# 1987 Trek 8000 (Non WTB Team Build)



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

After seeing Fillet-brazed's super cool, blue and white WTB team build, (and falling in a bit of lust with it), I started the search for a frame to build one of my own.
Since they apparently don't grow on trees, it took me a while to find a "close enough" frame to start with.

Obviously then, this frame was grabbed with the intent of stripping it, and painting it in the WTB Trek team colors from 1987.

Fast forward a bit, it's been patiently hanging in the garage while I tinkered with other stuff.

Recently, Bigwheel picked up a "real one" and teased me with it, (now it belongs to Shawn...lucky bugger), and then syklystt found a non-team, but still blue and white one.
Jeez, now they were falling from the sky...which got me hot for the project again.

I knew the fork would be an issue, (since I'm not rolling in dough), and when a blue and white Mag 20 popped up on Ebay, I jumped, and it looked like the 
build was on.

Now it was time to cross the line, and strip the 27 year old red paint...I was a bit worried about chemical stripping hurting the bonded lugs, and after some researching, John Thompson who worked for Trek back in the day told me the preferred method was to bead blast with crushed walnut shells...now I had to find a blaster who had the right medium...another little setback.

While I was looking for a blaster, another fork that I just couldn't resist fell in my lap...of course it was chrome, and that kind of made me think it might be cool to keep the frame red, and make my build a Non-WTB version so.....

either I'm too lazy to strip it, too much of a oldster to give up the original paint, too bummed to be just another blue/white guy, or I just like red bikes with chrome forks.

OG red it is:





cool modded stem:





Have an idea on wheels, but I'm not sure what cranks I want to use (BB spindle was pretty wide). Going to go with the Dura-Ace front derailleur, and probably an XT rear.

Hope to have it rolling for Spring.

Steve


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Good choice. I like the red and original graphics.


----------



## Guest (Feb 10, 2014)

Way to stand apart by keeping it red. That Koski is hot! Looking forward to the rest of the build.


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

As have been said by some wise members, some Team bikes came in red that Steve Potts repainted. Glad you didn't repaint yours - it would be decidedly unSteve. Is the stem going to fit? It seems awfully stubby.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

DC, shawn, and G,

Thanks for the thumbs up on keeping it red...I actually feel a bit relieved not having to strip it. (decidedly unSteve, haha, I like the sound of that).

Yup, Koski looks like it belongs on there.

I knew the fork and stem were going to be non-Potts due to budget constraints...the modded Suntour is one of my faves, and it's really not all that tight even though it looks short.
(I rough measured the cockpit, and it's about 69cm center of seat to bars, so I should be fine) That being said...if something cooler, and a bit longer shows up, I may swap it out.


Steve


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Game on!

Solid start ECS. Koski fork is definitely not a bad move on the way to making it a great rider.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Rumpfy said:


> Game on!
> 
> Solid start ECS. Koski fork is definitely not a bad move on the way to making it a great rider.


Thanks E....making progress...back on two wheels:





Steve


----------



## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Likin' everything so far except for the stem. I think by 87 stems were longer and TIG'd steel. A Tioga Bone I think would look great. Or even better a Salsa.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

2nd'ed the Salsa.

Nice use of yellow too.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Ok, three strikes for the XC stem...I can take a hint...time for a stem swap.
I don't have a lot to choose from...will this work?

Minnesota is close to Wisconsin, right?



Steve


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

In 1990, Trek put that stem on the 8900.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

DoubleCentury said:


> In 1990, Trek put that stem on the 8900.


I know, that's were it came from, lol.

Wasn't sure if it would be out of place on a 1987 build...when did the American stems debut?

Steve

edit: found this...looks like 1987 was a good year:



Steve


----------



## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

eastcoaststeve said:


> Ok, three strikes for the XC stem...I can take a hint...time for a stem swap.
> I don't have a lot to choose from...will this work?
> 
> Minnesota is close to Wisconsin, right?
> ...


Nice!

How about some Matrix rims? Don't recall if those were out by '87...


----------



## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

eastcoaststeve said:


> I know, that's were it came from, lol.
> 
> Wasn't sure if it would be out of place on a 1987 build...when did the American stems debut?
> 
> ...


Unrelated but there's a great example in that 5th paragraph of how aluminum didn't have the hype and the stigma of having a harsh ride back in the '80s. It was fairly commonplace in the magazines to be considered a smoother ride than steel. Funny how things changed.


