Hi all,

I'm going back to my old Trek 1500 frame. Long story short, the frame fits me great. So great in fact that I enjoyed riding it more than any other bike I've ever had, including high end carbon frames that you'd perhaps consider this frame inferior to. I have not yet ridden a bike I enjoyed riding more than this Trek 1500, so that's why I'm going back to it. That's the whole idea behind this bike - It's going to be for the love of riding it. I don't really race, I don't really get too competitive, I just go out riding with my friends and we just really enjoy cycling. So with that I wanted to pay less attention to numbers and marketing waffle, and just go with things that worked for me.

I am trying some new things though, so we'll see how they turn out - and of course this is weight weenies, so yes this is gonna be light.

So, the bits and pieces:



AX Lightness AX6000 Forks. I spent 10 hours scraping the paint off these - took off 5g making that a ground-breaking 2hr/gram. They're currently at 220g but I'll lose a few more by cutting the steerer down.



M5 Ligfietsen Brakes. I've always wanted these, they're quirky and the braking power is pretty phenomenal. They're no so good on modulation but fortunately these Corima brake pads are. They're less grabby than the Swisstops.




THM Clavicula crankset with Fibre-lyte 48/38 rings. Small chainrings I know but I have a high cadence and usually head for the hills. The whole crankset weighs 480g including BB cups.

More pictures and part list with weights to come, I promise!

Should be a fun build..

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Be sure to post a "before" photo of the Trek so we can see what you started with.
I am sure it will be a dramatic evolution.

What is the frame year, size, and mass? I've got a 1988 and the ride is fine but a bit harsh. It has Easton tubing, which suggests light, but it cerainly seems like a tank. I've wondered how much of the ride is the fork.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

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I love this thread. More please!

I'm pretty sure it's a 2006, size 52cm and it weighs a porky 1460g including headset and derailleur hangers. I've heard of many people reporting weights like 1150g - 1200g, but definitely not mine. Maybe there were a few slightly different models and some were lighter. Never mind, the weight doesn't really bother me, this build will be under 6kg anyway.

I reckon it rides pretty well - the various carbon frames I've tried have beat me up more on longer rides but I think it has more to do with component choices and tyres. I guess fit is more important for long ride comfort than the frame's ride quality.

Here are some more photos. I just cleaned up the frame - it's looking fairly tatty. Plenty of dings and scratches but I don't really mind. I was considering stripping and polishing it in the future if it felt like a keeper. Something to think about anyway...
It seems a paler blue in the pictures, it's actually a deeper blue. I like the paint job actually.




And here are the wheels/tyres: Lightweight Obermayer G1 with Dugast Strada Cotton 23s. (The tyres actually measure 25mm, so I dunno what happened there...)

Going to enjoy watching how this one takes shape!
Genuine love for the way you are taking a frame that many would disregard out of hand, and then hanging some marvellously exotic bits on it, bravo sir!

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My Titanium Lemond (RIP):
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The Trek:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=109635

Wooooow, this is gonna be hot!!!

Yo win with the "vintage" LW gen 1 and aluminum frame!

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EX Colnago C50
TREK Madone 5.9 SL #7

A long time since something so exciting has been on ww.
Keep up the work sir

Different fork won't = same ride. Just a thought.

However keep going, love seeing stuff like this.

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Looks nice. I did something similar this year. I can see, that you have alloy FD clamp. I had new carbon FD clamp made together with some more small custom carbon parts. Please exchange that FD clamp for carbon one. It will look much nicer

I'm looking forward to see final build.

That reminds me of 1985 (or was it 86?). Nice blue and white Trek 1500, Shimano 600 6 speed rear with click shifting, the latest things, some aluminum fork and who knows what wheels. Traded that one for an aluminum Concorde with 7 speed Dura Ace a couple of years later. At the time, it seemed like a real step up from my 531 Marinoni with a bunch of Gipiemme parts with a few Super Record upgrades.

On a more serious note, I've put a few miles on aluminum and steel Colnagos this year and have to say that I like them as much as, if not more than, my Extreme Power and EPS (but not my C40s). Sometimes new isn't really better for those of us who just want to ride.

looking forward to this one

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cannondale flash3 alloy 29er
trek 5200 nude carbon
pegoretti marcelo

Reminds me of my own rebuild i'm running right now (though this one has more exotic components :p)
Keep up the good work

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I Will make the leap

A little update to keep you all posted.

I still haven't yet got all the bits for it yet. I'm still waiting on a seatpost. I was quite tempted by the Extralite UL2 post as I quite like aluminium seatposts. Otherwise perhaps Schmolke TLO but I'm having a few reservations about going quite so light and exotic where I'm sat. I'm not heavy at all but the roads round here are terrible and the lumps and bumps put a lot of stress on that area.

Anyway, I've started to put things together and run across a few problems. The brake pads on the M5 brakes will not adjust high up enough to engage properly with the braking surface. I'm trying to solve this by adding spacers between the calliper and the frame - if not perhaps a little machining or filing might be an option.

Also my Dugast tyres despite saying 23 on them actually measure 25mm. They don't even nearly clear the frame when the brakes are fitted so I'll have to send them back to Planet X. Hopefully they'll be gracious. I think the tight clearances on the frame are also to blame on the issue above I had with the brake pads.

Finally my clavicula left crank arm has a problem. The clamping bolt won't tighten at all. I think the thread is stripped in the nut at the end so hopefully that is replaceable and repairable. I've emailed THM so hopefully they'll get back to me sometime next week.

Anyway I daren't post without including some more pics! Here are the handlebars and stem:



I've chosen a Zipp SL Short/Shallow in 40cm (38cm c-c) and a Zipp Service Course SL stem (80mm -17deg). I definitely found the Syntace F99 too flexy and a little disconcerting so hopefully this will be a stiffer set up without adding too much weight. The bars weigh 168g cut and the stem was 111g. Not bad at all I'd say. As you can see I haven't got a headset top cap yet - I'm waiting for my 'slam that stem' headset top cap so I can keep that front end nice and low. I'll keep you posted!