The 91' Trek 930.
In the past decade or so, I've been the very proud owner of some pretty good bikes. None of them were in anyway pricey steeds, but they were a pride to ride. There was the $25 steel road bike from the 70's that I sadly got rid of in search of a speedier ride. I really should have kept it. There was the Wal-Mart road bike that got stolen off our front porch while I went to run a quick errand. Then there was and is my Trek 1000 that I paid payments on and in the end someone, who still remains a mystery, paid off the majority of it and it is still a bike I ride on a weekly basis. And lastly, there was the Biria CitiBike 7 that I bought using almost exclusively the change I gathered each day out of the huge car wash vacuums when I worked for a car wash when we lived in Macon. Each bike was great for so many reasons, but each was lacking in something, and a few were lacking in several ways. And without knowing it till about two years ago, I've always been looking for a bike that has been dubbed the title, "all rounder".
If you've never heard the term, "all rounder". Join the club. To be honest, I hadn't heard the term till around two or three years ago. I guess its because that's not an idea that goes well with a modern marketing scheme. And to make it as simple as it's supposed to be is than an "all rounder" is a bike that can seemingly do it all on. You can put skinnier tires on it and head out for a fast club ride, or you can put some knobby tires on it and hit some mountain single track, or you can throw some racks on it and take it on a cross country tour or to the office. And it makes perfect sense for there not to be bike companies out there running around trying to design the perfect bike to fit this scheme. That would be silly. Why would a company who could sell you three, four, or even six different bikes rush out to design a bike that could sort of do it all? They wouldn't and they aren't.
Well, I should be quick to say that most aren't. In the past three to five years, as the, "gravel grinding" and cyclocross trends, have heated up, many companies are sort of jumping on board. Sort of. And many companies like Velo Orange, Surly, and Rivendell Bicycle Works have put out bikes that could fall into the "all rounder" settings; with Rivendell having really been putting out the type of bike that could do well in most all biking scenarios since it opened it's doors in 94'. But it all fairness, it was the Bridgestone Bicycle USA company of the early 1990's, that put out the now infamous and heavily-envied, XO-1, designed by the great Grant Petersen, who opened Rivendell Bicycle Works in 1994 when Bridgestone USA shut it's doors and Grant P. was out of a job. He came out the following year, 1995, with a Rivendell model, named, The All Rounder. It was marketed, if you could call what Rivendell does, as marketing at all, that was supposed to be the bike to end all need for other bikes. And for some, it was and is. And since 1996, they have designed about 10 different models, but for the most part, the basic design has been to have a bike that with just a few changes here and there, you'd have a bike you could seemingly do it all on. And no...not in the extreme cases, but why do we always go to the extremes when we read something like this. No, you couldn't race against the elite racers on the Tour de France on a Rivendell nor would you try to win the X Games riding a Rivendell. Hopefully, you get what I am trying to say. Sometimes, I mean well, but don't write so well.
The Bridgestone XO-1.
A Rivendell All Rounder.
Bicycles are like most hobbies in that you can spend a lot of money on them and in the end not really get your money out of whatever you purchased because you just knew you needed whatever it was that you bought. I read this funny article about how hunting makes the meat worth something like $10 a pound; which is double or triple what it costs in the grocery store. Or how someone might pay $3000 for a bike to save money on gas when they really would have only spent about $1800 on gas for a whole year. I feel like this could be said about most hobbies. You can pretend that isn't true, but we all know it is. Everyday, I drive a $4500 Subaru to work and everywhere else and everyday I look at bikes that would cost me near about the same, but would not get me to work and do all the things my car does. I would think twice about buying a car that cost about $5000, but wouldn't think twice about a bike in that price range, if I had that kind of money. This may not be true for you, but it is at least true for me. I guess it is a very good thing I don't have much money!
The Biria CitiBike 7. I thought it would be my "all rounder", but it just wasn't meant to be.
Finding the perfect bike is a hard task unless you jump to being very specific. The best bike for the beach is a beach cruiser. The best bike for a road ride is a road bike. The best bike for an inner city commute is a commuter bike. However, most people don't ride bikes like that AND most people don't have enough money, or energy, or space in their garage for a whole stable full of ultra-specific rides. And most people don't have the time to maintain 5-7 different bikes in hopes of riding in 5-7 different scenarios during a year. I know I don't and when I think about most of the people I ride bikes with, they don't either. So most people are stuck riding a bike built for one thing, but they typically not riding in that scenario; like most of you who ride your mountain bikes around your paved neighborhood and peddle your little hearts out trying to keep up with the person you are riding with who has a bike with a tighter frame and skinnier tires who is riding 30 feet ahead of you, but is coasting. I know you've been there because I've been there. I've also been the guy bogged down in the mud on a road bike off-road or getting my insides shaken to the limit trying to ride a road bike on some single track. Yes, you can ride any bike anywhere, but it usually results in a not so pleasant of a ride and sometimes it results in a broken bike.
