TREK 1200 aluminium
Hey everyone so i ended up going down to working bikes, They had great service and the man fitted the bike to me and told me all about it and my local clubs. He also through in some lights, saddle bag, and a t shirt. The bike was $275 and i love it. It runs great, smooth, and responsive. This is my first road bike and im very happy with it. Anyone know much about these. It looks like its from the 90's or so.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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You did quite well for that amount of cashew money.
90's Trek 1200 should come with an 8-speed RX-100 group. At the time that would be the next level down from 105, probably comparable to what Tiagra was today, maybe-ish.
Everything has gotten better with time and AFAIC Today's Sora is better than the 90's Dura Ace. But that's what it was back then in Shimano's line-up. I'd ride it as is and then perhaps upgrade a little here and there as stuff wore out.
#1 is that it fits. Everything else can be fixed pretty easy with a low-moderate amount of cash. But if the bike doesn't fit you will have a hard time without replacing the frame.
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You are right, Howard. At the time I started writing my post all I saw was the pink headbadge and started shooting from the hip as to the era.
This looks like an '89 which means 7-speed Shimano 105 w/ cassette hub.
This is a real "transition time" for indexed shifting and cassettes were first coming out with 126mm spacing to match the spacing that bikes of the time had. I think the 105 cassette hubs came both in 126mm spacing and 130mm spacing. So the most important thing to check on this bike is to see if the dropouts are 126mm or 130mm. If they are 126mm then they will always be 126mm since this is an aluminum frame and can not be respaced. Some folks have gotten away with shoving a 130mm hubs into 126mm frames but usually that just causes more issues than it ever solves.
Some Trek bike frames were set up to be "upgraded" to higher groups or used in higher models depending... So the frame might be 130mm although I think both Ultegra and Dura in '89 were both still 7-speed too, but I could be wrong about Dura. The handwriting was on the wall at that time that 130mm was coming and at this level of Trek they might have already gone to 130mm to be ready for it.
If it is a 126mm frame then leave it at 7 speeds and just ride the F out of that bike. 7 speeds are plenty and with the downtube shifters it's bulletproof solid on the 105. It is possible to put 8-speed indexed bar-end shifters on a 7-speed cassette and tune it to run very well so that is one possible upgrade if downtube shifters turn out to be an issue for him. At the very least, it's not a freewheel hub as those tended to bend axles like they were butter if the rider was a tubby like me. The freehubs fixed that problem although finding a replacement 126mm 7-speed cassette hub these days is getting pretty darn hard and/or expensive. Treat that 105 rear cassette hub like gold. It's tough but if it is ever ruined it might be very difficult to find another. One of the first maintenance jobs on that OLD bike is tearing that rear hub apart and putting new high-quality bearings and new grease in, IMHO, if there is any doubt that it hasn't been done recently. Don't count on Working Bikes having done this (LOLOLOLOLOLOL)
If it is 130mm then the bike can be upgraded to anything modern he could ever wish for with road components, although 7-speeds are just fine for now.
h' 1.0 said:The frame is a 1989. The Shimano 105 components look a bit later to me (mid-90s?).
Does the chainring (gear) by the pedals say "Biopace" on it?
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Permalink Reply by youngmancycle on
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Thankyou both for all the information :D it has been very helpful, i cant find any biospace all i could find was shimano sg 52 and sis... Also how do i find if its 126m or 130mm?
James BlackHeron said:You are right, Howard. At the time I started writing my post all I saw was the pink headbadge and started shooting from the hip as to the era.
This looks like an '89 which means 7-speed Shimano 105 w/ cassette hub.
This is a real "transition time" for indexed shifting and cassettes were first coming out with 126mm spacing to match the spacing that bikes of the time had. I think the 105 cassette hubs came both in 126mm spacing and 130mm spacing. So the most important thing to check on this bike is to see if the dropouts are 126mm or 130mm. If they are 126mm then they will always be 126mm since this is an aluminum frame and can not be respaced. Some folks have gotten away with shoving a 130mm hubs into 126mm frames but usually that just causes more issues than it ever solves.
Some Trek bike frames were set up to be "upgraded" to higher groups or used in higher models depending... So the frame might be 130mm although I think both Ultegra and Dura in '89 were both still 7-speed too, but I could be wrong about Dura. The handwriting was on the wall at that time that 130mm was coming and at this level of Trek they might have already gone to 130mm to be ready for it.
If it is a 126mm frame then leave it at 7 speeds and just ride the F out of that bike. 7 speeds are plenty and with the downtube shifters it's bulletproof solid on the 105. It is possible to put 8-speed indexed bar-end shifters on a 7-speed cassette and tune it to run very well so that is one possible upgrade if downtube shifters turn out to be an issue for him. At the very least, it's not a freewheel hub as those tended to bend axles like they were butter if the rider was a tubby like me. The freehubs fixed that problem although finding a replacement 126mm 7-speed cassette hub these days is getting pretty darn hard and/or expensive. Treat that 105 rear cassette hub like gold. It's tough but if it is ever ruined it might be very difficult to find another. One of the first maintenance jobs on that OLD bike is tearing that rear hub apart and putting new high-quality bearings and new grease in, IMHO, if there is any doubt that it hasn't been done recently. Don't count on Working Bikes having done this (LOLOLOLOLOLOL)
If it is 130mm then the bike can be upgraded to anything modern he could ever wish for with road components, although 7-speeds are just fine for now.
h' 1.0 said:The frame is a 1989. The Shimano 105 components look a bit later to me (mid-90s?).
