boy"O"boy's 1991 TREK 8700 PRO COMPOSITE

[retrobikeguy]

Re:

Mint bikes these,

I first purchased one of these in late 1991 when york cycleworks were banging em out at £650, xc pro, dia compe, bullseye and XD crankset ....... loved it.

I seem to remember that MBi did a test BiTD and it was tested as the above bike with that group but all the pictures had a deore equipped 8700 .... was wierd.

 

[boy"O"boy]

Re: Re:

Mint bikes these,

I first purchased one of these in late 1991 when york cycleworks were banging em out at £650, xc pro, dia compe, bullseye and XD crankset ....... loved it.

I seem to remember that MBi did a test BiTD and it was tested as the above bike with that group but all the pictures had a deore equipped 8700 .... was wierd.

Thank RBG.
That was quite a spec for that price. Eventually, I'll try to add those parts.... The Bullseyes are currently destined for the Klein, but the black Deore hubs already have 'that look' about them.
I'll be digging through my MBi collection looking for that article tomorrow ....I'll post some scans once I've found it!
Weird that it would feature pics with the Deore groupset though. :?

So.....all assembled. Ignore the unfinished front mech cable and front mech wedged into position with a prossecco cork! ....that'll be sorted once the 'doohickey' arrives
Everything else working and waiting for the maiden voyage.

Here's some pics....shame I can't capture on a camera phone how bright the 'neon' of the Conch colour is. It was literally glowing in the dusk earlier!

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

Re:

Mint bikes these,

I first purchased one of these in late 1991 when york cycleworks were banging em out at £650, xc pro, dia compe, bullseye and XD crankset ....... loved it.

I seem to remember that MBi did a test BiTD and it was tested as the above bike with that group but all the pictures had a deore equipped 8700 .... was wierd.

Thank RBG.
That was quite a spec for that price. Eventually, I'll try to add those parts.... The Bullseyes are currently destined for the Klein, but the black Deore hubs already have 'that look' about them.
I'll be digging through my MBi collection looking for that article tomorrow ....I'll post some scans once I've found it!
Weird that it would feature pics with the Deore groupset though. :?

So.....all assembled. Ignore the unfinished front mech cable and front mech wedged into position with a prossecco cork! ....that'll be sorted once the 'doohickey' arrives
Everything else working and waiting for the maiden voyage.

Here's some pics....shame I can't capture on a camera phone how bright the 'neon' of the Conch colour is. It was literally glowing in the dusk earlier!

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

Hi all.

Haven't got round to scanning the MBi article yet but have found it! - and as RBG mentions, the test bike is Deore equipped over the 'normal' Suntour XC pro.

Thanks to Antstark for the 'Doohickey' - it's now all up and running.
I've done a brief 15 mile ride on it at Rutland water but..... the concession was as it was a family ride, I had my Son on the back in the child seat! Probably not a fair test lugging an extra 15kgs to be honest, but everything worked as it should. My wife took the Saracen which is now sporting another set of DX hubbed wheels.

Hopefully I'll get to ride it again soon without the child seat! - and thanks to my mate in Italy, there are some more developments on the way!

Here's some pics to show the set-up of the 'Doohickey' ..... and a few to show it does get dirty!! The top pic is an attempt to show how bright the 'Conch' neon is.... it just doesn't capture that well on a camera phone.

More to come soon.

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

 

[retrobikeguy]

Re:

Very nice and although it's not the original group set still have to consider the following year they specced Deore DX on the 8700 so Trek must have been confident it was a competent groupset for this quality of frame, I remember York cycleworks having a team bike with DX..... Following years colours were a bit boring though.

I must say tho..... Kiddie seat clamp on carbon scares me a bit !!!

 

[shogun]

Jolly excellent result! Really like this era of Treks.

 

[Peachy!]

So, what’s next? Are you contemplating anymore paint restoration?

 

[boy"O"boy]

Re: Re:

Very nice and although it's not the original group set still have to consider the following year they specced Deore DX on the 8700 so Trek must have been confident it was a competent groupset for this quality of frame, I remember York cycleworks having a team bike with DX..... Following years colours were a bit boring though.

I must say tho..... Kiddie seat clamp on carbon scares me a bit !!!

Cheers RBG. Like you say, they must have been fairly confident of Deore DX to spec it on the 8700 the following year. Think that was the black one with the green Trek logo?

So, I've finally managed to scan the MBi article with the Trek 8700 test.
Theres a lot of good stuff in that May 1991 issue of MBi ! - it's the one that also has the Orange Aluminium "O" test, a Manitou test, GT Karakoram in red, and a chance to win a Trek 8700!! :shock:

Reading through, I think the test bike is Specced with the Deore XT in the pictures as it's the testers own race bike (Paul Burwell sponsored by Brixton Cycles)
The actual review is for the Suntour/Bullseye equipped version.

Jolly excellent result! Really like this era of Treks.

Thanks shogun. Glad you like it.

So, what’s next? Are you contemplating anymore paint restoration?

Thanks Peachy.
I'll be adding so pics this evening - but, it's now running with it's original spec Bullseye 32H hubs on Matrix MTII rims (a big thank you to Retrorider_IT for these )
I'm also going for a Cook Bros Racing chainset, but as Once a Hero mentioned earlier in the thread, it looks like I'm going to need to source a 132mm or similar bottom bracket as it doesn't clear the chainstay with a 127.5mm one.
Ironically, I bought a 122mm Shimano UN55 bottom bracket thinking that a reduction in the current gap to chainstay wouldn't be a bad thing. :facepalm:

Long term, It's current justification in the Fleet is as 'Child Carrier' as my wife uses the Kili Flyer when we go out as a family. The sooner I can use the Tag Along with the youngest, the better!
I've no plans to do the Paint or Lacquer on the Carbon as yet, mainly because the original condition and brightness of the Orange is very good. I'd also be nervous about re-creating the 'spidering' of the black on the original Neon 'Conch'.... but I've noticed you mentioned a technique in Retrospud's 8900 thread that I'd be tempted to try some test pieces to see if it was possible.

Currently though, it's ride and Enjoy! (preferably without the child seat!)

More pics to come later...

In the meantime, here's that scan from May 1991 MBi.

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

 

[Jaggs]

I liked this so much, I've gone and bought a 1991 Trek 7000 frame. Which will probably end in divorce.

 

[retrobikeguy]

Re:

You are right XT...... But they are DX thumbies I'm sure, it's weird that they thought we wouldnt question the use of a Shimano equipped bike in the pictures but the review of a suntour equipped bike.

 

[jimwise68]

Have to say wasn't really digging the look of the frame and forks on their own. But that looks lovely built up