My 1970's road bike was a great bike, but it was steel and so very heavy. I should have kept it, but was under the illusion that a lighter bike would make me so much faster and that is not wholly true. I could have made it into a pretty reliable all-rounder, but instead sold it to buy a lighter, newer road bike. My Wal-Mart road bike was an average bike at its best, but if you tried to ride on something other than newer asphalt, then it was a less than perfect bike. My Trek 1000SL is a great bike and I have ridden it somewhere around 9500 or so miles on a whole host of places, but it is a road bike first and foremost and has done well in other scenarios, but I have also blown a lot tires and broken a few components putting it in situations it was not built to handle. I have even used it for many a miles for some light touring and some pretty heavy commuting and it has handled well, but it also sounds like it is struggling. Two years ago, I bought the Biria CitiBike 7 (pictured above) in an attempt to buy a bike I could do it all on and thought I had chosen well, but then we moved to the country and found out over a three month period that I had in fact not chosen well. In a short matter of time, I had blown threw several tire tubes and broken the rear tire twice. I don't think poorly of any of these bikes because most of their failures or shortcomings came when they were put into a situation they were not designed for.
I guess a good question to attempt to answer is why I, or for that matter anyone else, would want an all-rounder bike and not just keep two or three bikes around and use the right one for the right situation and just be happy! And I guess that the only good answer is that you could do that, but most people don't ride in a single scenario even in a single ride unless you jump straight to the very specifics or the extremes, but even the elites on a Grand Tour have three or four different bikes they ride during the Tour depending on the type or style of riding they are expected to do. Take my usual ride for instance, it includes at least three to four different types of terrain even if I just take a short ride. My driveway is clay and soft sand. The road out of my driveway is newer asphalt and if I get off that road, I will be on clay road, soft roads, dirt roads, old gravel roads, fire roads, sidewalks, mulch paths, and pine straw. I need a bike that can handle each of these surface changes without bogging down, or incurring too much friction, or sliding around, or sliding out from me, or crashing with me on it. I also need a bike I can strap a rack that can hold all my stuff without hurting the frame too much. And since Mel and FH refuse to follow me around on every ride carrying several different bikes, then my only real choice is to find a bike that can fall as close to possible to the all-rounder definition. An all-rounder that I could actually afford until I win the lotto or something and get some real folding money!
My "new to me" 1991 Trek 930.
And so after much thought, maybe far too much thought, many internet searches, thorough readings and re-readings of a few key books, a few looks at my finances, I came to the realization that my current bicycle line up was not one I wanted to continue on with. I sold my Biria to a nice lady who was moving to the ATL and wanted to rid herself of her car and become a bike commuter. The Biria was and is an excellent bike for that. Had I stayed in Macon or moved to an equal or larger city, I would have kept that bike, but that was not my situation. I then spent a lot of time on Craigslist and other like places, both on and off the internet, searching high and low for an older, shock-less, hardtail, mountain bike, one that was built in the USA, that could be overhauled and revamped for less than a small fortune. A bike I could turn into my perfect all-rounder.
Finding a bike to fit this definition may sound like an easy task, but I'll tell you it is far from that. I know this sounds hard to believe, but vintage mountain bikes are in high demand with folks like me. And there are more people out there like than you want there to be. The hard part is finding a bike that affordable AND still in good shape. Bicycles are not usually treated well. They are usually mistreated, kept out in the rain, stored in wet garages, rarely maintained, fixed or repaired the cheapest or easiest way, etc. And once owners need to sell them, they begin by asking the price they paid for them 10,15,20 years ago. And if they happen to be a "rare" bike or model, then the owner wants 2-3 times what they paid for them no matter what condition they are in. I found myself in this predicament during the whole time of hunting for the right bike. Most mountain bike, even high end models, cost around $200-$400 in the late 80's and early 90's; a time most American companies were still producing high quality bikes in the USA before they started sending jobs to China and Korea. If you do a quick search on Craigslist you may quickly notice that bikes that are 20+ years old are still being sold for almost $200 and may be missing some parts, rusted, broken, etc. It is crazy, but it is true.
Well, after many, many failed attempts and many, many emails to sellers in three different States, I settled on a 1991 Trek 930. The seller originally wanted $150, but after having not sold it for a long time, he gave in and kindly sold it to me for $75. The bike was in Orlando, Florida, so my parents graciously met the Craigslist killer in a Target parking lot and got the bike for me. And they lived to tell about it, so that was a huge plus. I was so happy to get the bike that when they brought it to me, I rode it in a hotel parking lot in order to get in my first "official" ride. And it did not disappoint.
A few of the components I'll be using to remake my new all-rounder.
I have had the Trek 930 now for about six months and I've ridden it about 200 miles. It is a great bike and I'll be quick to admit that it is also a pretty bike when you really take the time to look at it, but most of all, it's a fun bike. I'll also be quick to admit that it also isn't finished yet. Fixing up a bike takes a lot of time and a lot of money and those are two things I don't usually have. I sold my Biria for $250 and that money went quickly into paying for a past repair on the Biria, the price of the new bike, and several of the components that are picture above. One weekend near the end of summer, I disassembled and reassembled as much of the bike as I could using YouTube videos and a great maintenance book my mom gave me. I put a new stem on the bike, new handlebars, new tubes and tires, bottle cages, a kickstand, a bell, and peddles. And that is where the project sits. I tried revamping the brakes, but really made a mess of things. I'd like to buy some new handlebar grips, a set of brakes, and install a good front rack and the new gearing I have already purchased and then the bike will be as fixed up as I want for now. I get pretty excited just thinking about how great this bike is going to be once I'm finished with it. Don't worry, I'll probably do a short post on it, but for now I'll just settle for looking at the bike, riding my road bike on dirt roads and having to walk it some, and finding things I don't use anymore to raise the last bit of cash.
Happy reading, riding, and dreaming of better bikes,
DAVID
