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Old School Hero
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I have a soft spot for these old Treks for a few reasons. The main one is that my first 26" wheeled bike was a 14.5" framed 850 in Ice Green, and partly because a lot of the guidebooks we had back in the day which covered Scotland, and still have actually, have one of the writers onboard a Trek 970. Unlike most of the bikes in my stable which have been built up to replicate old race bikes, this one was built with the purpose of getting into the hills with tents and climbing kit. Of course my main bike is much, much more competent when I'm actually wanting to go and ride steeper and more technical stuff in the mountains, but for covering ground these old bikes are still pretty good. And engaging. I've tweaked a few bits on this, and I've still got a few things to change before I'll consider it complete, but it's there or thereabouts. Some of the spec has come from old bits I've had lying around in boxes for erm, decades, and other bits have been bought but kept in the theme of the spec we ran on our bikes back in the day.
Frame - It's a 1995 Trek Singletrack 950 I picked up for probably too much (before the Covid spike in everything) in a wonderful blend of Ice Violet and Ice Green, a true classic nineties Trek paint job and in two of my favourites too. One of these days I'll maybe track down a decent rigid fork to get colour matched and fit that but for now that's a future me thing to do. It's 19.5" as I wanted something that had reasonable length for touring-esque type rides as I have other bikes I could use if I wanted to do more technical riding. The other thing this bike has is rack mounts, as carrying a 15kg rucksack of climbing and bivy gear on your back is bloody uncomfortable.
Fork - The first suspension fork my dad had was a Pace RC36 MXCD which he bought from Sandy Wallace Cycles in Fife just after they were launched in 1996. As a result, Pace are high on the list of 'classic' components that for mejust evoke memories of a simple and fun time as a kid where everything seemed so new and special, and we were out riding bikes almost every weekend. This example isn't in the best of shape and I need to put inserts in the bottom of the spring rods as the threads are a little knackered, but for a near 30 year old fork they're pretty good. I've got a pair of RC36 Evo Pro Class to get sorted at Pace with new bushes which I'll swap over but as it's all currently working I'm focusing on other priorities! Of course these forks are mainly for comfort than control, but you can hardly stick a modern fork on something like this, can you? I did originally fit some Z1 BAM's to get it rolling but they always looked a bit wrong, no matter how good they were, hence the Pace. These RC36's came without brake mounts but luckily my dad upgraded his with direct Magura mounts and so had the originals going spare.
First shakedown ride with slightly different spec to as it sits now...
Headset - A mish-mash of a Dia Compe DLC upper, and an unknown lower cartridge thing. I think the lower half of the DLC was nicked years ago when our garage was broken into. I might fit something else but it's vaguely period correct so it gets the nod for now.
Stem/Bars/Grips - Is it an Azonic Shorty when it's 100mm long? By 1995 standards it probably still is short but it's about as long as I'd ever want to fit. When I picked it up it was pretty shabby but some compound and the polishing mops on the Dremel soon sorted that. The bars are Titec Hellbent. Why? They were silver and matched, weren't wide, and had a nice rise to give a comfortable position for all day rides. The grips are ODI Yeti Hardcores. I can't believe how much these go for now as it was only a few years I picked these up for less than a tenner brand new. Normally I'm a big fan of thin Renthal glue ons as they're more comfortable than lock-ons but for all day stuff with crap suspension, low volume & high pressure tyres something thicker was preferable, and I always liked these BITD anyway before I saw the thin grip light.
Saddle/Post - The saddle is an old Club Roost which is proper comfortable compared to my default SDG Ti-Fly on most bikes, another nod to real world, all day use. This will eventually go on another bike and probably see something else age appropriate yet still comfy fitted. Maybe even an SDG Bel Air. The seatpost is an X-Lite Clickon II which again is going on something else, so I've got a from-a-distance-visually-similar Bontrager thing to replace it with. Maybe a nod to modernity would be a 27.2mm dropper but while I think they're the single greatest addition to modern bikes, I like the purity of how this looks in uncomplicated form.
