# Can't ride my wonderful 1993 Trek 5200 w/ Dura-Ace



## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

When I bought this bike second hand some years ago, I had big plans but those were squashed when I had both ankles crushed in an auto accident. I hung onto the bike but have never been able to get back into shape to ride it. Now I'm 71 years old and realize that I won't be able to do these hills on an 8-speed bike, no matter how light. 

My question is whether to sell it as a full bike, to sell the Dura-ace 7400-series components as a group, or to sell them piecemeal. The bike was originally part of a collection which the owner used primarily on his trainer. When I got it it was almost flawless and still is, with a few more dings. The frame is near mint, with a paint chip on the downtube where I tried to attach a bag clamp and got it a bit tight. I don't believe it's ever been ridden in the rain and I only put about 50 miles on it before the accident. ): 

It's a beautiful bike and I hate to sell it, but....


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

barefootdesigns said:


> When I bought this bike second hand some years ago, I had big plans but those were squashed when I had both ankles crushed in an auto accident. I hung onto the bike but have never been able to get back into shape to ride it. Now I'm 71 years old and realize that I won't be able to do these hills on an 8-speed bike, no matter how light.
> 
> My question is whether to sell it as a full bike, to sell the Dura-ace 7400-series components as a group, or to sell them piecemeal. The bike was originally part of a collection which the owner used primarily on his trainer. When I got it it was almost flawless and still is, with a few more dings. The frame is near mint, with a paint chip on the downtube where I tried to attach a bag clamp and got it a bit tight. I don't believe it's ever been ridden in the rain and I only put about 50 miles on it before the accident. ):
> 
> It's a beautiful bike and I hate to sell it, but....


Beautiful bike! It really sucks that you can't ride it but it's a shame having it there collecting dust. You made the right decision of selling it. How much are you asking for it?


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

barefootdesigns said:


> Now I'm 71 years old and realize that I won't be able to do these hills on an 8-speed bike, no matter how light.


It isn't all about the number of cogs on the cluster or cassette. You can add bigger gears on the rear, or smaller ones on the front to get up the hills. Even add a triple on the front if that is what it takes.

If you want to ride the bike, customize as you wish.



barefootdesigns said:


> My question is whether to sell it as a full bike, to sell the Dura-ace 7400-series components as a group, or to sell them piecemeal.


There is a lot of money in selling individual components, or group sets. However, your components are also over two decades old. They'll snag a value as a "classic", but not as cutting edge. 

Personally, I'd hate to see the bike broken up. First, try to valuate the bike, then sell it whole. If you can't get the price you want whole, then consider breaking it up and selling the parts on E-Bay, assuming you wish to do so.


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't really have any suggestions, but having only broken one of my ankles, I feel your pain. 71 isn't _that_ old, so if you can find a bike with low gearing (say maybe a touring bike or a mountain bike), you might be able to keep pedaling. You might be able to retrofit what you have with a triple up front and a wider cassette in the back. 

Also, if you permit me a post-ankle-break bike-shoe recommendation:

http://www.amazon.com/FiveTen-Mens-Impact-High-Shoe/dp/B002AMUNX0


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

*Heard I can't convert the gears.*

I'm a lifetime biker. Rode and maintained a Motobecane Mirage touring bike for may years, then to a well-modified Viscount for many more years--at 104#, I never replaced the death fork, by choice and never had a problem. After that it was a (recumbent) Catrike #48, factory customized. Now I own the Trek and a couple of cheap mountain bikes that I keep mostly for guests. 

It was my plan to go up to a triple when I bought it. But from what I've heard from friends (one a "pro" from a big sports shop and the other my son, a hardcore biker who once ran a shop and builds his own bikes) it would be too expensive and silly to try to retrofit this particular bike. That 7400 set, they say, can't be converted to carry more gears. Is that true?

Originally, because it's such a spotless, solid carbon frame with the 7400 Dura-Ace, which is, I believe, well respected for extreme durability and build, I thought $800--but some biker friends said it was too much. The Bontragers that I put on it when I bought it still have the rubber bead on the rolling edge! It's a rare vintage bike with components in such pristine condition I suspect, so I can't get a good figure on the worth but I think the Dura-Ace would bring @ $500--assuming the frame to be worthless. I don't believe that, but my opinion is probably of no consequence to a buyer. And, yeah, I'd rather sell it in one piece. 

