# 1992 (i believe) Trek 1400



## mkramer309 (May 4, 2011)

I am currently looking at a Trek 1400 for sale on craigslist. From what I can tell the bike looks to be in good shape. 14 speeds, down tube shifters, 105, etc. I believe that the bike is a 1992 model after checking vintage-trek.com. Seller is asking $320. Any problems I should be aware of? Do you think $320 is a fair price or too high for a 20 year old bicycle? Any info/advice is appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

mkramer309 said:


> I am currently looking at a Trek 1400 for sale on craigslist. From what I can tell the bike looks to be in good shape. 14 speeds, down tube shifters, 105, etc. I believe that the bike is a 1992 model after checking vintage-trek.com. Seller is asking $320. Any problems I should be aware of? Do you think $320 is a fair price or too high for a 20 year old bicycle? Any info/advice is appreciated. Thanks.


I had a 1990 Trek 1200, same frame as the 1400 but with a Cr-Mo fork instead of the aluminum one found in the 1400. If I recall correctly, the 105 group in the1992 model was the one with the light gray finish (mine was the previous dark metal blue version). FYI, I remember I paid $620 for it back in 1990 and the 1400 (the 1990 model) retailed for about $700-750. My team's main sponsor back then was the local Trek distributor so we were ALL on Treks back then and knew the models by heart.

But to more directly answer your question...$320?? I think it's high.


----------



## mkramer309 (May 4, 2011)

Thanks for the input. To add some more info the bike is red with white decals. Also (if im being to forward let me know) is there a specific price range that this particular bike should fall in? If I'm going to try and negotiate I like to go in with all the ammo I can. Thanks.


----------



## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

Trek's bonded frames from this era didn't have the best bonding technology - the joints wiggle apart too often on these older frames. I'd keep looking, or buy it for less than $200 and hope the low cost offsets any future hassles.


----------



## Jerry-rigged (Jul 24, 2009)

My brother and B-I-L both rode Trek 1200's from that era (1990, and 1994), both with the RX100 (and both 62cm). They were stiffer and lighter than my DiamondBack "Expert" 4130 steel framed bike (58cm, also with RX100). The wheels they came with were not great, though. Both of them broke a lot of spokes on their rear wheel, and B-I-L cracked a rim...

I liked their bikes, Both put a ton of miles on them, and never had any frame issues, but I would not pay $320 for both of them these days...

Good bike, but over priced... (IMHO)


----------



## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

mkramer309 said:


> Thanks for the input. To add some more info the bike is red with white decals. Also (if im being to forward let me know) is there a specific price range that this particular bike should fall in? If I'm going to try and negotiate I like to go in with all the ammo I can. Thanks.


The white and red combo came in two years, the main difference is the font used in the decals. They became more squarish after 1990. IIRC the 1991 was pearl white with purple decals just like the 2000 frameset.
I just looked at a post from 2008 in bikeforums where someone was asking for advice on a used 1400 and back THEN people were saying $300 was too expensive. You be the judge.


----------



## mkramer309 (May 4, 2011)

lots of good info here. thanks for the help


----------



## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

Kontact said:


> Trek's bonded frames from this era didn't have the best bonding technology - the joints wiggle apart too often on these older frames. I'd keep looking, or buy it for less than $200 and hope the low cost offsets any future hassles.


Actually, this was more common on older Specialized Allez Epics and frames from other vendors such as Vitus. Galvanic corrosion anyone?As I mentioned before, my team used to be sponsored by the local Trek distributor (from '88-91)so we were VERY familiar with them. Just to give you an idea, at one point we had about 30 JUNIOR riders on Trek frames(and we beat the crap out of those frames) ranging from the 1000,1200,1400,1500,2000 and 2300, as well as the Cr-Mo 660 (which was SWEET). We only had one aluminum frame that separated at the rear dropout/chainstay junction (it was a 1987 Trek 1500 IIRC). Of the rest, I think a total of 8-9 were returned for warranty replacement and they were all (except the previously mentioned one) due to the shifter bosses separating from the frame, not the tubes at the joints. Initially, Trek just sent us new replacement frames but I remember for the last couple of frames, they were repaired.

I also recall that , at the time, Trek had a special program for distributors/dealers where they would allow you to custom paint frames . Our coach was able to get a really nice 660 painted by Trek in custom colors back in 1990. It was a quite bright almost neon yellow frame with electric blue decals. Man , that was one sweet bike.

Granted, if you were to get the bike now, I suspect those joints would exhibit some of those failures due to the time that has passed since they were made.


----------



## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

RC28 said:


> Actually, this was more common on older Specialized Allez Epics and frames from other vendors such as Vitus. Galvanic corrosion anyone?As I mentioned before, my team used to be sponsored by the local Trek distributor (from '88-91)so we were VERY familiar with them. Just to give you an idea, at one point we had about 30 JUNIOR riders on Trek frames(and we beat the crap out of those frames) ranging from the 1000,1200,1400,1500,2000 and 2300, as well as the Cr-Mo 660 (which was SWEET). We only had one aluminum frame that separated at the rear dropout/chainstay junction (it was a 1987 Trek 1500 IIRC). Of the rest, I think a total of 8-9 were returned for warranty replacement and they were all (except the previously mentioned one) due to the shifter bosses separating from the frame, not the tubes at the joints. Initially, Trek just sent us new replacement frames but I remember for the last couple of frames, they were repaired.
> 
> I also recall that , at the time, Trek had a special program for distributors/dealers where they would allow you to custom paint frames . Our coach was able to get a really nice 660 painted by Trek in custom colors back in 1990. It was a quite bright almost neon yellow frame with electric blue decals. Man , that was one sweet bike.
> 
> Granted, if you were to get the bike now, I suspect those joints would exhibit some of those failures due to the time that has passed since they were made.


Galvanic corrosion takes dissimilar materials, so it doesn't affect all aluminum bikes like this Trek and Vitus frames (most of which are still going from what I can tell of the used market).

Also, I wasn't saying that the frames failed often at the time, but they don't seem to have aged well for some reason - I've read of more than a few BB/seat tube failures, for some reason. BUT, maybe any 20 year old bonded frame is a poor buy?

Had a Trek 5500 in the shop today with the classic loose metal BB shell.


----------



## RC28 (May 9, 2002)

Kontact said:


> Galvanic corrosion takes dissimilar materials, so it doesn't affect all aluminum bikes like this Trek and Vitus frames (most of which are still going from what I can tell of the used market).
> 
> Also, I wasn't saying that the frames failed often at the time, but they don't seem to have aged well for some reason - I've read of more than a few BB/seat tube failures, for some reason. BUT, maybe any 20 year old bonded frame is a poor buy?
> 
> Had a Trek 5500 in the shop today with the classic loose metal BB shell.


Sorry, I thought that when I mentioned the Specialized Allez Epic (carbon tubes with alloy lugs) that it would have made that obvious but I see now how my statement might be confusing. But we did have several 2300 frames (carbon tubes and alloy lugs) and none of them failed.

The last sentence of my previous post agrees with your sentiment that the frames haven't aged well.


----------



## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

I wouldn't pay over $250 for it... and that's in excellent condition. You can probably buy a 1994 model with STI shifters for around $300. I've heard a lot about the bonded aluminum frames not being that great, but I've owned a 1989 and a 1994 model before and they were excellent bikes that I put tons of miles on. That blue on the '89 model was just downright gorgeous IMO, and it had an aluminum fork- not a cromoly one. It was an option from Trek and the fork was brushed aluminum. I've only seen three others like it- meaning most owners probably decided to stay with the cromoly fork.


----------

