More bikes in the shed

Looks like it will be goodbye, Paris Sport, in light of some recent acquisitions.

One, a free Trek frame and fork. Just a plain-jane straight-gauge chromo 700 MultiTrack that fits me better than the PS. Plus it has cantilever bosses and enough braze-ons for a tourer (including mid-fork rack brazeons). It was an ugly white with teal decals, so I figured I'd shoot it with black Rustoleum and make my utility bike. Maybe. Or maybe nothing would become of it and I would transform the PS into what I was after.

Then I got a free Hercules, much more my size, even on the large side. I've always had bikes that were a bit too small for me, and riding this thing makes me feel like I'm astride a horse! I would keep it as my utility bike, except it's been upgraded with a very nice Sachs Rival crank - hmmm.... that would look very nice on the Trek! So I began painting the Trek with the goal of making it a rear-derailleur-only bike with a chain guard, fenders, basket or front rack, lights, etc. Sigh... though the Herc is a great deal of fun to ride.

Of course, I continued to desire a bike suitable for long rides, hopefully with a randonneuring club. Sure, I could outfit the Trek for that, but it's still a little small. That won't bother me for rides around home, but for centuries or more, I needed better. And I wanted to have one actually good bike with decent tubing.

eBay to the rescue, with a 1987 Trek 400 Triple Elance. I hadn't even been looking at Treks for my "serious" bike, but I chanced upon it. Black, with silver headtube and silver lug details. A triple crank meant that rides though Virginia mountainsides were possible. Reynolds 531, good. A 56cm frame, good. Ok, so I sat there waiting for the clock to run out and I sniped it in the last 20 seconds. I wound up paying too much, considering I've seen similar (but different years without 531 tubing) for less. And it kills me to read posts on bikeforums.net where some guy is asking if $150 is too much for one he's seen at a garage sale. But I couldn't keep waiting on Craig's List to magically deliver the right size and right features bike to me. Sure, I could have settled for a Miyata or similar for a lot less. But then I might have later been wanting a replacement bike. I think the Elance will last me for a long time.



Side note: these pics are crummy, must take again under better lighting.