for an old school rigid mountain bike in good shape. Picked this one up this morning. Needs a cleaning, but runs great. Kid was using it as a commuter bike. Doesn't look like it's seen dirt in a long time. Just need to change the tires and find a single track...

Any recommendation on durable 26" MB tires?

Thats a pretty cool survivor and looks excellent. Fuzzy memory but purchased one just like it brand new thinking '87 - 89?? Shimano DX. Frame was revolutionary for Trek with its bonded joints -cast ally lugs, aluminum tubing. Recall when I acquired, Rock Shox wasn't even a company. But soon after was released and then shortly came Trek's air/oil fork. Might have been made by Showa. I had purchased one but think today the original rigid is way neat.

Gumwall, road tread rubber in 2.1 width is just fine for all riding. Pull those knobby slugs.

[intakexhaust]

Robust tubing but even for aluminum that model is on the heavier side. Oversize and thinner walled stuff was Cannondales approach of which Trek later followed - including tig joints vs. bonded w/lugs.

Yet thats what makes these old atb's interesting and have lots of character. Made in WI.

[SoCal911T]

Good bikes. I pulled mine out last weekend to start an inventory on what I'll need to do a full refresh.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by tabs

$20.00?

$200

I'm sure they can be had for less, but it was 2 miles from house, and the drivetrain is smooth as silk. Frame has some light scratches, but zero ding/dents, zero rust anywhere.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

Robust tubing but even for aluminum that model is on the heavier side. Oversize and thinner walled stuff was Cannondales approach of which Trek later followed - including tig joints vs. bonded w/lugs.

Yet thats what makes these old atb's interesting and have lots of character. Made in WI.

I had a Cannondale of the same vintage. It was a bad experience. It was indeed very light, but the rear chainstays were not aligned correctly, and it was impossible to get the rear wheel to seat securely. I got the run around from both the shop I bought it from, and Cannondale. Utter BS given how much I paid for it. I later found out I was not alone, others had the same issue.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

(long) This is kind of a thread jacking- (long.. don't feel compelled to read) but a funny story involving this era of bikes.
Recently (the other week), I was in a new bike store in town, killing time while my daughter was in ballet.
In walks a tall guy with a 90's era mtb, and ask the mechanic how to raise the bars. The mechanic told him (correctly) that the bars were raised as much as possible, and without buying a riser stem, he couldn't do anything more. The guy then looked at me, playing the "I'm being schiestered" card and asked me what I thought. The first thing I noticed was that the manitou forks were collapsed, lowering the whole front end of the bike. It appeared someone had removed either the spring or elastomers from the fork, leaving it collapsed.
Another thing that was entirely evident was the customer had no money whatsoever. If a repair was going to happen, it was going to be less than $10 total. I've worked on a bunch of forks like this, and if this was my bike, and I needed it fixed for free, I would have removed the endcap on the fork, inserted a cut off broom pole (or something) where the spring used to go to permanently extend the fork, replace the endcap, and be done with it. The suspension wouldn't work, but the bike would be rideable. The guy wanting the bike fixed looked like he would use this for primary transportation, not mtb riding, so a rigid fork would be fine.
His request put me in a bit of a bind. On one hand, I didn't want to step over the mechanic's opinion. It was his store, and I didn't want to one up him. On the other hand, this guy was as dumb as dirt, he clearly would not have the ability to remove an endcap and fabricate a broomstick/ copper pipe/ etc... filler.
Later that day, I told my wife about the encounter. "He was stupid?" She asked. "He was tall?" she asked... "Yes... I bet That's Bobby (name changed) from the mill. He works for my dad, and commutes by bike."
Since he was an employee, who's only means of transportation was a bicycle, I saw an opportunity to help.
My wife contacted her father, who contacted his foreman, who contacted "Bobby" and the next day we arranged to have the foreman drive Bobby out to our house (30 minute drive), where I could fix the bike in short order. My wife left and warned me smiling..."Remember... He's dumb. At work, he comes in a distant second compared to a fencepost." I wasn't concerned though. With the bike in my hands, I could fix it in minutes, and he wouldn't (COULDN'T) possibly be an issue.
Or so I thought...
Later that day, his foreman (on his day off) drives him out. Bobby sat there, with his helmet, and a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BIKE in the back of the foreman's pickup. This bike didn't need a fork fix, it had sat in the rain for years. A total POS. Every cable, link in the chain, bearing was completely frozen up. It looked like the confederate "Hunley" submarine.
Feeling bad for the foreman (who had volunteered his time, and my father in law- who arranged the favor)- I accepted the bike and restored it, spending the day replacing parts with leftovers from my bin. I put the bike in my wife's car, where she dropped it off at the mill.
He called the next day and asked "So when can you fix the forks on my other bike?"

Stupid? Nope. The guy was a genius!

I only share this because $200 on a bike isn't bad if it works well. That guy's repair bill would have been well over $200 in a shop. That 7000's drive train is bulletproof and will last forever if bearing are lubed/greased.