----------



## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

Looks like a fun project.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Breezer stems were defo around in 87. Good mate to the Koski fork.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

The frame had a 136 bb spindle in it when I got it, which seemed pretty wide. There were no cranks, so I wasn't sure how the fit would be.

I put a 133 spindle in it and bolted up the cranks to get an idea of fit...

too wide? What do you guys think?





Steve


----------



## Guest (Feb 20, 2014)

Depends, are you bow legged?


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

shawnw said:


> Depends, are you bow legged?


haha, Shawn.

It does look a little wide, Steve but I suppose you need a little room for the brakes. Do you have a set to put on there? What cranks are those? The really wide ones, I've found, often are for Suginos.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

shawnw said:


> Depends, are you bow legged?


That generally depends on how my weekend goes 

Steve


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

eastcoaststeve said:


> too wide? What do you guys think?


If the rear hub spacing is 135 mm, make sure the middle chainring is 50 mm from the center line of the bike. If the rear spacing is 130 mm the front should be 47.5 mm


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

girlonbike said:


> haha, Shawn.
> 
> It does look a little wide, Steve but I suppose you need a little room for the brakes. Do you have a set to put on there? What cranks are those? The really wide ones, I've found, often are for Suginos.


Not sure if brake clearance will be an issue (with booster), but I'm guessing I can shave a few mm' s off the bb and still not hit anything.

The cranks are Specialized Flag/Suginos.

Steve


----------



## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

The taper on those Specialized cranks sometimes sit really wide on spindles. Looks like you need a 127 or narrower.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

shawnw said:


> Depends, are you bow legged?





eastcoaststeve said:


> That generally depends on how my weekend goes


LOL x2!


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Ok, so after going back and forth on repainting this frame to "Team" colors, I said screw it and busted out the Krylon.
I tried to do my best to "patina" it with a few whacks from an old chain...I think it looks pretty good...What do you guys think?:



 Steve

(If you click on the photo, I have a bunch of other detail shots in my Photobucket account.)


----------



## Williwoods (May 3, 2004)

Sad to see the og paint go, but I also like the team paint a million time better. really sweet frame. interested to see the build. Does this mean you are getting a type II fork and LD stem and the rest of the "correct" parts?


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Williwoods said:


> Sad to see the og paint go, but I also like the team paint a million time better. really sweet frame. interested to see the build. Does this mean you are getting a type II fork and LD stem and the rest of the "correct" parts?


Will, just messin' with ya....it's a different frame...now I have one of each.

No way would my wallet ever support the "correct" build with Potts stem and fork...I'll have to be creative.

Steve


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

eastcoaststeve said:


> Will, just messin' with ya....it's a different frame...now I have one of each.
> 
> No way would my wallet ever support the "correct" build with Potts stem and fork...I'll have to be creative.
> 
> Steve


Sell off some of your middling to low end frames that you've picked parts off of all these years and you'd be surprised what a bank you're sitting on. Just do it. No more crying poor when you have so much stuff! I mean this in a loving way, Steve.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

girlonbike said:


> Sell off some of your middling to low end frames that you've picked parts off of all these years and you'd be surprised what a bank you're sitting on. Just do it. No more crying poor when you have so much stuff! I mean this in a loving way, Steve.


Haha, guess I need some tough love...thanks G.

The "why own 100 Yugos when you could own 1 Porsche" Rumpfy quote does haunt me occasionally...I may be selling off a good bit this spring, we'll see....

Steve


----------



## ameybrook (Sep 9, 2006)

Yet, people still "collect" Yugos. Or Control Techs. 

Steve, you're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see. Don't be that guy.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

So I picked up a cool period correct BB that I was excited to install....

Looks kind of like a press fit:


hollow spindle too:


Rats, still too wide, lol:


Steve


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Small bit of progress...(yes, FD still needs to be positioned correctly)

For DC:



Steve


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

I was hoping DC was going to make a bunch of those FD mounting brackets. Hey Steve! I just remembered I owe you some measurements. Do you still need them? I can get it tomorrow.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

girlonbike said:


> I was hoping DC was going to make a bunch of those FD mounting brackets. Hey Steve! I just remembered I owe you some measurements. Do you still need them? I can get it tomorrow.


I'm good on the BB measurement for now...finally found one that worked. Just need some time to get the rest of it together...hopefully I'll have some new pics by Friday.

Steve


----------



## CCMDoc (Jan 21, 2010)

Looking forward to seeing it done ECS!


----------



## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

So the correct length is installed now?


Nice PCU quote, Rumpfy!


