1991 Trek 990

I fitted these tonight, in time for my weekly group ride on Friday night. The NOS cups and new bearings arrived, and were installed within the hour! 😂 Needless to say, I was eager to get these on the bike, and I love how they look. They are so easy to adjust, and I can take the cranks off in less than a minute, so chainring swaps, and the inevitable repaint will be nearly effortless.

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I noticed that the previous guy used an unnecessary 1.25 and 2.5mm spacer in the stack, so his cranks were not installed properly. Nice that I have them though, since I can now get them reproduced, along with the missing setting bolt washer.

Since I don't have a BBT-7 for the proper Revolver lock ring adjustment, I decided to use the one from the Tioga fully adjustable bottom bracket that I removed. They are nearly identical, except the Revolver one is smaller in diameter by a few millimeters. This makes all the difference when using a standard Park Tools HCW-5. Also, the water sheath from the old Tioga BB is identical to the one from the Revolver, in case you can't source one easily.

Lastly, here is a clean scan of the parts list, without annotations, curtesy of holden.

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Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll have to check I have the orrect spacers for mine ..... and get it fitted!
 
Friday night ride got rained out, so I got up early today and went for a nice long ride.

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These cranks really help with the bottom bracket flex that this bike has, but it doesn't get rid of it entirely unfortunately.

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I also recently installed these Vuelta black anodized pulleys.

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I also decided to fit these still unknown bar ends. They were listed for sale on eBay as "Tioga", but I have no record of them being in any Tioga catalog. Here is a short thread about them, where I found a silver pair marked with a Wheeler logo. I think they fit this bike really well, and they are so comfortable.

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You can also see I fitted a Cateye front light mount, like I have now on my Humu and my Cinder Cone. I also installed a Trek computer, and meticulously routed the cable down to the fork. I also super glued a stronger magnet to the original spoke magnet, which allows me to install the sensor behind the brake post, so it's hidden and clean. I use black cloth tape to protect the cable on the inside of the fork leg, a nifty loose ziptie captured in the crown hole to keep it off the tire, and some plastic sleeving and cable coil to help the computer cable glide over the brake cable. When it comes to computer installs, I like to make them as invisible as possible.

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I finally found a suitable quick release for my Hite Rite! I used a combination of an 88 Trek seat QR lever, nut and pin, and a Tioga QR-6 body and washers. The Tioga QR had some nice snug fit washers that fit inside the seat collar holes. There's still a little bit of thread peeking out, so I think I might try and find a serrated washer to go in between the first washer and the lever body, but for now, this works perfectly.

Shout out to my friend John Wheeler, who sent me the Trek QR from his '88 8500, and Tommy Breeze for selling me a large enough clamp for this 29.8 Tioga seatpost.

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I finally found a set of Tioga Surefoot V pedals, and installed them recently. These are the lightest pedals Tioga had in their catalog. These are comparable to Shimano PD-M735, but I would wager they are superior. The main bearing, which takes most of the load, is a needle roller bearing, while the end of the spindle is captured by a standard sealed ball bearing. I haven't swapped the cages and straps over, as I want to find a medium pair of PowerClips, or the older design.

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I also splurged on a new pair of Tioga City Slicker tires. After 30 years, they still make these! I used a black industrial Sharpie to cover the oval T logo, since I prefer the older logo without.

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And finally, a wide shot showing off the bike. I love how stealthy this thing looks!

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It's been a while since I posted an update about this bike. I was flooded out of my loft back in July, and had to put most of my bikes in storage. This was the bike that I decided to take with me as I moved from an Airbnb, to a month sublet, to my new place. I took it on a lot of rides with friends and large groups, because I had to do something to keep sane with my life in turmoil.

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Just before the flood, I had found a more proper rear wheel, to match the black XT 36h front.

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I just love how the Hite Rite looks on this bike!

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Recently, I bought and mounted a pair of Tioga Power Clips, and fitted some NOS Hot Tips to the Quick Flick II straps.

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Lastly, to help keep my front wheel from getting nicked when I have it locked up outside of bars and shops, I swapped out the front XT qr for a black ControlTech ti bolt skewer.

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I am really happy with this bike, and how well it has served me in the last few months. Now that I have all my bikes together again, I've been rotating through them again, but I always come back to this one when I need a reliable city ripper.

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A little more bonus stuff about the Trek 990:

I recently found a photo of Trent Reznor back stage at Lollapalooza 1991 sitting on a 1990 Trek 990 in black.


I also was watching a video produced in Spain in 1992 called Al Filo De Lo Imposible - Rodando Por Ti, which stars Juan Ochoa and Juanma Montero both riding a 1992 Trek 990 in red. Seeing this video, and watching these riders rip through Madrid was huge inspiration for my build.

Lastly, I found this old VHS rip of Totally Wild, Part 1 and Part 2, which includes lots of neat showcases from Jay Hardy, on mountain bike control, while also riding a 1992 Trek 990 in red.
 
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A little more bonus stuff about the Trek 990:

I recently found a photo of Trent Reznor back stage at Lollapalooza 1991 sitting on a 1990 Trek 990 in black.


I also was watching a video produced in Spain in 1992 called Al Filo De Lo Imposible - Rodando Por Ti, which stars Juan Ochoa and Juanma Montero both riding a 1992 Trek 990 in red. Seeing this video, and watching these riders rip through Madrid was huge inspiration for my build.

Lastly, I found this old VHS rip of Totally Wild, Part 1 and Part 2, which includes lots of neat showcases from Jay Hardy, on mountain bike control, while also riding a 1992 Trek 990 in red.
Great thread and bike, really like the Trek Singletrack lugged series. I saw NIN play at the Eden Project in Cornwall (UK) this summer and did a bike tour down there this summer too. That pic brings lots of good stuff together 😎
 
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