[HardDrive]

Good on you for taking the time to help.

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

(long) This is kind of a thread jacking- (long.. don't feel compelled to read) but a funny story involving this era of bikes.
Recently (the other week), I was in a new bike store in town, killing time while my daughter was in ballet.
In walks a tall guy with a 90's era mtb, and ask the mechanic how to raise the bars. The mechanic told him (correctly) that the bars were raised as much as possible, and without buying a riser stem, he couldn't do anything more. The guy then looked at me, playing the "I'm being schiestered" card and asked me what I thought. The first thing I noticed was that the manitou forks were collapsed, lowering the whole front end of the bike. It appeared someone had removed either the spring or elastomers from the fork, leaving it collapsed.
Another thing that was entirely evident was the customer had no money whatsoever. If a repair was going to happen, it was going to be less than $10 total. I've worked on a bunch of forks like this, and if this was my bike, and I needed it fixed for free, I would have removed the endcap on the fork, inserted a cut off broom pole (or something) where the spring used to go to permanently extend the fork, replace the endcap, and be done with it. The suspension wouldn't work, but the bike would be rideable. The guy wanting the bike fixed looked like he would use this for primary transportation, not mtb riding, so a rigid fork would be fine.
His request put me in a bit of a bind. On one hand, I didn't want to step over the mechanic's opinion. It was his store, and I didn't want to one up him. On the other hand, this guy was as dumb as dirt, he clearly would not have the ability to remove an endcap and fabricate a broomstick/ copper pipe/ etc... filler.
Later that day, I told my wife about the encounter. "He was stupid?" She asked. "He was tall?" she asked... "Yes... I bet That's Bobby (name changed) from the mill. He works for my dad, and commutes by bike."
Since he was an employee, who's only means of transportation was a bicycle, I saw an opportunity to help.
My wife contacted her father, who contacted his foreman, who contacted "Bobby" and the next day we arranged to have the foreman drive Bobby out to our house (30 minute drive), where I could fix the bike in short order. My wife left and warned me smiling..."Remember... He's dumb. At work, he comes in a distant second compared to a fencepost." I wasn't concerned though. With the bike in my hands, I could fix it in minutes, and he wouldn't (COULDN'T) possibly be an issue.
Or so I thought...
Later that day, his foreman (on his day off) drives him out. Bobby sat there, with his helmet, and a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BIKE in the back of the foreman's pickup. This bike didn't need a fork fix, it had sat in the rain for years. A total POS. Every cable, link in the chain, bearing was completely frozen up. It looked like the confederate "Hunley" submarine.
Feeling bad for the foreman (who had volunteered his time, and my father in law- who arranged the favor)- I accepted the bike and restored it, spending the day replacing parts with leftovers from my bin. I put the bike in my wife's car, where she dropped it off at the mill.
He called the next day and asked "So when can you fix the forks on my other bike?"

Stupid? Nope. The guy was a genius!

I only share this because $200 on a bike isn't bad if it works well. That guy's repair bill would have been well over $200 in a shop. That 7000's drive train is bulletproof and will last forever if bearing are lubed/greased.

[jwasbury]

I had that exact bike. First mountain bike I ever bought...was working at a Trek dealer at the time and bought it as an employee. Mine was stolen while locked up in broad daylight at Union Square, NYC - otherwise I'd still be riding it. Pretty indestructible machine there, and well worth $200 in good working order.

I'm a fan of Continental bike tires. Put some lightweight, kevlar beaded ones on there...reduce the rotating mass. Then enjoy it.

[Otter74]

Nice bike. The drive side isn't shown, but based on color it's an '89 and should have a 6-speed DX group. Those Shimano thumb shifters are my favorite, and work beautifully in index or firction mode. I've been riding a '93 Bridgestone MB-4 since the early '90s and like this era of MTB, if not for all kinds of riding.

[jwasbury]

The original component group on that bike was Shimano Mountain LX, which was later renamed Deore LX.

[craigster59]

I had a Trek 8000 that I won in a raffle in 1999. I just donated it 2 weeks ago to Goodwill, got tired of moving it around. maybe I should have kept it. Had Shimano Deore XT components, Manitou shocks, etc. looked like this....

[vash]

i like most things "vintage" but not a mountain bike. not that i dont want to build up my old version of a MB-1..but it isnt pressing.

i do like old roadies.

[rockfan4]

Anyone interested in a Trek Y5 with maybe 10 miles on it? The only issue is it's a small frame. Stupid me bought it off eBay a long time ago, hoping it would fit, but it was awkward to ride so it's sat in my basement for at least 15 years.

I thought about swapping the parts to a different frame, on this and a couple other bikes I own, but it seems like everyone is buying $100 craigslist bikes, stripping all the parts off them and reselling the frame for $250.

[HardDrive]

Sorted out, new hides. Took it for a ride at Alum Creek State Park. 8 miles of single track, and I'm busted.