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Finished it up today in between bailing out my basement...lots of rain, but wanted to post a pic tonight, because I'm a bike dork.

Not a WTB Racer, but I'm digging it:


Better pics tomorrow if the sun makes an appearance.

Steve


----------



## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

nice


----------



## CCMDoc (Jan 21, 2010)

Came out great!

Now off to move the 50 bags of mulch and top soil and the plastic sheeting I used to prevent water from flooding my house.


----------



## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

what's on the downtube? Is it a shifter mount as in road bikes?


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

colker1 said:


> what's on the downtube? Is it a shifter mount as in road bikes?


Yup, I was actually toying with the idea of running down tube shifters.

Steve


----------



## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

drop bar heaven


----------



## ameybrook (Sep 9, 2006)

eastcoaststeve said:


> Yup, I was actually toying with the idea of running down tube shifters.Steve


Gawd, why? Just because you can doesn't mean you should


----------



## Guest (May 1, 2014)

Looks good, like the fork. BTW, you shouldn't mount tires in the dark.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Sunshine today....better pics:



















Glad you guys like it so far, (except for my tire orientation...not sure what I was thinking, lol.)

Mike, DT shifters would be a nice weight weeenie touch though 

Doc, hope you stayed dry. We lost power last night for three hours...good thing I had the generator ready to go.

Steve


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Sh!t man, that came out really really good. Thats about as racy as you can make a Trek!

Turn that front wheel around though, its backwards. 
Rim labels should both be legible from the drive side and both hub labels should be the same direction (legible from behind the bike). 
Someone built those wheels with the rim labels facing the wrong way, but you can at least have the rim labels and hub labels all in unison. Sorry, its the OCD in me. 


Looking forward to the ride report!


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

eastcoaststeve said:


> Haha, guess I need some tough love...thanks G.
> The "why own 100 Yugos when you could own 1 Porsche" Rumpfy quote does haunt me occasionally...I may be selling off a good bit this spring, we'll see....


Streamlining and refocusing can be pretty liberating. Lets say you have 30 bikes. Pick 15 you would really want to keep.

If the 15 bikes you are selling off are worth $500 each, think of the kind of bike you could buy with $7500....or half that number. What kind of VRC bike can you get with $3750?

You're thrifty. A hunter and a scrapper like a lot of us. For $3750 you could have a decked Fat Chance Yo Eddy *and* a decked Yeti FRO. Or a decked Ritchey *and* a decked Merlin.

Steve Potts' bikes have been had for less than that number. The hard part is staying the course and leaving that money alone until the right big ticket item pops up.

In the end, obviously do what makes you happy. I know you know that.


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Hey Steve,

That turned out really well. I like the yellow accents even. I also love the stem. My favorite of all the parts you have on that bike along with the Brodie brake booster (and you have a lot of smart parts on it).

I"m gonna cheat and ask you if that's a 7403 FD?


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> Streamlining and refocusing can be pretty liberating. Lets say you have 30 bikes. Pick 15 you would really want to keep.


It's that easy?


----------



## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

I like the tall bottle cage on the seat tube. I always wonder why builders place bottles low on the frame, as close to mud spraying as they can.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

DoubleCentury said:


> It's that easy?


Oh ya. Ya, super easy. Call up your local TPC and poof, done!


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

E and Shawn, I'd hate to have you guys loose sleep over my carelessness 

Fixed them for you:



And for G, 7400 baby:





Now I just need to take it out to get dirty.

As far as thinning the herd...I'm working on it. 
Just need to decide what my "consolidated funds bike" will be.

Steve


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

eastcoaststeve said:


> As far as thinning the herd...I'm working on it.
> Just need to decide what my "consolidated funds bike" will be.
> 
> Steve


Thanks!

Easy. It should be an EWR! I can also see you loving an Ultimate. (I remember your Klein and can't recall what else you have off hand.)


----------



## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

It's so hard to let one go.


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

A little motivation to get you West Coast boys, (and girl), moving on your Trek builds.....









Steve


----------



## ameybrook (Sep 9, 2006)

Cool. I thought you ended up with a Blue/White fade 8000?


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

ameybrook said:


> Cool. I thought you ended up with a Blue/White fade 8000?


I did Mike, (thanks again), but I was already in build mode with the red one and figured it deserved a ride or two before I started stripping it to build the blue one.

It rode better than I expected, and the fit was nice and racey....it felt good to be back on the trails.

Steve


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Nice!


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Looks great Steve! I'll explain in pm but I'll get that bike done!

Glad you're riding!


----------