Drivetrain - The Shimano XT M739 STI setup came from my dad's Cannondale which got stuffed into a box when he upgraded to Maguras and M950 XTR shifters, while the XTR M952 V brakes were NOS from the same box and originally intended for my mum's Specialized before things conspired to stopping us getting out as a family. I'll maybe cover these bikes in other threads when I get around to cleaning them up from years sitting in the back of my dad's workshop. The rear brake is running a Zoobits V-Jobby clamp on the top tube to effect a cable stop. We originally bought this for my 850 but it was drilled in a way that the M3 bolt was under significant bend due to the hole having been drilled for the clamp closed, which it couldn't be. I clamped it to the top tube, drilled a new hole, tapped it and fitted an M4 bolt instead. Or at least I did once I'd removed the old broken bit. On the 850 we ended up running a full length of outer but I was keen to avoid that on this build. Anyway, the LH lever needed a little straightening after an incident on the single track up the end of Glen Tilt many, many years ago, but despite that and about 10k miles on them they still felt spot on. The front mech is a spare 28.6mm M737 XT kicking about from my 850, although temptation was to fit the M953 one I had there, and the rear is the classic M952 SGS. Cranks are my personal favourite, the XT M739 four arm setup. Partly that's because I got my first set of these as a Christmas present in 1997 when I was young and impressionable, but also because I think they just look so nicely engineered. On the cassette front that's another M952 item, this time 11-28 and NOS after purchasing it in a CRC clear out years ago for something daft like £30, back when they used to have both interesting and useful stock you'd want to buy, and at cheap prices. A NOS 107mm UN72 BB and similar IG91 chain round out the drivetrain party.
Wheels - this is where things are going to change. Currently there's a non-disc QR Mk1 Hope Big'Un that we ended up with after a Fatso cracked its flange. There's a classic and heavily used Mavic 121 CD Ceramic on there. We ended up with these after breaking so many lighter rims of the day while riding mountain paths and tracks. Modern stuff really is tougher, at the expense of character. And frequently the stuff that has character is as crap as the old stuff was! The rear is a mk1 Hope Bulb in blue, a hub I ended up with after a disc tab snapped off my rear Mk2 Big'Un a few days before a race. I built this back up a few years ago with another, and this time nearly new, 121 CD Ceramic. However, this is earmarked for a rebuild of the Animal 222 it was originally on, and the front is going on my Marin DH FRS/Team DH build. Instead what's going on here will be a pair of pink and now refurbed to polished silver Fatso/Ti Glide combo in non-disc, and they will be built up with a pair of 32h D521 CD Ceramics I picked up dirt cheap a few months ago. The decals are tatty but otherwise they're good - not bad for £25! Tyre wise there's a re-issue 1.95" Panaracer Smoke and a NOS original front Dart to match. These were bought new for the build as all the other tyres I have of appropriate age have definitely done their best to turn to plastic, dry rot and generally do everything they can to destroy confidence in their abilities to stay looking like tyres if I dare use them in anger.
So there you have it, a build that's mostly period, with a few additional tweaks. It might not get many uses a year but does get used and is a hoot to ride. I’ll put another post up with the first proper ride I did on it as it’s very pic heavy.
Frame - It's a 1995 Trek Singletrack 950 I picked up for probably too much (before the Covid spike in everything) in a wonderful blend of Ice Violet and Ice Green, a true classic nineties Trek paint job and in two of my favourites too. One of these days I'll maybe track down a decent rigid fork to get colour matched and fit that but for now that's a future me thing to do. It's 19.5" as I wanted something that had reasonable length for touring-esque type rides as I have other bikes I could use if I wanted to do more technical riding. The other thing this bike has is rack mounts, as carrying a 15kg rucksack of climbing and bivy gear on your back is bloody uncomfortable.
Fork - The first suspension fork my dad had was a Pace RC36 MXCD which he bought from Sandy Wallace Cycles in Fife just after they were launched in 1996. As a result, Pace are high on the list of 'classic' components that for mejust evoke memories of a simple and fun time as a kid where everything seemed so new and special, and we were out riding bikes almost every weekend. This example isn't in the best of shape and I need to put inserts in the bottom of the spring rods as the threads are a little knackered, but for a near 30 year old fork they're pretty good. I've got a pair of RC36 Evo Pro Class to get sorted at Pace with new bushes which I'll swap over but as it's all currently working I'm focusing on other priorities! Of course these forks are mainly for comfort than control, but you can hardly stick a modern fork on something like this, can you? I did originally fit some Z1 BAM's to get it rolling but they always looked a bit wrong, no matter how good they were, hence the Pace. These RC36's came without brake mounts but luckily my dad upgraded his with direct Magura mounts and so had the originals going spare.
First shakedown ride with slightly different spec to as it sits now...
Headset - A mish-mash of a Dia Compe DLC upper, and an unknown lower cartridge thing. I think the lower half of the DLC was nicked years ago when our garage was broken into. I might fit something else but it's vaguely period correct so it gets the nod for now.