Does the chainring (gear) by the pedals say "Biopace" on it?
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Measuring the rear spacing is as simple as removing the wheel and putting a good ruler with mm marking inside.
Just remember this as you read that page, you have an Aluminum Frame and you CAN NOT re-space it safely. Whatever it is, it is now and forever.
Lots of good information on Sheldon's site about this, and what is going on with rear wheel spacing.
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In 1989 BioPace was still considered a "high-end" technology and hadn't quite fallen out of favor. I think that Trek wasn't putting BioPace on their bikes until the Ultegra and Dura level bikes like the 1400, 1500, and 2300. Or if you went all-out with a Trek 5000 Crabon frame.
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That's a good price for calipers!
I buy the Harbor Freight plastic ones for a couple of bucks. They are pretty darn accurate if you know how to read a vernier. Accuracy within 0.05mm when new and stays around 0.1mm (more or less) even when beat up a bit which is good enough for most bike-mechanic jobs.
Whenever I go down to Working Bikes to dig through their parts I always bring it with me so I can check parts. Eyeballing parts like handlebar clamp dimensions and stems is nearly impossible, the calipers help a lot with that so I get the part I want, not some French crap that doesn't fit.
I brought one to the swap a couple of months ago and was really is nice to have around as I checked stuff at all the booths before I bought or brought home, and at only a few bucks if I sit on it in my pocket and break it in half, or just lose it I am not out much.
Duane Waller said:According to Vintage Trek, it' either an 88 or 89. I wouldn't sweat it if it's 126mm spacing (if it's an 88 model I would guess that it probably is 126); I just finished building up my 88 Schwinn Circuit which also has 126 spacing, and I feel that a 7-speed is more than enough for most anything you'll encounter in this area. I went with Phil Wood hubs on mine because I felt they were the best quality I could get in a 126. I'm also changing from downtube to STI; have finally collected a complete Shimano 600 tri-color group, and this includes the early STI 600 brifters.
James is correct as to measuring. I lucked out many months ago, and on one of my many trips to American Science and Surplus, they had calipers on sale for 25¢ each. Plastic, but they get the job done.
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1988: 6-speed Freewheel almost certainly 126mm
1989: 7-speed Cassette Probably 126mm but could possibly be 130mm (the fact that they didn't change the paint color from the previous year makes me think they didn't change the spacing either...)
As Howard pointed out the Black & Columbia Magenta color scheme could be of either year. A quick count of the cogs on one of those fuzzy pictures looks like 7-speed to me -so I'm going to call it as an '89 for now until we get a better drive-side photo.
Interestingly enough both year's Brochures say they came with BioPace rings in front.
This is fun trying to ID a bike from fuzzy crazy-angle photos. I'm awaiting a better photo from the side that shows the complete drivetrain. BioPace logos on the chainrings are pretty hard to miss. If this were BikeForums there would be a hue & cry for better pictures...
As far as guess what this bike has on it now, anything could have been changed over the preceding 2 decades and change.
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It's a lot of high-quality vintage bike for the cash outlay; I agree.
7 speeds and a cassette are a lot better than 6 and a freewheel.
I run 8-speed on my current road bike and don't miss the extra gears in the middle. I have a good spread with a 50/39/28t in front and an 11-30t in back. Unless one is running in a pack of other bikes at set speeds beyond one's control not having as much of an ability to fine-tune one's cadence with narrowly-spaced gears in those situations isn't a big deal.
h' 1.0 said:I think it very likely is 126 spacing and 7-speed.
I predict Mr. Youngman will love it just the same and maybe keep it forever.
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Permalink Reply by John C. Wilson on
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From a handful of pixels I'm going to guess that yellow nosepiece makes your saddle some flavor of Selle Italia Turbo. If I guessed right it has collector value. Not huge collector value but enough interest you should be able to trade for something you like better.
Get out on the club rides. Your club is where all this stuff gets hashed out endlessly. You will quickly find out that most bike geeks have closets full of surplus parts. If you are as personable and levelheaded as you seem online you'll do fine. Have you got pedals and shoes from the mtn bike that will work well enough? I've an old set of Time ATAC you can just have if you want.
youngmancycle said:oh and what is a good saddle for this kind of bike? becuase im not a big fan of this one
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Yes it is selle italia malic turbo, how much is that worth? And sorry about the pictures not coming out, they come out high quality on my computer so idk y it doesn't work for you..
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I think I have some better photos that will clear some things up
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image.jpg, 1.9 MB
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More gear
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