Here's a closeup:


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

It depends a bit if you're doing the work or not, and where and for how much you acquire the parts.

I have seen notes on the web that some people have drilled and tapped old campy cranks to mount triple chain rings, but, I don't think I'd risk it. I don't know about Shimano.

You probably would need:New Cranks
New chain rings (at least the inner one)
New longer bottom bracket (or bottom bracket spindle)
New Front derailleur
I'm not sure if your shifter supports the triple.​ 
I could imagine you could easily spend a couple hundred bucks. If the original cranks and BB are in good shape, flog them on E-Bay to get some of your investment back.

In the end, you'll have a $2000 bike that you can ride.

The question is whether you would ride it, and whether a road bike is appropriate for your needs today. You can always change handlebars, and other parts too if needed.

Another option might be to simply install a less aggressive cassette. Shimano makes clusters and cassettes dubbed "MegaRange" that are truly humongous. You may need to upgrade the rear derailleur, but you might get the effect of a triple with simply adding less aggressive gearing in the back. Keep the original equipment if you wish to sell it with the bike later.


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

Oh, to be clear here, I'm a small woman. I exchanged the original stem for a Thompson Elite X-4 combined with Bontrager compact VR bars. The rear derailleur is an Ultra 6000 BTW, not DA. Seat is a Fizik Vitesse CP, virtually new.


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

wgscott, thanks for the shoe recommendation. Might work if I could ever get used to cleats. Have a pair of those Shimano sandals for cleats and the the like-new LOOK pedals in white but couldn't get used to them so went back to toe straps. How retro of me.  The only fall I ever took was because I couldn't get out of those f&%#! clips fast enough. 

CliffordK, please tell me more about that "Megarange" deal. The other fix had been suggested but seemed like too much to contemplate even if it would work.


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

barefootdesigns said:


> CliffordK, please tell me more about that "Megarange" deal. The other fix had been suggested but seemed like too much to contemplate even if it would work.


Everything is about gearing.

Say you have a 52/42 vs a 52/42/30 crank.
And, say you have a 12/25 cassette. 

Effective gearing for 42/25 is 1.68 For 30/25, you get 1.2 

I'm seeing several 11/34 cassettes for sale. So, going with 42/34, you get: 1.24 gearing, or very close to what you would have gotten with the triple crank.

I'm seeing the cassettes online for somewhere around $20. They come in two styles. One with more or less uniform gearing, and one with rather tight gearing, and a large low gear. I've got a 7 spd cluster here that goes from 13 to 24 on the first 6 gears, then jumps to 34 on the final "granny gear" (can I use that term here?). I suppose which one you choose is up to you.

I haven't installed one on my bike as I can get up most hills in 2nd gear, and only get slammed by the last 100 yds of my driveway.

I can't guarantee you wouldn't have to upgrade the chain and rear derailleur at the same time. You'd have to just try it out on the bike. Some of the MTB parts (Deore) are designed for greater gearing ranges than the high end road bikes parts.


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

That's the beauty of these things; they aren't cleats. You use them with spikey flat pedals and they stick about 80% as well. I'm riding a low-top version now on my road bike.












which sticks to the bottoms of these shoes with a tenacity similar to SPDs in their most loose setting ...


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

wgscott--thanks! I'll look into them. 

CliffordK--appreciate your ground work for all that. I'll check with my local bike tech to see if he has experience with this or can recommend who might advise me further. I have no objection to changing the derailleur or other stuff, especially since it's not Dura-Ace to begin with--not breaking up a set. I'm looking for something as close to my old "Alpine cluster" as I can get without ravaging the frame, etc. 

Thanks guys!


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

Good luck. Sorry about the huge images. When I tried to put them in the proper way, the link disappears after a few hours. The spam filters only seem to work on legitimate postings.

The tragic thing is the bike is worth 10 times what you could probably sell it for. I've decided with stuff like this I am better off giving it away to someone (ideally a family member) who will use it and perhaps even regard it with the respect it deserves.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

To me, the problem with going triple would be the shifter. If it doesn't have three distinct positions, it's not going to work.

