Old Trek SL revival.

[Cycleops]

Sorry I didn't have the forethought to to take some before pics but this is the end result. I saw the bike abandoned beneath s heap of others at a local cycle dealer/repairer. All there except for the rear wheel. The guy wanted 60cedis (about £7.50) for it. After pulling all the other bikes off which took about an hour I could see it wasn't in bad condition. It's a Trek 1000SL about 10/12 years old. Must have been owned by an enthusiast at some point as it's got a Crane Creek headset fitted. Fork and seat post are carbon which was standard.
I managed to source some 'home used' wheels and tyres for it, generally cleaned it up and sprayed the seat and chain stays as they were badly scratched. The rubber brake hoods were rotted so I found a couple of allegedly new Shimano brifters from a cycle shop but were only left hand, so I used one and transferred the rubber hood to my RH shifter. The original was eight speed so stuck with that. The rear derailleur was broken, I replaced it with an old Deore rear mech but it's worn so I'll need to replace it in time. Saddle, chain, bar tape and cables came from Decathlon (yes there is one in Accra).
At 56cm it's a bit small for me but manageable. It's quite light and rides nicely.

 

[Gazjacko]

I’m impressed, that is a nice looking bike ,

 

[Cycleops]

Thanks @Gazjacko , when you get closer you can see all the scratches, probably from having spent the last few years under a pile of other bikes. Nice to know you can save something and bring it back to near its former glory.

 

[DCBassman]

@Cycleops , if you cannot source an 8-speed RD, I've a Sora 3300 sitting in my spares box, probably the correct one for the bike!

 

[Cycleops]

That’s very sweet of you @DCBassman but I’m on my way down to Tudu in Accra this morning to have a nose around the bike market there. Getting your mech here might be a tad expensive! I’ll post some pics of the market, you can find better stuff there than you can get locally.

Forgot to mention there a sticker on the frame that proclaims that Trek were TdF Champions, when I looked it up it was when Lance Armstrong was riding for them, I’m sure they’d like to forget that now.

 

[sotal]

Nice,

I have the same bike in orange. You got an absolute steal at that price. The crane creek headset is original. I have just finished rebuilding mine with 2x10 speed Tiagra 4700. I've loved the bike and everything was getting worn at the same time. I ended up deciding it was worth spending out on it rather than getting a new bike.

My research suggested the random assortment of parts that was on mine originally were original.

Namely it came with...

SRAM 12-26 rear cassette (8 speed)
Shimano tiagra 9 speed rear mech
Shimano Avant triple front mech
Bontranger triple crankset
Sora 8 speed STI shifters

 

[Cycleops]

That’s very interesting @sotal . What year do you think yours is? It seems the model ran for several years, I think mine might be 2007? Now it’s up and running I’ve found my rh shifter doesn’t select properly, it jumps down the block on the higher gears changing up so maybe I’ll do what you’ve done and upgrade to drivetrain with parts from the U.K. Mountain bikes, Dutch loops, hybrids and Chinese bikes are the most popular here so not much chance getting parts for sports bikes. The upside being nobody really wants these bikes so they’re cheap, I once bought a Colnago frame for £15 which I passed on to another CC member.

 

[sotal]

I've no idea on age to be honest. I bought it in around 2013 second hand. The previous owner had bought it new, then got into cycling and it became their winter bike but then had had a new summer bike, so their old summer bike became their winter bike!

It has been my summer bike since, I use my mountain bike in the winter. It has been fantastic. I've probably just spent more on it than it is worth but to buy something new that is equivalent in weight and specification would cost a lot more and I really like it so it seemed the right think to do!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

That’s very interesting @sotal . What year do you think yours is? It seems the model ran for several years, I think mine might be 2007?

I have the identical bike to yours, which I bought new in 2006.
I’m currently waiting for a new Cane Creek headset for it so I can sell it. Hope I get more than £7.50 for it!

 

[Cycleops]

@glasgowcyclist Just something I'm curious to know. The bike came with a front wheel which was Wolber Super Champion rim (20mm) on a Shimano Exage hub, would this have been original equipment?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

@glasgowcyclist Just something I'm curious to know. The bike came with a front wheel which was Wolber Super Champion rim (20mm) on a Shimano Exage hub, would this have been original equipment?

I don’t think so. Mine still has the original front wheel, an Alexrim AT450 marked ‘double wall, 6061H-T6, 622 x 14’. The hub is unbranded. There’s an original spec sheet here : https://archive.trekbikes.com/kr/en/2006/trek/1000#/kr/en/2006/trek/1000/details

Edit to add: forgot to mention the original wheels are black with black spokes too.

 

[sotal]

Mine came with Rigida Chrina rims.

 

[sotal]

The archive puts mine as either 2006 or 2007 as they were the only years that the 1000SL was done in flame duotone which I think is the colour of mine.

 

[Gazjacko]

Trek archive is a great resource , got to be around 2007, I had a 2006 Madone 5.2with a similar colour scheme

 

[Cycleops]

Just a postscript. I've managed to get a pair of Michelin Dynamic Sport 28c tyres. The Conti Contacts I had on it in the same size were rubbing the chainstays but these are much narrower.
Also swapped out the worn out Deore rear mech for a good Exage Country a model which I've not come across before:

Hang on, I think my next project may have arrived: