Project Elance Rides!
Posted: November 19, 2009 at 8:38 am
Ryan’s 87 Trek Elance 330 now rides! After purchase, the bike was reduced down to nothing but a frame and almost all components were replaced. There were a couple things we ran into afterwards.
First, the bottom bracket is too wide. It is the Shimano 105 BB designed for a triple chainring. While the Trek runs a double, the 118mm bracket was the closest match to the original 116mm bracket. Even so, the chainrings are out too far and the chain is left at a sharp angle. It’s certainly ridable, but the chain will lead a short life in its current condition. A 109mm bottom bracket is on its way which should fix things.
Second, the rear dérailleur has not nearly enough spring which is leaving the bottom of the spring with far too much slack. This is something we would have realized had either of us been more familiar with bike repair. This is the first time either of us have changed a dérailleur, so we didn’t know this until the chain was on and we noticed something wasn’t right.
Even with those minor hiccups, it seems to ride very well and Ryan is pleased with it. For a first project, I don’t think it went too badly!
The Discussion
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Congrats on your rebuild! It’s hard to beat these early steel Treks for a smooth ride & classic good looks. While they are a bit heavy by modern standards, my red ‘87 330 Elance (just like yours) w. 61 cm frame weighs a reasonable 24 lbs. with some lighter upgrades (Specialized Toupe saddle, Origin 8 threadless stem adapter, Ritchie Pro Comp 44 cm bars, 700×23 Vittorio Rubino Pro tires, Shimano SPD pedals, Blackburn cage). The stock Suntour 12-speed drivetrain w. indexed shifters, Dia-Compe brakes, French Rigida rims & Sansin hubs works just fine.
My vintage Trek reminds me of the time back in the day when I fell in love w. cycling, riding new French-built Motobecanes. I know it’s trendy now to convert older steel bikes to single-speed fixies, but it’s good to see your Trek restored to full road warrior status. Pics of my 330 are at http://s636.photobucket.com/albums/uu85/silbersix/Trek%20330%20Elance/.
Finally, I don’t know what “Elance” means, but maybe Trek knew something we didn’t in 1987. Remove the “E” and you’re left with “Lance”.
Beautiful bike Rick, great work.
I’d like to eventually get a fixed gear bike, but every time I think about using a vintage frame… i just cringe. The previous owner of my Schwinn Voyageur was going to convert it to a fixie before I bought it. It still has all 12 gears as nature intended