I had a triple for a while. My first nice road bike, which I bought when I didn't know triples aren't cool, had one. I liked it a lot at the time, but for various reasons I don't have triples on any of my current bikes, and I haven't found I miss it. I have compacts on both. One's a 50/34, one's a 46/34. Pair that with a 11-28 or 12-27 cassette and I have plenty of low gears. I think I like 12-27 better because the steps are a little smaller and the two extremes were never that important to me. You can also get stuff marketed for junior racers. There are rules restricting their tallest gears that result in nice cassettes with a 14t smallest cog. So you get low gears, tight steps, and 50/11 is a pretty useless gear anyway.

So I agree that it's all about gear inches. I think sticking with a double crank but having lower gearing might be your best way to make this bike something that's fun for you to ride.


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

That's a good point, plus you can probably put the smaller sprockets on the current crank. In fact, you could probably get away with just replacing the inner one first, and see if that works. If you are riding the lower gears anyway, that should be sufficient. The main point is to get some enjoyment out of what you have, especially since it is a nice bike.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Well, I dunno if I'd hold my breathe for a new inner ring alone working out. In the picture, it looks like the existing crank is fitted with about the smallest inner ring it'll take. Pretty typical, if annoying in this situation.

There are some current-model compacts that will look good with the rest of the bike. IRD and Velo-orange spring to mind. Maybe also Rivendell and Sugino.

Or you could slap on a current Dura-Ace or really almost any other contemporary compact crank. I just think a lot of them are heinously ugly, and if it was my bike, I'd want something that matched the rest of the aesthetic a little better.

I'd probably have a saved search going on EBay for a different stem, too. I ended up using an adapter and a threadless stem on my '99 LeMond, but it always bothered me a little. If I could've found a threaded stem with a 31.8 mm clamp and "my" dimensions, I'd've been all over it. Or bars with "my" bend shape and a 26 or 25.4 clamp diameter, I suppose.


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## crossracer (Jun 21, 2004)

Ok. If I recall correctly those dura shifters only work with Dura ace rear der. 
However on the bright side, those shifters in great shape should bring a nice penny on eBay. 
I have done the 13-36 on my road bike with a 39-53. I like the extra low low gear, it works fantastic. I'm using a shimano nine speed rear der with shimano nine speed sti shifters. Over two years on the set up and it works great. 
I'm sorry the mechanic who told you it wasn't worth it isn't worth a damn in my opinion. That bike is still a great ride, and some simple tweaks and you could easily be riding it today. 
I say that with 25 years of shop experience under my belt. 

Bill


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

crossracer: I appreciate your comment and will look into a smaller gearing. I do have a trusted mechanic locally whom I haven't yet visited with my bike. I'm rather depressed that I can't get anybody to ride with me these days. Also, my road is so dangerous that I have to transport my bike to other places just to experience it. Our hills are a bear. I used to ride them with an Alpine cluster and even then-- young and in shape--it was tough. So my concerns are complex. I'm tempted to just sell it outright but I know I'll never find another bike like this one. It has that quality I call "live spider" when riding it--as if I had been transformed into a water spider dancing across the surface of things. Groan. What to do.


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## crossracer (Jun 21, 2004)

Ok, now that is different. Unsafe roads are just a pain. I myself have to drive about 7 miles to get to safe roads to ride. 
Do you have any rails to trails near you? Reason I ask is that my mom is 85 soon and she rides her bike there. It's flat flat flat. She also has problems finding people to ride with. Heck so do I. But I'd rather ride alone then not at all. 

Good luck 
Bill


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

Bill: Yes, we do have Rails-to-Trails, about 20 minutes from me. I haven't tried that stretch yet but it's near where I used to live and a very beautiful area. (What isn't gorgeous around here in rural Connecticut.) One of my main reasons for wanting to ride my road bike is that we have a tiny farm in Vermont that's @ three miles from the house. It is a "scenic route" that leads to a town that's like a Rockwell painting with a huge lake and the most amazing country store you've ever seen, plus art galleries, etc. I'd LOVE to be able to ride my bike there--the road is actually paved and almost free of cars and nasty hills. Vanity is alive and well--I still look pretty good in Lycra, should I decide to "dress up" for the ride. Of course I'd look even better if I rode my bike regularly, and that's much of the draw--to get the cardio-vascular system in tune and perpetuate the popular myth that I'm ageless. 

P.S. That your mother is still riding is very inspiring. Thanks!


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## barefootdesigns (May 30, 2014)

Oh, I can't get my profile picture to show up on the threads. Anybody know what that's about?


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