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Newbie just restored Dad's 20 year old Trek

6K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  stunnerable 
#1 ·
A couple of years ago my dad gave me his and my mom's 1993 Trek Mountain Track 850s. Her's rides pretty good but his had broken teeth on the chain ring and a few other issues. I started riding mom's to work about 8 months ago and feel in love with riding... not to mention I dropped about 20 pounds and started working out again. I got the desire to go and do some single track but didn't trust either bike so I decided to restore dad's old bike.

I took it completely apart and replaced all broken parts, cleaned and lubed everything. After a couple of months, I finished it last night and took it for a test ride today. It rides better than it did when it was new IMO. I really learned a lot about bikes while rebuilding it. Thanks to the forums here, Zinn's book and a lot of youtube videos I was able to do it. It was more complicated than I thought it would be and I ran into some hiccups that slowed me down. It also cost more than I thought and probably wasn't worth it other than the sentimental value and also the ability to learn about bike mechanics. It was a bit of a pain working on a bike this old because there is not a lot of information about it.. such as the new bottom bracket going in opposite of the way it came out. Here are some pics:





 
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#2 ·
Good for you for loosing weight and jumping into an old bike project. Fun, gratifying, gets expensive. Loose the plastic pedals you will thank me later. Also thats a lot of seat post showing. Obey the max height line. Next project a bigger frame. Something fillet brazed with XT possibly.
 
#7 ·
Yeah, I believe you are right. Dad thought he bought them when they moved to New Jersey in '93 but the color in the pic is just like mom's. he must have got them the next year. My parents are 20 years older than me so they were my age when they bought them.
 
#10 ·
Thanks! Yeah, that's a 660mm x 25.4mm low-rise handlebar. It just slipped right into the old quill stem.

It made a huge difference for me, at least, on descents. A lot of those stock bars are traditional XC size, 580mm, which feel just a little nervous when you're bombing down a trail. The big bar let's you control the steering with your big muscles, shoulders and back, as opposed to wrists and forearms. It also puts your arms in a nice position to absorb trail chatter.

Cheap, worthwhile upgrade, IMHO.
 
#11 ·
That bike is sitting in my fathers attic as I type this. I bought it off my buddie in 96 for $100. Right afterwards I purchased a 96' Girvin Proflex Beast and gave the trek to my dad which he rode like crazy. He now owns a Trek Navigator 1.0 which I bought him. I have toyed with the idea of restoring it. It's still 100% stock with very worn components.

Yours looks awesome!!
 
#12 ·
That bike is sitting in my fathers attic as I type this. I bought it off my buddie in 96 for $100. Right afterwards I purchased a 96' Girvin Proflex Beast and gave the trek to my dad which he rode like crazy. He now owns a Trek Navigator 1.0 which I bought him. I have toyed with the idea of restoring it. It's still 100% stock with very worn components.

Yours looks awesome!!
Back in 94' when my dad got this bike I went up for a visit and we rode them down a canal in New Hope, PA. I believe that is close to you.

This bike is way faster than the other one I have just like it now that I have greased everything and upgraded the BB and put new Cogs, Chainring and chain.
 
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