'85 TREK 400 series

Hey all, just joined and have a question. Me and my wife have Trek hybrids and do club rides(25-60 miles). We found a Trek 400 series at a yard sale for $10, a 54cm which is the right size for her(had her sized at a LBS). Is this a good starter road bike? It has 105 group derailers and a Compagnolo crankset with Scott bar and Scott TT bars atached, Look clip on pedals and Bontrager seat and tires. It is a '85 steel frame in good shape..no rust at all! We baught it and took it home and cleaned it up. She left me behind on our first ride with it! She says it is a very different ride than the hybrid but seems to like it so far. just not familiar with road bikes but want to take the next step to keep up with the roadies on our club rides. I guess my question is: Is this a good starter road bike for her or should I be looking at a newer compact frame bike for women like the Trek 1.5 WSD?

The components on the Trek 400 you bought are good-to-very-good ... the bike, itself, is probably better than any starter bike you would buy from a bike shop.

One reason that she left-you-in-the-dust is because it probably has 700x25 tires (maybe, 27x1.125) vs. the fat-by-comparison tires that are on your hybrid.

Drop bars usually allow a rider to more efficient.

I don't think there is any reason to buy a different bike at this point in time because you'd probably have to pony up more than $1500 (retail) to get something that would be better.

Now, at some point, you may want to update the shifters/derailleurs/etc. -- you should be able to do that for well under $500 for '105' level components.

Thank you for the info! pleased to hear that the bike is a good bike for her. It has the original 27" wheels, I did replace the tubes and tires. would you recomend updating the wheels to the newer 700 wheels? if they would even fit?

There are some real advantages to having 700c wheels on a bike, but to retrofit them onto a bike that uses 27" wheels is sometimes more effort than not.

Typically, changing from 27" wheels to 700c wheels involves changing the brake calipers (TEKTRO makes suitable brake calipers) ...

When I updated (way back when) my Gitane which had 27" wheels with some tubular wheels (700c equivalent), the ONLY thing that I needed to do was to adjust the MAFAC brake pads because the hub spacing was the same. I was lucky.

Unforunately, the rear spacing on your Trek is probably 126mm ... and, unless you choose to lace some 700c rims on the current hubs, you will be left choosing from amongst wheels that have 130mm spacing.

Not all the wheels you consider will have Shimano hubs, but those that do can be respaced from 130mm to 126mm by removing the 4mm spacer that is on the non-driveside, centering the axle, & re-dishing the rim ...

OR, my recommenation, if you want to use 700c wheels, would be to permanently re-space the frame to 130mm.

You can simply spread the dropouts on an ad hoc basis each time you put the wheel in, but you will notice that the rear derailleur hanger will no longer be in a plane that is parallel to the bike's central plane; so, realigning the rear derailleur hanger is something that should be done for proper indexed shifting ... if you have friction shifting, you will want to realign the rear derailleur hanger because having the derailleur slightly skewed will cause the chain to rub against the pulley wheels more than they otherwise would resulting in more friction/resistance in the drivetrain & premature wear of the pulley wheels.

Both spreading the frame & realigning the dropouts can be DIY projects if you are handy and patient (use nothing but your bare hands to spread the dropouts ... hold one dropout in each hand and spread using what you estimate to be 30 lbs of force, measure, repeat ... you can sandwich the derailleur hanger between two small scraps of plywood & then use a pipe wrench to tweak the derailleur hanger into a plane that is parallel to the bike's central plane) OR many (but not all) bike shops can do it ... make sure they have done it before, several times ... you don't want to be their first!

Almost any 700c wheel you might buy will use a Cassette whereas your existing 27" wheel may still use a Freewheel; so, that is one more thing to buy; but, if you don't respace the rear wheel, whatever 700c wheelset you buy can be used on almost any future road bike that you may buy/own.

Thank you for the great info! What are the benefits of going to 700c wheels? I know I would have a much better selection of tires to go with.

Selection of tires is about the only reason to go to 700c wheels, but there are still many quality 27" tires availble.

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In addition to a much wider selection of tires, a 700c wheel will usually be lighter ...

The typical 27" rim is something like 630-20 whereas a typical the 700c rim is 622-15; so, not only is the diameter of a 700c wheel smaller, most are narrower.

A 27x1.25 is pretty close in diameter to a 700x32, or vice-versa.

Depending on the tire used on a 700c wheels, retrofitting the frame with 700c wheels may-or-may-not lower the standover by a small amount.

I will swap out the wheels, But I think I will wait till she really gets used to the bike and logs some good miles. She does like the fact that she can go longer distances faster! It definately gives her a feeling of accomplishment which I think makes her want to ride more. I am now looking for a road bike for myself so I can keep up with her!! I have to say that I love the looks of the older steel lugged frames.
There is an older Bianchi at a bike shop near me that is some sort of Mint green color, Beautiful bike!!!

A CELESTE GREEN Bianchi? If it's your size, you should buy it!

I went to the bike shop today to look at the Bianchi again ready to buy it and the owner said someone had baught the bike 2 hours before I got there today! What a let down!! I wish I was an impulse buyer, it would be sitting in my living room!!lol!! Are those bikes pretty rare?

Geez, you had almost two days to act ...

Anyway, it probably was not particularly rare; but, a vintage Bianchi is usually a pretty nice ride.

How much was the shop selling the bike for?

Do you recall what components were on the bike?

I don't recall what components were on the bike but he said the bike was all original except the tires. he was asking $400

Depending on the frame model & condition, I figure a bare (stripped of its components) Bianchi frame could be worth anywhere between $80-to-$800+ ...

Lacking other information, you can often tell the quality of the frame by the components which the manufacturer builds the bike with.

I rode the '85 Trek 400 with a custom cluster and the Shimano Biopace crank all over Europe a number of years ago--well above the arctic circle in Norway and as far south a Munich. I know why your wife blew past you on your ride. The "hybrid" nature of this bike makes it possible to tour with panniers (we used front and rear with handle-bar bags for several months), but the bike is also extremely capable of very fast road riding. When we were in the Norwegian fjords our days were measured with 1000m climbs and descents. The bike was light enough, even with gear, to push that far up--the downhills were something else! The moderately stiff frame, fairly short wheelbase, and (on mine) 700X25C clincher tires gave me the fastest ride I've ever experienced, and I've ridden quite a few bikes. Mine is a 23" frame, my wife has the same bike in a smaller size (19"?). They've been in storage for years, need paint and all components need TLC, but they are just as "sound" as they were when we last had them on the road. I'd love to see either of them go to someone who could really make use of them and who understands what special bikes they are. Please contact me if you might be interested, I'd be happy to make a reasonable deal.

pltidwell, sent you a message.