1985 trek 870 rivified and rebuilt

drew

unread,

Oct 30, 2015, 9:21:47 PM10/30/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

i posted about a 30$ trek 870 frame/fork i found earlier this year HERE.

boredom, and the fact that ive never been able to abide a true beater, turned it into a project that was helped out by several people in the group who supplied parts, so i figured i'd share how it turned out.

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Oct 30, 2015, 9:43:33 PM10/30/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

This or it's equivalent is pretty much my Grail bike. Wish I could find a frameset like that for $30!!

Great job on a beautiful bike!!!

Beth H

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 10:36:51 AM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Beautifully done! Congrats and enjoy riding!
Beth in PDX

Michael Hechmer

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 10:46:01 AM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Very nice job. That vintage usually had 27"wheels. Did you have the brake posts moved?

Michael

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 11:19:29 AM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Do you know the RAL number of the powdercoat used on your frame? Just in case I get lucky! ;>)

On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 8:21:47 PM UTC-5, drew wrote:

drew

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 12:14:16 PM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Hey Michael, this was In the early stages of trek making mountain bikes, so the 800 series all had 26in wheels at that time. The clearances are insane. There is still a ton of room to go bigger than the 2.25 that is in there now.

The color is anthracite from Olympic powder coating in Irvine. It's one of their standard colors that they have on the wall, nothing fancy. I was hoping to match the original metallic green, but didn't realize how much powdercoating prices go up once you get a custom color.

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 12:24:04 PM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Thanks for the color information and the information on clearances because I was also wondering about that. I'm now looking for a 60cm 1985 850 or 870 frameset. I checked out the geometry at vintage-trek.com and I really think I would like to build one up in the future.

If you haven't looked at the 1985 Trek catalog, you might be amazed at how close you came to that year's 830 color!

hsmitham

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 4:08:55 PM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Drew,

That is a sick build and mean in a totally rad way!! Keep that baby close at hand. Such eye candy.

Tail Winds,

~Hugh

On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 6:21:47 PM UTC-7, drew wrote:

Tommy Jarvis

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 8:23:38 PM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Looks great. What kind of tires di you have there?

ant ritchey

unread,

Oct 31, 2015, 8:24:22 PM10/31/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

jeeeaaaalousyyyyy

On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 6:21:47 PM UTC-7, drew wrote:

Montclair BobbyB

unread,

Nov 1, 2015, 9:59:31 AM11/1/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Bravo, Chris!! That's one of my favorite frames, and you've nailed it. Perfect rebuild, brings out the absolute best in this bike... enjoy that beauty for a long time.
We did a group ride yesterday on a collection of (converted) 80s MTBs (Rockhopper, Bianchi Grizzly and Schwinn Cimarron). They're pure joy.

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Nov 1, 2015, 10:35:33 AM11/1/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

What really nailed it for me is the bottom bracket drop.....50mm!!! That's almost unheard of on old MTB's. The fact that it's a Trek doesn't hurt, either. My first bike was a 1995 Trek and I'll always be a vintage Trek fanboy..

drew

unread,

Nov 1, 2015, 12:10:07 PM11/1/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

The tires are something called Halo Twin Rail. i purchased these a while back on a whim, because they were cheap, looked ok and reportedly had good puncture protection. i can report that they do have good puncture protection and are not horrible on dirt....that's it.

Ive gone through a lot of vintage treks and have such a sentimental place in my heart for them. weirdly, a lowish end 1987 elance is the one i miss most. an 84-86 800 series was always at the top of the desirability list though.

George Schick

unread,

Nov 1, 2015, 5:14:02 PM11/1/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

I recall the original discussion about this frame from back around the first of September. That's pretty quick turnaround for a PC job and then finding all those components! Looks fantastic. Did the same shop that did the PC take care of those brake mounting stud misalignments you were concerned about?

I tell ya, there's nothing better than finding and old jewel of a bike/frame like this and getting it back on the road again. I did something similar last year for a local woman. She had found a Rockhopper (ca., early 90's I think) near the dumpster in the parking garage of her condo building and couldn't understand why someone was trashing what was at one time such a high quality bike. She was just coming out of an LBS where she had been quoted $200+ to overhaul it when she ran into me and said she wanted to restore it for a Christmas present for her young grandson, but didn't want to spend over $100 to do it. I said I'd take a look at it for her. Someone had scavenged the crankset and pedals and left the BB. But it, along with almost everything else on the bike was in pretty bad shape, except the tires which looked fairly new. Since I knew it was for a kid and that she didn't want to spend much money, I ordered a very low-end crankset - one of those where the three chainrings are welded together, a cheap BB, some handlebar ends (also missing), and a new chain. Then I tore everything apart and started from bottom up. I had to dremel-burnish several bushings on the rear derailer because they were so corroded. The wheels, of course, needed to be trued. I had a spare linear pull rear brake in my parts box and found another low-end NOS one at an LBS that they wanted to push so they discounted it to me so I could replace the badly abused canto's, etc, etc. In the end she was delighted and the grandson was happy as a clam to get a bike like that.

drew

unread,

Nov 1, 2015, 11:59:09 PM11/1/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

well, the parts situation was very much helped by having a 7/8th built 89 rockhopper who sacrificed itself for this build. transferring the parts didnt take much time, and the powdercoat was done in less than a week. i had the frame realigned by an older bike shop which had a park tool table in the back. they had to uncover it from a mountain of boxes and other things that had accumulated since the last time anyone asked them to realign a steel frame. took a bit of cold setting, but the mechanic didnt seem worried.... he also didnt seem to understand why i wanted him to realign a super rough old trek mtb. oh well.

and george, money invested aside, that rockhopper you built will probably last a lifetime. i wouldve lost my mind if i ever had a bike that nice as a kid.

