1992 Trek 8000 - Finished! See page 2

Re:

Just a thought about the stuck stem, and it's very much a long shot but based on personal experience with a 1992 Trek 950 last summer. I won in the end, but only after discovering that there were two wedge nuts, both facing the same way, holding the stem in place. The thin end of the top one had even dented the bottom of the stem. Anyway, to get it all out, (1) I removed the bolt; (2) using a metal rod and a hefty mallet, knocked down the top wedge nut a bit; (3) eventually managed to twist the stem and work it out (using those two handy tools: brute force and ignorance); (4) removed the top headset cup; (5) using mallet and metal rod, set about whacking out the wedge nut and, when it was out, discovered that there was another of the blighters in there. (It might be wise to be more sparing with the brute force on an alu frame.)

I assumed that the two nuts had been put there by a previous owner, but if it was when the bike was assembled, yours could be the same. As I said, it's a long shot, but if all else fails perhaps worth a try.

Re:

@CassidyAce
I think you are pretty close!
It’s definitely wedge nut related as it is stuck in there. There is only one as far as I can tell though, but I’m guessing that it has rusted and ‘wedged’ itself firmly in place.
I have tried hitting the nut downwards using the bolt as suggested but no movement yet.
Right now I have wound the bolt up from below in order to seal it all up and have filled the tube with some WD40 penetrating fluid.
I’m doubtful of a quick simple solution, so am open to other suggestions.

I’m being careful on the brute force too.

Re:

What should have been a simple strip, clean, and rebuild with a few new parts is turning out to be a real pain the a!#$ :roll:

The stem is still stuck firmly in place, and I’m still trying various penetrating fluids to try and break the corrosion down, now attacking it from below where there is evidently more rust.





A second task is to replace the corroded bottom bracket.
With the original item too far gone, I sourced a barely worn XT replacement, but there are issues with some parts of that



Progress is a lot slower than expected!

Collection Bike #4

During the Spring of 1993 it was clear I was in for busy year of racing, so much so that having just 1 bike for all training and racing duties might be too much. As it happens a local bike shop in Reading (think it may have been called FreeWheel or something like that) was sadly closing down, and as such were selling stock at greatly reduced prices.
A (1992) Trek 8000 was in stock and being sold at half price - £400 if memory serves me rightly, which I thought was too good to miss out on, so I bought it! It’s a bit on the small size at 16.5inches, probably the reason it was unsold, but would be just fine for my needs.



I put the bike to good use as my training bike, which included be flown out for a weeks cycling in Spain - mostly on road as we couldn’t locate many off-road trails in the area surrounding our villa.

The bike stood in for race duties from time to time, but was generally present at race weekends for practise laps and warm-ups etc, plus my brother would nab it when I wasn’t using it.

By 1994 it effectively became a 3rd bike, and it took on a new role as a trailer pulling bike for my much younger siblings, and as an exercise bike for my Dad.

But as time went by it became unused and unloved, often spending its time outside in all weathers. So I’ve quite rightly claimed it back, and given it a complete strip down and re-build, and now it is kept warm and dry, and ready to ride at a moments notice.

The majority of original parts have been retained, but a few were simply beyond repair and needed replacing.

Here’s what it looked like when I reclaimed it!



Out goes the ‘comfy’ saddle and butchered seatpost, out go the perished tyres as grips, and replaced are the unbelievably narrowly cut bars, and tired looking stem and STIs.

The re-build should have been simple, but as you may have seen / read earlier in the thread, the stem was entirely seized in the steerer and took all many of tools and substances to remove - eventually released by weakening the wedge nut through a process of drilling/cutting to destruction.



The bottom bracket is seriously worn so I need to source a replacement (132.5mm spindle!), but I’ve installed new bearings and packed it full of grease for now.
Headset would benefit from replacement too at some point, but is ‘serviced’ for now.

It’s a great bike, effectively a 1 owner as well, though it’s had a few temporary custodians in its time.
Rides nicely but a bit too low for me now really.
It’s good to have it back in the stable.

