Bikes Outside: 400 Club

This Monday's Bike Outside features an old school Trek that was found locked to one of the several improvisational bike racks surrounding La Paloma Sabanera on Capitol Ave. The corner of Capitol and Babcock has long been a cool bike-spotting place. I routinely see bikes dating from the 1960's to today locked up outside while their owners nosh and caffeinate.

The lugged frame of this Trek 400 has an early 80's look and feel to me. A very quick glance at the Vintage Trek website seemed to point to 1984. The Sugino crankset and quill stem could certainly pass for that era, but the remainder of the components have been modernized. That said, the modern 9-speed cassette and derailleur, v-rims and such don't look particularly out of place on this bike. The 400 was by no means Trek's flagship model, so people can feel free to modify them without fear of compromising a potential museum piece. They have great potential for the building of solid daily riders with bonus vintage flair.

I'm partial to Treks. One of my cousins in Brooklyn was an early adopter, riding a Trek in the late 70's and early 80's before replacing it with a gorgeous red Eddy Merckx. A far more prosaic Trek was my Father's last bike, so the marque has sentimental value for me. This bike sports a similar early logo and head badge style to my cousin's long-ago mount, so the nostalgia is strong with this one. The paint and graphics are in nice, original shape. It really is a good looking bike.