1992 Trek 950 Drop-Bar Conversion

I've had this Trek for quite a while, waiting for some inspiration. It originally had DX RapidFire shifters (which I hate), and someone had replaced the original rear derailleur with a crappy Alivio model, from the late 1990s.

I used one of the the shifters to repair a bike for a fellow, last year, then put the bike on the covered patio and kind of forgot about it.

Recently, Brad and I went for a ride on Webster's Pass, and he was riding the lugged Bridgestone frame I had traded to him, with drop bars and vintage drivetrain. As we rode, we talked about doing the whole pass, on vintage bikes, and a light bulb winked on, in my head.

The Trek is a lugged frame, but made of oversized mtb tubing, with a 1-1/8' steer tube fork. It's kind of odd that Trek had these lugs made, to fit the mtb tubing, rather than just tig-welding the frames, which would have been much more cost-efficient..

 Last night, I pulled the Trek out, and started to work. I used a 1" stem and a shim, to fit the 1-1/8" steer tube. I have a 1-1/8" dirt-drop-style stem on the way, in black. It has the removeable face plate, as well, so I'll be able to swap it out without unwrapping the bar.

 The stem is holding an On-One Midge bar, which I bought, on sale, a while back, in case I found a good use for it.

 Random Dia-Compe brake levers, and the 7-speed bar-end shifters from the RockCombo complete the cockpit.

 I used the wider retro Tektro cantis on the front...

...and the lower profile model on the rear, for ankle clearance. These cantis use modern, V-brake style pads, and will actually stop you (unlike a lot of the vintage cantis).

I had these early-90s pedals in my parts stash.

New  cables, tubes and tires, a Deore rear derailleur, and a black leather saddle completed the build. I rode it down to the hardware store, and back, today as a small shakedown cruise. Everything seems good.

Eventually, I'll remove the reflectors from the wheels. I find it hard to believe that they are still on there!

So, now it's time for a retro mountain bike assault on Webster's...


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