Ron Mc

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 9:03:57 AM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

came out nice Drew - thanks for posting the photos

Montclair BobbyB

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 9:21:03 AM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Correction... DREW!!! Awesome job!!! BB

true

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 9:55:39 AM11/2/15

to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com

Very nicely done Drew.

I really like your Trek rebuild.

I expect you are going to enjoy many great rides on it.

http://vintage-trek.com/images/trek/85All-Terrain.pdf

I took a look at the specs on the vintage Trek site, Tange Prestige...nice.

I am sure enjoying several rigid vintage mtb's I have rebuilt, two of them Trek's but 5 years newer than yours (1990)

so the geometry changed by then.

However, last week I picked up a 22" 1985 or 86 Diamondback Apex that has pretty relaxed angles as well.

I completely disassembled it yesterday afternoon and hope to start the rebuild today as the paint is pretty good

and a repaint/powdercoat is not necessary. It has double butted Infiniity tubing.

I wonder what the main differences were between the Prestige and Infinity of that era?

Did you happen to weigh the frame?

I have been weighing the various vintage mtb frames b4 rebuilding and so far 7.5 to 8.5 lbs is the range of the bare frame/fork

weights although I had one tank of a Hardrock that was 9.6 pounds for bare frame and fork. Sold that one.

Of course all of mine have been 21,22, or 23" frames.

These are cool bikes to build up on a budget.

I have done the donation/transfer of parts thing quite a few times.

Safe pedaling,

Paul in Dallas

drew

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 12:01:19 PM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

cool, i had an 85 db apex that i built up for my dad as a city bike. i thought it was an awesome frame, so i didnt want it to leave the family. i dont have a scale of any sort, so i didnt weigh the trek or db frame. the "feel" of the db with infinity, is a little heavier/sturdier, while the trek with prestige feels more road bikey. that could have no relationship to the tubing though, and just be the fact that diamondback was making only mtb/bmx bikes, and trek was just dipping their toes in the mtb water. i dont know. does yours have the extra spoke chain guard? i love that detail

David Banzer

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 12:36:50 PM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Definitely right about Trek "dipping their toes in the mtb water" - I have a Trek 850 from 1983 - their first mtb model. It rides like a stout touring frame. I was going to get rid of it as I thought my Clem would overlap, but have come to my senses and will keep it built up as a 1x7 with mustache bars and possibly RTP tires.
Here's a photo as I first built it up to try drop bars and single speed.
David
Chicago

IMG_1441.JPG

David Banzer

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 12:39:25 PM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Here's a better photo as it was built up with Soma Oxford bars.
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz136/dabanzer/Mobile%20Uploads/7DCA4A05-0E97-4CD2-8B99-F40ED8FC07AA_zpspyoh7djr.jpg
David
Chicago

Jeffrey Marco

unread,

Nov 2, 2015, 1:36:24 PM11/2/15

to RBW Owners Bunch

Well, since we're posting pics of our vintage Trek's here's my 1985 870. Picked up the frame a couple weeks ago and used most of the parts off of my MB-1. Thing is made to cruise

22411976482_bbd4722c99_z.jpg

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

unread,

Nov 30, 2016, 2:05:08 PM11/30/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

Drew....nice rebuild...I think those old high-quality mtn bikes are hidden gems and will last a lifetime...older 80's to 90's Treks were really nicely made. Hope you enjoy it; it looks rugged and practical

Infinity tubing is Tange's chrome moly seamed as opposed to seamless tubing...functionally and visually indetectable. The engineers among you with a metallurgy background can illuminate the difference

Alex Wirth- Owner, Yellow Haus Bicycles

unread,

Nov 30, 2016, 9:08:23 PM11/30/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

That's a killer build, man! Nicely done 👌🏼

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 8:47:24 AM12/1/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

I finally got one!! 1984 Trek 830 frameset. Probably the only original component I'll use is the headset, and maybe the BB and crankset. If I ever buy a Riv from RBW, I want it close to this color.

Hugh Smitham

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 12:21:39 PM12/1/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

That's an interesting steerer tube/stem set up. Is that a 1" threadless steerer?

Great color.

~Hugh

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein

http://velocipeedemusings.com/

Antonioni Vicente

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 12:57:36 PM12/1/16

to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com

"Berry Red"

Sent from my iPhone

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.

drew

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 2:40:24 PM12/1/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

nice find! and yes, what is going on with that stem?

while this thread has been revived, ill re-up my sale of a 1984 trek 890. bought this for my wife to pair with the 870 in the OP, but she didnt want a third bike... who knew.

its got a lot of cool features like a lowish bb and reynolds 501 tubing. clearances arent as extreme. maxes out at about 26x1.9. 47cm frame that someone should have and ride. it has new tires, bars, cables, housing, pedals, etc. paint is in pretty good shape too. 300$ + shipping.

Chris Lampe 2

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 5:52:46 PM12/1/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

The black portion is a regular straight 1" quill stem and the top of it is sized to fit a modern 1 1/8" threadless stem, which is what the silver portion is. Dimension makes this one.

Hugh Smitham

unread,

Dec 1, 2016, 6:34:45 PM12/1/16

to RBW Owners Bunch

Ah ha. Thanks Chris.

On Dec 1, 2016 2:52 PM, "'Chris Lampe 2' via RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

The black portion is a regular straight 1" quill stem and the top of it is sized to fit a modern 1 1/8" threadless stem, which is what the silver portion is. Dimension makes this one.

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward