Trek 5200,5500 riders



psmalley said:
I'm riding a 2001 5500, and have no issues with decals or anything else.
I have a '96 5200 which i am currently upgrading to DuraAce & new sheels. No problems with the decals, but the clearcoat has blemishes. Love the bike. It was recently in the shop and I had to ride my old steel frame. The ride was much harsher than the carbon Trek.
 
DENNIS8075 said:
After a 30 mile ride in the rain, my 5200 frame was filled with water. Is this normal? If not, what maintenance steps should be taken after rain rides (I live in Pittsburgh, So ther will be a lot of rain rides)?
We just had the same problem with a Trek 5500 fram filling with water following a days ride in the rain. There was a full 8oz of water that drained out!

Our diagnosis is that it is coming in through the headset, and the headset bearings were somewhat rusted.

I'm looking for solutions!
 
JCK said:
We just had the same problem with a Trek 5500 fram filling with water following a days ride in the rain. There was a full 8oz of water that drained out!

Our diagnosis is that it is coming in through the headset, and the headset bearings were somewhat rusted.

I'm looking for solutions!

I ride a 2002 Trek 5200.

1) The decals on the top tube wrinkled up and started peeling off. The LBS that sold it to me said woops, looks like the clear coat happened to be UNDER the decals. They said I can get Trek to apply new decals if I want to go through sending it back to the factory. Pretty cheesy.

2) I, too, found what I think was, at a fair estimate, over a cup of water in my frame. How long it had been there, I don't know, but I had ridden a couple of weeks before in a 60-mile ride with a lot of light rain. I also drained it by removing the seatpost and turning it upside down, but that took a fair bit of shaking and tilting the frame around before water stopped coming out. It was a shock. Now that I think about it, I rode in the rain last week, and I bet there's more water in it. For anyone sweating over 200 grams and such, this was a heckuva lot more water than that. And yes, did it do anything to things like the headset or bottom bracket? And why isn't there a drainage system? Pretty far out - anyone with these Trek OCLV frames oughtta check them for water.
 
Bern Br said:
I ride a 2002 Trek 5200.

1) The decals on the top tube wrinkled up and started peeling off. The LBS that sold it to me said woops, looks like the clear coat happened to be UNDER the decals. They said I can get Trek to apply new decals if I want to go through sending it back to the factory. Pretty cheesy.

2) I, too, found what I think was, at a fair estimate, over a cup of water in my frame. How long it had been there, I don't know, but I had ridden a couple of weeks before in a 60-mile ride with a lot of light rain. I also drained it by removing the seatpost and turning it upside down, but that took a fair bit of shaking and tilting the frame around before water stopped coming out. It was a shock. Now that I think about it, I rode in the rain last week, and I bet there's more water in it. For anyone sweating over 200 grams and such, this was a heckuva lot more water than that. And yes, did it do anything to things like the headset or bottom bracket? And why isn't there a drainage system? Pretty far out - anyone with these Trek OCLV frames oughtta check them for water.
I have a 2000 Trek 5200/5500 I am not sure which.

Its the same color as the bike Lance rode in the 99 TDF, Blue, with red and white. Decals apart from the silver trek logo at the front are fine in terms of peeling, but badly chipped. Just bought the bike secondhand.

I don't think I can get replacement 00 decals, so I was thinking of trying to get the latest 5500 decals, and get the whole bike professionally sprayed black instead.

This is the bike Spec, I think the guy made a few changes.....

OCLV120 Carbon frame and fork in postal colors.
9spd Dura Ace all round.
Mavic Kysrium SL wheels. (Hutchinson Superlight tires)
Look seat post (the top of the range one)
Selle Italia Gel Saddle
ITM Millenium bars and stem
Ritchey headset.
Look Pedals, again not sure of the model, pretty high end though, with an adjustment thingy at the back. (These pedals are badly chipped and look ****, anyone ever repainted their pedals and have any tips ?)

Got it for about 1500 Dollars (I am in Ireland, so I paid in Euro's). Mechanically perfect, few chips on the decals and the odd scratch here and there where the previous owner took a spill. Did I pay over the odds or is that a good deal ?
 
If it is filling up with water, after you dump most out try leaving it in front of a dehumidifier. That should help draw out the rest of the water before it has a chance to do too much damage. At least until you figure a way to get the water to stop coming in.
 
I found that the water was coming in around the seatpost on my 5200 ('03). A little clear silicone sealant around the seatpost solved the problem. It is relativley easy to remove and reapply if you need to make a seat adjustment.
 
Love my 2001 5200 USPS model - think the decals suck - should have had a clear coat applied.

Looking for a new set of decals now - anyone know where I might be able to scratch up a set - thanks.

Brian
 
My 1993 OCLV decals held up fairly well, just a few spots missing from normal wear and tear. The new OCLV only has 2 decals. "Trek" on either side of the downtube. We'll see how those hold up over time (assuming I keep the bike).
 
Water in the BB/Frame?

I own two Two Treks and can't understand why Trek does not drill the BB for a drain hole like most European manufacturers. Discovery Team drills their BB's after they recieve the frames from Trek. Take a look at cycling news.com's write up on Discovery's new 2006 Trek preparation at http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2006/features/world_tour.

I now ride a Look and they pre-drill all BB's at the factory. My Trek's are my winter bikes and I had my LBS dril the BB's for me.

Check the pic out of Disco's wrench drilling a BB drain hole.