Stem/Bars/Grips - Is it an Azonic Shorty when it's 100mm long? By 1995 standards it probably still is short but it's about as long as I'd ever want to fit. When I picked it up it was pretty shabby but some compound and the polishing mops on the Dremel soon sorted that. The bars are Titec Hellbent. Why? They were silver and matched, weren't wide, and had a nice rise to give a comfortable position for all day rides. The grips are ODI Yeti Hardcores. I can't believe how much these go for now as it was only a few years I picked these up for less than a tenner brand new. Normally I'm a big fan of thin Renthal glue ons as they're more comfortable than lock-ons but for all day stuff with crap suspension, low volume & high pressure tyres something thicker was preferable, and I always liked these BITD anyway before I saw the thin grip light.
Saddle/Post - The saddle is an old Club Roost which is proper comfortable compared to my default SDG Ti-Fly on most bikes, another nod to real world, all day use. This will eventually go on another bike and probably see something else age appropriate yet still comfy fitted. Maybe even an SDG Bel Air. The seatpost is an X-Lite Clickon II which again is going on something else, so I've got a from-a-distance-visually-similar Bontrager thing to replace it with. Maybe a nod to modernity would be a 27.2mm dropper but while I think they're the single greatest addition to modern bikes, I like the purity of how this looks in uncomplicated form.
Drivetrain - The Shimano XT M739 STI setup came from my dad's Cannondale which got stuffed into a box when he upgraded to Maguras and M950 XTR shifters, while the XTR M952 V brakes were NOS from the same box and originally intended for my mum's Specialized before things conspired to stopping us getting out as a family. I'll maybe cover these bikes in other threads when I get around to cleaning them up from years sitting in the back of my dad's workshop. The rear brake is running a Zoobits V-Jobby clamp on the top tube to effect a cable stop. We originally bought this for my 850 but it was drilled in a way that the M3 bolt was under significant bend due to the hole having been drilled for the clamp closed, which it couldn't be. I clamped it to the top tube, drilled a new hole, tapped it and fitted an M4 bolt instead. Or at least I did once I'd removed the old broken bit. On the 850 we ended up running a full length of outer but I was keen to avoid that on this build. Anyway, the LH lever needed a little straightening after an incident on the single track up the end of Glen Tilt many, many years ago, but despite that and about 10k miles on them they still felt spot on. The front mech is a spare 28.6mm M737 XT kicking about from my 850, although temptation was to fit the M953 one I had there, and the rear is the classic M952 SGS. Cranks are my personal favourite, the XT M739 four arm setup. Partly that's because I got my first set of these as a Christmas present in 1997 when I was young and impressionable, but also because I think they just look so nicely engineered. On the cassette front that's another M952 item, this time 11-28 and NOS after purchasing it in a CRC clear out years ago for something daft like £30, back when they used to have both interesting and useful stock you'd want to buy, and at cheap prices. A NOS 107mm UN72 BB and similar IG91 chain round out the drivetrain party.
Wheels - this is where things are going to change. Currently there's a non-disc QR Mk1 Hope Big'Un that we ended up with after a Fatso cracked its flange. There's a classic and heavily used Mavic 121 CD Ceramic on there. We ended up with these after breaking so many lighter rims of the day while riding mountain paths and tracks. Modern stuff really is tougher, at the expense of character. And frequently the stuff that has character is as crap as the old stuff was! The rear is a mk1 Hope Bulb in blue, a hub I ended up with after a disc tab snapped off my rear Mk2 Big'Un a few days before a race. I built this back up a few years ago with another, and this time nearly new, 121 CD Ceramic. However, this is earmarked for a rebuild of the Animal 222 it was originally on, and the front is going on my Marin DH FRS/Team DH build. Instead what's going on here will be a pair of pink and now refurbed to polished silver Fatso/Ti Glide combo in non-disc, and they will be built up with a pair of 32h D521 CD Ceramics I picked up dirt cheap a few months ago. The decals are tatty but otherwise they're good - not bad for £25! Tyre wise there's a re-issue 1.95" Panaracer Smoke and a NOS original front Dart to match. These were bought new for the build as all the other tyres I have of appropriate age have definitely done their best to turn to plastic, dry rot and generally do everything they can to destroy confidence in their abilities to stay looking like tyres if I dare use them in anger.
So there you have it, a build that's mostly period, with a few additional tweaks. It might not get many uses a year but does get used and is a hoot to ride. I’ll put another post up with the first proper ride I did on it as it’s very pic heavy.