Here’s the spec:

Frame: 16.5” Trek 8000, Easton E9 7000 series alloy

Fork: Tange Big Fork Triple Butted Cro-Moly

Headset: Tioga Avenger
Stem: Matrix
Stem Cap: N/A
Handlebar: True Temper
Grips: ODI Attack (Remakes)
Barends: N/A

Brakes: Shimano BR-M650
Brake Pads: Kool-Stop
Brake Cables: Shimano
Cantilever cable hangers: Shimano
Brake Levers: Shimano Deore XT ST-M095

Shifters: Shimano Deore XT ST-M095
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore DX FD-M650
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT RD-M735
Derailleur Cables: Shimano
Cassette: Shimano HG-70 13-28
Chain: Shimano HG-73
Cranks: Shimano FC-MT60 175mm
Crank Bolts: Shimano
Chainrings: Shimano SG 24-36-46
Chainring bolts: Shimano
Bottom Bracket: Tange
Pedals: Sakae ‘Low Fat’

Rims: Matrix Single Track Comp
Hubs: Shimano Deore DX M650
Hub Skewers: Shimano
Nipples: ?
Spokes: ?
Tyres: Ritchey Z-Max 1.9
Tubes: Continental

Saddle: Vetta Turbo Gel
Seatpost: Post Modern
Seatpost Binder: Shimano

Weight: 11.21kg / 24.72lbs

Here’s some pics of the re-build journey, enjoy.

Re: 1992 Trek 8000

That came out real sweet... well worth the wait !

I’ve always had a soft spot for both the bonded aluminium and the carbon composite frames from the very early 90’s in fact so much so after seeing yours I went and got one of own- although yours has a back story mines just an old dog from the dogs home and I’ve no idea where it’s been or what it’s been up to

Anyway back to yours - you must be well pleased with the end result ?

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Yes very pleased with it
I love the quality of the smooth welds/bonds, and that embossed TREK detail on the seat stay is great to look at

Nice job bringing that back to life. Looks so much better and well worth the effort.

The paint looks in great condition and deserving of the parts youve sourced.

Like above, i bet your well chuffed.

mkone":3in4nmy0 said:

Nice job bringing that back to life. Looks so much better and well worth the effort.

The paint looks in great condition and deserving of the parts youve sourced.

Like above, i bet your well chuffed.

Click to expand...

Thanks.
There’s a couple of bits of annoying decal damage caused by clamping kids seats on :facepalm: , and still a few too many rusty fixings, but on the whole not too bad for the age and life it’s lived

Re: Re:

Once A Hero":2jut6uiz said:

Yes very pleased with it
I love the quality of the smooth welds/bonds, and that embossed TREK detail on the seat stay is great to look at

Click to expand...

I know what I’m about to write is going to boarder on the controversial and I’m not wishing to start an argument here with Kline owners I know your frames are covered in borax from Mesopotamian honey bees harvested on a full moon by the gods and adhered around the chainstays etc before being painting

BUT

If you compare this Trek or another well presented 8 series Trek from the same era against an equally well presented Klein without the benefit of having a fancy pants paint job (Jaffa Cake and Strawberry blancmange Backfire) like the one entered in this months BOTM bizarrely they suddenly don’t seem quite so far apart.

viewtopic.php?f=1&p=2919918#p2919766

Re: Re:

Once A Hero":3dab9t5m said:

What should have been a simple strip, clean, and rebuild with a few new parts is turning out to be a real pain the a!#$ :roll:

The stem is still stuck firmly in place, and I’m still trying various penetrating fluids to try and break the corrosion down, now attacking it from below where there is evidently more rust.



A second task is to replace the corroded bottom bracket.
With the original item too far gone, I sourced a barely worn XT replacement, but there are issues with some parts of that :facepalm:



Progress is a lot slower than expected!

Click to expand...

Nice! But which spindle length you ended up using? Cheers